Two years of pandemic and closure, rising electricity prices, food prices and wages. If you’ve been out to eat, you’ve probably noticed that it appears on the restaurant bill and this year’s Christmas party will be no exception.
A check of Christmas food prices at some popular Oslo restaurants shows that you will soon have to shell out just under 700 NOK to be served lutefisk or pinnekjøtt during the Christmas season, just over a hundred crowns less for a classic Christmas dish.
It should cost more, we have to believe Ove Jakobsen. Jakobsen is one of the owners of the restaurant Le Benjamin in Oslo and one of the initiators of the Norwegian Restaurant Association, which organizes small and medium-sized restaurants in Norway.
UNDERSTANDING: Ove Jakobsen of Le Benjamin and the Norwegian Restaurant Association believe the vast majority of guests agree that it now costs a little more to eat out. Photo: Le Benjamin
sea View
– A lot has happened in the restaurant business in a short time. Commodity prices have risen at a runaway pace. Electricity prices have been high and wages have risen, so there is no doubt that there has been a rise in prices in the restaurant business, Jakobsen tells DinSide.
– Oh men’s mini for a pizza !!
And then the backlog that the industry has struggled with after long periods of shutdowns and restrictions is not taken into account.
– Lucky it hasn’t gotten even more expensive.
When restaurant prices rise less than commodity prices, it’s because many restaurants don’t dare raise their prices in the face of stiff competition, according to Jakobsen.
Pork ribs
How much have prices really gone up? If you go out to eat a portion of meat on the spit today, you will have to spend between 425 and 698 NOK. In the table below you can see how much it costs in a group of restaurants in Oslo.
Before looking at the numbers, it is still important to take a closer look at what lies behind these prices.
Putting them on such a table is a pure simplification and should be taken with a wooden spoon of Maldon salt.
Let’s start with the ingredients. The most expensive places are also those that specify the origin of the food, which is generally a good sign when going out to eat. Some specify the area, others up to the nearest farmer.
It predicts a price jump on the Christmas table
Because even if those specified menus don’t guarantee that the food will taste good, it does say something about the concern for ingredients.
Number of servings it is also good to include in the calculation. At the top of the price scale you get two servings, which is potentially double the amount of food for those with a generous appetite.
At the lower end of the price scale you will find the self-service restaurants. Places where you have to do all or part of the work yourself, order and bring food to the table. Most people have become friends with QR codes, but part of the joy of going out to eat is talking to someone who knows about the food and drink they serve.
It costs more to serve food on hot porcelain plates and wine from crystal goblets than from classic tableware. And he is not free to set the table white tablecloths.
Finally, there is the slightly indeterminate one the atmosphere factor, to which it is impossible to give a price and which also depends entirely on who and what. Because where some people would prefer to eat with white tablecloths, there are also many who are happy to pay to let them go and run away from restaurants with mandatory covers and cloakrooms.
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It is also worth noting that four years ago, without the challenges the industry is facing today, the most expensive skewers cost NOK 625.
Even then, the Dagbladet reporter asked the question: Has the price carousel been unleashed?
– A poorer city
Jakobsen of the Norwegian Restaurant Association doesn’t think most guests react to rising restaurant prices in an economy where inflation is higher than in decades.
He also wants to dispel some myths about catering.
– There are many who believe that all restaurants pay less for a packet of butter than those who shop at the store. It is often the other way around. We often pay more to take that packet of butter to the restaurant, she says.
Where big chains get bulk buying benefits, it’s not that good for small and medium-sized businesses.
Therefore, food becomes more expensive
– It is these small independent restaurants, that we get so many signals that everyone wants to have, that guarantee an exciting flora of the restaurant, which has the tightest margins, he says, and adds:
– It seems that the chances of survival for small restaurants will decrease, and then Norway – and Oslo – will become much less interesting to visit, and not least a poorer city for those who actually live and live here.
Price increase announced
In view of the season, the general manager of Engebret Café announced, Kay Henning Johnsen, price increase ahead of the season.
– It will be more expensive, you know. Norwegian Christmas must have Norwegian products, made by Norwegians and served by Norwegians. We expect prices to rise between around 6.5% and 7%, Kay Henning Johnsen, CEO of the iconic Engebret Café, tells Børsen.
However, high prices are not an obstacle. At Engebret, they expected to be fully booked only a few weeks after the start of the season.
