A Dublin food business, that was forced to shut this week, believes it's just the first wave of closures for the industry.
The Vegan Sandwich Co says rents doubling, spiralling energy prices and weekly increases in ingredient costs led to it closing its Smithfield and Stephen's Green outlets.
The company had already shut its Rathmines store two months ago.
The last few months have truly been some of the most difficult since we started trading and I am so sorry to say that both Vegan Sandwich Co stores are now closed. pic.twitter.com/J1TW3aMoIe
— Vegan Sandwich Co (@vegansandwichco) October 5, 2022
It comes after a number of restaurants and cafes shut their doors in the capital in recent weeks because of rising costs including Circa on Terenure Road and Dorian in Donnybrook.
Sam Pearson from the Vegan Sandwich Co says he's aware of ten companies on the verge of collapse;
"It's a really really scary time for food businesses right now and you can already see the affects of what's going on with the first wave of closures but I don't think there's an end in sight for that if things continue to go the way that they're going, there will be a lot more closures, not just in Dublin but across the country too."
