The city’s tortilla makers are in trouble: Their profits are as flat as their product.
In Brooklyn, where a cluster of factories on the Bushwick-East Williamsburg border form what’s known as the Tortilla Triangle, owners say high sales aren’t enough to help them keep up with rising food and fuel prices.
“We are trying to survive, but it is very hard to continue working when the profit is very small,” said Erasmo Ponce of Tortillería Chinantla on Grand St.
With food and energy prices rising faster than dough in a brick oven, virtually everything that goes into making and serving a slice has gotten more expensive, New York pizza makers complain.
From flour to boxes, overhead costs for pizzerias have rocketed, prompting some on Manhattan’s East Side to commiserate with the competition and talk about how much to charge for a slice.
“It’s very hard, very hard to stay in this kind of business,” said Nicola Camaj, co-owner for 20-plus years of Adriatric Restaurant on 19th St. and First Ave.
Almond croissants, black and white pudding, huevos rancheros, halwah poori and sweet bean curd.Welcome to breakfast along the No. 7 train line. More »
