Sounds like an impossible task if you account for customers not wanting to pay more for food. People who don't make a livable wage would just opt to work somewhere else or move away from the hospitality industry altogether.
Nice try but this will likely be self defeating. Fewer people willing to work as waiters and a decline in the quality of service equates to fewer customers and less profit.
If nobody can afford to buy the food, then the workers preparing and serving the food would be out of a job due to a lack of revenue from the restaurant.
That's the whole point though. If the types of restaurants that you like can't make enough money to offer jobs that workers would accept then those restaurants shouldn't exist. They can be replaced with more profitable businesses that more people will enjoy.
I reckon the jobs are not on offer because the restaurants only want to pay a small amount (they have razor thin margins and an employee costs more than just salary [workers comp, insurance, equipment, liability etc]).
Previously people accepted the small amount, but now they aren't because they're (currently still) being paid to stay home in most cases.
It's been painful watching my family members who own a restaurant and a bar.
I think this post still misses the mark.
Food prices are not up 5-15%, based on what my family is seeing it's up 40-50%. They're desperately trying to find cheaper solutions.
In addition to that, when the restaurants were forced to be shut down in 2020, people switched roles. People started working at Amazon and other companies.
Now there's a shortage of cooks, bar-tenders, etc. Previously, they were paying $7/hr + tips for a bar-tender. Now, they can't get people to apply for under $15/hr + tips. My one family member cannot even find a cook and they're offering 50% more than they were in 2019 -- $30/hr. So they're working 12-14 hr days, 7 days a week to keep the place running.
Combined with increased costs, there was a drop of 20% or so of patrons (compared to 2019) and patrons are more price sensitive.
To me, it's clear from reading this comments that many people do not understand the economics of a restaurants. Which are far different than chain fast-food place locations.
It sounds like the restaurant was a side project that was barely solvent to begin with. They could try raising prices, but if the customers leave then people simply aren't willing to pay what it costs to keep that place open and the demand to support that restaurant in that place just isn't there.
The market sounds a little imbalanced. If they were competing with other restaurants then that would be an option. But they aren't competing with other restaurants. They are competing with companies that give the food away free to their employees. Those companies can afford to pay the chefs, and kitchen staff more because they don't make money selling the food. They make money on high margin digital goods. The market will only sustain so many $500 a meal restaurants. The casual dining restaurants, which sound like the hardest hit, can only increase their prices so much before they price themselves out of the market.
Not a lot of people are willing to work in the food service industry in general, nor at 2019 wages specifically, also rents, and real estate skyrocketed. Food costs are generally only about 1/3 of menu revenue, with wages and overhead being the other ~2/3. Profits are generally very thin in restaurants.
>This does point out that the Hotel and Restaurant industry is still being hit hard.
It's also the case that my observation while traveling to a number of different places the last couple of months is that a lot of restaurants are still having trouble getting staff. I got into one (crowded) restaurant just before it was closing at 3pm on a Sunday and it wasn't reopening until Thursday. A lot of mid-week closures in the city that didn't seem to be the result of weak demand.
Now, could they just increase wages until they hire enough people? Possibly. But if it's not a coordinated effort, they'll probably lose out to a competitor and presumably higher prices have some effect on collective demand given that eating out is not a necessity in general.
I ate at another restaurant in another city that had explicitly jacked up prices considerably--like maybe 40%. It was empty even though other restaurants in the area looked pretty busy. And service was still pretty bad.
Restaurateurs need to think harder. All restaurateurs in a single city and state are faced with the same labour laws, minimum wage and all restaurateurs in a single area are faced with the same cost of real estate and living for their employees. It's a fair playing field. If they can't find employees, they need to pay more. And if they pay them more, they raise prices. And consumers will have to pay them if they want to eat out. And they do. It just takes some actual balls to raise prices. When you hear all the complaining, it's always shit restaurateurs that can't compete on quality or service, so they screw over as many people as they can to attempt to compete on price. At the end of the day, it's a competitive industry and people will find a way to make money.
I am hoping that the ones that remain can charge a sustainable price for their product when dinging out becomes a thing again. Restaurants are notoriously bad for working conditions and wages. May be they can charge enough to pay their workers better.
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