No Free Cheese, No Price Hike
Saizeriya is a popular inexpensive family restaurant chain in Japan. I always have to smile when I hear the name. When I first moved to Shizuoka, one of my students told me that he and his family had gone to the restaurant to eat. This was the first I had heard of the restaurant and to my English brain, I thought he was saying "Size Area". I thought it was a strange name for a restaurant in Japan. I soon found out the real name of the place.
Saizeriya has offered olive oil, grated cheese, salt and pepper, red pepper flakes and other condiments free of charge in its restaurants. Recently, the price of cheese, as well as many other items, has gone up. In April, the restaurant forecast its profits would decrease by 26% in the following three months. In an effort not to raise prices, the restaurant has decided to eliminate the free cheese.
I expect many restaurants are dealing with decreased profits due to increased food costs. I think eliminating the free cheese is a reasonable thing to do to avoid raising prices. What do you think? Have you heard of this happening in other restaurants?
4 comments:
Pamela: I agree with you it is a reasonable thing to do, the price of making cheese is not cheap.
After a period, people will forget about the price, I hope the restaurant keeps going.
Catherine
I think that is very reasonable to pay for what you use. Some people want a lot of cheese and Tabasco, others do not want any. There are a lot of things given for free, dressing, sugar, cream, serviettes, butter.... It is ok if it is portioned out and part of a meal, but at a buffet, there are customers who take a fistful of sugar sticks to take home.
I wouldn't have a problem with that. It does seem reasonable.
I think this is a very reasonable adjustment if they can avoid raising prices by doing so!
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