bottoms Up
7 March 2022 0 comments
Suppliers warn restaurateurs of rising food and alcohol prices
The restaurateurs themselves emphasize that such a statement is on the conscience of suppliers, since they sell goods purchased a long time ago and at the old exchange rate.
Against the backdrop of a sharp depreciation of the ruble and the imposition of sanctions against Russia, suppliers began to warn restaurateurs about a rise in prices for food and alcohol by 10-20%, according to Inc.Russia magazine. Coffee can also be affected.
What are the problems and whether the menu will change, we asked the restaurateurs themselves:
Ombudsman of the Moscow restaurant market, founder of the Meat and Fish restaurants Sergey Mironov:
“Suppliers really began to write letters about the rise in price of products. A rise in price from 10% to 35%, based on letters from suppliers, but here it depends on their conscience, because the product that they offer at this price was bought for old money at the old rate. That is, here they are simply trying to earn money and trying to fit into this slight panic in the food market. Most restaurateurs believe that this rise in prices is unreasonable, that there are no prerequisites for such an unexpected, sharp increase. Moreover, some suppliers raise prices not only for imported goods, they also try to raise prices for Russian vegetables grown in greenhouses. In the future, after some time, there will be stabilization. And where does the jump in prices come from - this is a problem with the dollar exchange rate, which jumped, some of the goods are imported, and there is supposed to be a problem with logistics, namely with logistics, that somewhere the cars will not pass, somewhere they will not be able to cross the border, they will get stuck in some areas, these two factors cause prices to rise. In any case, after some time, the problems with logistics will end, and the price of imported goods will in any case be tied to the dollar exchange rate, there is no other way, and Russian prices will also be built into this import price so as not to lose profits.
Evgeny Nichipuruk, owner of the Rakovaya restaurant chain:
“We have already received letters that all purchases are getting more expensive from most suppliers. Somewhere from March 1, somewhere from February 28, the prices are completely different. On average, a rise in price in 15-20% of various products. Vegetables, fish, seafood, alcohol, in particular imported beer, for example, rise in price by 20%. If the euro, the dollar will roll back, perhaps the suppliers will roll back. In order not to injure, not to lose customers, we usually hold on for some time, if we understand that this is already a new reality, then we slowly begin to raise 10%, 15% in two or three steps. Consumers react very traumatically to a sharp rise in prices. We are ready to cushion, to be their psychologists in this sense, to help them cope with this stress.”
Nadezhda Pak, founder of the Receptor restaurant chain:
— While the work with suppliers has not changed much, we asked questions, they say that, yes, of course, prices will change, but they can’t say by how much, because we communicate at the level of managers, and managers don’t make such decisions, they just carry out management decision. Therefore, we think that prices will be increased, but it is not yet clear by how much.
- Are there any products that will not be available for purchase, maybe you have already thought about some replacements, about revising the menu?
— We switched to everything Russian a long time ago, so we don’t have such difficulty yet. For now, we're just talking about the potential and that it will happen. The menu was updated three months ago. Therefore, as soon as we receive it, we will already take concrete actions.
Restaurateur, co-owner and manager of the Profsoyuz bar association Dmitry Levitsky:
“So far, no exact system has been formed, suppliers are different: someone who is bigger can take on all the costs of the transition period and wait until everything settles down, some new status quo appears, and do not raise prices. Those who are smaller, of course, begin to insure, someone simply raises prices, someone makes them dependent on the current exchange rate, which also dances day by day, someone starts working only on an advance payment, everything is completely different. It doesn't even depend on the products, it rather depends on the supplier and their position at the moment. As soon as something settles down, we will understand with which countries we will be able to trade at all, with which we will not be able to, what will be the exchange rate of our currency, then we will be able to draw some conclusions. Therefore, we are also waiting in restaurants, we are not raising prices, we are looking at what they will become, and then we will think. You understand that three days have passed in total, and for now it’s just people in meetings every day, deciding what they will do tomorrow.
Earlier it was reported that average prices in restaurants increased by 10-15% last year.
The restaurateurs themselves emphasize that such a statement is on the conscience of suppliers, since they sell goods purchased a long time ago and at the old exchange rate.
Against the backdrop of a sharp depreciation of the ruble and the imposition of sanctions against Russia, suppliers began to warn restaurateurs about a rise in prices for food and alcohol by 10-20%, according to Inc.Russia magazine. Coffee can also be affected.
What are the problems and whether the menu will change, we asked the restaurateurs themselves:
Ombudsman of the Moscow restaurant market, founder of the Meat and Fish restaurants Sergey Mironov:
“Suppliers really began to write letters about the rise in price of products. A rise in price from 10% to 35%, based on letters from suppliers, but here it depends on their conscience, because the product that they offer at this price was bought for old money at the old rate. That is, here they are simply trying to earn money and trying to fit into this slight panic in the food market. Most restaurateurs believe that this rise in prices is unreasonable, that there are no prerequisites for such an unexpected, sharp increase. Moreover, some suppliers raise prices not only for imported goods, they also try to raise prices for Russian vegetables grown in greenhouses. In the future, after some time, there will be stabilization. And where does the jump in prices come from - this is a problem with the dollar exchange rate, which jumped, some of the goods are imported, and there is supposed to be a problem with logistics, namely with logistics, that somewhere the cars will not pass, somewhere they will not be able to cross the border, they will get stuck in some areas, these two factors cause prices to rise. In any case, after some time, the problems with logistics will end, and the price of imported goods will in any case be tied to the dollar exchange rate, there is no other way, and Russian prices will also be built into this import price so as not to lose profits.
Evgeny Nichipuruk, owner of the Rakovaya restaurant chain:
“We have already received letters that all purchases are getting more expensive from most suppliers. Somewhere from March 1, somewhere from February 28, the prices are completely different. On average, a rise in price in 15-20% of various products. Vegetables, fish, seafood, alcohol, in particular imported beer, for example, rise in price by 20%. If the euro, the dollar will roll back, perhaps the suppliers will roll back. In order not to injure, not to lose customers, we usually hold on for some time, if we understand that this is already a new reality, then we slowly begin to raise 10%, 15% in two or three steps. Consumers react very traumatically to a sharp rise in prices. We are ready to cushion, to be their psychologists in this sense, to help them cope with this stress.”
Nadezhda Pak, founder of the Receptor restaurant chain:
— While the work with suppliers has not changed much, we asked questions, they say that, yes, of course, prices will change, but they can’t say by how much, because we communicate at the level of managers, and managers don’t make such decisions, they just carry out management decision. Therefore, we think that prices will be increased, but it is not yet clear by how much.
- Are there any products that will not be available for purchase, maybe you have already thought about some replacements, about revising the menu?
— We switched to everything Russian a long time ago, so we don’t have such difficulty yet. For now, we're just talking about the potential and that it will happen. The menu was updated three months ago. Therefore, as soon as we receive it, we will already take concrete actions.
Restaurateur, co-owner and manager of the Profsoyuz bar association Dmitry Levitsky:
“So far, no exact system has been formed, suppliers are different: someone who is bigger can take on all the costs of the transition period and wait until everything settles down, some new status quo appears, and do not raise prices. Those who are smaller, of course, begin to insure, someone simply raises prices, someone makes them dependent on the current exchange rate, which also dances day by day, someone starts working only on an advance payment, everything is completely different. It doesn't even depend on the products, it rather depends on the supplier and their position at the moment. As soon as something settles down, we will understand with which countries we will be able to trade at all, with which we will not be able to, what will be the exchange rate of our currency, then we will be able to draw some conclusions. Therefore, we are also waiting in restaurants, we are not raising prices, we are looking at what they will become, and then we will think. You understand that three days have passed in total, and for now it’s just people in meetings every day, deciding what they will do tomorrow.
Earlier it was reported that average prices in restaurants increased by 10-15% last year.