Townsville restaurants and wholesalers forced to put up prices as meat, produce costs rise

Dimi Duff owns a cafe in Townsville, north Queensland, and has put her life savings into the business to keep it afloat during the pandemic.

Ms Duff says over the last six months, bills from their wholesalers and suppliers have climbed quickly.

She had no choice but to put up the cafe’s prices.

“It’s something we don’t like to do, but it is a bit tough at the moment for us to keep our businesses open and break even,” she said.

Ms Duff has noticed the prices of meat and poultry increasing, while fruit and vegetables were also becoming more expensive.

Ms Duff said her cleaning products were also costing more, with the prices going up every couple of months.

“And these are things you need to have to stay open; without those you wouldn’t pass a food inspection,” she said.

Eye fillet off the menu

Townsville Yacht Club general manager Mark Cruikshank said the venue’s bistro was forced to review its menu about 12 months ago.

“It’s just not an option; we couldn’t justify putting on our menu.”

And it’s not just the price of meat that’s worrying Mr Cruikshank; he says the club is also paying more for fruit and vegetables.

“The lack of staffing to help [farmers] pick fruit et cetera, but the prices have gone up and it just means we look at what we put on [the menu],” he said. 

They also decided to take fruit off the list.

It all adds up

Townsville seafood wholesaler Mark Partland is concerned about rising freight costs to transport seafood from further south.

Cost of living data for the December 2021 quarter from Australian Bureau of Statics revealed transport was a major driver reflecting higher global oil prices and limited oil supply.

“Unfortunately, there seems to prices rising everywhere at the moment,” Mr Partland said. 

“It’s been fuel, it’s been produce, and now we’ve got the floods down south.”