Inflation is hammering restaurants, dismantling the industry’s fragile recovery from pandemic-induced shutdowns just as customers resume dining out, The Hill reported. The price of produce, meat, oils and even non-food items like heat lamps and to-go containers has skyrocketed, saddling restaurants with unprecedented costs. And supply chain disruptions are making it difficult for smaller, independent restaurants to secure essential products in the first place. Surging prices and scarcity of goods — coming on top of severe workforce shortages and relatively weak demand for dining-out — has left restaurant groups appealing to Congress for help, warning of further negative impacts without another round of federal relief. The U.S. experienced the highest rate of inflation in three decades over the last year, according to Labor Department data released last week. The price of groceries rose by 5.4 percent year-over-year, with the largest increase — 11.9 percent — coming among meats, poultry, fish and eggs. Restaurant owners say they’re dealing with even larger increases for some wholesale products in recent months, costs that are passed on to customers. Prices at full-service restaurants rose by 5.9 percent over last year, the largest annual increase on record.
