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By Swikar Oli

Some popular menu items at Oakham Cafe are receiving a price bump, a year after the cafe last adjusted their prices.

Starting Nov. 13, students can expect the following changes:

Student Loan Special $5.99 to $6.49

Breakfast Wrap $6.99 to $7.29

Oakham Burger $7.99 to $8.49

Oakham Muffin $4.49 to $4.79

Soup $4.49 to $4.79

Crispy Fried Cauliflower $6.49 to $6.79

“We do our best to keep our prices as competitive as possible, however sometimes we need to make minor adjustments to our selling prices. In this case only 6 items has been affected – one item by a $.50 (fifty cent) increase and the other five items by a $.30 (thirty cent) increase,” Ryerson Student Centre general manager Stacey said in an email.

The adjustment came after suppliers raised food costs, Stacey said, adding that Oakham Cafe has dozens of suppliers that change their prices on a regular basis. “We do our best to absorb slight fluctuations in price, but sometimes we need to adjust our selling price,” she said.

Oakham Cafe’s selling price of food is calculated by adding the value of the actual food on the plate to the business overhead costs, including labour, rent, utilities and marketing.

For some students, the price change has been a bummer, but no one has officially complained, Natalie Janvary, who works at Oakham, said.

“Considering how bad the food is at residence, at Pitman, I would still come here,” first-year occupational health and safety student Mariana Elias said. “But I still won’t be happy.”

Elias said her regular orders are the student loan special, soup and breakfast wrap.

“[I’m] better off going to the Eaton Centre,” said second-year engineering student Farzed Tehrani, who likes to get the student loan special. The special includes two eggs, home fries and toast, and comes with a choice between bacon, sausage, fruit cup or an extra egg. A similar deal under the same name cost $4.19 in 2012.

According to Statistics Canada’s Consumer Price Index data, the cost of food in Canada has increased by 2 per cent from September 2016 to September 2017. Since 2002, the cost of food has increased by a whopping 30.8 per cent.

Oakham Cafe last adjusted their prices in September 2016. Stacey said that the last adjustment in pricing came also due to changed supplier costs and changed overhead costs.

“We hope that, despite the very modest increase to prices, Ryerson community members will continue to enjoy our delicious meals served by our unionized (predominantly student) staff,” Stacey said.