Soaring egg prices puts strain on bakeries in Santa Barbara
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Justin’s Blum of CrushCakes and Cafe isn’t kidding when he says their business needs eggs to make all their cupcakes.Â
{Justin Blum, CrushCakes & Cafe, general manager}
"Eggs is everything we do here with our bakery items for our kitchen with the Food and we use eggs for all of our baked goods our cupcakes everything we do here is … eggs," said general manager Justin Blum of CrushCakes & Cafe.
Local bakeries cafes and restaurants across Santa Barbara are feeling the pinch of rising egg prices including Jeannine’s Restaurant and Bakeries.
"80 percent of our menu uses eggs. So it’s really impacting the small breakfast cafes … any bakery is being heavily impacted by this," said Alison Hardey of Jeannine’s Restaurant & Bakeries.
According to the USDA the current price of a dozen large eggs in California cost about $6.72.
Local business owners are showing their support by becoming customers for one another.
"Eggs are a big problem for us because fifteen dozen eggs costs now over $100. In the pat we were paying just shy of 40," said Debra Goldman of Carp Kitchen & Grocery.
Managers at Crushcakes cafe say they use hundreds of eggs just to make their cupcakes everyday.
"The pressure is on! Let me tell you! We are taking Valentine’s Day orders. So we are not scared of these prices of eggs going up," said Blum.
For Jeannine’s and CrushCakes, managers are biting the bullet trying to keep prices down.
But for Renaud's Bakery, the surge in prices for eggs means raising prices for select items.
"We make omelets. In our pastries … almost everything," said server Gabriel Ortiz ofRenaud’s Bakery.
"We are just hoping our community just keep coming … we are trying to keep our prices the best they can be," said Blum.
"We know the prices are up but we love our eggs so we’re going to keep eating them," said customer laine Mahbest of Jeannine’s Restaurant & Bakeries,.
According to the USDA the current price of a dozen large eggs in California cost about $6.72.
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