People from Europe to Asia have headaches because of the “storm” of inflation

Meanwhile, many restaurants, which are trying to recover from the pandemic, now have to make difficult choices when the storm hits. price storm affects both raw material supply and customer demand.

“Cheap and delicious” is the criterion that Ms. Choi has set for her kimchi during decades of selling kimchi in Seoul. So far, she has managed to maintain this despite the high prices of the past several months.

Ms. Choi Sun-Hwa – The owner of a kimchi shop in Seoul said: “The prices of all kinds of ingredients are very expensive. With the same amount of money, before I wanted 10 cabbages for kimchi, now I can only get 7. I’m trying to keep the price, but it’s hard to last too long, so maybe in the near future I will raise the price a little bit.”

Her consolation is that the low prices are somewhat attracting more customers to the shop these days, when inflation in South Korea has reached its highest level in more than 10 years.

Ms. Seo Jae-Eun – Customer said: “Now I don’t buy vegetables to make my own kimchi at home anymore because the price is too expensive, it’s like kimchi made of gold. So I often come here to buy it because the price is cheaper than one year. little”.

The same story also happened with Mr. Wong – owner of a Dimsum restaurant in Hong Kong (China) for more than 30 years. His shop is famous for only increasing the price by HKD 1/time at the beginning of the year. But the situation this year is very different, when food prices increase by 4.5% on average, influenced by epidemic prevention measures from mainland China – the main food supply of the special zone.

Mr. Wong Charn-Chee – The owner of a dim sum restaurant in Hong Kong (China) said: “During the pandemic, it is very difficult to transport all kinds of ingredients, and the cost goes up a lot. But if I often raise the price, the customers will won’t come to eat again.”

It is a common story with many other traditional restaurant owners across Asia. Mainly small restaurants, they are all having a headache with the problem: either raise prices and lose customers, or keep prices and watch profits trickle down. As for consumers, one way or another, most people have to accept the fact that their favorite foods are going to cost more – at least for the next few months.

* Invite readers to watch programs broadcast by Vietnam Television on TV Online and VTVGo!