Island bakeries coping with rising cost of cooking supplies

Island bakeries are experiencing sticker shock when ordering some of their most common supplies.

“The most essential things that we use. It’s oil. It’s butter. It’s flour,” said Joshua Nelson, general manger of Nanaimo Bakery & Café.

“Oil is probably the biggest increase that we’ve seen,” Nelson said. “It’s gone from $27, $28 for a jug of it, to now $57 and still rising. Almost every week that I order it, it goes up a little bit more.”

Prices have been climbing at Nanaimo Bakery & Café, but Nelson says he is trying to tackle inflation by shopping more strategically.

“It’s more onus on me to check those hot sheets and make sure I’m buying fruit that’s on sale, or maybe shopping around, maybe not getting it from the suppliers but maybe going to the stores,” said Nelson.

At Kelz Sweet & Savory Bake Shop in Sooke, owners Kelly and Yvonne Busse have had to boost prices slightly, but are resisting another price-hike and instead choosing to eat the cost.

“We’re fighting the dance of profitability and affordability for our customers," said Kelly Busse.

“Our customers have supported us all through this whole pandemic thing, so we’re going to do what we can to keep it affordable, but push come to shove, if we don’t make money we’re out of business.”

The hope is that prices will stabilize soon, but one expert says rising inflation is a reality that needs to be accepted.

“The issue is how do we adapt to it rather than resist it,” said Concordia University economics professor Moshe Lander.

While businesses and consumers are struggling in the short –term, he adds these challenges could lead to long-term sustainability

“What’s going to happen is these prices are going to continue to rise, and somebody’s is going to come along and say, ‘You know what? I can produce this cooking oil, I can produce this wheat, maybe synthetically, organically, I can do it in a greenhouse, locally produced,” said Lander.

“Rapidly rising prices could actually stimulate innovation, and so while it maybe isn’t going to save us in the next six months or maybe even six years, somewhere down the line this is the type of thing that we’re seeing, for example, in the electric car industry.”

In the meantime, Lander adds flexibility will be the key to overcome the rising cost of cooking supplies. He suggests bakers use alternative ingredients where possible and try to be open with their customers.

“As long as I find I educate the customer and get them to understand the why of it, it just makes it a little easier," said Yvonne Busse.