Updated Aug 27, 2021 - Things to Do

Why Minnesota State Fair food might cost a little extra this year

Illustration of stripes and dots forming a dollar bill shape, with a corndog in the middle.

Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios

Your favorite food on a stick might be more expensive this year.

What's happening: Vendors are feeling the effects of rising costs in three areas: food, paper and labor. They'll be passing at least some of that cost onto fairgoers.

Tim Weiss got the invoice for his first food order for Giggles' Campfire Grill on Friday.

  • "It's pretty much up 25% across the board," he said.
  • He's only raising menu prices by about 25 cents per item, which is a fraction of his added costs.

Ever worse: Paper, which vendors need for cups, plates, trays and napkins.

  • Mark Andrew said paper costs have doubled for his World's Greatest French Fries stand.
  • "We're stocked up because we plan on everything and we got a lot of storage here so, I think we're going to be OK. But some other vendors may be scrambling at the end of the fair," Weiss said.

The bottom line: Expect modest hikes, depending on the product.

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that Mark Andrew is the owner of the World's Greatest French Fries stand.

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