Let me empathize the question better: as in restaurants adding a surcharge imposed towards customers just because the logistics of bringing in the ingredients to cook dishes is being impacted (usually come in bulk from supply trucks) alongside the cost of fuel going up.
I know its the same thing for rideshare (as drivers need gas, so they charge passengers more on the app for this reason). In my country, they added a 5% surcharge for customers who dine in at restaurants and 10% for food deliveries, which is just ridiculous (but I get it).
I mean, my country has it’s own oil reserves but whether they’ll be used during this time remains unclear, and they’re kind of seldom on exporting that towards the global market since for the most part, crude oil is imported from the Gulf states (like Oman or Kuwait).
Most restaurants will buy from a distributor in a time limited contract. Where a product like beef will be purchased at a set amount for a certain time. Larger chains might buy beef for a year to lock in a cheaper price if they think inflation is going to climb. Also note that restaurants are in competition with eachother so they might not want to be the first to mark up prices.
So the result is that in the event where everything becomes dramatically more expensive in a short time, you will probably see some lag before it shows, but it depends.
I’m guessing that will depend on their suppliers increasing prices. Restaurants know that raising prices can drive customers away, so most will be reluctant to do it. If their suppliers increase prices significantly, though, restaurants will have to follow suit or go bankrupt.
Depends on where you are. Countries more reliant on gulf oil/refinement are going to be impacted more. In the US while our gas prices have jumped it hasn’t yet shown up on transport/food prices (it will, just not yet).
USPS has already added a fuel surcharge for packages.
I don’t eat
I haven’t noticed an increase.
Fuel is a tiny cost of restaurant meals. It isn’t zero, but it is much less than 5% of the costs. So even if prices are going up, it is easy to hide them in the profit margin in the short term. Long term of course it affects more and more things indirectly and eventually something will give and raise prices forcing something else to give.
Fuel is a tiny cost of restaurant meals. It isn’t zero, but it is much less than 5% of the costs
If you think a 5% jump in operating costs isn’t going to kill most restaurants, you may not understand the thin margins they work with.
A 20% jump in something that is only 5% of costs is not a 5% jump. It will hurt but not kill most.
I’m sure some have, especially those who can set their own prices.
Normally it takes about a month at least before the price rise trickle comes through. And I suspect you’ll feel it at the grocery store before while eating out. A lot of companies will sacrifice a bit of their profit margin first. The question will be how long will this genius military operation that is somehow both over and on track to succeed last. A couple of months is something the markets may be able to recover from quickly.
I’m so glad America was looking for a guy to drain the swamp and keep them out of wars to be the president. And they found one convicted of sexual assault, whose name appears in the released Epstein filles more often than God and Jesus combined in the Bible, and who threw a hissy fit after not getting the Nobel he invaded Venezuela and started a war with Iran. Sad.
I haven’t noticed anything. I think the biggest increase was due to corona, but now things are more stable again.
