Business owners have also had to grapple with a rise in the minimum wage, as well as higher employer National Insurance Contributions, which they’ve had to pay since April.
Jane Matthews, operations director of the Ice Cream Farm in Cheshire, said her business is constantly having to absorb rising costs, from payroll to food to energy.
“We’re being squeezed on all corners,” she told BBC News. But, she added, the company was conscious that “customers’ budgets are also squeezed”.
She said the company felt it had no choice but to pass on these costs to their customers.
“You’ve got to make these decisions now so you can keep going, [otherwise] you might not to be able to employ more people or [have to] close certain things during the year.”
Research published on Tuesday showed that many people are cutting back on fast food and casual dining, replacing it with smaller treats like coffee or a bar of chocolate.
Ms Matthews said she had noticed this through the number of picnics on the farm.
“People might bring a basic picnic and supplement it with a bag of chips for the kids,” she said.
“So we’ve embraced that in the hope that they will still spend here.”