Restaurant owners struggle as high inflation hits family food budgets
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Restaurant owners struggle as high inflation hits family food budgets

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  • Restaurant owners are feeling the crisis as inflation takes its toll on consumer spending.
  • The owner of a barbecue chain told Fox that rising prices are a challenge for her business.
  • About 84% of US consumers plan to spend less on dining out because of inflation.

Many restaurant owners in the US say they are feeling the pressure of rising inflation.

Laura Dickey, the chief executive of Texas-based barbecue chain Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, told Fox News that she has noticed a shift in the way her customers spend their money, which is having a knock-on effect on her business.

Inflation reached its 41-year high in March. Rising prices have impacted goods and services ranging from gas to groceries. It has caused American consumers to put the brakes on spending.

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, personal consumption spending – the government’s measure of total consumer spending – rose 0.2%, or about $35 billion, in the month of February due to inflation.

Dickey said the impact of inflation is challenging for her restaurants. she noticed”


recession

-oriented behavior” of its customers as they become more price conscious and concerned about what they are spending their money on.

Dickey’s observations about people’s food budgets match new data released from a Bloomberg poll on American consumer spending.

According to the Harris Poll, about 84% of Americans plan to spend less because of inflation. Consumers plan to cut back the most on dining out and impulse purchases, as well as entertainment experiences such as concerts, Bloomberg reported.

One consumer told the store that he had to drastically change what he buys at the supermarket due to higher prices and switch from buying fresh produce and organic foods to canned and frozen products.

The poll also found that 40% of US consumers said higher prices caused them to make compromises when buying healthy items.

Dickey’s struggle is shared with other entrepreneurs in the hospitality industry. Drew Shane, the general manager of a restaurant in West Palm Beach, Florida, told a local news station that his company had to adjust menus and change some items to keep costs down for customers.

In contrast, Latoya Perry, a Florida-based caterer, told the same outlet that customers were still willing to pay her prices for the quality of the food she provided.

Higher prices have impacted not only the restaurant industry, but also the way employees interact. Rising lunch costs due to inflation, also known as “lunch inflation,” have left some people unable to afford to eat out with their teammates.

An employee told Insider, “Eating out is something I really enjoy, so it was hard to take that bit of joy away from me.”