According to data from Edenred, Czechs are paying more for lunches in restaurants than they did before the coronavirus crisis. However, the number of restaurant visits has plummeted, to 57% lower in June than before the pandemic. Photo Credit: KK / BD.
Czech Rep., Jul 28 (BD) – According to research by meal-ticket operator Edenred, Czechs are paying significantly more for lunches in restaurants than they did before the coronavirus crisis. In June, the average expenditure climbed to a record 137 crowns, an increase of 5 crowns from the beginning of 2021, and an increase of 9 crowns since 2019, before the outbreak of the pandemic.
Moreover, compared to last June when restaurants reopened after the first wave of the pandemic, lunch costs are now 3 percent higher.
“The 3% year-on-year growth reflects the development of the inflation in the Czech Republic. We expect lunch prices and spending to continue to rise. Restaurants face rising costs as prices of raw materials are rising, employees have to be financially motivated to return to the hospitality sector, and, last but not least, they are still not operating at full capacity. So far, Czechs are eating out much less often than they used to,” said Nicolas Eich, CEO of Edenred.
The number of visits to restaurants in the Czech Republic was 57 percent lower in June, when both gardens and interiors of restaurants were already open, compared to the time before the pandemic. There was also a significant drop compared to last year’s summer reopening. In June 2020 – under the same conditions as this year – lunch trips to restaurants fell by only 22 percent.
“It turns out that the crisis in the gastronomy sector did not end with the end of the last coronavirus wave, and the decline in food sales is higher than we expected,” added Eich.
