'We don't want to upset our customers': Shropshire food firms issue update amid Iran war

A pause on recruitment and the rising price of beef are just two of the factors impacting Shropshire food firm bosses as a result of the crisis in the Middle East.

While much of the recent attention has been on the increased cost of fuel since the war in Iran started in February, there have been other, lesser-known impacts.

Darren Pugh is the co-owner of Hammonds Catering Services in Telford and he told the Shropshire Star the firm had been forced to roll back on plans to expand its payroll.

Meanwhile Meg Jagger runs the Battlefield 1403 farm shop and café in Shrewsbury and has been forced to pass on price rises to customers.

Hammonds Catering employs six staff and a bank of 20 casuals, supplying events such as corporate lunches, weddings and other functions across Shropshire and the surrounding areas.

Clients include the Midlands Air Ambulance charity at RAF Cosford, data centre firm Hyve Solutions in Telford and local colleges.

Mr Pugh, who has worked for the company for 27 years and been co-owner for four, said: "The hours haven't really changed for staff however we were looking to recruit at the beginning of this year.

"But we've discussed this in recent days and decided we need to suck this up for a bit longer because we cannot afford to take on somebody else at the moment."

Mr Pugh told the Star the company was still avoiding passing on additional costs to customers, but that was becoming increasingly difficult to resist.

"We use reputable suppliers, all from the local area, but one of the biggest impacts we're finding at the moment is some of them are putting on a surcharge," he said.

"At present, we're absorbing all these surcharges and the rising cost of fuel, food and packaging because we have loyal, returning customers every single day. We're fortunate enough not to have to pass those extra charges so far but it's getting to that line really.

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"We've just reproduced our menus and sent them out to hundreds of customers and I have to scrutinise where my vans are going on a daily basis in order to minimise the fuel usage. We put our prices up in February by five per cent a week before the Iran war started when realistically they should have gone up by nine or 10 per cent.

"We don't want to upset our customers and, if we had known this was on the horizon, we might have had to follow some of what our suppliers are doing and place a surcharge."

Hammonds Catering operates three vans which Mr Pugh said were now costing in the region of £480 a month extra to fill up each month.

"Hopefully, there's a resolution on the horizon," he concluded.

"It feels like, whatever goes on in the world, whether it's a pandemic or a war, it always seems to hit hospitality really hard. It's one of those things people can cut back on easily - they can take their own food into work or meet virtually rather than face to face where we can provide a meal."

How are farm shops faring?

Battlefield 1403 is a farm shop, butchery and café as well as a falconry centre and other activities for children based next to the historic battlefield site north of Shrewsbury town centre.

Meg Jagger, who runs the farm shop and café with her husband Jeremy, said: "This is massively affecting our butchery sales actually. We're experiencing rising costs to us as a business which gets passed on to customers through slight price increases.

"We're trying to hold fast on as many prices as we can but there are some items which need to come up, in particular beef. There has just been a rise in the initial cost. Feed and kill costs have gone up, they use all sorts of different transport fees.

"People have very limited disposable income at the moment so they are holding on tight but they are still spending in the café where they can enjoy a bit of leisure time."

She said Battlefield 1403 sources products locally as much as possible including asparagus from Bridgnorth and meat from local suppliers but accepted they were feeling the pinch as well.

She said the market was volatile with prices fluctuating on a weekly basis which makes it difficult for small businesses to accommodate these changes.

"We are a small, independent, family business and we have the overheads like every other one and just cannot afford to absorb them," she told the Star.

"People have noticed but our regular customers are still coming; it's not like we are losing them, but they are visiting us less frequently.

“We only change our menus quarterly in the café so when we design them we have to try to foresee any significant changes that may be happening in the market and price accordingly.

“We have to hope nothing goes wildly out of control and we can't then make margins on those items. We are definitely seeing a slight dip in revenue year on year but I think that can also be attributed to the weather.

"We're looking more and more at what we can do to generate low-input, passive income for the business. We are about to drill all of our pick-your-own fields with sunflowers and pumpkins.

"Those are things which bring in added revenue and will help the business. I see the next six months as very rocky."