The rise in energy and food prices is testing German restaurant entrepreneurs. Kebab restaurants, especially known for their cheap portions, are now suffering.
In Frankfurt, Germany, you can now shell out an average of 10 euros for a döner kebab portion.
The rise in food and energy prices is testing German restaurant entrepreneurs.
Kebab restaurants, especially known for their cheap portions, are faced with a difficult decision: how many euros a kebab portion can cost.
– The situation has changed a lot. We have to raise prices to cover our expenses, says the owner of TonBul Grill & Kebap Haus in Frankfurt Ugur Yumusakbas news agency Reuters.
Yumusakbas says that ten euros is the upper limit that a German diner is willing to pay for his portion.
The people of Frankfurt are used to keba portions priced at around seven euros.
Therefore, from the point of view of the German consumer, the price increase to ten euros is considerable.
A similar phenomenon is also visible in Finland.
In June, told about the entrepreneur from Helsinki from Ahmet Denizwho raised the price of his kebab portions in the spring and thought that he would soon have to raise the prices again.
The situation is difficult, because customers complain if prices are raised too much.
– The consumer is not ready to pay 12 euros for a kebab roll, Deniz, an entrepreneur from Helsinki, said in June.
German inflation rose to record levels
German inflation is currently around ten percent. It is the highest reading since the 1950s.
Inflation can now be seen especially in wholesale food prices in Germany.
For example, the wholesale price of goose has risen by 80 percent this year.
This makes many restaurateurs wonder how much cost can be passed on to portion prices.
The manager of a restaurant in Munich Silja Schrank-Steinberg says that the price of food portions containing goose was increased by 40 percent.
The price of a portion rose from around 18.90 euros to 26.50 euros.
– That’s the upper limit. The price simply cannot be raised any more, says Schrank-Steinberg, according to Reuters.
Restaurateurs say wholesalers keep raising their prices because of the energy crisis caused by Russia’s war of aggression.
The increased wholesale prices, on the other hand, force restaurateurs to look for savings wherever possible.
Energy crisis as a cause of inflation
The war of aggression started by Russia raised energy prices in Europe significantly.
Germany has traditionally been very dependent on cheap gas imported from Russia. The end of gas supplies has meant that energy costs have skyrocketed in Germany.
At the end of September, the price of energy in Germany was 44 percent higher than in September 2021.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has tried to curb inflation and promised to help citizens with rising energy costs with a support program estimated to cost Germany up to 200 billion euros.