JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The next time you go to your favorite restaurant, you may notice higher prices on the menu.
Inflated food costs and supply chain shortages are causing restaurants to bump up prices.
Toni Naumann owns Benchwarmers Café in Spring Park. Naumann has been in the industry for more than 20 years but has never seen anything like this.
Between the pandemic, higher food costs and worker shortages, Naumann says the hospitality industry cannot catch a break.
Naumann says she already raised prices twice this year and the restaurant is struggling to stay affordable.
“I feel horrible. I don’t want someone to come in here and have a $15 lunch,” she said. “That’s not our price point. Our price point is for a more modest you know. We give the best food that we can for our price point. So, when the price point goes up, obviously our menu has to go up. It’s just a sad situation.”
Wholesale food prices are up too. Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs up 10.5 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Higher prices and the supply squeeze are expected to last into next year. Prices increased for cereals and bakery products 2.7 percent; fruits and vegetables 3.0 percent, and nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials 3.7 percent.
The US Labor Department says the annual inflation rate has already climbed 5 percent over the last year.