‘The pandemic hit us and now costs are rising. It’s very hard on a family business’
Bakers are also preparing for the worst as the price of ingredients soars.
Colin and Kelly Duncan, owners of the Madhouse Bakery in Glenrothes, have said that not a single item has remained at the same price, having a detrimental impact on their business.
Colin said: “The cost of eggs has gone up by about 25%, coffee beans are up 30%. Sugar and flour have also gone up, and butter has had a 20% increase, even the cost of side salads has gone – there is not a single ingredient that has stayed the same price.
“I’m holding off on upping our prices for as long as
I can, but we can’t do it forever.”
Both the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis coincided with the bakery, which runs as both a shop and a cafe, opening a second site, adding to their losses.
“We opened a second shop which cost about £20,000, and we had less than one week of trade before the country went into lockdown,” said Colin. “Covid has been very hard on us. And now we are coming away from it, there’s the cost-of-living crisis.”
Madhouse Bakery has also seen a dramatic drop in the number of customers, due to households having to save every penny they can.
Kelly said: “People do not have the same disposable income, which makes the fact that we have got to put our prices up worse because even more people may not want to come in. Because of Covid we reduced our capacity in the café as well, but we feel no need to raise it back up again at the moment because we don’t have the same level of customers coming in as they were before the pandemic. Turnover is down probably 20% to 30%.”
The bakery is now beginning to prepare for a serious energy price change. Colin said: “Our four-year deal with the electric company ends in August, so I’m expecting a big jump in price. I’m expecting it to be 50% to 60% higher.
“We are a family business, and Madhouse bakery pays our household bills, which are also going up.”