The price of pastizzi has risen by 10c in most outlets and could continue to go up as the cost of their ingredients soars.

From 40c, the popular Maltese snack is now selling at 50c as producers put the blame on the price of raw materials “shooting through the roof”.

Cheddar cheese was previously bought at €2.90 per kilo and in just three weeks it has increased to €5.15 per kilo, the owner of one leading pastizzeria said.

“And we are in a take-it-or-leave-it situation because the supply is very limited.”

Times of Malta has already reported on the effects of cost increases on local food manufacturers and restaurants. The humble pastizz, a traditionally cheap staple for some, is another victim of inflation.

The increases are across the board and not just on one ingredient, the owner continued, pointing out that sunflower oil used to cost €1.70 per litre and has now more than doubled to €3.80 in the space of two days.

“Never in our years of business and operation have we experienced such a drastic increase in such a short time,” the pastizzi producer said.

Fingers are being pointed at the “snowball effect” of Brexit, followed by the pandemic and now the war in Ukraine, described as “the final straw” that has culminated in these price spikes.

As the largest wheat and sunflower exporters of Europe, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has given rise to fears that costs will continue to surge.

The 10c increase is on every item at the take-out chain, with suppliers described as being “at their wit’s end” with the situation.

Still, “consumers have been understanding, partly due to literally everything you can buy increasing in price”.

Other pastizzerias said customers were commenting and grumbling. But it was not necessarily translating into a decline in the number of people picking up a bag of the calorie-filled, lard-laced street food.

When it comes to frozen pea and cheesecakes, some confectionaries are holding on to original prices for the time being and others have only increased their prices minimally in the face of the “drastic” surge in the cost of ingredients.

Increase in prices of margarine, eggs, chicken breast

A 10kg box of margarine has almost doubled from €11 to €20, while a box of canned catering-size tuna, of six tins, went up from €46 to €56 just last week.

A tray of 30 eggs has risen by 60c in two weeks, first by 30c and then another 30c, while the price of vegetable and sunflower oil shot up significantly, one confectionary said.

Chicken breasts went from €5.50 a kilo to €8 and up by another €1 just as the producer was speaking on the phone, while one type of beef was up by 50c a kilo.

“It is a numbers game, and we are trying to negotiate the best quality at the best prices with some suppliers, but things are still more expensive,” the catering establishment said.

“We cannot order something today and reorder tomorrow without asking the price.”

The producer did not exclude that suppliers could be taking advantage of the situation but “we are at their mercy”.

The producers are now stocking up on whatever they can in the expectation that prices will keep rising, but there is a limit to their stores.

“There is also a limit to how much people can pay for something, but we do not know where or when it will stop.”