Oklahoma City Bakery Owner Opens Up About Inflation Impact On Business

A local bakery owner is opening up about how the increase in prices for eggs is affecting their business.

Right now, the focus is on egg prices after bird flu wiped out 10 percent of the laying hen population, but the owner of Twisted Tree, a locally-owned bakery, said dairy prices are hurting them.

"A case of those eggs might have been $80; a year ago, that was about $35," Twisted Tree Owner Robert Black said. 

According to Inflation Tracker, butter, milk and cheese prices have been up 30 percent in the last year.

"We have cost overruns because massive inflation affects the cost of goods. We have labor shortages and supply change shortages. When you talk about the cost of goods increasing, you just cannot talk about that by itself," Black said. 

It's all boiling down to what experts said is the perfect storm after COVID-19. 

According to food industry economist Rodney Holcomb, the extremely high fuel prices are to blame.

"It is not just the price of moving product from point to point, but high fuel prices affect fertilizer to farm grain," Holcomb said. 

He added that by the second quarter of 2023, we should see a shift in egg prices.

"What will the new adjusted egg prices be that we do not know yet," Holcomb said.