Overview
- RYE, an Austrian family bakery, opened its first U.S. shop on September 10 in SoHo and quickly sold out repeatedly as customers formed long queues.
- The bakery charges $60 for a 1.5 kg rye sourdough loaf in Manhattan while the same loaf costs about €14–15 in the Graz flagship, a gap that has fueled criticism.
- Owner Tim Auer defends the price by citing decades-old sourdough techniques, imported Austrian rye flour, labor-intensive recipes and high Manhattan rents.
- The story has produced heavy social-media backlash—much of it from German‑language users—and attracted an opportunistic marketing response when Lidl drove a truck with a digital billboard past the queue mocking the $60 price.
- RYE says it will bake more loaves to meet demand, and the episode highlights broader tensions over perceived value for artisan foods in high-rent cities and the risk that viral attention can both boost sales and invite public scrutiny.