LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The triple digit heat is motivating people to get some ice cream to cool off, but a scoop is a little pricier now.
“It’s hot. It’s hot outside.”
Customers coming in to cool off with some ice cream at Café Maiko. The treat getting a ringing endorsement.
“It’s actually good. It’s actually like you can taste the actual matcha unlike other matcha restaurants,” said Sara Yoshida, who lives in Las Vegas.
The matcha green tea ice cream is the pride and joy of Hang Wong, manager of the dessert shop. It’s also the best seller there.
“It’s always been actually because our soft serve is our signature here,” he said.
However, making that signature ice cream is costing more. The price of ingredients has gone up.
“We’re talking about, I would say certain items, we went up like 30 to 40 percent. It’s crazy,” Wong said.
The latest Consumer Price Index showing June ice cream prices across the country up 12.5 percent from last year. Wong says he was forced to raise prices this year with more expensive ingredients playing a big part but remains optimistic.
“For this month, it kind of has stabilized a little bit, and hopefully it’ll keep that way. For summer, I think we’re okay as the demand is still there. We still have a lot of customers,” Wong said.
