Pringles are a delicious snack that’s hard to pass up.
There’s also no shortage of different flavors, so you always have more Pringles to explore.
However, if you have recently purchased Pringles, you may have noticed that the price has become quite high.
Considering Pringles are just chips, you might wonder why they are so expensive.
Why are Pringles chips so expensive? (10 reasons)
The average Pringles price is around $2.
However, some large packs can even sell for around $30.
Several factors, such as the ingredients used to make Pringles and the way they are packaged, tend to make them more expensive.
Let’s consider these factors in more detail.
1. More chips and less air
One of the main differences between potato chips and Pringles chips is their packaging.
With regular potato chips that come in a bag, most of the contents of the bag are just air.
While air certainly plays a role in protecting chips and keeping them fresh, it can often feel like you’re buying more air than chips.
The way Pringles are packaged is completely different.
They use a stacking method that allows them to rest on top of each other inside a cardboard tube.
The shape of Pringles chips means they don’t need air to protect the chips.
The shape of the tube allows enough air to pass through to keep the chips fresh.
So Pringles can’t get away with selling you more air than chips.
Since the cardboard tubes must be filled with chips, each tube costs a little more.
It has more chips.
On the other hand, potato chip companies can sell their chips at a lower price because there are fewer chips in each bag.
Pringles are expensive because you end up buying more product from them.
2. Drought affects potato yield
There are several ingredients that make up Pringles chips.
One of the main ingredients is potatoes.
The problem with potatoes is that drought affects their yield.
Quite a few countries produce potatoes.
In the United States, the main potato-growing region is the western part of the country.
The problem with this area is that it was suffering from drought for a while.
Drought affects potato yields, potentially killing the crop.
Like any other plant, potatoes require a decent amount of water.
Without it, potatoes will not grow or grow to standards suitable for human consumption.
The lack of water also affects the farmer’s ability to plant more potato seeds next season.
If there is not enough water in the ground, potato seeds will not germinate.
Thus, the lack of water affects not only the current potato crop, but also the future crop.
This makes Pringles expensive because they end up paying more for their potatoes.
As their costs rise, they are going to sell their chips at higher prices.
Pringles are expensive due to drought affecting potato yields.
3. Winter storms damage potatoes
Winter storms are another problem affecting potato yields.
While potatoes tend to be more resilient than other types of plants, they do have their own preferences.
If they are exposed to temperatures outside their tolerance zone, they may die.
This is a problem that some farmers face.
Potato growers in the western United States, for example, have experienced winter storms in areas that rarely experience freezing temperatures.
This affected the potato crop because the hurricanes destroyed the crops before the farmers could harvest them all.
When exposed to low temperatures, potatoes can shrivel and die.
All it takes is a strong flow of cold air for a certain period of time and the farmer can lose his entire crop.
Since winter storms have affected farmers in the west, they have not been able to grow as many potatoes as they normally would.
In addition to other problems affecting the supply of potatoes around the world, there is a shortage of potatoes.
After all, Pringles have to pay big money for their potatoes.
Because their costs are higher, they need to sell their products at higher prices.
Pringles are expensive due to winter storms affecting the potato crop.
4 Drought Affects Rice Cultivation
Drought affects not only the cultivation of potatoes.
it’s the same impact on rice fields.
Pringles have unique potato chips because they use more than just potatoes.
It’s a mixture of potatoes and rice.
Thus, rice is another important ingredient to be sourced.
The problem with rice is that there isn’t enough of it either.
One reason for the shortage is due to drought.
Although China is especially famous for its rice exports, there are also rice fields in the United States.
California, in particular, has its own rice belt.
However, the problem with rice coming from California is that the state is going through a drought.
Rice requires a lot of water to grow.
Without it, it dries up and is inedible.
In drought conditions, farmers cannot sow their fields, let alone grow rice.
Because they can only produce a limited amount of rice, they have to sell the harvested rice at higher prices.
This is the only way they can hope to break even.
As a result, Pringles incurs even higher costs because it also uses rice to make chips.
Pringles are expensive due to drought affecting rice yields.
5. India cuts rice exports
The rice shortage in California wouldn’t be such a problem if Pringles could rely on another source.
Unfortunately, India, one of the world’s largest rice exporters, has begun to reduce its exports.
They have referred to his problems when growing rice.
Like the United States, India is suffering from drought in some regions of the country.
This undermined their ability to grow rice.
It also affected their ability to plant more fields.
To keep their people from starving, India has cut rice exports and concentrated some of its supplies on its own citizens.
The consequence of this action, since India accounts for such a large share of rice exports, has been higher rice prices.
When Pringles needs to make up for the lack of rice supplies from California, it will have to pay higher prices for rice imports from other countries.
If these countries sell rice at higher prices, the rice becomes even more expensive.
As a result, Pringles have to raise prices to cover new costs.
Pringles are expensive because India has decided to cut rice exports.
6. The cost of whey protein concentrate
Another ingredient you’ll find in Pringles chips is whey protein concentrate.
You may notice that Pringles has a little more protein than some other brands of potato chips.
This is because it uses whey protein concentrate.
Whey protein is a dairy product.
In particular, this applies to the production of cheese.
One of the benefits of whey protein is its ability to promote muscle growth.
This is why many athletes or people in the gym drink whey protein shakes after their workout.
This helps their bodies build muscle mass.
While you can’t expect to build muscle mass with Pringles, the presence of whey protein makes it a little more expensive.
Whey protein tends to be an expensive ingredient.
The more of them in the product, the more expensive it is.
Pringles also contains a more expensive version of whey protein.
It uses whey protein concentrate, which is a denser version of whey protein.
This cost is added to the cost of production.
When dairy products become more expensive, so does whey.
Pringles are expensive because they use whey protein concentrate.
7. Cost of cheese
Some of the most popular Pringles contain cheese.
It can add a powerful flavor to already delicious potato chips.
Pringles also has its fair share of different cheese flavors.
The problem with cheese is that it can be an expensive ingredient.
Cheese is usually obtained from dairy cows or other milk-producing animals.
It goes through a curing process which can sometimes take a long time.
Due to its length, the cheese can be a bit pricey.
However, it is the fact that it is derived from dairy animals that really makes it expensive.
When the price of raising dairy animals increases, the price of cheese also increases.
For example, if the cost of food and water for livestock increases, ranchers have to spend more money to raise their livestock.
Because they see higher costs, they have to sell dairy products at higher prices to offset those costs.
As a result, Pringles have to pay more money for dairy products.
To compensate for their own costs, they need to sell at higher prices.
Pringles are expensive because cheese prices can sometimes be high.
8. Spices
One of the tastiest things about Pringles is the different spices they use.
You can find a variety of flavors in their product line.
From salt and vinegar to sour cream and onions, there is something for everyone.
However, these spices are not always cheap.
If Pringles uses a particular ingredient or spice to flavor their chips, they may face higher costs.
Spices can sometimes be expensive depending on the spice in question.
Because they incur higher costs to produce more flavors, they sometimes sell rarer varieties for higher prices.
Pringles are expensive because they sometimes use more expensive spices to create rare or unusual flavors.
9. Premium Chips
Pringles are considered by many to be premium chips.
There are several features that make it different from standard potato chips.
First, he is not fat.
When you grab a tube of Pringles, you don’t have to worry about pulling your hand out and covering it with oil.
Second, most of the time you don’t have that many broken Pringles either.
Every bag of potato chips tends to have broken chips on the bottom.
Because of these superior qualities, Pringles are generally considered premium chips.
This means that it comes at premium prices.
Pringles are expensive because they are the highest quality potato chips.
10. Fertilizer cost
The last reason Pringles are expensive has to do with fertilizer costs.
Since it uses vegetables as the main ingredients, the cost of fertilizer depends on its cost.
Farmers need fertilizer to grow their crops well.
Without it, their crops may not meet human consumption standards.
Some also use fertilizers to protect their crops.
Due to the shortage, the cost of fertilizers has become quite high.
This affected the price of crops.
This raised several prices.
To make up for the prices they incur when buying ingredients, Pringles sells their chips at higher prices.
Pringles are expensive due to the high cost of fertilizer.
Conclusion
Pringles are tasty potato chips with different flavors.
However, due to the costs associated with the ingredients used to make Pringles, chips can be quite expensive.