RESTAURANTS HIT BY HIGH FOOD PRICES

BUYING MEALS at local restaurants and food shacks across the country may soon take more out of your pocket, as a number of restaurant owners consider increasing their food prices as a result of high market costs. Others, however, are adopting a “wait and see” policy before making any definite decisions. Manager of the Park Street branch of Bos Burgers, Kelvin Alleyne, said he has been adversely affected by the increase, because every item on the menu at his restaurant includes a salad. He said he knew prices would go up as a result of the flooding in the country, and the demands of the international market following the hurricane season. However, he said he was surprised by the magnitude of the increases, which are 100 percent of what they previously cost.

He said he used to pay $2.50 for a pound of tomatoes, and he is now paying between $8 and $10 a pound, and cabbage, which was $2, has now jumped to $4. Lettuce also rose by 100 percent — from $2 to $4. He pointed out that in order to reduce his costs, he bypasses the middle man and deals directly with the farmers. He noted that his restaurant has not increased its prices for quite a while, but given the way things are, this may be the only option. Touching on some of the other increases affecting his business, Alleyne said fish seem to be swimming into deeper and deeper waters, with King Fish moving from $12 to $13 last week, and $13 to $16 this week.

He explained that in addition to the other increases that businesspeople are faced with, such as the increase in the minimum wage, an increase in foodstuff, and Caribbean Packaging Industries’ decision to increase the price of boxes, it is almost impossible to keep the price of prepared food down. On the other hand the, manager of a popular Woodbrook restaurant said that prices should not be dramatically increased, since the price hike on market produce is just a temporary thing. He said that whenever prices go up, the right thing to do is to wait for a while before deciding on a response. In a statement, Managing Director of Subway Restaurant, David Coelho, said they were significantly affected by the increases, since their operations depended on items such as tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage and cucumber.

He said that the restaurant was not contemplating any price increases at present, but noted that if this situation continues it may be forced to consider increasing prices. Asked how they were dealing with the price hike, Coelho explained that the company was presently absorbing the increases, hoping that things go back to normal early next year. Other restaurant managers said that they too have been affected by the increases, which have been described as “more dramatic and sustained” than previous years,” but, they have decided to adopt a “wait- and-see” approach to the situation. When contacted on the issue, Consumer Affairs Minister Danny Montano indicated that he believed that the increases were purely seasonal.