You can also listen to the interview in the audio version.
During this year, the price of company lunches has risen by 20 percent, Vladimír Staněk, head of the Czech Republic’s largest corporate canteen network, calculated. However, prices are still not at their peak, he estimates.
“At the beginning of next year, we will arrive at the price of a menu in a normal Prague canteen of around 200 crowns, which means soup and main course,” says Aramark CEO in Agenda SZ Byznys.
In the regions, according to his experience, the situation differs more according to the sectors of activity than according to the region in which the canteens are located. “We do business in many remote locations where people don’t have many options to eat. But in general, in the heavier industry, the willingness to subsidize food is greater than, for example, in the administration.”
Due to rising commodity prices, they continually negotiate with companies about meal prices. However, their numbers do not show a significant increase in the number of diners in company canteens.
Vladimir Stanek
- He has been CEO of Aramark since 2014.
- He has been working in the company since 2012, starting as chief operating officer.
- Previously, he worked in the Orea Hotels group, led the Mr. Baker bakery chain and the Café Emporio coffee chain in the Czech Republic and Austria.
“Cooking with cheaper ingredients is not the way to go,” believes Vladimír Staněk and lists the year’s biggest price jumps among ingredients. “During this year, the price of oil has risen by 50 percent, edam by 40 percent. And then there are choice meats. For example, today we are already 12 crowns more for beef.”
According to his experience, the way is to bet on local suppliers of meat, fruit and vegetables. “Nothing is stored, cooled or frozen anywhere. The production costs are therefore lower,” he says.
Aramark
- The company is committed to customer service in the catering sectors.
- It is the largest catering service provider in the Czech Republic. In more than 160 restaurants it sells around 150,000 servings of food every day. It provides catering in industrial enterprises, on the occasion of major sporting and cultural events, medical institutions or in the armed forces.
However, even the cheapest items on the daily menu are no more sold than before. “Cheap classic dishes like lentils or Serbian risotto have always been on the menu and there is interest in them. But Czechs will not eat semolina porridge,” he describes the tastes of the diners.
They are currently investing a million crowns in new kitchen equipment that will be less dependent on gas. These are, for example, new boilers or large capacity pots, which generally do not require so much energy consumption.
“At the moment we are receiving offers on the market to take over some businesses that are purely gas-powered, but today, with the care of a real landlord, I would not buy it for a penny,” concludes Vladimír Staněk.
Agenda
A quarter of an hour of business in person. Interviews with top Czech business leaders, company founders, experts.
Every weekday on SZ Byznys and in all podcast apps.
