Mallorca Bulletin

RESTAURANT BOSS DISHES UP WARNING

The new president of the CAEB Restaurants A s s o c i at i o n i n M a l l o r c a , Juanmi Ferrer says that the time has come to reduce restaurant prices. He acknowledges that in recent years the prices have increased across the board. One reason was that people had saved during the pand e m i c . O nce t he r e s t r i c - tions were lifted, they went o u t a nd s p e n t . P r i ce s r e - flec ted this. The association’s former president and now v i ce - p r e s i d e n t , A l - fonso Robledo, obser ves: “The bottles of w ine and c av a we r e j oyo u s l y opened.” Ferrer points out t h at businesses in Mallorca have higher costs than on the mainland. Rents are generally higher. Produc ts cost more. Salaries are higher. “We have the best hospitality agreement in Spain.” The salaries are set to go up. Ahead of the next round of collective bargaining negotiations, the unions have been talking about a pay rise of above five per cent in 2025. 2024 has been characteri s e d by l owe r s p e nd i n g , while hotels and flights have gone up in price. “If a family has 2,000 euros for their holidays, a few years ago they spent 1,000 on the hotel and transport and had another 1,000 to spend on restaurants, exc ursions, shopping. Now they have to pay 1,600 for the accommodation and transpor t and have 400 euros left for everything else.” Ferrer recently said that t u r nove r h a d f a l l e n 3 0 % this summer. He and Robledo both now point to a 20% drop. The association president says that restau rants are the first to notice when an economic slowdown is approaching. The restaurants are still turning in profits, but these are now between eight and twelve per cent as opposed to 20% they have enjoyed ove r t he p a s t co u p l e o f years. Robledo concludes: “We have to continue betting on quality, but by offering more co m p e t i t i ve prices. That means replacing some produc ts w ith others.”. Seguir leyendo