Just when you thought avocado toast couldn’t get any more expensive, cafes are warning fresh food shortages could hike up cafe prices even further.
Key points:
The fresh food pinch is taking its toll on businesses, with some local cafes wiping off entire dishes as they struggle to source produce.
Gold Coast cafe owner Kelly Sing said businesses would need to start passing the cost on to customers.
The price of fresh fruit and vegetables has gone up, and recent flooding events are partly to blame.
Ms Sing said many suppliers “were flooded out.”
“It has forced us to review our menus … both from an availability point of view and pricing point of view,” she said.
Anthony Joseph from the Brisbane Markets said the weather took its toll on growers.
“We were wet for two weeks, and growers weren’t able to get on the field and fertilise their crops and plant,” he said.
He warned of “a prolonged gap in leafy lines from now through to April [or] May.”
“We’re going to be in for a tough time for a while.”
Empty tacos, greens ‘double’ in price
Ms Sing has been struggling to source basic ingredients to serve up her menus each day.
She says stock is at a “much higher rate than it normally is,” forcing her to consider passing the cost on to customers.
“Profit margins are affected and things like that as well — it has such a flow-on effect,” she said.
“The reality might just be 50 cents to one dollar to the customer on something which is much more palatable,” she said.
“There is a point where you have to decide as a business, ‘Well, to keep going, we might have to put 10 cents onto coffee cups’ and things like that.”
Ms Sing said some leafy greens like lettuce had doubled in price from $3 to $6 a piece.
“When we’re buying 100 lettuces a week and you’re doubling the price, that’s definitely an effect,” she said.
“We might have a $5 taco day — suddenly there’s nothing in it whatsoever because the lettuce cost has doubled. It has a huge impact across the board.”
Fuel and COVID woes
Ms Sing says produce isn’t their only concern, with skyrocketing fuel prices also putting strain on deliveries.
“We’re hit on wages, and, you know, staff shortages with COVID; it seems to just be never ending.”
“We pay fair work wages weekly to all of our staff, [but] when they’re driving, you know, 20 minutes a day, even their cost of petrol has gone up, so their expectation is a higher wage” she said.
“On top of that, if you were a big company with 65 staff, you start hitting thresholds of wages, you pay more tax, and there’s no relief.”
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