Why Restaurant Prices Are Not Dropping Despite the Fall in Inflation

The failure of the slowdown in the inflation rate to reflect on restaurant bills is explained by cost dynamics and business strategies in the sector. Ziya Şark Sofrası CEO Nihat Bingöl emphasized that a drop in inflation does not mean that previously increased prices will automatically decrease.

In his assessments during a CNBC-e broadcast, Ziya Şark Sofrası CEO Nihat Bingöl stated that inflation refers to the rate of increase, and that a drop in the rate does not mean that prices that rose in the past will recede.

Emphasizing that constantly raising prices is not a permanent solution in the sector and that panic price hikes should be avoided, Bingöl pointed out that the decline in customer numbers increases costs per person because fixed expenses are divided among fewer customers. Stating that prices are currently in the hands of the consumer, Bingöl conveyed that businesses have to take into account the risk of losing customers.

Bingöl also touched upon how the hidden commissions, discounts, and advertising pressures of digital food delivery platforms negatively affect the profitability of businesses.