Price Increase and Delivery Changes
posted on
June 3, 2022
Good Morning Friends and Patrons,
The TLDR Version:
We are increasing prices on all poultry products:
- Pasture Raised Eggs have increased to $8.00 / dz : $104 for 13 weeks.
- Duck Eggs have increased to $5.00 / carton : $65 for 13 weeks.
- Chicken, whole and cut, will increase at our next processing time.
We are changing home delivery:
- We are phasing home delivery to once a month.
- We are bringing back pick-up locations.
- If you want to host a pickup location contact us.
- Meat and frozen goods will be moving to monthly delivery.
- For health and mobility challenged customers we will continue to do home delivery.
- Delivery changes will happen over the next 3 months.
The Deets:
It is always a tough decision when businesses need to make decisions on pricing their products. This is particularly tough when dealing with fundamental needs like food. For the last 12 months we have seen a steady and shockingly rapid increase in our farm costs to produce our eggs and poultry products. We have held off on increasing prices in the hopes that a post-pandemic situation would see some easing on the cost front - instead we have seen drought and global instability of grain supplies drive feed costs to all time highs. Adding to this the jump in labour costs - as we strive to pay a living wage or higher - and fuel costs and we are now in a situation where we need to increase our prices.
In the name of transparency we just want to say that feed costs are our largest cost component at this time. Our costs per ton of feed have jumped from $375/metric ton to $690/metric ton in 18 months, and we are getting feed quotes as high as $830/metric ton as of April. The scratch, grubs, and nutritional supplements we give in addition to feed to get the healthiest chickens we can get have jumped in price at similar rates. We are looking into ways to reduce feed costs, but our commitment to high nutrition for our livestock for their health and product quality really limits our options. The cheaper the feed, the lower the nutritional quality.
Our next highest cost component is home delivery. While we started it to ease the challenge of getting our products during the pandemic our intention was never to have home delivery be a core component of our business. Unfortunately as the pandemic has lingered in the background, and gas prices have continued to increase, we have kept what was a short term business solution going for almost two years. The fuel, maintenance, and staffing costs are not sustainable for our business. So with that in mind we are altering home delivery significantly over the next 3 months.
We will be returning to pick-up locations set up at homes or small businesses across the city. If you are interested in hosting a site, please let us know. Pickup sites will consist of a small fridge and a carton drop-off box inside a small insulated wooden storage unit. There will be a passcode lock that customers will have access to. Hosting a Happiness Hut will get you a 15% discount on all store purchases. Frozen goods – such as chicken, pork, beef, and yak – will be delivered to your door on the first Friday of each month. Orders under $50 will have a $5 delivery fee. If you are a low income, mobility challenged, or health challenged customer please contact us and we will work with you to maintain home delivery. Also, if you are required to isolate due to illness and health restrictions home delivery will be available and free of charge.
We expect to roll these changes out over the summer, beginning in June. We know this is a lot of change happening all at once, so if you have any questions please contact us and we will be happy to answer any questions you have.
