70% of Ohio hospitality business owners plan to increase prices: report

CINCINNATI (WKRC) – A recent survey reportedly found that 70% of Ohio business owners planned to increase their prices.

According to WTOL 11, citing a report from the Ohio Restaurant & Hospitality Alliance (ORHA), 91% of Ohio business owners said they increased prices to offset rising operational costs.

This month, 70% of Ohio business owners reported that they planned to increase their prices once again, per WTOL 11, citing the ORHA.

“We’re the last ones to raise our prices,” Biggby Coffee franchisee Gary Dible told WTOL.

Per the station, Dible owns four Biggby locations in northeast Ohio. Speaking to the station, Dible said operational costs had risen since the COVID-19 pandemic, noting the price for six bags of espresso beans has risen from $100 per box to $180.

“Every sector of owning a business has gone up. I’m just not seeing the relief,” Dible told WTOL.

Dible told the station that he had only raised prices at his Biggby locations once since the pandemic, but said due to inflation and the need to pay his employees a competitive wage, he will need to raise them once again. That increase would be between 5-15% depending on the item, per WTOL.

“As much as I hate to do it, it’s time,” Dible told the outlet. “I have to do it now.”

Dible told the station that he had stuck it out for as long as possible, but added that he was confident that his prices would be competitive.

“Our pricing, even though it went up, it’s still cheaper than our competition,” Dible told WTOL.

“I understand, prices do go up,” Biggby Coffee customer Michael Judin told WTOL. “As long as the quality stays the same and the service stays the same, I have no problem with them having to raise their prices because they have to.”

The ORHA spoke with WTOL and told the station’s reporters that according to the latest state of the industry report, it was unlikely that prices would be falling any time in the near future.