Buy!

Sugar prices are set on the world commodity futures markets and can vary significantly. These variations eventually filter down to influence the price we pay in the supermarket. This was obvious when I was stocking up on fondant at BFP Wholesale today. This time last year I paid about 15% more for 12.5 kg blocks … today they were under a tenner. Therefore now is a good time to stock up (and going by the graph the prices may drop further, but I’d run out so had no choice). Fondant keeps quite well in a cool dry place as long as you keep it wrapped up and out of the reach of mice.

Nasdaq sugar futures

Although the one-off cost of 25 blocks is not insignificant, it’s a relatively small outlay when you compare it to the value of the (stolen) honey it’s being used to replace. I’ve not yet done the sums, but have probably averaged 75-100 lb of honey from each production colony this year. It’s been a very good season. Each colony will get 1 – 1.5 blocks of fondant over the next month or so to keep them going until next Spring, with additional being used for overwintering nucs.

312.5 kg of fondant …