Restaurant owner unmasks new battlefront to 'overcome' as the price of food skyrockets

foxbusiness.com:

Johnny Roger’s owner Barrett Dabbs details how inflation is hurting his Concord, North Carolina barbecue and burger joint on ‘Varney & Co.’

While restaurants and small businesses have struggled with the weight of inflation, one barbecue and burger joint owner voiced his concerns over the shift from in-person to takeout dining. 

Johnny Roger’s owner, Barrett Dabbs, revealed the increase in take-out meals is causing his business and others like his to lose money.

«It's the price of everything that goes into that takeout meal,» Dabbs explained on «Varney & Co» Tuesday. «Everything is up 30 to 40% to where it was. [It] used to be $0.20, $0.25 were the cost to prepare it to go. But now, you just look at what it costs to get that item out the door. The food dining trends have changed. There's not as many butts in seats. People do a lot more takeout. And so, it's just one more area that us as businesses are trying to overcome.»

JANUARY INFLATION BREAKDOWN: WHERE ARE PRICES STILL RISING THE FASTEST?

«It's the infrastructure with the ordering online. It is having somebody to take the order over the phone. It is the increased cost of all the to-go packaging. You have the to-go box, you have the gloves that it takes to prepare the food, the ramekins, the cups, the straws…»

The financial strain associated with take-out orders is just one more piece in a complicated puzzle presented to business owners living under post-pandemic inflation.

Johnny Rogers owner Barrett Dabbs details the impact inflation is having on his Concord, North Carolina restaurant.

Menu price increases are the most widely felt as customers are faced with paying more for the same amount of food. 

Dabbs said his Concord, North Carolina restaurant has had to raise