What goes into the cost of an Iowa State Fair corndog
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U.S. Sen Elizabeth Warren with a Campbell's Corndog at the Iowa State Fair in 2019. Photo: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Corndogs, arguably the Iowa State Fair's most iconic food staple, are becoming more expensive to produce, according to Campbell's Concessions, the fair's longest-running food vendor.
State of play: With rising operation costs, supplies and fees, Grant Campbell of Campbell's Concessions estimates it costs them 40% more to produce corndogs than it did before the pandemic.
- Campbell's also runs Coney Corner and The Depot.
State of play: A regular beef corndog will cost $8 when the fair opens Aug. 13 — up $2 since 2019, about a 33% price increase.
How it works: Operations and labor costs are rising the most, he says.
- They contract 500 people for the 11 days of the fair, and bumped up wages for 16- to 17-year-olds from $12 an hour to $13 this year. Workers 18 and older earn $14 an hour.
- Finding staff is always a challenge, but this year they have a full roster, Campbell says.
Meanwhile, food prices, including the oil to fry the battered corndogs, have also gone up — partly due to international relations.
- The U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization reported vegetable oil prices climbed to their highest level since 2022 this year.
- High crude oil prices have led to more demand for biodiesels, which is increasing demand for popular oils such as soybean, palm and canola.
Plus: Credit card fees have risen. Before 2020, 70% of payments were cash and 30% card, but that's flipped since the fair started requiring each vendor to accept credit cards in 2021, Campbell says.
- Service fees range from 2%-3% per transaction.
Yes, but: The card emphasis has helped with tips, Campbell says. The Clover processing system asks for tips, which can leave kids with an extra $200 from their fair experience.
The intrigue: A kooky corndog flavor they offer is peanut butter and jelly ($9), which costs more as a specialty item.
- Food vendors can try to earn more through creative menu items that people are eager to try, says Iowa State Fair CEO Jeremy Parsons.
The bottom line: The higher sales volumes help make up for narrower margins, Campbell says.
- At other events where there's less demand, like at Jack Trice or Newton Speedway, a corndog can cost $12-13.
- But even with all the new foods at the Iowa State Fair, no matter what, people want corndogs, he says.