Southport businesses face tough choices as ingredient prices rise

SOUTHPORT, NC (WWAY) — The rising cost of ingredients like eggs and avocados is forcing small businesses in Southport to make difficult decisions.

At Nonnie’s Baking Company, owner and baker Savannah McCullum uses nearly 34 eggs for a batch of chocolate chip cookies. But with egg prices rising, McCullum took to social media to explain the necessary price adjustments to her customers.

“Most people are paying at least 48 cents, if not more—maybe even 53 cents each. And of course, those are usually the basic eggs. If you go to cage-free or pasture-raised, those are going to be even higher,“ McCullum said.

Although McCullum could potentially cut corners on some products, eggs are essential for many of her recipes.

“Of course, that’s not including batters, German chocolate, lemon curd—those require a lot of egg yolks—and even our buttercream uses egg whites. So, even though you might not think there are eggs in them, there are a lot of things that do, and we use a lot of them,” McCullum explained.

Transparency with her customers is important to McCullum, and she says that most people understand the situation.

“Everybody is affected, whether you have a business or not, or just in your personal life. Everyone understands and sees it for themselves, so I think most people are very understanding. It does give me a sense of calmness, a sense of peace, that people have been so understanding for so long, really,” she said.

Just a few blocks away at Café Koa, a local restaurant and brunch spot, prices have stayed steady for now. However, bar manager Chance Rayle said they’ve had to remove their four signature avocado toasts from the menu due to the rising cost of avocados.

“If a local or someone comes in and they want avocado toast, we’ll make it. We’re going to accommodate them because we want to make sure people are getting what they came for,” Rayle said.

While Rayle has had to make some changes, he explained that the café is trying to avoid raising their prices.

“I think we’re just going to try to hold on to the prices we’ve got. We don’t really want to go up on prices because people have been coming here for a long time, and we’ve been consistent with what we’ve been offering,” Rayle said.

Back at Nonnie’s Bakery, McCullum says storefront items will see a slight price increase, but she is working to keep cake prices the same.