‘Double whammy.’ Rising prices, labor shortage force California deli to close for now

As the United States grapples with rising prices and labor shortages, one California deli says it’s taking the summer off.

“It feels like it’s better to live to fight another day than just try to raise prices or run at a loss throughout at least the summer,” Lex Gopnik-Lewinski, owner of Augie’s Montreal Deli in Berkeley, told SFGate.

The deli will “hibernate over the summer” starting Tuesday, a post on its Instagram page says. The deli plans some pop-up appearances over the summer, however.

Gopnik-Lewinski told KGO that his suppliers, such as a brisket pastrami producer in Redding, are having trouble hiring enough workers as the nation climbs out of the COVID-19 pandemic, sending prices skyrocketing.

“We figured everything will be great once the vaccine comes out and people start coming out again,” Gopnik-Lewinski told SFGate. “But we got hit with this double whammy of just amazing price increases on basically everything and shortages on some stuff.”

He likes charging a fair price for his food and didn’t want to just pass the increased costs along to customers, Gopnik-Lewinski said.

Economist Enrique Lopezlira with UC Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research told KGO that post-pandemic labor shortages are widespread in the United States.

“Yes, they have to raise the wages because they were paying too low before but they also have to provide the kind of jobs that workers want,” Lopezlira said. “Stable scheduling, paid leave for sick or vacation leave, be able to meet basic living expenses with their work.”

A weekend cyber-attack on the world’s largest meat processor also has sparked fears of rising meat prices, but those worries may be unfounded if JBS USA can reopen its plants soon, NPR reported.

This story was originally published June 2, 2021 at 9:57 AM with the headline "‘Double whammy.’ Rising prices, labor shortage force California deli to close for now."