Supply issues causing price hikes for Jacksonville businesses

DUVAL COUNTY, Fla. — A Jacksonville bakery is experiencing a 30% increase in many of the items they use every day.

“Restaurants aren’t raising their prices because they want to or because they are going to make a lot more money, it’s about staying in business,” Kurt Daurizio, owner and chef at 1748 Bakehouse, said.

The local food industry facing yet another unexpected ripple.

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“Our three top items, our flour is up 25%, our butter and sugar is up 30% from what it was pre-pandemic,” Daurizio said.

Daurizio said chicken has doubled, too. Rising costs are a continued concern.

1748 Bakehouse is located in historic Springfield and it’s a spot that won’t sacrifice quality, despite the increase.

“It’s not like we can buy cheaper butter or cheaper flour, we just have to carry-on and look at possibly raising prices. We’re looking at that really hard right now,” Daurizio said.

It’s not something he wants to do — or any other place for that matter — but it might be the only way until costs go back down.

“We have to pay our employees, we have to pay our farmer...that 30% increase makes it very challenging,” Daurizio said.

Donald Wiggins is the president of the Heritage Capital Group.

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He says these increases are due to a supply shortage caused by the pandemic.

“The supply chain got disrupted and I think another thing it goes back to is labor. Because labor has been in short supply so truck drivers, warehouse workers, people loading, all the people in the supply chain have been limited,” Wiggins said.

So in the meantime, Daurizio said they will keep analyzing numbers each week and doing what they do best.

“We are close to making a decision and if we do increase, we are going to increase as little as possible,” Daurizio said.

Wiggins told Action News Jax he believes the market will right itself in the coming months. But in the meantime, consumers can expect price increases across the board.

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