Restaurant leaders tell lawmakers credit-card fees, insurance and supply costs are squeezing businesses

Scott Bierman, representing the Georgia Restaurant Association, told the Small Business Development Committee that Georgia’s restaurant sector faces growing pressure from rising input costs and shrinking margins. "Across the state, there are roughly 24,000 restaurant locations generating $47.2 billion in annual restaurant and food service sales, supporting more than 500,000 jobs," Bierman said, framing the industry as a major employer and local economic anchor.

Bierman and Alexis Kinsey, a multi-unit operator who said she is opening her seventeenth location next month, described several cost drivers squeezing operators: since 2019 food costs have increased roughly 38% and labor costs about 35%, they said, leaving many independent restaurants operating on narrow 3–5% margins. Kinsey said even modest price swings on key ingredients (she cited skirt steak for a taqueria concept) can translate to six-figure annual revenue impacts for a single concept.

A central complaint was credit-card processing fees and point-of-sale arrangements. "As a company, I could build and open a restaurant in the amount of credit card processing fees that I pay as a company in 1 year," Kinsey said. She told lawmakers some POS vendors require restaurants to use the vendor’s processor, which raises switching costs and can keep operators locked into higher-fee arrangements.

Kinsey also described sharp increases in liability insurance costs and diminished availability of liquor-liability coverage. She said her company saw liability costs rise roughly 38% in one year and 21% in another year without a corresponding increase in claims, a dynamic she attributed to broader market and litigation pressures.

Both witnesses asked lawmakers to engage with the industry on practical supports, including clearer health-department guidance for independent restaurants, workforce development partnerships (including ProStart in schools) and ongoing dialogue as policy proposals move through the legislature. The committee chair thanked the witnesses and closed the session; no formal votes were taken during the hearing.