Restaurants are being impacted by rising costs, Matthew Pace, secretary of the Association of Catering Establishment (ACE) told The Malta Independent on Sunday.
This newsroom received some concerns regarding a number of catering establishments having raised prices. Readers pointed out that, at several establishments one now has to pay an average of €15 to €16 for a plate of pasta or a burger, when these menu items cost around €12 until a few months ago.
The Malta Independent on Sunday contacted Pace to get a better understanding of the situation.
Asked whether he knows the average price increase for people dining out at a restaurant he said: “I do not have statistics that can give a reply to your question directly, but one thing is for sure, not all establishments have increased their pricing and those that did, did not reflect the percentage increase in comparison to the steep rise in material costs,” he said.
He explained that average raw food costs have increased by at least 25% since Covid. “How exactly are restaurants expected to recoup this cost variance if not through pricing?” he asked.
Pace said that labour costs have also risen. “Like anything it is supply and demand, and supply, at this point in time, is very limited. We have restaurants that are closing on certain days as they are short-staffed and others that are limiting their opening hours. Poaching staff is the order of the day and headhunting comes at a cost.”
He also explained that freight costs and other related factors are having an impact on purchasing costs.
Pace said that a main factor of the rising costs restaurants face is Covid-19.
Food prices in stores and markets in Malta also rose recently, with noticeable differences in the prices of certain goods.
Times of Malta quoted one supermarket as saying: “The price of a kilo of Barilla pasta has gone up from €1.09 to €1.40 and sunflower oil, which once cost 99c, is now about €1.40, showing increases of between 20-30%.” It also said that other suppliers gave, as examples, the 15-20% rise in the price of coffee beans and said the shortage of a “good” rib-eye, costing €20-€23 a kilo, is due to prices overseas.
Back in August, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana answered questions posed by journalists regarding the cost of living in Malta. Minister Caruana said that the rise in the cost of living is primarily due to two factors. These include the disruption that was brought about by the pandemic as well as Brexit, which led to an inflation issue. “The disruption brought about by the pandemic is a temporary factor,” Caruana highlighted. He further explained that considering “we are a country which imports several goods from the UK, Brexit has also given rise to duty issues, thus automatically increasing prices”. Caruana said that these two major factors cannot be ignored.