HELENA — Claire Vert is the owner of Nosh Cafe, a downtown restaurant that serves breakfast and lunch, and has been open for eight years. Claire and Nosh made it through the pandemic, but there seem to be a lot of factors at play right now affecting pricing.
"I mean it's the tariffs, it's the bird flu, it's delivering, you know, the delivery system," says Vert.
Often, customers see the higher prices but fail to see the bigger picture driving the increases, and it's not just food prices.
"I think people don't realize every to-go box, every cup that they use and throw away, every glove that we have. The health department makes us wear gloves when we're cooking food - every single glove we put on, all those factors play into the food cost for the customer," Vert says.
Some business owners new to food just hope the prices don't get out of control for the customer.
"In 2015, we opened Ten Mile Creek Brewery with $4 pints. Now in 2025, we're charging $6 a pint. We just opened a new pizza place and we hope to keep the costs the same as we move forward," says Ten Mile Creek Brewery owner Riley Tubbs.
According to Vert, it's the importing that is expensive. There are some solutions that Montana businesses in particular can lean on, though.
"If you can source food locally or grow your own food, then it's really helping to offset those costs as well."
Business owners like Vert and Tubbs ask customers to have patience. They are grateful for folks that continue to support local businesses and they remain optimistic.
"You know, and eventually things will normalize hopefully, and we'll get back to normal," says Vert.
(Listen to hear how restaurant pricing is affected by outside influences.)
