Restaurants called to freeze prices until Ramadan

Yasemin Salih- ISTANBUL

The head of an umbrella organization of restaurants has called on all eating houses to freeze prices until Ramadan, pointing out the “recent decline in many input prices.”

The first response to Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati’s call to the business world to combat inflation came from supermarkets. Many national and local grocery chains announced that they would freeze or reduce prices on a wide range of products during January.

In a launch where he addressed the representatives of the business world, Nebati reiterated this call for different sectors.

Accordingly, Ramazan Bingöl, the head of the All Restaurants and Tourism Professional Association (TÜRES), called on restaurants not to increase the prices until the month of Ramadan, which will start on March 23 this year.

“Recently, there has been a decline in many commodity and input prices. The fluctuation in the dollar has stopped. For this reason, we are calling on all restaurants to fix prices until the month of Ramadan,” Bingöl stated.

“Let’s all shoulder responsibility together in the fight against inflation,” Bingöl added.

Reminding that there are about two and half months left until the start of the month of Ramadan, Bingöl stressed that not increasing prices during this process will be a crucial support for consumers.

Noting they received complaints about businesses, Bingöl said, “Consumers complain that they encounter surprise prices in restaurants that cater to middle-income people.

“We are calling on businesses to hang menus on their doors so that customers do not encounter high and surprising prices. The incoming customer should be able to look at the prices before they sit down so that they don’t get stunned on receiving their food bill,” he explained.

On the other hand, restaurateurs speaking with daily Hürriyet about Bingöl’s call for “price fixing” evaluated it as an approach far from rationality.

“If inputs are not constant, an equation such as fixing prices cannot be considered. We already set the prices according to the purchasing power of our guests. If the difference remaining after the income and expenditure account exceeds the customer’s purchasing power, we already waive our profit,” stated Kaya Demirer, the head of the Restaurant Investors and Gastronomy Business Association (TÜRYİD).

“However, under these conditions, freezing prices is no different from attempting suicide. That would be like Don Quixote,” Demirer added.

Demirer also said that they found the call positive during the month of Ramadan, even if it is not until the month of Ramadan, saying, “This may be reasonable as the evening meal menus are usually fixed during Ramadan. We can do this.”