If you're surprised at the cost of your morning muffin, business owners want you to know that it could be worse, as they're often absorbing costs to keep customers coming back.
Many local business owners say operational costs have skyrocketed since the pandemic, and recent inflation has only made it worse.
"It's definitely not pleasant," said David Huang, owner of Kitsilano's The Only Café, adding that the last thing he wants to do is raise his prices.
"It's definitely not something that we want to do. We want to give customers value instead of charging them a higher price," he said.
He's gotten pushback from some customers, but he said he had no other choice.
"Milk has gone up by 30 per cent and let's say coffee beans have gone up 25 per cent," he said.
From the cost of ingredients to transportation and rent hikes, he's had to increase the prices of his food and drinks, and even then, it doesn't cover the jump in costs.
Huang said inflation is cutting into his profits, making it harder than ever to stay in business.
He said it has cost him tens of thousands of dollars more to operate his business within the last year.
And he's not the only one struggling with inflation.
LC Nguyen, the owner of Bean Around the World Coffees at UBC, said some of the costs of the ingredients she carries have doubled since the pandemic.
"It's been rising rapidly, but as a business owner, we have to suck up a lot of the cost because it's just so much that we can raise in pricing," she said.
Even then, she said, some customers aren’t happy when they see the total.
"Sometimes they're like, 'How much?!' That sort of thing," Nguyen said, adding that people are becoming more understanding that life is getting more expensive.
"I think people are starting to warm up to it. People expect that there's a cost of inflation," she said.
Nguyen said the costs of some of her pastries have gone up by 75 cents.
"Let's say these almond croissants, they used to be $5.25, now it's about $6," she said. "And these bars as well, they used to be $3.75. Now it's $4.50 to $4.75."
While she hopes there's some relief in the future, she wants customers to understand that it's out of her control and she is simply trying to stay afloat and ride out this wave of inflation.
