By Sliced Pizza Co.

We, like many other of our local business owners, have been hit with some hard reality.

Here’s a little peek into the current restaurant industry:

Our cheese prices are up 47 percent or out of stock. Some may have noticed a difference in the cheese this week.

Our chicken prices are up a minimum of 40 percent.

Our Pork (sausage, pepperoni, bacon, Canadian bacon) is up 51 percent from Neimuth’s.

Credit Card usage and associated fees are up and cash is down.

Paper products are up 20 percent or limited in earth friendly stock.

Delivery fees are up because fuel is up, and orders are not always filled because drivers are limited, or supplies are out.

Our pizza delivery drivers are seeing the price at the pump go up. Please tip your drivers appropriately. Especially if you are at the edge of our delivery area.

Staffing is down and wages are up. We are still very short staffed with nearly zero applicants.

New staff are learning = learning curve. This is a craft and takes a good amount of time to get down.

—SO—

Be kind to your small businesses.

Show grace plus give constructive feedback.

Stop saying “if they paid more” about small businesses. Small business owners take incredible financial risks, sacrifice so much of their family time, give so much to charities, have unpredictable pricing, equipment failures, are impacted by weather, Covid closures, high insurance costs … the list goes on.

Your challenge today?

Write a 5-star review for a local business you love on their Google and Facebook page.

Share their page with your family and friends or invite them to ‘like’ the page.

Pay cash as often as possible.

Cheer on your “mom & pop” businesses. Their success is good for your community! We know this first-hand in Scandinavia.