Revenue of restaurant establishments in January-June 2024 showed an increase of 16%, and the average check increased by 13% compared to the same period in 2023 – up to UAH 148, said Rodion Yeroshek, EO of Poster POS.
“Revenue and the average check of establishments are growing due to price increases, but attendance has slowed down in recent months,” he wrote in a telegram.
Yeroshek noted that restaurateurs are forced to raise prices due to rising costs for utilities, staff salaries, and electricity generation. Most entrepreneurs have purchased or rented generators, and some are considering installing solar panels. In addition, there are those who are considering purchasing semi-finished products, which significantly reduces the cooking time in the establishment.
According to him, in February-April, attendance at food outlets was growing, but in May-June it dropped. Possible reasons include economic uncertainty and increased mobilization. However, the overall figure for the half-year was positive: +2% for the first half of 2024.
“The difficult circumstances in which institutions are forced to operate now do not stop the market. In the first half of 2024, 7617 individual entrepreneurs and LLCs have already registered under the restaurant KVED, which is 3% more than in the same period last year,” stated the CEO of Poster POS.
Poster POS is a Ukrainian restaurant automation company that develops accounting software for the HoReCa system and is installed on tablets. More than 50 thousand establishments use the developer’s services.
The research conducted by the company is based on non-personalized aggregated statistics of Poster sales data. The sample of respondents includes 8,500 catering establishments of all types from all regions of Ukraine.
Revenue of Ukrainian catering establishments in July-December 2023 increased by 30% compared to the same period of 2022, the average check increased by 18%, according to a study by Poster.
According to it, the greatest growth of indicators demonstrated by restaurants: revenue increased by 37%, the average check – 23% (from 508 to 625 UAH). Restaurant attendance increased by 11%.
During the reporting period the segment of coffee shops increased revenue by 31%, average check increased by 20% (from 82 to 98 UAH), attendance – by 9%. Cafes grew in revenue by 26%, average check increased by 17% (from 187 to 219 UAH), attendance – by 7%. Bakeries showed growth of 22% in revenue, 17% in average check (from 63 to 73 UAH) and 5% in attendance.
According to Poster, the revenue of bars in the second half of the year increased by 28%, average check – by 12% (from 311 to 348 UAH), attendance – by 15%. Hookahs also increased their revenue by 28%, while the average check increased by 18% (from UAH 413 to 488) and attendance – by 9%.
The fast food segment increased revenue by 27% year-on-year, with the average check increasing by 21% (from 145 to 175 UAH) and attendance by 5%.
According to the results of a survey of market players, the performance of establishments in 2023 met the expectations of 44% of restaurateurs, 16% – exceeded them. About a quarter of respondents reported an increase in profitability, while 13% did not make a profit at the end of the year.
Among the main difficulties in the past year restaurateurs noted the search for employees and team retention (47%). Thus, 27% of respondents reduced their staff at the end of the year, 30% – increased.
Poster research is based on non-personalized aggregated sales data of 5 thousand catering establishments in Ukraine.
The National Restaurant Association of Ukraine has asked the Kyiv Defense Council to consider extending the opening hours of catering establishments, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has said.
The mayor posted the relevant document on his Telegram channel.
“We understand that business must work, the economy must receive taxes, and people must have jobs. The city authorities will consider this issue carefully. A meeting will be held with entrepreneurs to discuss all aspects. And after that, the issue will be considered by the Kyiv Defense Council,” said Klitschko.
Entrepreneurs emphasize that extending the work of catering establishments by one hour – until 23:00 – will help improve the economic situation in the city, create additional jobs, and increase revenues from taxes, fees, and payments to budgets of all levels.
Previously, all catering establishments were open only until 22:00, as the curfew started at 23:00. Since March 2023, the curfew in Kyiv has started at 00:00.
Since the second day of the war, the restaurants that are members of the Association have set up 21 kitchens in Kyiv and provide free meals to 178 organizations every day: units of the Armed Forces, hospitals, orphanages and nursing homes, police, territorial defense, people in bomb shelters and many people in need.
A request to extend the work of catering establishments was signed by 80 restaurateurs and chain owners.
It is worth noting that Klitschko promised to consider this issue in the near future.
In January-May 2023 in Kiev opened 172 cafes and restaurants, since the beginning of the war – about 350 institutions, said the agency “Interfax-Ukraine” co-founder of the National Restaurant Association of Ukraine Olga Nasonova.
“About 60% of Kiev’s openings are small-format establishments: coffee shops, bakeries, shawarma places, something in MAFs, something indoors. The area of up to 100 square meters. m. Microbusiness, but if it is a lot – it is power. Very few big restaurants were opened, more often it was a rebranding of existing locations,” she specified, adding that there were practically no pubs among the openings.
“Bars have reared their heads a bit, but restrictions on operating until 10 p.m. greatly reduce their profitability,” Nasonova noted.
For the popularity of establishments, the issue of safety is at the top of the list. This explains the best performance of pubs and bars in basements, as well as the geography of new openings. Activity of food zones in shopping malls is gradually recovering. The most “restaurant” zones of the city are Podol and Yarostavov Val Street, the activity is higher in the areas of old buildings than in new residential complexes.
“There are up to 50% of residents left in elite residential complexes, and the old residential areas are full of people, including because there is more affordable rental housing for people who moved there,” – the expert explained.
As for prospective formats, in the near future, demand will also focus on mini-formats. “Investment in the launch of a coffee shop with an area up to 50 sq. m. – from $10 to $30 thousand. The rush demand – in locations with good traffic”, – said Nasonova.
Created in 2021, the National Restaurant Association of Ukraine in July 2022 had more than 100 members, 370 restaurants and cafes, under management – 164 thousand square meters. m.
The Lenten menu was made taking into account the preferences of guests who adhere to dietary restrictions due to religious beliefs. As well as for those who prefer plant-based foods in their diet.
“When preparing the Lenten menu, we paid a lot of attention to the products. Our main goal is to make our meals tasty, nutritious and with the necessary amount of micronutrients, which the body lacks at the beginning of spring” – chef of BEEF restaurant.
The first dishes of the Lenten menu are familiar to us from our childhood – Lenten borscht with prunes and smoked pears and mushroom soup.
The appetizers are a vegetable terrine of grilled bell peppers, zucchini, eggplant, and tomatoes, and a salad with baked beets, granola, and tofu mayonnaise. For the salad, the chef bakes the beets in salt and serves them in raspberry sauce, adds rosemary granola and tofu mayonnaise. Mayonnaise has the right to live when it is really healthy.
The main dishes are baked cauliflower with coconut milk polenta, tagliatelle with tomatoes, and green risotto with pickled tomatoes. BEYOND MEAT meatballs with Jerusalem artichoke cream are a tasty alternative for those who don’t eat meat but miss its taste.
It’s worth a try, because we’re expecting even more premieres on the menu in the spring!