Iowa Restaurants Suffer One-Two Punch from Workforce, Inflation

 (Webster City, IA) — Many of the challenges Iowa restaurants faced during the pandemic are behind us, but another perfect storm is brewing that’s creating havoc in the food service industry. Jessica Dunker, C-E-O and president of the Iowa Restaurant Association, says finding reliable workers is just one of the major hurdles they’re now trying to cope with. She says they’re “facing an average of 15 percent increase in labor costs and 15 percent increase in cost of goods on the products” restaurants use. Dunker says they’ve “never seen inflation hit in both directions like that.” While revenues for some restaurants are up, she says in many cases, profits are down. The association is addressing the issues with its members, trying to help them ride the waves.