Rising prices in almost every category of life have been a source of pain and frustration for most people in recent months, but for people who produce and deliver food around the countryside, it is devastating.
Roxana Weinheber was concerned about small increases once or twice a year in basic products such as sugar and flour. But now, the owner of Chatman’s Bakery in the community of Terra Nova in Charlottetown, is coping with the daily increases that make her dizzy.
“A few years ago, if you saw a four percent increase on your desk, you’d say, ‘Oh my God, four percent.’ Now four percent is a joke, “she said. “It’s every day now. It’s just astronomical and amazing.”
For those who buy flour in huge quantities, the increase in prices over the past few months is difficult to absorb. (CBC)
Chatman’s Bakery makes cookies and other baked goods from scratch with family recipes. He buys flour in bulk, which has risen from about $ 20 per bag to about $ 26.50. The bulk egg package has doubled, from $ 39 in December to $ 71.50 in recent weeks. Plastic cookie containers have risen from their usual 50 cents to $ 1.06.
Then there is the cost of delivery. Chatman is sold to retailers throughout the countryside and all the way to Ontario. Even before the price of the goods went awry, Weinheber said he was at a disadvantage just because of geography. The supply of goods from the island has always been expensive, but it has become unrealistic with rising fuel prices.
“Competing outside the countryside is a struggle,” she said. “Being on an island, the load for boarding and disembarking throws us out of the field anyway. Now, with such increases, it’s so hard to even compete.
The price of everything related to baked goods, from flour and sugar to plastic trays, is rising. (CBC)
The price of fuel is also wreaking havoc on its workers. Chatman’s Bakery had difficulty finding enough workers during the pandemic and turned to Canada’s overseas workers’ program to stay afloat. However, the three workers brought in outside the country were immediately compensated by three employees who could no longer afford to travel to Charlottetown.
“In fact, we lost staff who were full-time staff who just couldn’t afford to drive back and forth, so they took on seasonal jobs in their own community. The impact is sad. It’s just sad.
Weinheber said most people would not link global issues, such as global oil production or the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to the price of bread in rural Newfoundland, but it all has an impact.
Rural enterprises feel hurt
On top of Newfoundland’s Northern Peninsula, the Dark Tickle Company is also wondering how it will make a profit from its products this year. In fact, owner Kir Knudsen is almost certain that the company, founded by his grandfather in 1919, will break down at best.
“The price of everything has gone up,” he said. “From the price of sugar to the price of the bottles and jars in which we put our sweets.”
The price of jars has risen by 50% in two months, Knudson said. It used to cost about $ 24 a pound, but now it’s over $ 30.
Dark Tickle delivers its ice cream from the North Peninsula to St. John’s every year. These trips will cost much more this summer. (Submitted by Kier Knudsen)
Diesel, however, is the biggest killer. As they are a rural business, they have to transport all their raw materials to the north before sending the finished products back to the south. The company also owns a truck to transport its ice cream to St. John’s. A trip cost about $ 1,600 to return. It will now cost almost $ 3,000.
“I don’t even know how we’re going to do it, to be honest.”
There are benefits to being an old family business, Knudson said. They do not have to balance these increases with mortgages or any start-up costs that a new business would have to bear.
“I’m sorry. We have young couples throwing all their savings into a small business … It must be just a nightmare.”
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