Restaurants in Hungary to close down one by one
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Foie gras should be sold in restaurants for HUF 10,000 in order to be profitable, but it is impossible in the current economic client as no one will pay the price. Therefore, it has been removed from many restaurant menus. This is just one of the many worries owners have to face all across Hungary. Numerous units are closed and may close in the future, permanently or temporarily. The sector is facing brutal increases in energy and raw material prices. Now, it is compounded by falling demand, since people cannot afford the soaring costs.
László Kovács, president of the Hungarian Hospitality Industry Association (MVI), illustrated to Index the skyrocketing expenses and explained the difficulties owners are facing while Balázs Csapody, a gastronomic expert and owner of the Kistücsök Restaurant in Balatonszemes, urged restaurateurs to hold on.
Skyrocketing prices in restaurants’ menus and rising electricity and gas bills
Some dishes have been removed from the restaurants’ offerings because they just proved to be too pricey for guests. For example, HUF 10,000 (EUR 25,03) would be the price range at which it would be worthy to have foie gras on the menu. But who could afford that nowadays? The purchase price of this Hungaricum has jumped to HUF 20-25,000 (EUR 50.07-62.59) per kilogram. At that price, even a hardcore foie gras lover would rather give up the dish. Balázs Csapody, gastronomic expert, restaurant owner and president of the Pannon Academy of Gastronomy, opened up to Index. They would rather take foie gras off the menu than serve it at such a high price.
The biggest difficulties for restaurants are not just the rising cost of raw materials and energy, but also the rising labour costs. In terms of raw materials – whether we look at the food or the beverage side – there has been an average price increase of 40-50 percent, Csapody said. It’s easy to calculate that a restaurant’s electricity bill, which used to be around HUF 1.5 million, can now rise to HUF 3.5-4.5 million. While for gas, the monthly cost of HUF 235,000 rises to HUF 2.35 million.
“Even in the autumn, there were many, otherwise busy, restaurants that were glad to come out at zero with a full house.”
Rising energy prices have left a painful and lasting scar on the sector, which is now compounded by the battle with suppliers. The utility company’s response was to either pay the bill or they would stop providing electricity. Therefore, those who benefited from this situation are the ones who thought ahead and invested in alternative energy sources before the energy price boom.
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