A Norwalk business owner says he's been "hit hard" by a surge in produce prices.

Jose Lucero, of Don Carmelo's Mexican Grill, says some produce imported from Mexico has more than tripled in price in recent months.

He says the situation has forced him to cut his workers' hours.

"The case of tomatoes, like three months ago, they were like $20 per case. Now it's $85 a case and we don't want to change the quality of our food because we stick with what we buy all the time. It's going to be hard for us to keep going if the prices, they don't drop. My hope is that the prices of the produce are going down," Lucero said on Saturday.

He says he hopes for a Cinco de Mayo surge in business to help offset soaring produce prices.