AMHERST, Ohio — The latest item affected by inflation is a necessity as we head into the holidays, butter. The USDA says there’s 22% less of it in storage than last year.
Charts show the cost of butter has increased by a dollar and 30 cents comparand to last January.
The price spike is felt not just by home bakers, but by companies who rely on it for their popular products, one of which is Kiedrowski's Simply Delicious Bakery in Amherst.
Inside you’ll find people from near and far who came just to get their hands on the bakery's famous snoogle.
“This is Polish pastry, wrapped up with sweet cream cheese insides and it's glazed with a butter glaze,” said Timothy Kiedrowski, Co-owner of Kiedrowski’s Bakery.
That's just one of the delicious desserts Kiedrowski has been serving up at the bakery for almost 40 years.
“We just started implementing all my mom's old recipes, all the good old Polish recipes that have butter, sugar and cream cheese in it,” Kiedrowski said.
At his shop, the regulars don't just come for the sweets.
“I tried to supply them with a memory in every bite,” Kiedrowski said. “So many people over years come to the bakery and said, well, I remember when my mom did this and it tastes just like my mom's.”
But now those bites are costing more than ever. While the increases are across the board, right now, butter prices are way up.
“We get about 60 to 90 pounds a week and last year at this time, it was like $1.99 or $2.09 [per pound]. Right now, it's $3.49,” Kiedrowski said.
That hurts a little extra at a bakery, where butter is in just about everything.
“It's one of the main ingredients, you have to have that as a consistency basis and flavor basis,” Kiedrowski said.
So of course, his prices have to go up to stay afloat, which he worries will affect those regulars and new customers.
“I can't pass it on at once because it'd be like punching all my customers in the mouth,” Kiedrowski said. “I appreciate their loyalty to me. So that's how I’m trying to be loyal back and tiptoeing with the price.”
All of this is happening right before the holiday, which is a crucial season for bakeries.
“Oh geez, that's 40% of our business between Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and Paczki time — that's 40% of our business,” Kiedrowski said.
It's not only affecting the mom-and-pop shops, but all those shopping at the grocery store, leaving many shoppers frustrated and at a loss.
“I feel terrible for little kids, single mothers; you can’t feed your family and you work a full-time job, it's uncalled for,” said Stormy, a shopper News 5 spoke to outside a local grocery story.
“It’s getting worse — it’s getting harder and harder to survive,” said another shopper.
It's to the point that some shoppers have changed their holiday plans, but Kiedrowski says they’ll make it work no matter what.
“We're doing the best we can to provide our customers, our friends, our neighbors, our relatives with the product that we've always had,” Kiedrowski said.
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