What is changing in the produce
It isn't your imagination. Anyone who has worked in kitchens for years can see it. The quality of many basic products is falling, and it is falling quietly.
- Cheaper ingredients in place of the right ones. Vegetable fats instead of butter, blends instead of the pure product, "cheese" that isn't cheese.
- Smaller packs at the same price. A kilo becomes 900 grams. The price stays the same or goes up.
- More water, less substance. Meat that loses half its liquid in the pan, frozen products with a glaze that you pay for as if it were product.
- Less choice. The small, good producer closes down. The big ones remain, selling volume.
Prices go up, the dish stays the same
The other side is harder to say. Many places raise their prices every year. Energy, rent, wages, raw materials. The reasons are real.
But the guest doesn't see the invoices. They see the plate. And when they pay more for a smaller portion, for a cheaper ingredient, for the same dish they ate last year, they don't think about the cost of energy. They think they are being taken for a ride.
Why it happens
There isn't one culprit. It is a chain.
What a serious chef can do
You can't change the market. But you can change your own kitchen.
- Checks at delivery. Weigh it, smell it, look at it. Anything that isn't what you ordered goes back. A supplier who knows you check sends you better.
- A relationship with producers. A local producer who knows you won't send you the worst box. Relationships are part of quality.
- Seasonality. An ingredient in season is better and cheaper. A menu that follows the season is the smartest defence against prices.
- Fewer dishes, better ones. A forty dish menu forces you to hold forty sets of stock. A smaller menu lets you buy fewer, better ingredients.
- Honest food cost. If the dish doesn't work with a good ingredient, change the dish. Don't secretly change the ingredient.
Trust is the real capital
A restaurant doesn't live on the guest who comes once. It lives on the one who comes back. And a guest comes back when they trust they will eat as well as last time.
Every time you cut quality to save a few cents on a dish, you spend something far more expensive. Their trust. And that can't easily be bought back.
Questions and Answers
Why is the quality of raw materials falling?
Because costs are rising along the whole chain, and many people cut where it doesn't show straight away: cheaper ingredients, smaller packs, more water. The pressure for a low price does the rest.
How can a cook tell that a product is poor?
At delivery: weight, smell, texture, colour. And in the cooking: meat that releases a lot of liquid, oil with no aroma, cheese that doesn't melt properly. An experienced cook notices straight away.
Is it wrong for a restaurant to raise its prices?
No. When costs go up, prices have to follow. What is wrong is raising the price while the quality falls at the same time. That the guest doesn't forgive.
How do you keep quality when everything is getting more expensive?
With a seasonal menu, a shorter menu, checks at delivery, good relationships with producers and correct food costing. If a dish doesn't work with a good ingredient, you change the dish, not the ingredient.
Does the guest notice the difference?
Always. They may not be able to say what changed, but they feel it. And their answer isn't a complaint. It is not coming back.