WASHINGTON – Sharply escalating cheese prices has made pizza makers increase their prices, WRC-TV reports. From the national chains to the family run pizzerias, pizza makers are feeling the pinch from rising costs for an essential ingredient.

Block cheddar cheese reached $2.08 a pound Thursday, up 78 percent from a year ago. Coupled with high milk prices and strong demand, industry observers are not surprised to find pizza prices advancing as well.

Pizza Hut and Papa John’s International have hiked the cost of their cheese-only pizzas to the same price as one-topping pies at company-owned stores. Higher cheese prices have exacerbated the pressure pizza restaurants are under from higher wages and fuel costs, said Chris Sternberg, spokesman for Louisville-based Papa John's.

Using around 100 million pounds of cheese each year, cheese typically accounts for 35 percent to 40 percent of the food cost in making a Papa John’s pizza, Sternberg told the television station. Pizza Hut tosses 300 million pounds of cheese each year on its pies.

The higher cost for cheese is a domino effect from higher prices for milk, which in turn come from higher feed grain costs for dairy cattle herds, said Rob Hainer, spokesman for the Southeast United Dairy Industry Association. He attributes high corn prices to an increased demand for ethanol fuel.