Mississippi restaurant owner on the true cost of inflation: Never seen anything like this before
‘Sal and Mookies’ co-owner in Mississippi Jeff Good explains how inflation has affected his business and how his business is doing
A Mississippi restaurant owner said Friday that soaring inflation is making it “tough to be in our business” right now as restaurant owners face a “perfect storm.”
Jeff Good, who co-founded three restaurants in Jackson, Mississippi, noted he was forced to charge $27 for chicken wings, when the actual cost is $34.
“We’re making a profit, we’re just not making the profit that we would make based on the restaurant pricing for their items,” Good told “Fox & Friends First” on Friday. “It is expensive.”
He noted that a lot of the items are on a “continuous rise,” but “luckily sometimes something drops” and he gets a little break.
“But right now we kind of have the perfect storm of demand, shortage, war in Ukraine, bird flu, supply chain, it’s hard to be in our business. “, he added.
INFLATION RISE 8.3% IN APRIL, DIP NEARLY 40 YEARS
About 18 months ago, a 40-pound box of chicken wings cost Good about $85, but now the price could reach around $150, the Orange County Register reported.
Good also reportedly said spending on cooking oil and flour had nearly doubled in the past five months and noted he was also paying more for labor.
The outlet reported that the company that services its air conditioners added a fuel charge of $40 per visit. To cope with all the price increases, Good reportedly said he was forced to increase menu prices.
A Mississippi restaurant owner said soaring inflation is making it “hard to be in our business” right now as restaurant owners face a “perfect storm.” (iStock/iStock)
Good, who has worked in the restaurant industry for 30 years, told “Fox & Friends First” on Friday that he had never seen anything like it before.
He noted that he had experienced “seasonal issues” in the past.
“You could have a drought that would cause issues with romaine lettuce or greens from the Salinas Valley in California. You could see something with the orange harvest in Florida,” Good explained.
“But to have something universal and global like this is truly unheard of.”
He then said that due to the current situation, “we are doing everything we can to be decisive in our decisions, very frugal, but we are also very grateful that our customers really understand this”.
“I think since everyone is going to the grocery store and everyone is going to buy gas, they can see that everything is expensive,” Good continued.
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Earlier this month it was revealed that inflation cooled on an annual basis for the first time in months in April, but rose more than expected as supply chain constraints, the Russian war in Ukraine and strong consumer demand continued to keep consumer prices nearly four decades high.
The Labor Department said earlier this month that the Consumer Price Index, a broad measure of the price of everyday goods, including gas, groceries and rents, rose by 8.3% in April from a year ago, below the 8.5% year-on-year rise on record. in March. Prices jumped 0.3% in the month-long period from March.
Those figures were both higher than the headline figure of 8.1% and the monthly gain of 0.2% predicted by economists at Refinitiv.
The slight slowdown in inflation last month came as energy prices fell 2.7%, led by a 6.1% drop in gasoline (which had climbed 18.3% the previous month due to the Russian-Ukrainian war).
Stew Leonard President and CEO Stew Leonard says every supplier talks about fuel prices.
Still, the price increases were widespread: food prices jumped 1% during the month, marking the 17th consecutive monthly increase for this index. The largest monthly increases were seen in dairy products (2.5%, the strongest monthly increase since 2007), meats, poultry, fish and eggs (1.4%), and grain and grain products. bakery (1.1%).
On Friday, the national average for a gallon of gasoline was $4.59, a slight increase from the day before and a new record high.
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Thursday’s record was 16 cents higher than the previous week, nearly 50 cents higher than the previous month and $1.55 higher than the same period last year.
Tighter supply and increased demand have pushed gas prices higher, according to AAA.
“As restaurants have to adjust their prices,” Good said. “I think the consumer is actually quite nice and we appreciate that because we’re just trying to do what we can do.”
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