DOWNTOWN (KGTV) — Izola Bakery is one of San Diego's most popular spots, but rising costs are making it harder to keep the doors open without passing expenses on to customers.
Co-owner Jeffrey Brown says the price of everything continues to go up. Within the last two months, he has seen a 10 to 15 percent increase across the board. The delivery surcharge on all food products the bakery receives has gone up 11.7 percent.
"Milk, for example, just went up 20 cents a gallon for us," Brown said.
It takes a significant amount of milk to produce the bakery's signature croissants, which are among its most popular items alongside its bread.
Brown says the unpredictability of costs is one of the biggest challenges.
"The ingredient costs fluctuate per week, you know, so we have no, essentially no notice," Brown said.
Three months ago, Brown spoke about the impact of fuel charges on the business.
"Everybody who gets a delivery or makes a delivery is going to feel these fuel charge increases," Brown said.
He says that has not changed.
"We have not seen the price of fuel drop at all," Brown said.
For now, the bakery's solution is to work more efficiently. That includes using leftover ingredients to create other products, like the Ugly Bit — made from the ends trimmed off during croissant production.
"It's the ends that we trim off from our croissant production," Brown said.
While a price increase may eventually be unavoidable, Brown says the bakery is doing everything it can to hold the line — and keep customers coming back.
"I think people are still looking to come in and have something nice to eat and hang out with somebody, you know, that they love," Brown said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
