If they doubled the duration of the food so it could last for a whole non speedrun'd dungeon via DF that would probably increase demand and be an alternate way to offset the shard cost.

I like to use food but yup I just stick to the cheaper mid range stuff thats about 150-500g each. Only time I went overboard on food was on my bard alt with hq apkallu omelettes on titan for her relic fight because I really wanted that fight to be over with.