Oreos are delicious cookies that have a bit of cream sandwiched between two chocolate wafers.
There are several different types of Oreos, and you may have discovered that their prices have increased recently.
Considering that they’re relatively simple cookies, you may wonder what’s made them so expensive.
Why Are Oreos So Expensive? (10 Reasons)
The average price of Oreos is around $4.50.
However, some varieties can cost up to $5 or more.
Certain factors like various labor problems, climate change affecting wheat, and the type of Oreos that you buy can influence their price.
Let’s look at these factors in more detail.
1. Labor Shortages
One of the problems Oreo is facing is labor shortages.
It’s encountered two main problems regarding its labor.
The first is the pandemic.
COVID-19 forced the company to either let go of employees or put them on standby.
Any time a new worker became ill, the factory had to close to ensure the illness didn’t spread.
This affected the supply of Oreos which means that their price skyrocketed.
The company wasn’t producing enough Oreos to meet demand.
When the pandemic died down, they had to acquire new employees to fill the spaces of those they had fired.
The problem at that stage was that not that many people wanted to work for the company.
They didn’t want to find themselves on the outs again with a company that wasn’t loyal to them.
The other problem Oreo has faced is employee strikes.
Workers have conducted strikes in an effort to earn higher wages.
That’s also impacted the supply of Oreos coming out of the factory.
With fewer packages arriving at stores and the inability to meet demand, the price of those packages has increased.
Oreos are expensive because of the labor problems affecting their supply.
2. Shipping Costs
Shipping costs are another reason that Oreos are expensive.
The price to ship products has become more expensive.
There are a few factors at play here as well.
On one hand, oil prices have increased.
Part of that comes down to a lack of supply of oil.
Refineries aren’t producing as much oil as they used to.
Other plants have shut down entirely.
Trade has also become interrupted due to the war in Europe.
When oil prices are high, gas prices are also high.
This impacts shipping because Oreo has to pay its drivers’ fuel costs.
Their shipping companies base their prices on fuel costs and a few other factors.
If fuel costs are high, then their prices become high.
Since it’s more expensive to ship their products to stores, Oreo has to put a higher price on their products.
The other big factor is a lack of drivers.
When the pandemic raged before vaccines, some drivers left the business.
Others have yet to return because the wages aren’t worth the hard work.
Companies that have increased their wages have also increased their service prices.
Oreo has to pay higher shipping fees to bring its products to market.
Oreos are expensive because of the higher costs of shipping.
3. Droughts Affecting Wheat
You might not think that the price of wheat would affect the price of Oreos, but wheat is actually an integral ingredient.
Cookies like Oreos use wheat.
When something impacts the price of wheat, then the price of Oreos also increases.
One problem that is affecting the price of wheat is drought.
There are several types of wheat that are grown throughout the United States.
The type of wheat that makes cookies has been experiencing drought conditions.
Drought makes it impossible for wheat to grow.
Like any other living thing on earth, wheat needs water to survive.
Without it, the wheat fails to grow and sprout.
As a result, farmers are unable to harvest a high yield.
Without wheat, Oreo cannot make its famous cookies.
Drought also impacts farmers’ ability to plant for the next harvest.
If there isn’t any water in the ground, then the seeds will fail to sprout as well.
As a result, some farmers might be unable to collect on a harvest the following season.
When there are wheat shortages, it means Oreo can only produce so many cookies.
The supply of Oreos is lower, so the price increases.
Oreos are expensive due to the drought that’s affecting the wheat harvest.
4. Extreme Temperatures Affecting Wheat
It isn’t just drought making it difficult to grow wheat, either.
Extreme temperatures and sudden temperature changes have also impacted the harvest.
Wheat requires a certain temperature and environment in which to grow.
Some varieties of wheat grow well in cooler temperatures, but they don’t perform well in warmer temperatures.
The opposite is also true.
The problem is that certain states occasionally experience severe temperatures.
Both extremely hot temperatures and extremely cold ones impact the wheat’s ability to grow.
Even worse, some of these areas, like Texas, have experienced sudden temperature changes.
It might be warm for a few weeks, then an unexpected cold front might come through and dump snow across the fields.
The cold and frigid temperatures are sometimes enough to kill the wheat.
Farmers might not have the time to harvest the full field because they had expected to have a few more weeks before the cold came.
This impacts the supply of wheat that farmers can sell.
Since they don’t have as much wheat to sell, they’re going to charge higher prices for the wheat that they do have available.
Since Oreo is spending more on wheat, it’s going to charge more for its cookies to offset its costs.
Oreos are expensive because of extreme weather affecting the wheat harvest.
5. High Sugar Costs
Besides wheat, another crucial ingredient in Oreos is sugar.
It makes the delicious cookie taste sweet.
The problem with using sugar in its cookies is that the price of sugar has also increased.
All sugar companies are experiencing high costs regardless of who they are.
Some cite energy costs as a problem.
Because the cost of energy is higher, they have to pay more to keep their factories running.
To make back these added expenses, they have to charge more money for their sugar.
Others claim that the costs associated with growing sugar beets are more expensive.
Sugar beets may be experiencing the same problems that wheat is experiencing.
If the supply of sugar beets is lower, then the price is going to increase.
When sugar prices are higher, it means Oreo has to pay more money to acquire its sugar.
They charge more for their cookies to cover their costs.
Oreos are expensive because of the high price of sugar.
6. High Demand
Many people love Oreos.
The combination of chocolate cookies and cream makes for a wonderful treat.
While the cookies, themselves, are delicious, they also make for a great ingredient in other desserts.
Cookies and cream ice cream, for example, often uses Oreos as a staple for their ice cream.
Other companies or bakers use Oreos in cakes or other baked goods.
It’s clear that Oreos make for a great snack on their own, but they also make for a great ingredient in other desserts.
This becomes a problem, however, because it means there’s a lot of demand for Oreos.
You have those who eat them right out of the package, and you have those who use them in other desserts.
Since there’s a lot of demand for Oreos, it makes the price more expensive.
That’s especially the case when the supply of Oreos decreases.
A lot of people are also recently looking for more indulgent foods to cope with the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, and economic uncertainty.
Oreos are a tasty treat that can make an individual feel good even if only for a short while.
Oreos are expensive because they’re in high demand.
7. Package Size
The size of the package that you buy can also impact the price of your Oreos.
Oreos come in several different sizes.
You have the standard size, family size, and party size.
There are also smaller sizes that are cheaper.
There are also variety packs and even large boxes full of Oreos that sell for very expensive prices.
Essentially, the more Oreos you purchase, the more expensive your package is going to be.
Some might find that some packages aren’t worth the extra money.
For example, there isn’t too much that separates the party size from the family size.
You might only receive a few more cookies but end up paying far more.
Sometimes the packages are even missing cookies or have broken cookies in them.
Your investment may not be worth it.
Some Oreos also use more cream than others.
Double Stuf Oreos, for example, use twice as much cream.
Those tend to be more expensive since they are filled with more cream.
The more ingredients a package requires, the more expensive the package is.
Oreos are expensive when you buy a large package or an Oreo variety that comes with extra cream.
8. Cream Amount
As mentioned earlier, the amount of cream that an Oreo has can impact its price, too.
Because the white stuff between the two chocolate cookies looks like cream, many people think it’s made from milk.
That isn’t actually the case.
In fact, Oreos can’t technically even refer to the stuff between its cookies as cream.
They have to refer to it as a “creme.”
That’s because it doesn’t contain dairy, and cream must be made of dairy.
Instead, Oreo uses hydrogenated vegetable oil to make its creme.
The more creme a cookie has, the more hydrogenated vegetable oil the company uses to make it.
As a result, the manufacturing costs are a bit higher.
Oreo prices can become more expensive based on how much creme they have.
9. Advertising Costs
There’s a lot of competition in the cookie industry.
Each company is constantly trying to outdo the others and entice customers to buy its cookies instead of its competitor’s cookies.
As a result, companies tend to spend a lot of money on advertising.
Oreos aren’t any different.
They spend a lot of money on commercials and other ad campaigns to keep Oreos relevant.
This requires them to ensure they have enough revenue to cover those costs.
To maintain revenue, they need to sell their cookies at high prices.
Oreos are expensive because of the cost of advertising.
10. Inflation
A final reason Oreos are expensive has to do with inflation.
There’s no question that inflation has been behind a lot of price surges.
It makes everything more expensive because it makes everything cost more to make.
When ingredients become more expensive, then manufacturers have to raise their prices to offset those prices.
Whether it’s ingredients, fuel costs, or energy costs, if a company is paying more, then they’re going to be selling its products at higher prices.
Oreos are expensive due to inflation.
Conclusion
Oreos are a delicious treat that many enjoy on their own or as part of another dessert.
However, certain problems affecting wheat and sugar as well as other costs have caused Oreo to increase the price of its famous cookies.
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