KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Inflation continues to soar and small businesses in the Kansas City area are struggling to keep up.
The prices of their products are increasing on a daily basis, and that's forcing them to increase their prices and get rid of the items and deals that bring you into their doors.
"I mean we are doing our best with trying to help everybody, what can I say," Jesus Campos, manager at Bonito Michoacan in Olathe, said.
Bonito Michoacan is a Hispanic market and butcher shop with locations in Olathe and Kansas City, Kansas. Campos said sticker shock continues to take their customers by surprise.
Shortages and high demand are creating the perfect recipe for high prices, and now, it's biting into future specials and deals, like Taco Tuesday.
"We are trying to do like chicken pork to keep them a dollar, but we don't know how much time we can keep up with this because all the meat is going up," Campos said.
Donutology in Kansas City, Missouri, is also facing a similar dilemma. Owner Andrew Cameron said prices for oil and flour continue to increase, and they are eating up their own profits.
"Our donuts flour and shortening has doubled in the last year," Cameron said. "We have tried to absorb as much of that cost as we can but we have done a price increase for the first time since the pandemic began."
Prices on Donutology's menu are 20% higher than they were a year ago, but Cameron doesn't think that's enough to balance out inflation.
"The buying power is a lot lower with inflation and so we're also having to raise not only our prices for our food but also because of our labor rates have gone up as well," Cameron said.
The National Federation of Independent Businesses released new data indicating 22% of small businesses reported inflation as their top problem and 49% said job openings continue to remain unfilled.
