Breaking down the rising cost of shawarma

Shawarma has long held a special place in the stomachs of Ottawans as a way to fill up quickly with a low-cost, delicious dish.

It's the kind of lunch that leaves plenty of leftovers, and some see it as the perfect way to end a night out. Everyone swears their favourite spot is the best in town.

Lately, some consumers have noticed a change — meals that once ran in the $10 range have in some cases doubled in price.

A recent Reddit post titled "PSA: Ottawa, we need to talk about shawarma inflation" garnered hundreds of comments.

Visits by CBC to shops along Bank Street revealed owners who'd bumped up their prices in the past few months after trying for years to keep them down.

Each pointed to the same culprit: a spike in food costs.

It's part of an industry-wide trend that has forced restaurants to weigh how much they can afford to absorb against the risk of passing price increases along to customers, leaving a bad taste in their mouths.

The issue won't come as a surprise to anyone who's bought groceries recently. Many families and school meal programs are struggling with rising costs too.

Garlic King is an Orléans icon known for its crowns, costume and custom minivan complete with a popemobile-like bubble from which the "king" Adel Azzi can wave to admirers.

Azzi has been slinging shawarma for decades. He managed to dig up a menu from about eight years ago that shows a regular-sized shawarma was going for $6.95, while a monster, the restaurant's largest size, clocked in at $13.25.

Today it's $8.97 for a regular and $17.87 for a large.

A monster-sized meal ordered by CBC rang in at $24.57, not including the cost of a drink, which Azzi refused to charge.

Azzi said he's avoided hiring a chef and works long hours to keep prices low. He wants to offer "healthy food" to customers, but recently he was forced to make a change.

Costs for everything from cooking oil to vegetables have doubled, he said. "It's too much."

Spike in costs for ingredients

Walking along a counter stacked with fresh ingredients, Azzi ticked off the changes he's seen in the past few years.

• What's your money worth? Calculate how much inflation is costing you

Iceberg lettuce hit $175 per case during the pandemic but has since dropped to about $50, still far more than the $30 he paid before, he said. 

Here's a look at some of the other price changes Azzi said he's seen, though they tend to vary weekly:

Fillings:

• Garlic went from $25 to $45 per case.
• Tomatoes went from $25 to $40 per case.
• Turnips went from $17 to $36 per bag.
• Pickles went from $27 to $45 per pail.

Meat:

• Donair went from $109 to $198 for two cones.
• Chicken went from $7 to $11 per kilogram.
• Beef went from $11 to $17 per kilogram.

Restaurants struggling to survive

That's the struggle facing restaurants as rent, utilities and even the costs of takeout containers have risen, according to Tracy Macgregor, vice-president of Ontario for Restaurants Canada.

"Fifty per cent of restaurants right now are operating at a loss or just breaking even," she said.

All sorts of eateries have faced price increases, but the restaurant industry realizes there is often more sticker shock at restaurants where food is served on plastic trays as opposed to tables with fancy tablecloths.

"If you're buying something all the time … you're expecting the bill comes and you know what it's going to be, or at least within a ballpark," Macgregor said. "So when that changes it definitely sticks out."

She fears rising costs will force more restaurants to close, meaning people may lose their favourite spot.

"They might not know your name, but they know what you order on a regular basis," she said. "They really are the hearts of neighbourhoods."