Is this monkey business? Customers go bananas over high price of breakfast staple

Banana bread is a much-loved staple in Australia but how much would you pay for a slice at a cafe? Source: Getty Images.

Given its tendency to inspire comfort eating, it wasn’t such a long time ago that people were getting their baking fix with banana bread during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But, as with COVID, the comfort-baking frenzy has passed and people have returned to their cafes and coffee shops for their banana bread fix.

But one unhappy customer has sounded the alarm on the high price of banana bread, taking to Reddit to air their outrage after seeing the price of the Aussie staple on a menu board in Sydney.

“Surely $18 for takeaway banana bread is taking the p*** now,” they asked.

The cost of banana bread and other items on this menu board have caused much consternation. Source: Reddit.

Other Reddit users were quick to protest, voicing their concerns about the $18 slice of banana bread amidst the high cost of living.

“I’d want a loaf for that price! What snobby ocean side town is this?” one person commented.

“Is that an entire banana bread loaf?”

“Banana bread is delicious but it’s cheap AF to make. Most don’t even have eggs or milk.”

“Super extremely expensive!!” another commented.

Others were quick to advise that if the price is not right, then don’t buy it.

“Idiots are willing to pay so they price it that high.”

“Easy, don’t buy it, make one yourself at a small fraction of $18,” one person suggested.

“People power, boycott.”

Given the offending bread came with mascarpone and honey some argued that perhaps the price was right.

“If it’s house made, along with the honey and mascarpone it’s probably about right. Would I buy it? No,” one suggested.

Given the current cost of living, this isn’t the first time that the high price of baked goods has reared its ugly head. A few weeks ago an unsuspecting Cairns customer voiced their concerns over a small yet high-priced $9 sausage roll.

The person posted an image of the tiny meaty treat on a napkin, claiming that they are “really feeling the shrinkflation with this one”.

Shrinkflation is the reduction in the size or quantity of a product while the price of it remains the same or increases slightly.

The sneaky tactic is used by supermarket companies to keep prices the same while gradually downsizing product sizes.

With prices surging perhaps it is time for a revolutionary return to the kitchen where pastry and baked goods enthusiasts can make their own comforting sweet treats at a fraction of the price.

From classic banana bread decked out in chocolate chips to something more elaborate featuring lime icing and vanilla to a healthy option to accompany your afternoon cuppa, house-made banana bread won’t break the bank and it really is such a comforting treat to enjoy at home.