Rising prices have left many food businesses scrambling to stay afloat.

After many sleepless nights setting up the Bermuda Pie Company in 2017, owner Kris Furbert thought he could relax, a little. He had staff. His savoury pies were popular and he had plans to expand.

“Some time around the end of 2001, I noticed I was not making money any more,” Mr Furbert said. “I was paying three times the amount that I did previously per week on ingredients.”

Over a period of four months he calculated spending $10,000 more on chicken compared with before the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said: “That figure only relates to chicken and does not include any of the other meats or products we purchase, which also sharply increased in price.”

Meanwhile, Mr Furbert’s other costs such as electricity and gas also rose.

“It was scary,” he said. “I was also experiencing some staffing issues and wondered if I would stay in business.”

He resisted putting up his prices, fearing people would simply stop buying his products, but finally gave in and adjusted them.

“I didn’t use a specific percentage,” he said. “I just looked at how much the ingredients were costing me to buy.”

The current business climate is hitting Mr Furbert hard.

“You don’t start a business just to survive,” he said. “My intention was never to be a mom and pop shop. The whole goal was to expand, get new locations over time, and eventually pursue overseas opportunities.”

Now, he says, that is not an option.

He has hung in partly because of his dedication to the pies.

“Bermuda always had this pie culture,” Mr Furbert said. “When I was growing up the Bermuda Pie Factory was churning out at least a 1,000 pies a day. Before I started my business in 2017, I went around to all the gas stations and grocery stores and asked about their pie sales. At that time, the whole of Bermuda was selling about 500 pies a day.”

One of the ways that he is bringing back that love for pies is by making them for schools.

“I make a smaller pie for the children,” he said. “I also give back 10 per cent of what we make from those sales to the school. The children love it. If we are going to bring back pie culture, we are going to have to start with them.”

He wants to bring more schools on board. He also caters for events and corporate meetings.

As well as the curried chicken, beef, fish, mussel and vegetable pies he sells in grocery stores and gas stations, he also sells speciality pies from his shop at 54 Wellington Slip Road, on the grounds of the St George’s Cricket Club.

There, depending on the season, he sells more speciality pies such as the Gombey, which contains lobster, shrimp and scallops. There is also a pie called A Slap in The Chops which has a lamb chop in it, complete with the bone sticking out the side of the pie.

“We also make the best burgers in Bermuda and we do cod fish breakfasts,” he said.

Even though he has his struggles he still believes in giving back. “We give pies to Meals On Wheels every week,” he said.