'You just don't recover that': Colorado restaurants scramble after tomato prices jump from $7 to $78

Cafe Mexicali, a Northern Colorado restaurant with several locations, recently saw tomato prices jump from $7 to $78 for a 25-pound box, according to CBS News.

"Well, that's tenfold. You just don't recover that," Cafe Mexicali's founder and co-owner, Rick Krammer, said to CBS.

Krammer said the spike was driven by a combination of higher gas prices, weather problems in major tomato-growing states, and tariffs on imported produce.

For a restaurant that relies on fresh ingredients, it created an immediate challenge.

"I cannot charge what we need to, to make the margins that you need to make," Krammer continued to CBS.

"We usually don't do anything until [food inflation] hits the grocery store, and the public is already educated," he added. "They know, 'Hey, prices there are crazy.'"

As CBS noted, tomatoes are especially important for Mexican food staples like pico de gallo, so Cafe Mexicali had to adjust quickly. Rather than immediately raising prices, the restaurant began offering pico only by request to keep its menu affordable.

While extreme weather isn't the only factor contributing to high food prices, it is increasingly a matter of concern around the globe, with its direct impacts arguably felt closest to home.

This is pushing people to look for ways to grow food more sustainably and efficiently. Researchers at the University of Tokyo actually developed a way to grow tomatoes under energy-efficient LEDs last year.

But even with solutions like that, it takes time to test them and scale them up. Fortunately, it looks like Cafe Mexicali has been able to weather the storm for now.

Krammer said the worst of the spike lasted nearly four weeks. But prices have recently started to fall, and the full menu has returned.

"It's very important to support and have your local economy thrive," he said to CBS. 

"Our number one goal is to serve the best food that you can, the freshest," Krammer continued. "Our balance is always to offer the quality with the value. It's worth it, because in the end you need the people to get their value."

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