CATALINA FOOTHILLS, Ariz. (KGUN) — When he looks at his inventory and the prices he pays for ingredients, Don Vontheung, the owner of Banhdicted, 6878 E. Sunrise, realizes that he’s paying higher prices for ingredients like beef. It’s gone up by about $6 more per pound for him.
“Right now we don’t even serve beef,” Vongtheung said. “Every year it’s just something new.”
The last time he said he saw prices go up so drastically was in 2022, when he paid about $5 more. While he said some things like chicken and pork have gone up in price, those have only gone up by about 10 to 20 cents per pound, so it’s not a dramatic rise in price for him.
Last year, Vongtheung said it was eggs that really went up in price quickly. At one point he said he was paying $150 extra for the same amount of eggs.
“A lot of people just like myself are really watching their wallets,” Vongtheung said.
While his wallet is being affected, he said he’s refusing to raise his prices on his customers.
“They see value in us. They see value in me and they see value in our food. I’m only willing to charge people what I’m willing to pay for, what I’m eating," he said.
However, not raising his prices on his customers here in Tucson means he has to go all the way to Los Angeles for some ingredients.
“Every three months just to make every penny count,” he commented.
Every single month this year through May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said inflation nationwide has been lower compared to the same months last year.
Nationwide, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said inflation this January went down .1% compared to last January. This May they said it went down .9% compared to last May.
“Everything goes up, sort of ebbs and flows depending on the product,” the general manager of Fini’s Landing, Tyler Moody said.
This year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said inflation also went down in February, March, and April.
However, at Fini’s Landing, 5689 N. Swan Road, Moody said he’s still seeing higher prices for some ingredients. Other things like the bird flu, he said, have also influenced prices for eggs.
“Typically up since 2020 obviously, but things slowly rise every year,” he said.
While they’re paying higher prices, businesses like Banhdicted and Fini’s Landing said they’re appreciative that their customers are supporting them.
“Without our regulars, we wouldn’t be able to expand within a short period of time,” Vongtheung said.
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Andrew Christiansen is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before joining the team, Andrew reported in Corpus Christi, Texas for KRIS6 News, Action 10 News and guest reported in Spanish for Telemundo Corpus Christi. Share your story ideas with Andrew by emailing andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
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