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“Everything has become more expensive. Of course, we have to sell more expensively now,” Juliane Lindner, who runs a breakfast and lunch restaurant in the Carinthian district town of Spittal, said on APA’s call among restaurateurs Friday. “I’m glad that our customers understand the situation.” Her electricity bill is now double what it was before the pandemic.
Other restaurateurs expressed similar sentiments – “it’s dramatic,” they said. However, they do not want to complain. Most also assume that they will continue to adjust prices if inflation continues to gallop. At Lindner’s “Mrs. Jot” drinks have recently become more expensive by 20, 30 cents per glass and food by 50 cents to 1 euro. “If you go up 3 euros, no one comes anymore.” Like the restaurant industry, certain customer groups are still feeling the after-effects of the pandemic, Lindner said. That’s because many people earn less during their short-time work.
Admittedly, every restaurant has its cost structure. Some restaurant owners also have products or offerings that are particularly important for their establishment and should not become more expensive or less expensive, if possible – also depending on the customer groups. According to the Chamber of Commerce calculations, a Wiener Schnitzel from pork should currently cost 12 percent more than it did a year and a half ago. The basis for the analysis is the price increases for the ingredients, energy, and transport.
Wöhrnschimmel of the Wiener Stadtbeisl, for example, notes that the price increases for organic meat, which his restaurant offers across the board, have so far been significantly lower than the inflation for conventional meat. The establishment owner says that electrical appliances have all been replaced with new, energy-saving ones. Drinks deliveries have become more expensive, he says, to the extent that he has to order around 300 euros to avoid paying 45 euros for delivery. But if you don’t need that many beer kegs, he says, that’s an issue. Price fluctuations are immense overall, so calculations are made daily. A crate of salad cost 5 euros three weeks ago, then suddenly 15 euros, and now 9 euros again. With the side salad, one does not need to change prices. However, because with such, one has a good margin anyway – for example, no energy for the preparation is necessary.
Huditz also explains that it is not possible to lump together that everything in the entire catering industry is now 10, 15, or 20 percent more expensive. In any case, this is a sensitive issue. There have been no price increases at Villa Lido for the time being.
The manager is convinced “that the whole gastronomy will change massively. There will no longer be the offer as we know it.” Quality establishments would “naturally have to become more expensive – the cost structure will run away if you’re not careful. And there will also be a shakeout,” Huditz said. As in the U.S., nothing will work in quality operations without reservations. In the lower-priced segment, Huditz, also involved in the Chamber of Commerce’s Gastronomy and Tourism Division, expects more self-service concepts.
- source: APA/picture: pixabay.com
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