WEBSTER, N.Y. — ​As gas prices remain high, it is having a trickle-down effect on the things we buy. From grocery stores to virtually any business, owners are having to pass the cost of transporting their items to the consumer. One Rochester area businessman is finding a way to offset the high price of fuel.

In the family pizza business, Silvio Fantauzzo has done it all.

“I got into this at a very, very young age,” said Fantauzzo. “Working inside the stores.”

Fantauzzo bought his first Salvatore’s pizza store in 2005. Being the owner of the place means he has done pretty much every job there is to do.

“Yes, I'm owner,” he said. “You do a little bit everything, especially with the staffing issues we're going through right now. So there's nights where I'm delivering until close. It just, it is what it is right now.”

It is what it is also pertains to gas prices, something Fantauzzo is well aware of.

“Today I saw $4.39,” he said, driving past a gas pump while delivering a pizza near his Webster store. “I was hoping we’d never get back to that point.”

It is a point of contention, which he says would be taking a big bit out of profits, if he wasn’t prepared.

“You got to be one step ahead all the time,” said Fantauzzo. “You always have to be on your toes and pay attention everything around you.”

Delivery accounts for a large chunk of pizza sales, even more so since the pandemic. Three delivery cars at Fantauzzo’s shop run on electricity. He figures he is saving about $1,000 a month on gas costs.

“And I bought them kind of knowing that this was going to be coming,” he said. “And I'm glad I bought them when I did.”

With delivery cars running 200 to 300 miles a week each, and with gas prices remaining well over $4 a gallon, it seems like a solid investment.

“It’s pretty crazy we got this high this fast,” he said.