One of the biggest successes for local entrepreneurs over the past couple of years has been problems with supply chains, building materials and food items such as meat.
Inflation, which peaked in 40 years, and empty shelves have impacted local food suppliers and restaurateurs.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics have reported inflation of 9.1% since June 2021.
According to the USDA website:
Although inflation has caused problems in the price of food and food products, it has not reached a breaking point. However, it also hasn’t made things easy for small businesses like food trucks.
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“We had to raise our prices by $ 0.50 on the whole menu, just to try and catch up on some of that game,” said Loosewheels food truck owner Marcus Malone. “But (the prices of meat and supplies have) doubled in some cases. It was everything from takeaway boxes to packaging, everything, and especially bacon.”
Businesses struggling to adapt
Casey Weber, owner of Tallgrass Meat Co., based in Colombia, has also suffered the effects of inflation, as well as changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To see also : KARM launches Food Truck with a mission bigger than serving food. While he and his family remained in business, he admits, as a small business owner, it was a struggle to adapt.
“I don’t know what everyone has to go through, but I suppose in the food industry, especially the independents who don’t have corporate contractors … they’d have the same problems as Foodland and Piggly Wiggly,” Weber said. “The most important thing is the volatility, which means that sometimes things will show, other times they won’t show. We rode the same prices (for sales), but it went up significantly.”
Weber said his stock of meat from local farmers has also declined in the past two years. Most of the local meat market’s stock is shipped from the Tallgrass Prairie in Kansas, with about 10% coming from local farmers. Local numbers, he said, were around 25 percent, but they fell mainly due to the pandemic as well as USDA trade regulations regarding what a meat supplier can sell.
“It was a little bit more difficult,” Weber said. “With local producers, they have their good months and bad ones. That’s right.”
Weber believes the business remained strong thanks to community support for local stores, such as his butcher’s, which opposed shopping at department stores and corporate chains like Kroger and Walmart.
The current state of business has also reduced the ability of Tallgrass and other local stores to plan ahead, meaning you never know what each day will bring until what can be restocked.
“In our case, it’s lucky for us that people support local shopping,” Weber said. “However, it has become a daily operation, not something we can plan for a week, a month or even a year. The last year has helped us improve a lot in doing it, but we can’t plan things like Christmas in advance yet. , which was really difficult. “
Rising prices and market focus have become far more important, but Weber believes community is one of the deciding factors in Tallgrass’s continued success, especially during times of inflation and shortages.
“It’s certainly not doomsday, and I think it’s a testimony to the community,” Weber said.
“Columbia entrepreneurs are really good at this by providing something unique. It’s not just me, but all of them, and I think that’s what our clients have come to appreciate. This is one of the reasons we’ve been here. able to do what we do “.
