Re:Why Are People So Down About the Economy? Theories Abound
by lotsofpulp on Thursday May 30, 2024 @05:07PM
(#40528726)
Low restaurant/food prices have always been contingent on having a large population of people willing to work a very hard job for very low pay during times of the day when most people would rather not be working.
They were on the rise throughout the 2010s (due to changes in population pyramid due to fertility rate changes), albeit it at a slower pace before Covid, but Covid shook things up in the sense that it provided a lot of activation energy to those that wanted to get out of food service jobs, creating a more rapid shift in prices (and/or lower quality).
Restaurants are in trouble everywhere.
Wage and ingredient costs are part of it but I think the delivery economy doesn't really work for them. Everywhere I go I see restaurants have made major accommodations to the delivery business. For instance in Collegetown there are several restaurants that have put up supergraphics covering multiple windows in mostly δΈζ that are branded with for a delivery service based in the mainland and have some exotic and interesting (to me) foods like when they cook a whole fish eyes and all it serve it to you whole. I'm not 100% sure what the relationship between these restaurants are, if I can order those items off the menu if I show up in person, how easy it is going to be be, etc.
For a while Uber was offering half-price taxi rides to people who lived in major cities but they can't afford to do that anymore and I think the same is happening with food delivery and of course it is too expensive but if it puts stress on restaurants in general it will make it expensive to sit down and eat or just to pick up the food yourself.