{"id":225536,"date":"2025-10-19T22:48:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T22:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/225536\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T22:48:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T22:48:07","slug":"restaurant-owners-say-inflation-forcing-17-for-egg-sandwich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/225536\/","title":{"rendered":"Restaurant owners say inflation forcing $17 for egg sandwich"},"content":{"rendered":"

Diners already concerned about the cost of eating out may be disappointed to learn that many restaurants are considering raising prices<\/a> to keep up with inflated\u00a0food and drink\u00a0costs.<\/p>\n

Restaurant management software company Toast recently released its 2025\u00a0Voice of the Restaurant Industry Survey,<\/a>\u00a0revealing that improving profitability was the top concern for operators headed into next year.<\/p>\n

Operators ranked inflation (20%), marketing (16%) and hiring (16%) as their top three business pain points.<\/p>\n

Nearly half of all 712 restaurant decision-makers surveyed (48%) said they plan to increase menu prices if inflation continues to be a factor.<\/p>\n

The National Restaurant Association estimates that, to maintain a 5% profit margin, the\u00a0average restaurant\u00a0needs to raise prices by 31%, according to data compiled by the D.C.-based industry trade group earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cRaising menu prices is typically a last resort for restaurant operators, but with the rising costs of food and labor, their operating math still has to work,\u201d Chad Moutray, chief economist for the National Restaurant Association, told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n

Restaurant operators ranked inflation, marketing and hiring as their top business pain points in the 2025\u00a0Voice of the Restaurant Industry Survey by Toast. xixinxing \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

Small business owners like Michael Brafman, who operates The Sandwich Board in New York City, are concerned about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe basic math is whatever product you have, you divide it by .3, and that\u2019s what the product should cost to the consumer to operate at that healthy margin,\u201d Brafman told Fox News Digital. \u201cIf the prices continue to increase, there\u2019s only [so much] that the consumer will be willing to pay.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sandwich shop owner said he wrestled with this issue\u00a0during the egg crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe basic math is whatever product you have, you divide it by .3, and that\u2019s what the product should cost to the consumer to operate at that healthy margin,\u201d Michael Brafman, who operates The Sandwich Board, said. weyo \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

\u201cI held out a long time to raise the [price] of our egg sandwiches,\u201d Brafman said.<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cYou can only get away with charging so much for an\u00a0egg sandwich<\/a>. . . .\u00a0Nobody\u2019s spending $17 on an egg sandwich just so you can keep your margins.\u201d<\/p>\n

He tacked on an extra dollar, he said, \u201cwhich was very marginal, but people were concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can only get away with charging so much for an\u00a0egg sandwich. . . .\u00a0Nobody\u2019s spending $17 on an egg sandwich just so you can keep your margins,\u201d Brafman said. Bisual Photo \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

Increasing menu prices can be an added challenge when the business is new.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always a tenuous line to walk,\u201d Brafman said. \u201cIt is a game of chicken.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since opening The Sandwich Board last year, Brafman said he\u2019s seen a spike in the cost of proteins.<\/p>\n

\u201cProteins are increasing exponentially \u2014 eggs, dairy, meat, poultry, all of the core parts of the sandwich,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen\u00a0a steak\u00a0per pound goes from $7 to $11, that\u2019s an unrealistic price increase.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Passing that off to customers could spell bad news for cost-conscious diners.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have people [who] come here repeatedly per week, and that\u2019s the fear,\u201d said Brafman. \u201cHow many times will they stop coming because the cost is prohibitive?\u201d<\/p>\n

John Loeffler, innkeeper and chef at The Inn at Gristmill Square and Waterwheel Restaurant in Virginia, said he\u2019s been watching similar trends play out, just at a different price tier.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow many times will they stop coming because the cost is prohibitive?\u201d Brafman said. Pixel-Shot \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

\u201cBeef is always a huge, huge seller for us. It is one of our more popular items,\u201d Loeffler told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n

In June, a whole loin of certified Angus ribeye cost $14.75 a pound, he said. Today, it\u2019s $17.99.<\/p>\n

As costs climb, keeping guests happy becomes about more than the food alone, Loeffler said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s the challenge facing all restaurants \u2014 adding value as menu prices go up,\u201d John Loeffler, innkeeper and chef at The Inn at Gristmill Square and Waterwheel Restaurant, said. bokan \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you make money, sell people something that\u00a0they feel good\u00a0about and feel a value, even at a higher price point?\u201d he said. \u201cI think that\u2019s the challenge facing all restaurants \u2014 adding value as menu prices go up.\u201d<\/p>\n

After 30 years in the business, Loeffler said he\u2019s learned to think differently about profit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think about margins less than percentages,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

His approach often means absorbing part of the cost to preserve the dining experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, we\u2019re in the business of taking care of people,\u00a0nourishing them, making them feel good \u2026 and making them feel good about spending money. That\u2019s our job.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Diners already concerned about the cost of eating out may be disappointed to learn that many restaurants are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":225537,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[45,49,48,46,2069,135,890,134,3560,107922],"class_list":{"0":"post-225536","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-economy","12":"tag-food-drink","13":"tag-inflation","14":"tag-lifestyle","15":"tag-money","16":"tag-restaurants","17":"tag-sandwiches"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}