Bernie Richardson retired in 2021 after many years as a special education assistant at Chesterfield County’s Manchester High School. Now, she sells her baked goods every summer Wednesday at the Chesterfield County Farmers Market.
She specializes in unique flavor combinations, such as buttermilk coconut pie bars and 7-Up cheesecake bars. But with bird flu driving up the cost of eggs and tariffs instituted by President Donald Trump increasing prices on many other goods, she’s been scrambling to keep up.
“I have to base my prices on the eggs, that kind of drives up the prices,” she told VPM News.
Richardson is not alone. The market, located near the county’s government complex on Iron Bridge Road, is part of a circuit that Powhatan-based Melrose Farm hits to sell their jellies, jams and pickles. But the rising cost of ingredients for those things is rippling through their wares.
“These pints used to be $5, now they’re $8,” said Brenda Blevins, one of the farm’s co-owners. “Now, they’re $6,” she added, pointing to another jar that she said sold for $4 last year.
“We’ve never really been in this situation,” said Joe Mengedoth, an economist with the US Federal Reserve Bank in Richmond. Vendors, he said, “are facing a lot of uncertainty. They don’t know what prices are going to be in the near future.”
Mengedoth pointed out that not only are tariffs affecting prices of ingredients like coconuts, which may come from places like Mexico, but there can be knock-on price hikes on non-tariff items as well because of increased demand.
Mengedoth also said tariffs are especially harmful to local merchants who only sell one sort of item. A big-box store can spread the cost out over all its offerings, he said, but local merchants “don’t know what’s going to be affected by tariffs — and then when tariffs get announced, they don’t know what is going to stick.”
Richardson said uncertain pricing on some crucial items for her baked goods causes her to buy far more than she needs, because supplies can be uncertain.
“It causes me to hoard,” she said. “I’ll buy my pecans sometimes in ways where I’ll have more than I need.”
“Sugar and all like that just went sky high and some of it we can’t find anymore,” said Blevins, of Melrose Farm. She also said fruits that were easy to find before — like frozen blackberries — are suddenly in scarce supply.
In a time of uncertainty, she said there’s not much else to do but soldier on: “Times is changing. You have to make a living one way or the other.”
Joe Mengedoth, of the Richmond Fed, spoke to VPM News on Thursday, June 4, before the Fed began a media blackout on June 7 ahead of an upcoming Federal Open Market Committee meeting.
