Some of Utah's most popular eateries are fighting to stay afloat as they struggle to emerge from the pandemic.
That suggests the industry's economic challenges are massive, imperiling even highly successful players.Inflated prices for raw goods, supply chain disruptions, and labor shortages have converged in "a perfect storm," Molly Kohrman, owner ofCustomers also are pinching pennies and buying less than they did before the pandemic, Kohrman said.
After spending two years drastically changing operations to keep serving customers, a lot of owners are exhausted and can't take out more loans to keep trying new things, she added.Egg prices have risen from $15–$18 a case pre-pandemic to around $60 Kohrman said. Butter has risen from $1 to more than $3 per pound."In the food industry when your profit margins are around 30%, 1–2% makes a big difference. A 50% decrease is pretty significant," Kohrman said.
Spalding and Castle said they alerted customers last month that they were emotionally preparing to close, but decided to try fundraising after an outpouring of support. "There is no path forward without you," the owners wrote. "No matter what happens, thank you for showing up all of these years.""It always breaks my heart when people hear that some place is closing, and they're like 'Oh, if I'd only known, I would have come more often,'" Kohrman said. "Right now, just assume everyone is struggling. And if you can afford to go out — do it.
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