Many restaurants are adding inflation surcharge
Running a restaurant is not easy. Posa’s El Merendero Tamale Factory and Restaurant stayed open during the pandemic doing take-out orders only. Then the industry got hit by a worker shortage, and now inflation. Burritos, tamales and sopapillas are staple foods in New Mexico but with inflation, you may start seeing the prices go up. Jeff Posa is the owner of Posa’s El Merendero Tamale Factory and Restaurant, he said, “In order to be successful in this business, because it’s a nickel and dime business. We have to make sure that we’re on top of our pricing.” Posa says foods from meat to beans have increased in price significantly. “A bag of beans, you know, used to cost us, you know, $12 for 50-pound bags of beans. Now they’re all the way up to about $22,” Posa said. According to the National Restaurant Association, 26% of restaurants have started to add an inflation surcharge. The New Mexico Restaurant Association, executive director, Carol Wight said “It just seems like restaurants can’t catch a break. So we come out of the pandemic, we can’t find employees. And now inflation is running rampant.”Posa says it’s never easy to raise prices but it’s something that has to be done. “If you’re going to stay in business and you’re going to keep servicing the customers and do it the right way, you know, you have to, you have to go up in prices,” said Posa. With the challenges brought on by the pandemic the changes that come with it are inevitable. Posa said, “Things go up and down in our business a lot. So it’s something that we’re kind of used to. But this, you know, COVID, of course, was our test and it was a big test.” According to the New Mexico Restaurant Association, a surcharge could help restaurants hesitant to change their prices. Wight said, “I do think that the restaurant, the inflation surcharge might be a good stopgap measure that you can add to your ticket for now as inflation is going crazy and then you can take it off when things start to even out a little bit more.”
Running a restaurant is not easy. Posa’s El Merendero Tamale Factory and Restaurant stayed open during the pandemic doing take-out orders only. Then the industry got hit by a worker shortage, and now inflation.
Burritos, tamales and sopapillas are staple foods in New Mexico but with inflation, you may start seeing the prices go up.
Jeff Posa is the owner of Posa’s El Merendero Tamale Factory and Restaurant, he said, “In order to be successful in this business, because it’s a nickel and dime business. We have to make sure that we’re on top of our pricing.”
Posa says foods from meat to beans have increased in price significantly.
“A bag of beans, you know, used to cost us, you know, $12 for 50-pound bags of beans. Now they’re all the way up to about $22,” Posa said.
According to the National Restaurant Association, 26% of restaurants have started to add an inflation surcharge.
The New Mexico Restaurant Association, executive director, Carol Wight said “It just seems like restaurants can’t catch a break. So we come out of the pandemic, we can’t find employees. And now inflation is running rampant.”
Posa says it’s never easy to raise prices but it’s something that has to be done.
“If you’re going to stay in business and you’re going to keep servicing the customers and do it the right way, you know, you have to, you have to go up in prices,” said Posa.
With the challenges brought on by the pandemic the changes that come with it are inevitable.
Posa said, “Things go up and down in our business a lot. So it’s something that we’re kind of used to. But this, you know, COVID, of course, was our test and it was a big test.”
According to the New Mexico Restaurant Association, a surcharge could help restaurants hesitant to change their prices.
Wight said, “I do think that the restaurant, the inflation surcharge might be a good stopgap measure that you can add to your ticket for now as inflation is going crazy and then you can take it off when things start to even out a little bit more.”
Read More: Many restaurants are adding inflation surcharge
2022-06-17 15:46:00