JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Inflation is causing the price of food, gas, and electricity to rise and with that, local restaurants are having to find solutions. Some are putting a "temporary inflation charge" on customers' bills.
On the Nextdoor app, a neighbor from the World Golf Village put up a photo of their receipt from St. Mary’s Seafood that included a temporary inflation charge.
Others commented on the post and weren’t too happy about it.
So First Coast News asked the owner, Nammour Nammour, why the additional fee?
He puts it in perspective.
“A year ago, we were paying 61 cents a pound for fryer oil, which this location has 7 fryers. Now it’s $1.41, and everyone knows what's going on with electricity, because everybody’s electric bill has gone up dramatically. So those things we have to off set to keep our doors open," said Nammour.
Nammour says they have four St. Mary's Seafood locations, and last week they added a 7.13% temporary inflation fee onto the customers bills.
With the new fee the restaurant made sure to notify their customers with this paper that is posted throughout the restaurant.
“We definitely understand it, of course, none of us like it, but the restaurant can’t absorb the cost of what's going on in the world today. So they need to pass it on to the consumer and it’s a matter of whether the consumer can afford to show up on a regular basis like we always have," said Dan Moreland, customer at St. Mary's Seafood.
First Coast News talked to the regional director for the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, Nicole Chapman, who says more and more restaurants around the country are adding a temporary inflation charge to customer’s bills.
“Typically within a dollar you give a restaurant 33% goes to food cost, 33% to labor cost, and 29 percent go to the other cost like rent utilities and supplies. So even when life is great, you are under a nickel of what you earn per dollar, and now with the inflation and the price of goods and services, its about 1% of income there," said Chapman.
Nammour says he hopes inflation goes down.
"It’s no telling what could happen. I mean that’s why we did this so we could fluctuate it," said Nammour.
The owner says he has been very transparent with the community about the temporary inflation charge. But if you have and questions. You can reach out to the company at stmarysseafood@comcast.net or visit their website for more information.