Stacey’s Bakery – which has two branches in Ilkeston, as well as ones in Heanor and Eastwood – has not hiked up its prices as much as the bigger chain brand names.
In this inflationary environment, the price of flour has jumped by 30% over this year last year, whipping cream has risen by 50% and premises insurance has mounted by at least 10% – and that’s just a couple of overheads. Cost in labour, gas, energy, other ingredient price hikes, petrol, transport and so forth, and you have a quagmire amassing that ought to frighten even the most hardy baker.
Moderate increases
Despite this more intensive landscape, Stacey’s has only had to make moderate increases on its products.
For example, Stacey’s sausage rolls are hand-made and contain quality meat, however, they cost only 84p – “30% cheaper than the mass-produced sausage rolls of a well-known brand,” said David Stacey, MD and great-grandson of the bakery’s founder.
To achieve this, the bakery has – where possible – changed suppliers to make sure it can continue to provide the good value it has been known for since the company’s inception over 100 years ago.
Inflated price hikes
But Stacey claims the biggest brands have also inflated their prices more than their costs have gone up.
“All businesses have to decide how much of their cost price increases they pass onto customers,” he said.
“It’s clear that some companies pass all these on, while others pass it all on plus some extra besides because they think they can get away with it.
“We’ve accepted that our profits are going to be lower during this difficult period. We can only absorb the price increases so much, but equally, we still want our customers to come back and keep shopping with us and not have to worry about extortionate costs.”
