Local businesses face food price crisis

They say there’s no such thing as a free lunch, but with food prices skyrocketing to historic heights, soon there may be no such thing as even a cheap lunch.

Food costs rose by 4 percent in 2007, and they’re predicted to rise by as much as 4.5 percent this year, the highest food-price inflation since the early 1990s, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The price of rice has almost doubled during the last year. Chicken prices are up almost 30 percent, local business owners said.

The causes for the food crisis vary — rising fuel prices, unpredictable weather and demand from India and China — but for local restaurants, the solution to the problem often means upping menu prices.

“We’ve been here for 16 years and have always had some of the lowest menu prices on the Ave,” said George Kitsondhi, the lead chef at Thai Tom. “But right now we aren’t really making a profit. With the cost of raw materials so high now, we had to raise our prices by 50 cents just to survive — even with the many loyal customers we have.”

And Thai Tom isn’t the only restaurant that’s struggling to cope with higher costs. Thai 65, another restaurant on the Ave, has also upped its prices by 50 cents. The business’ owner, Yada Pramoj, said that she hopes customers “will understand that there’s not much more that we can do.”

“It used to be that one 50-pound bag of jasmine rice from Thailand cost us $20,” Pramoj said. “Now it’s almost $40. We had to raise prices. It would be too expensive to stay in business if we didn’t.”

Other restaurants are simply finding it more difficult to find the raw materials they need to keep cooking.

“Some of the wholesalers run out of rice as soon as they get new shipments in,” said Stan Lee, owner of Nikko Bento on the Ave. “There’s just less coming in. And the stuff that is coming is more expensive than it used to be.”

But some business owners, like Lee, haven’t decided to raise their prices yet. Instead, Lee and others said they will wait and hope prices go down in the coming months.

“We’ll think about [raising prices] by maybe August,” said Kate Nualsanit, an employee at Thai-ger Room. “We are making less profit right now, but we’re also waiting to see if the price of rice and chicken goes down. But I don’t think it will affect the number of customers we have. It hasn’t in the past.”

For some students, restaurant prices aren’t the real crisis.

“I don’t really think about the higher prices when I’m eating out,” sophomore Eli Fender said. “I don’t mind paying an extra 50 cents. But I do mind paying an extra $10 to $15 at the grocery store. That’s far worse.”

According to a recent study conducted by Seattle University, local farmers markets — once far more expensive than big box grocery stores — are now often more cost effective; the average price per pound of organic fruits and vegetables cheaper at the University District Farmers Market than at the Roosevelt Square Whole Foods or the University Village QFC.

Whether it’s groceries or eateries, other students said the increased prices aren’t that much of a concern.

“Higher costs don’t change that I really like to eat out at places like Thai Tom,” said Mackenzie Houck, an international studies and economics major. “Inflation is normal. So are increased prices. And it’s not like I’m going to stop going to my favorite restaurant on the Ave, just for an extra 50 cents. It’s just not going to happen. No way.”