Cost of living: Welsh cake maker says she spends more on butter than rent as food prices soar

A woman who runs a Welsh cake business says she is struggling to keep up with the cost of food prices which is making her business difficult to run.

Jo Roberts, who owns Fabulous Welsh Cakes, told ITV News she is currently spending more on butter than rental for three premises in Cardiff.

It comes ahead of the budget on Tuesday where the Welsh Government will officially announce a package of support for business owners like Jo as many struggle to cope with the impacts of high inflation and surging energy costs.

Part of that support will see £140m given to all businesses in the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors to give 75% non-domestic rates relief for 2023‑24, a rise from the 50% relief provided in 2022-23.

Figures from the Consumer Price Index show a 28% rise in the cost of butter over the 12 months to September 2022.

The war in Ukraine has also reportedly exacerbated the issue which is thought to be due to the increasing price of oil caused by Russia's invasion.

Finance Minister Rebecca Evans said, “We know that businesses are feeling the pressure of spiralling energy costs and rising inflation, while they are still recovering from the impacts of the pandemic.

“We want businesses to know now that we will continue to apply substantial discounts to their rates bills, and that this package of support will help businesses to thrive in the hard times we know they are facing.”

Jo said her business has been trading well and "bounced back" since the pandemic, but the price of ingredients coupled with threat of energy price rises has left her feeling anxious.

"We obviously use a lot of butter - it's important to us to continue to use the ingredient because it's part of the quality of the product we make.

"It's not something we can simply say, 'Oh we'll forget making that' - but it's not that easy -but we have to try and work with the boundaries which we're given so it's quite challenging."Any support we can have is beneficial - we're a small business.

"We've been hit by different angles. Anyone that goes food shopping knows food prices are going up. We're struggling to keep up with those increases in our basic raw materials - other goods like the gift bags we use, packaging, they're all increasing - our background costs are going up.

"Our electricity bills, like everybody else have gone through the roof. Those sorts of things are out of our control and we have to try and absorb those costs hope they drop back down again - it's quite challenging at the moment to run a small business.

"There's a lot to cope with right now."

Shadow Finance Minister, Peter Fox MS argued for more targeted support for businesses.

“The Welsh Conservatives welcome the support being offered to high street businesses, finally matching the business rate support that exists in England.

“It is worth noting that the UK Conservative Government rates multiplier freeze was more targeted. I would urge Labour to focus support on energy intensive industries as opposed to costly blanket policies.”