- July 14, 2021
- Posted by: Stratford Team
- Category: Business
(CNN) — Restaurant owners can add the rising cost of food to their growing list of challenges.
Inflation is on the rise throughout the country, and independent restaurant leaders say many of their businesses will soon be forced to permanently shut down unless they receive more federal aid from Congress.
“Every increase in food prices really throws them for a loop,” says Erika Polmer, executive director of the Independent Restaurant Coalition, a group of more than 100,000 local chefs and restaurant owners that formed last year to advocate for their industry’s pandemic-related needs in Washington.
Polmer says COVID lockdowns and an ongoing labor shortage already had local restaurant owners struggling to catch up. For some restaurants, soaring prices could be the final nail in the coffin.
The price of grains were up 93.8% in June when compared to the same period a year ago, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor…
