- In the popular Monciak in Sopot, you can find places where we will pay less than PLN 50 for a dinner for one person, but there are also addresses where our wallet will lose several times more
- One of the restaurateurs: the entrepreneur has to pay for employees, utilities, support himself and order the goods
- Our interlocutors also pay attention to inflation or the shortage of employees in the catering industry. In their opinion, this is an effect of the current government’s policy
- “Receipts of horror” is poor PR not only for a specific restaurant, but sometimes also for the entire town
- More information can be found on the main page of Onet.pl
Posts appear on social media from time to time, where someone outraged mentions in detail how much he had to pay for dinner in a restaurant or bar. In addition, such a person often adds a photo of an appropriate receipt, and sometimes also a resentment comment in the style that restaurateurs are cunning, dishonest and that capitalism generally leaves a lot to be desired.
Quite often, such “horror receipts” concern coastal towns. He gets to Krynica Morska, Łeba and, for example, to Sopot.
The restaurateur is ironic: you wanted prosperity from the government, you have it
The truth is, however, that prices vary. For example, in the popular Monciak in Sopot, you can find places where we will pay less than PLN 50 for a dinner for one person, but there are also addresses where our wallet will lose several times more. Before the pandemic, this price spread was similar. – The problem would be if someone went to a restaurant, ordered food from the menu, which cost, for example, PLN 100, and received a bill twice as much. Then I would understand someone’s indignation – I hear from one of the Tri-City gastronomic entrepreneurs.
Restaurateurs reading about horror receipts knock on the forehead and then go back to work. There are also those who speak up.
We recently published a restaurateur’s letter on Onetwho admitted that he felt embarrassed reading about “drastically inflated receipts” and dishonest entrepreneurs.
“I have been working in gastronomy for several years, prices are going up every year and it is inevitable (…) You wanted prosperity from the government, you have it, you get 500+, and the government forces producers to raise prices, charging them with further fees to throw at you every now and then new gifts in the form of funding for a new child “- he wrote.
And further: “Small and medium-sized entrepreneurs are the main taxpayers of this country, it is their taxes that we mainly live on, and the government can spoil the increasingly demanding society with pro-family programs. Such an entrepreneur must pay for employees, media, support himself and order commodity”.
“You can always find places that are reasonably priced and affordable for us”
Sławomir Grzyb, secretary of the Polish Gastronomy Chamber of Commerce, also takes the floor in an interview with Onet. – Of course, we are annoyed by these media reports, where very high prices are shown in a place and it makes a sensation. After all, no one is forcing anyone to use the services of the most expensive restaurateurs. You can always find places that are reasonably priced and affordable, he says.
Onet’s interlocutor emphasizes that due to the government’s actions during the epidemic, the catering industry is in a very difficult situation. – Despite the government’s announcements, aid during the pandemic did not reach all entrepreneurs.
Still in June IGGP is planning to file a class action on behalf of several hundred restaurateurs from all over Poland against the State Treasury, precisely because of unlawful restrictions during the pandemic, which resulted in financial losses for thousands of entrepreneurs.
The market now and the market before the pandemic are two different worlds
Why are restaurant prices still rising?
– We have 5% inflation, and thus a price increase. Thus, higher prices in restaurants are also the result of the government’s economic policy, even if one looks at the increase in energy prices. People should associate such facts, he adds.
The IGGP secretary also draws attention to the shortage of employees in the catering industry, which means that entrepreneurs must ensure higher wages. As Onet’s interlocutor emphasizes, the lower interest in working in gastronomy is due to the fact that it is now a high-risk industry, because it is not known what the government will do in a few months. To compensate for the increase in costs, entrepreneurs increase their prices. – It’s not about a greater profit in itself, often restaurateurs raise prices just to survive.
– Some people compare the current market to that of two years ago, but these are two completely different worlds. We are in a completely different economic situation, the catering industry has suffered enormous losses due to the government, which is trying to shift the responsibility to all of us, concludes Onet’s interlocutor.
Is it too expensive? Avoid this place with a wide berth
“Receipts of horror” is poor PR not only for a specific restaurant, but sometimes also for the entire town.
The mayor of Łeba, Andrzej Strzechmiński, assumes that you cannot worry about such stories. – Horror receipts? Fortunately, as the mayor of a seaside town, I have not encountered such bitter regrets. All it takes is a few dissatisfied people for some reason and suddenly others join this hating trend. And a not entirely true picture of reality is created – he tells Onet.
Strzechmiński knows that prices are rising (and that in various industries), and one of the reasons is the costs that many entrepreneurs incurred with the two lockdowns. The mayor of Łeba gives an example from his own backyard. – My wife runs a small business where she rents three apartments. We have not raised prices for years, but now, due to the whole situation, we have decided to raise prices. We assume that the choice is made by the consumer. If he doesn’t like the price or whatever, he just doesn’t use the service.
– It’s the same with restaurants. One can afford a hot dog in Żabka on offer, while another will go to a more expensive restaurant and order food at a much higher price. After all, we probably wanted the market and the consumer to decide everything, right? – concludes the mayor.
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