To Peter Druxerman:

I just wanted to let you know that the new pricing is absolutely ridiculous in some cases. I could not believe it when I went to purchase an egg salad sandwich with no additional toppings and the register ran up $5.09 instead of my normal $4.15. I would like to know what the price difference of $0.94 is for. I did not get anything extra or different so why am I paying more? Neither eggs nor mayonnaise have increased in price; I think that Druxy’s is trying to rip off the working people.

Where I work, there is a Druxy’s location. Myself and my colleagues usually have breakfast and lunch at Druxy’s; well no more. I have decided to boycott (I would rather not have anything to eat) than pay these ridiculous prices. I will also ensure that the number of departments that do order catering from Druxy’s stop and find something that is more economical.

With this economy, I would think that Druxy’s, knowing that their demographic is the working class where the majority of companies have not given their staff an increase in pay, would have kept the mostly reasonable pricing from before.

I also think that it is ridiculous that to get 1 oz of protein added to a salad, it is an additional $2.00 to get what is actually a slice of meat cut into 4 portions to make up the ounce.

I understand that businesses need to make money, but I think that Druxy’s has gone way too far. My mouth is big and I will be expressing my views to all.

Marcia C.
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Marcia

Thank you so much for spending the time to share your feelings with me. Truly you care and would rather be a DRUXY’S customer than boycott. And I truly appreciate your concerns.

Please understand that the last time DRUXY’S took a price increase was in June 2005. We had planned an increase for June 2008 but the recession was beginning and we decided that it was an inappropriate time to take a price increase.

Since our increase of 2005 several things have changed;

1. Minimum wage has increased 38% from $7.45 per hour to $10.25 per hour. This has increased our labour costs from 24% of sales to 33.1% of sales, 9.1%.

2. Rent in our restaurants rises at the cost of living, so over these five years, our rent has increased 9.6% from 15% of sales to 16.4% of sales, 1.4%.

3. Our food costs have been affected by the huge variability of commodity prices with coffee, sugar and other commodities increasing dramatically and items that are affected by energy, like paper products increasing even more. We have found that our food and paper costs have increased on average from 32% of sales to 39% of sales, 7%.

4. Power, taxes, legal fees and everything else has gone through the roof. Fortunately they represent only 5 – 10% of sales and have increased only 1.5% on average.

5. In total our costs have risen by 19% of sales. In an industry where profits as a percentage of sales ranges from 10 – 20%, we have taken a huge hit. A hit in costs when sales decreased due to the weak economy.

We were faced with two choices. Dramatically reduce our costs by changing the quality and quantity of the products we serve our customers or adjust our prices to regain some of the cost increases we had incurred over the previous 5 years. We were not happy with either choice, so we made a major redesign of our service delivery system and products to allow customers to design their own sandwiches and salads, adding as many of our now 50 toppings as they wished, including 10 varieties of cheese (with choices that include premium cheeses like brie) and veggies such as avocado and artichoke hearts, all for one price. There is no extra charge for cheese, avocado or any of our toppings except for bacon. We even moved to fresh sliced breads that increased the freshness of our breads but reduced the number of sandwiches we get from a loaf from 11 to 8.

Please realize that raising prices is a very serious issue to us. I am sorry that you were affected so greatly but you can now have so much more on your sandwich. While you may not want these extra toppings we want to encourage you to do so, so that you can make your sandwich better, healthier with more fiber and tastier with new sauces and toppings.

There was an issue in your note that had bothered me. We raised the price of our egg salad sandwich from $3.95 to $4.50, an increase of $0.55, not $0.94. Any purchase in a restaurant below $4.00 is subject only to the 5% GST. The egg salad sandwich therefore had an after tax cost of $4.15 at our old prices. Any purchase over $4.00 is subject to 5% GST and 8% PST. Our egg salad sandwich therefore now has an after tax cost of $5.09. Due to taxes, the cost of the sandwich increased $0.94, $0.55 due to our price increase and $0.39 due to taxes. I know that this doesn’t change the facts, but the issue of tax thresholds added to the issue. If we had raised the price just $0.06 to $4.01 your after tax cost would have risen $0.38 to $4.53.

Separately, I am concerned by your comment about 1 oz of protein on a salad for $2. Our policy is 2 oz of protein and as many veggies as you wish. I will follow up with the restaurant in your building to ensure that 2 oz. is in fact served to all customers.

For 33 years my brothers and I have run this company with only one goal and that is to give our customers the very best sandwiches and salads we can at a fair price. When I look at our competitors I am confident that we offer better quality and lower prices. Whether you are looking at a Subway sub, a pita from Pita Extreme, a sandwich from Sandwich Box or a salad from Freshii, their base prices are higher than DRUXY’S and they charge for extra ingredients beyond the 4 or 5 that they allow. And nowhere do you get a cheese burger for the same price as a regular burger.

The only thing I can say is possibly our father instilled in us an inappropriate philosophy for today’s world. He always felt that serving the best at a fair price is better than compromising just to save money. We feel that it matters to customers what they eat. If not, we are wrong and will fail. But at least we will fail knowing that we gave the very best to our customers.

I thank you again for giving me this opportunity to explain our situation. I truly apologize that our prices increased but we were against the wall and had no other acceptable option.

I thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely,

Peter Druxerman
Vice-president, Marketing
DRUXY’S Inc.
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Hi Mr. Druxerman,

I thank you for taking the time to respond to my concerns with such detail. I obviously did not think of what went into the costs of your products in order to sustain the quality of food provided and of course the government has to get their share (as if everyone does not pay enough taxes as it is).

I now fully understand what goes into the pricing and would like to retract my previous statements. I will stop my boycott and ensure that others are aware of the details that you sent to me.

Again, I appreciate the time you took and explain the reasoning behind the increases and I look forward to patronizing Druxys again.

Thank you so much.

Marcia C.