WASHINGTON Warning that wholesale food prices are on track to beat last year’s record as the sharpest increase in 27 years, the National Restaurant Association asked each member of Congress on Wednesday to address the underlying factor of soaring energy prices.
In a letter to every U.S. senator and representative, the NRA explained that “the alarming and dramatic rise” in energy costs has actually been a triple whammy for the industry. While profits were crunched by an 8.2-percent jump in food costs during the first half of 2008, sales were dampened by the higher prices that consumers are paying at the pump. The 2008 increases will cut the public’s disposable income by $100 billion, the NRA asserted.
Plus, the letters continued, “restaurants are seeing their own energy bills jump,” cutting further into margins that typically range from 4 percent to 6 percent.
“In short, prices are too high, jeopardizing the financial health of the industry,” stated the letter, which was signed by John Gay, the NRA’s senior vice president of government affairs and public policy.
He noted that wholesale food prices rose 7.6 percent in 2007, the highest spike in 27 years.
The missive acknowledged that the problem can’t be solved with “quick fixes” or a “single answer.” The NRA called for a combination of conservation, development of new supplies from non-food sources like plant matter, and increased output of traditional energy forms such as oil and natural gas. It also specifically urged Congress to monitor the energy markets to keep excessive speculation from driving up prices.
“We urge you to act now,” the NRA said in the letter.