CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Inflation is continuing to put a strain on businesses. The prices of ingredients bakeries use have gone up quite a bit over the last few months.
MORE ON WCNC CHARLOTTE: US retail sales were flat in July as inflation takes a toll
If you ask Samantha Allen, owner of Wentworth and Fenn Bakery in Charlotte, she just wants to bake cake. She loves it so much that she had it tattooed on her hands. She spends every day in the kitchen prepping all the pastries.
Baking is exact. Many bakers never change the amount of an ingredient, or which ingredients to use in the first place.
"That comes with a price tag now, unfortunately," Allen said, lamenting inflation's impact on her costs. "It's very bitter for me."
The Bureau of Labor and Statistics reported butter saw a 21% surge in price from last June.
“That’s $50, $60 a case and it used to be $30," Allen said.
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In the same time frame, the price of eggs was up 47%. Allen was left with a few decisions to make. She was forced to raise prices, something she didn't want to do.
The good news is the worst may be behind us, experts say. The Consumer Price Index didn't increase in July, which is a positive sign.
“It is likely to begin tapering in the second half of the year," Joseph Von Nessen with the University of South Carolina Darla Moore School of Business said.
Allen said if this is true, she can finally see something sweet in the future. She wants to step away from the planning and pricing and get back to focusing on the thing she loves -- baking cake.
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