Sunshine Coast restaurants are shedding staff and raising menu prices to combat a rise in food prices

With food prices soaring some smaller restaurants have been forced to find ways to stay afloat, with staffing numbers and menu items under the microscope.

Smaller restaurants on the Sunshine Coast have been forced to shed staff and bump menu prices up to try and counter the effect of skyrocketing supply prices.

Mooloolaba restaurant Crumbed or Naked owner Jett Keles said ongoing food price increases had slashed his profit by nearly 30 per cent in the past 12 months, forcing him to cut staff from about 25 to 10.

“I lost half my staff,” he said.

Mr Keles – who hadn’t had a day off in the past five weeks – said food prices were “stupidly high” like brioche buns rising from 80c to $1.20.

To ease the burden he’d found cheaper ingredients and planned to raise his menu prices.

“The prices need to go down, seriously … a lot of people are struggling,” Mr Keles said.

Crumbed or Naked: Picture: Asa Andersen.

The Food and Agribusiness Network had stated prices were rising in the region because food suppliers were in an “incredibly tough” environment due to recent floods, staff shortages, and spikes in inflation.

To combat this, Mooloolaba restaurant Augello's Ristorante & Pizzeria co-owner Simon Best said he’d bumped his menu by $2 “where it’s required” to alleviate the pain of meat and vegetables constantly rising.

“Normally, I’d absorb the prices, but we’ve had to put the prices up,” he said.

Mr Best, who’s been in the industry for 27 years, said the cost of salmon from his Australian supplier had jumped 50 per cent from $33 to $48 a kilogram.

“Once it goes up, it very rarely goes back,” Mr Best said.

One restaurant owner, however, wasn’t flinching at the peaking prices.

Maroochydore gourmet sandwich bar Walter’s Diner owner Danny Simmonds, 33, said he strategically designed his business to withstand a recession by being cheaper to run and affordable for customers.

“We invested in Walter’s Diner strictly because prices are going to rise. It’s completely factored in,” he said.

Mr Simmonds said his business model shaved “massive” costs on staff because it had an all-takeaway menu and didn’t sink costs on running dish washing machines because its diner’s packaging was “100% compostable”.

“Walter’s Diner will be here until 2064 – that’s the truth,” he said.