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!
The capital’s restaurant business felt the consequences of enemy shelling and power outages the most. Many interesting and unique establishments were forced to suspend or even stop their activities. However, the opening of new locations, in particular the expansion of the restaurant chain of Mediterranean cuisine “Porto Maltese“, gives hope for the future.
Restaurant “Porto Maltese” is located in the city center at the address: Lesia Ukrainka Boulevard, 30 B.
The main idea of the establishment is to create the atmosphere of a Mediterranean town in the business center of the capital, which helps to distract the visitor from the stormy life of the city and set up for a leisurely visit, immersion in the atmosphere of a small European port, with the opportunity to dive into the depths of the sea, warm up in the warm company of close friends, share a delicious dinner, enjoy the blue waves and emerge refreshed in anticipation of the next visit to the port.
The complex shape of the restaurant immediately suggests the motive of the future design – two halls, like the bays of the port city, flow into each other, connected by a fish market with fresh catch right under the sails of fishermen, and completed with a summer terrace – an exit from the port to the city. And there is nothing better in the traditions of the Mediterranean than the combination of fresh fish with the family winery.
The atmosphere of the port is also created by the snow-white sails of the ships, the wall with the image of the terrible ruler of the seas, the whale from the “History of Animals” by Konrad von Gesner, which was tamed to protect the exquisite treasures of our restaurant – a collection of bottles of selected wine, which according to legend is created on the neighboring hills. Jellyfish lamps hover slowly over the bar against the backdrop of a rusty ship, waiting for guests.
The interior is soaked in deep sea blue with bright white accents of sails and tablecloths.
On the ceiling, uniting both halls, the sea waves fluctuate in smooth curves, play with rays of warm, like sunlight from a set of bulbs, twist into a whirlpool, drawing the visitor to explore the entire space, explore both halls, and the columns-cables – carefully stacked gear, without which the life of the port is impossible, attract attention with the skill of their performance.
The restaurant’s menu offers a variety of shellfish and fish: sea tongue, mullet, sunfish, stingray wings, turbot and others. Guests can choose the cooking method: sauté, soup, siciliano, in parchment, grilled, homemade and in salt, and then watch the cooking process in the open kitchen.
As well as fresh salad, meat dishes, freshly baked bread, homemade desserts and a wide selection of wines. A unique culinary “route” awaits you – from seafood delicacies, through delicious Serbian cuisine to fresh salads prepared with special care.
The guests of the restaurant have already decided on the favorite of the menu – seafood sauté.
Sommelier will select a wine pair for each position to emphasize the refined taste of the dish. The wine list contains the best samples of wines from around the world.
Mediterranean cuisine, Porto, Porto Maltese Restaurant, RESTAURANT, SEAFOOD, WINE
Florian Bollen, the new manager of the Tarantino Family restaurant chain, announced his intention to invest in the reconstruction of the Zhytniy Rynok (Zhytniy Market).
A new tenant is working on a reconstruction project in cooperation with Kyiv City State Administration and Zhytniy Rynok municipal enterprise, he said in an interview with Focus.
“The general idea is to make a comfortable public space with a place for Ukrainian producers and farmers, with platforms for public and social initiatives, with quality food at the food court, with comfortable places for trade. A craft brewery will be a highlight. Also in the plans are a cheese factory, a bakery, a children’s zone,” Bollen said.
According to him, reconstruction work can begin next year. At the same time, the businessman did not name the amount of planned investments.
“It is difficult to predict the final estimate amid war. The exchange rate is unstable, the logistics of construction materials is complicated. But I would like to start construction work next year. German Kraft Beer has a good reputation in the financial environment, we have the opportunity to receive affordable loans from European banks,” he emphasized.
Bollen explained that the building is on a long-term lease based on the results of tenders held by Kyiv City State Administration through the ProZorro e-procurement system.
As reported, the Tarantino Family restaurant chain in October 2022 came under the control of Florian Bollen, a German businessman and co-owner of German Kraft Beer craft breweries.
INVEST, KYIV, RECONSTRUCTION, RESTAURANT, Tarantino Family, Zhytniy Rynok
