Edmonton bakery on Whyte Ave lowering prices despite affordability crisis
Posted December 29, 2025 5:25 pm.
Last Updated December 29, 2025 5:27 pm.
While an affordability crisis is causing costs everywhere to soar, one Edmonton baker is dropping his prices on nearly all menu items.
Vinny Rozhdestvensky, the owner of The Better Baker on Whyte Avenue, says though some groceries have gone up in price, he has found ways to charge less.
“This is something we are actually able to sell for about $5.50,” he told CityNews, holding up a pastry. “We’re talking about maybe a 15 to 20 per cent discount.”
Rozhdestvensky says as inflation levels out, he decided to lower his prices about two weeks before Christmas.
Pastries, for example, are down between $1.25 and $1.75, with most items at the $5-mark.
“I don’t know how am I supposed to charge you based on those prices of two years ago. It’s just unconscionable,” he said.
“How long can you keep raising your prices for until people have had enough.”
According to the latest Statistics Canada data, consumer inflation sits at 2.2 per cent overall. However baking ingredients like butter, eggs, flour and sugar have seen a decrease in price since the beginning of 2025.
“Restaurants are using ambiguity,” Rozhdestvensky explained. “That one item went up in price, yes, not the flour, not the butter, not the cream cheese, not the sugar, not the eggs. One of nine. That doesn’t justify me rising the price.”
A customer at the bakery, Dale Hennessey, said he respected Rozhdestvensky’s ethics.
“When I heard this gentleman talking about lowering prices, I like honesty, integrity, I like that. That’s what I hope to see more within Alberta,” Hennessey said.
Rozhdestvensky says even with some grocery prices going up, chefs and business owners need to be creative to help keep prices affordable.
“Maybe that means you used to buy chicken breasts,” he said. “They’re more expensive than whole chickens. Now you should start buying whole chickens. Maybe you used to buy this cut of beef, get a different beef. Maybe you used to cook it in the oven, now you have to braise it.”
