CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Whether it is workers or food, restaurants have faced their fair share of shortages throughout the pandemic. So how has this affected the price of their supplies?
Local restaurant owners said it has been incredibly difficult to keep up with the rising prices from suppliers, while trying to keep their customers happy.
“The general public -- I don’t think quite understands or realizes that (if) the prices go up, we have to go up with it or we will go broke,” said Black Sheep Bistro owner Glenn Mier.
He said he has seen prices double, and even triple, for crucial supplies such as oil, all types of beef, crab, and paper goods for to-go items.
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Brewster Street Ice House Chief Operating Officer Sam Canavati said the prices to have supplies delivered have not been cheap, either, and they’re doing all they can to help customers understand.
“It was challenging, at the beginning, to explain that a truck that shipped a package that was $50 last year is now costing us $100,” he said.
Brewster Street Ice House has been able to maintain its prices despite the challenges.
Some common strategies other restaurants have deployed to cut costs are modifying their menu based on what supplies they can buy cheaper, raising prices, cutting down portion sizes or changing recipes.
Mier said the increases in cost have been going on for more than a year, and he does not expect it to slow down any time soon.
“What they’re telling us is that they’ll never come back to what they were,” he said. “The reality is: that’s the price we have to buy, and even as restauranteurs, we don’t get a special discount. Especially when we’re privately owned, single-operational restaurants. We pay as much or more than what they general public pays."
They said they appreciation for customers who have been patient with them as they do what they can to continue operating.