Page 14 - aruba-today-20250219

A14 BUSINESS
Wednesday 19 February 2025
From farms to bakeries, egg shortages and price hikes are

challenging small businesses

By MAE ANDERSON ing to have to increase
AP Business Writer my prices, which is hard
NEW YORK (AP) — Small because that’s going to
business owners that rely mean that there’s a cat-
on eggs for their products egory of customer that
are facing sticker shock won’t order from me any-
because the usually reli- more,” she said.
able staple is in short sup- In Princeton, New Jersey,
ply. John Nachlinger, owner of
Avian flu is forcing farm- the Bad Cookie Company,
ers to slaughter millions of is imposing a temporary 25
chickens a month, caus- cent per cookie surcharge
ing U.S. egg prices to sky- to help mitigate added
costs. “As cookies are al-
ready a tight-margin food,
these increases have re-
ally hurt our bottom line,”
Nachlinger said. He said
he doesn’t want to perma-
nently raise prices or adjust
the size of his cookies since
he hopes the egg situation
is temporary. “We want to
The price is displayed on the edge of an empty shelf used to display eggs at a grocery store, bring value to our custom-
Feb. 12, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. ers,” he said.
Associated Press At Daisies, a pasta restau-
rocket. The average price products. Liz Berman is sized white shelled eggs, rant in Chicago, chef/part-
of a dozen Grade A eggs the owner and sole propri- buying a box with 18 dozen ner Joe Frillman and chef/
in U.S. cities reached $4.95 etor of The Sleepy Baker in eggs, but two weeks ago partner Leigh Omilinsky
in January, eclipsing the Natick, Massachusetts. She those were unavailable, so haven’t raised prices but
previous record of $4.82 specializes in custom, from- she had to buy brown eggs are thinking of adjusting
set two years earlier and scratch cakes but also sells in individual cartons of 12. menu items.
more than double the low cupcakes, cookies, pies “It sounds kind of silly, but Omilinsky said she is think-
of $2.04 that was recorded and other baked goods. when I I’m the sole pro- ing of adding more vegan
in August 2023. The Agricul- Eggs are just one of the prietor and I have a huge and egg-free deserts to the
ture Department predicts baking ingredients experi- volume of work, to have to menu and has been work-
prices will soar another 20% encing price shocks. Items take a dozen of eggs out ing more with flax seeds.
this year. such as cocoa powder of my walk-in at a time as She said the shortage has
Most owners are taking the and butter have gone up opposed to a flat of eggs, made her more conscious
increase in stride, looking as well. And price isn’t the it’s just it’s a pain,” she said. of the ingredients she is us-
at it as just one of many hur- only issue. She doesn’t think prices will ing and wasting less.
dles they constantly face. “It’s not just the cost of ease anytime soon. Cocoa “You know, if we need egg
But if the problem persists, eggs, right? It’s also just the powder prices have been yolks we are absolutely
they could be forced to availability,” she said. She elevated for years. saving those whites,” she
raise prices or adjust their prefers to buy medium- “I think ultimately I’m go- said.q

Trump Media says it lost more than $400 million last year

By The Associated Press on paper as a “bona to more than half of the children, is the sole trustee
NEW YORK (AP) — The par- fide gift” to the Donald J. company’s stock. and has sole voting and
ent company of President Trump Revocable Trust. Donald Trump Jr., the old- investment power over all
Donald Trump’s social net- Trump’s shares amounted est of the president’s five securities owned by the
working site Truth Social trust.
says it lost $400.9 million Trump created Truth Social
last year and its annual after he was banned from
revenue declined 12% to Twitter and Facebook fol-
$3.6 million. lowing the Jan. 6, 2021,
Trump Media & Technol- Capitol riot. Citing its “early
ogy Group reported its development stage,” the
earnings late Friday, blam- parent company based
ing the losses in part on a in Sarasota, Florida, said it
revenue-sharing agree- doesn’t report “traditional
ment with an undisclosed key performance indica-
advertising partner. tors” used by other social
After winning the U.S. presi- media companies, such
dential election in Novem- as how many people have
ber, Trump in December signed up for the service,
transferred all of his shares The download screen for Truth Social app is seen on a laptop use it on a daily or monthly
worth around $4 billion computer, March 20, 2024, in New York. Associated Press basis or see its ads.q