The problem with a menu is that once it’s in writing, that’s the price you’re stuck with until a new bill of fare is printed up. In normal times this wouldn’t be much of an issue, but with costs increasing at a dizzying pace, restaurants are struggling to keep up.
Stephen Montgomery, the owner of Our Place Annan, introduced a new menu at the beginning of March that was priced as close as possible to the time of printing.
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“We’ve had two stock takes since then, and our [gross profit] on our food alone has gone down by 7.6 per cent,” he said. “We can’t pass that on to our customers because that’s already in print, so now it’s about trying to think quick on our feet and see where we can save somewhere else.”
One tactic deployed by Mr Montgomery, who is also spokesman for the Scottish Hospitality Group, has been to turn off a section of the restaurant’s three-burner grill on Wednesdays and Thursdays when trade is quietest. Like many, he has also been closed entirely on Mondays and Tuesdays to cut down on staff and utility bills on what are typically the slowest trading days across the restaurant sector.
But such belt-tightening can’t go on indefinitely, particularly with the traditionally busy tourist season on the horizon. Having had no real opportunity to recover after the lockdowns of the pandemic, operators are keen to maximise opening times this summer in a bid to continue weathering the economic storms.
The question is whether consumers will be capable of coming to the rescue.
A survey out today from the Scottish Building Society shows that the majority of Scots are pessimistic about inflation coming down. Many are set to be squeezed further by this morning’s announcement that the Bank of England has put up interest rates for the 12th month in a row, taking the base rate that dictates mortgage and floating loan repayments to 4.5%.
READ MORE: 'Terrible' food price increases reveal fundamental flaws
From the hospitality sector’s point of view, there was a sliver of a potential silver lining in that half of those questioned by the Scottish Building Society said they were unlikely to go on a holiday this year. This raises the prospect that what disposable income they do have will be spent on smaller treats, such as a meal out, here at home.
It won’t likely be a full-blown “staycation” windfall such as that of the summer of 2021, but along with hopes for easing commodity and energy prices, it could prove just enough to see the majority of businesses through.
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