PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Global supply chain issues are now being felt here in Portland.
You may have noticed your favorite restaurants are shrinking their menus or are perhaps out of the most popular dishes when you sit down to dine. Local restaurant owners say a lot of the warehouses they shop for ingredients and other items at are flat-out empty.
Jon Poteet, the owner of Shine Distillery & Grill in North Portland, says getting napkins, to-go containers and produce is now a constant challenge.
“I think I’ve got about seven or eight purveyors right now just to get the basics in here, where I used to have one or two,” Poteet said. “So, you’ll get one product from one company and another from another — where you used to be able to buy that all in one spot.”
This restaurateur says time is money and it now takes him much longer to get resources for his restaurant. In some cases, he can’t get certain menu items at all.
The day KOIN 6 News interviewed him, Poteet said he had to take something as simple as Caesar salad off his menu.
“I’ve had to go literally buy lemons at Safeway — and I’m paying full retail, which, you know, obviously stings a little bit,” Poteet continued. “Fortunately, I’m not buying a thousand dollars worth of lemons at Safeway. I’m only buying $5 or $6 worth, but every time you do that, every little nickel and every little cut hurts.”
The owner went on to say that some prices for food like meat are going up more significantly — but at this point, he hasn’t raised his menu prices. However, he says that’s something they will likely have to consider if this becomes the new norm.
“The supply chain is essentially broken still, and people don’t quite realize that,” Poteet said.
