GREENSBORO, N.C. — You might've noticed sugar prices are on the rise.
Prices are about 20% higher than they were a year ago in the U.S. Some are calling it a "sugar-flation." New research by Smart Cube said globally sugar prices rose 42% a year ago.
WFMY News 2's Giselle Thomas talked to a Triad bakery navigating the not-so-sweet prices.
Black Magnolia Southern Patisserie in Greensboro is nearing its one-year anniversary at its brick-and-mortar location. Every few weeks, owner and head pastry chef Venee Pawlowski uses over 100 pounds of sugar to create her sweet treats. She said prices have changed since she started baking.
"Originally I was doing 100% all local, all locally, sourced, organic ingredients, but with inflation going up that cost trickles down to local, farmers and artisans," Pawlowski said.
She said navigating prices means her shopping now looks like a typical run to the grocery store.
"So it's a lot less just checking off the list for one distributor, getting everything you kind of got to shop around," Pawlowski said.
She said within the past year the price of sugar to sustain her business ranges from 10%-20%.
The 'sugar-flation' comes just months after egg prices were sky-high.
"When the eggs hit, when it got to like $7.00 dollars [to] $8.09 dollars a dozen it hurt us really bad. It was definitely a lot for us," Pawlowski said.
North Carolina A&T Professor of Economics Mark Burkey said there are many factors contributing to higher sugar prices.
"Energy prices have been going up in a lot of parts of the world, and sugar is a very intensive product. You have to get the sugar syrup and boil it in order to make refined sugar," Burley said.
For Pawlowski, she said the customer always comes first.
"We've managed to increase our prices a little bit to kind of help with that, but not so much where it's going to destroy our customer base or anything or make it difficult for people to enjoy our cinnamon rolls so that's good," she said.
Pawlowski says in August, the bakery is bringing back seasonal sweet treats to celebrate their anniversary.
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