PITTSBURGH — Joanne Fibbi knows her way in, out and around a Lenten fish fry.
As Resurrection Parish's event and development coordinator, she's helped organize more than a few of the beloved Friday night dinners for St. John Capistran and St. Thomas More churches in the South Hills during the six weeks leading up to Easter.
Yet even with thousands of fried and baked fish dinners under her belt, nothing has prepared the Upper St. Clair resident for the many headaches parishes across the region are facing this year because of the double-whammy of inflation and COVID-19.
Supply chain issues, production costs and increased demand have sent the price for fish skyrocketing to record levels, and it keeps going up, says Fibbi, with no certain end in sight. According to the Labor Department, per a Feb. 10 news release, the Consumer Price Index rose 7.5% from a year ago. Food costs increased 0.9% in January alone.
Pre-pandemic, sourcing would have been set in stone by mid-February, she says, often with fish prices negotiated for the entire six weeks of Lent. "But there's so much uncertainty this year," with their purveyor unable to guarantee all the fish the parish needs each week at a set price. Delivery dates are also up in the air, which, if you don't have a ton of cold or other storage, can prove quite an issue.
Adding to everyone's pain is that all the incidentals are more expensive this year as well, including paper products, takeout containers and utensils. Organizers are also digging deeper into their pocketbooks for condiments and everyday staples such as cheddar for their mac and cheese.
"Even green beans and rice prices are up," says Anne Ayoob, Lenten meal coordinator at Our Lady of Victory Maronite Catholic Church in Beechview, which draws congregants from Pittsburgh's Lebanese community. Both are essential ingredients in the best-selling Eastern Mediterranean sides they offer in the church's social hall.
As a result, for both Resurrection and OLOV, as well as just about every other organization holding Lenten fish fries, the big question this year is: Do we offer the same size portions as last year with a price hike, or do we make them smaller and keep prices the same?
"We're all caught in the same bind," says Fibbi, with a sigh. "We don't want to disappoint anyone with smaller meals, but we also want to be affordable."
While OLOV hasn't had any trouble securing everyone's favorite fish for their upcoming fries from purveyor Aldo's Foodservice in Aliquippa — Western Pennsylvanians are particularly keen on North Atlantic cod — the parish is paying $5 more a case for a 10-pound box of lightly breaded cod tails. As a result, customers will pay $1 more for a sandwich or meal this year.
"We didn't want to [raise prices] but it was a given we had to," says Ayoob. "Otherwise, overhead would be too high."
In addition to providing fellowship along with a good meal, fish fries are often one of a church's biggest fundraisers of the year. Resurrection, for instance, typically raises around $15,000 by serving upwards of 600 meals each Friday during Lent. OLOV netted $6,500 last year, but in years past has raised as much as $12,000.
At least one volunteer fire department and one church in the Pittsburgh area have canceled their fish fries because of supply chain and pricing issues: Holy Angels Church in Hays and the Mount Oliver Volunteer Fire Department.
Angelo Napoleone, co-owner of Nappies Food Service in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, estimates the company provides more than 200,000 pounds of cod to local restaurants and parishes over the Lenten season, along with packaging and forks and knives. He agrees fish prices are at a record high, with some paying five or six times as much as in previous years to get product here. The culprit is not a lack of fish — while other species can be hard to find, cod landings are good — but rather other factors such as labor shortages and transportation. "And food is on the front end of inflation," he notes .
Will every organization have all the ingredients they need? There will be some misses, he says. But thanks to careful preparation over the past six months, "we have a fair amount of product, so there will be something for everyone. There's no need to panic."
In fact, Nappies is anticipating record sales because "in our opinion, the pandemic is over," says Napoleone. "We're just in a time where everything is costing more."
Kate Westerman, fish fry chairman at the nonprofit Oakmont Elks #1668 in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, says costs are up 118% for clamshell packaging — no small deal for a group that's doing takeout only this year. That, along with rising food costs, has caused them to raise the price of their 10-ounce, hand-cut cod fish sandwiches about 18%, from $11 to $13.
"It's not that much, but it's not as little as it used to be either," she says. Even so, they expect they'll match last year's volume of 400 dinners a week because people love to support their local parishes.
In a preemptive strike against shortages, organizers at Resurrection Parish will alternate between three baked fish offerings — cod loin, salmon and haddock — instead of offering them each week on the menu. "Hopefully that will help with the supply issue," Fibbi says.
Also new this year: large, shareable sides that will give families a price break over ordering individual portions, and smaller "junior meals" for patrons with smaller budgets or appetites.
"We're trying to have more options in case we can't get something at all or enough of an item," she says. But even that can create headaches, because then you have to worry about kitchen capacity issues.
The goal is to keep all dinners under $15, and hopefully even less, says Fibbi, while retaining the same quality and portion sizes.
"A lot of us are concerned about people's expectations," she says. "We hope people realize no matter what you go to buy today, you're paying more for it.
"A prayer is what's going to help," she adds, with a laugh. "Maybe a lot of prayers!"
