WAUWATOSA, Wis. — Fat Tuesday is one of the busiest days of the year for bakeries like Cranky Al’s in Wauwatosa. However, this year it was battling against the high price of eggs.
For more than 25 years, Cranky Al’s has been serving up the prized paczki for Fat Tuesday, otherwise known as “Paczki Day.” This year alone, the bakery received around 400 online paczki pre-orders.
“It’s great to see people coming in. Hundreds of people coming in to celebrate Fat Tuesday with our product,” said Cranky Al’s Owner Joey Carioti, who estimated that over the past few days, his team has baked about 13,000 of the traditional polish doughnuts filled with fruit or custard.
Making paczki requires more eggs and butter than the typical doughnuts and pastries that Cranky Al’s produces. That’s why this year, Carioti said profit margins are tighter. The rising cost and smaller supply of eggs are affecting the bakery’s bottom line.
“Egg prices were anywhere from $80 to $90 a case, and now this year they’re over $100 to $120,” Carioti said. “So, it goes up over 100%. At the end of the day, it’s really hard. Especially when everything else is getting prices raised. When you are footing the bill for higher prices, especially from eggs, and when you get different prices week in and week out, it’s hard. Because you can only store so much here.”
Still, Carioti chose not to raise the price of paczki for his customers. While they may cost more to make this year, he said he knows the importance of celebrating Paczki Day in the Milwaukee area, and he’s thankful for the customers who’ve supported him through the years.
