High inflation: landlord explains price explosion as an example to the court - "Huge inflation of 50 percent"

Created: 05/05/2022, 09:00

By: Peter Borchers

The gastronomy in Bavaria is also feeling the effects of the price increases for food.

Landlord Dominik Tabak explains the explosion in food costs over a salmon dish.

Wolfratshausen – Buying our daily bread isn't much fun these days.

The shopping bag that used to be full of groceries for 60 euros has become a half-empty bag.

Staple foods like bread, butter, eggs, and flour—the list goes on and on—seem to be weighed and counted in troy ounces and carats.

The price increases are due to a lack of raw materials, delivery problems, poor harvests and inflation, fueled by crises such as Corona and war.

Inflation in Germany: price increases fueled by Corona and the Ukraine war

Landlord Dominik Tabak explains the explosion in food prices over a salmon dish.

© Editor Wolfratshausen.

Inflation in Germany: food prices are exploding - beer is also becoming more expensive

If you want to wash away your frustration from the supermarket with a beer in the tavern in the evening, you also have to put down more money.

The restaurateurs - already shaken by tough lockdowns in the more than two-year pandemic - are passing on the increased purchase prices to their guests.

In Dominik Tabak's Wolfratshauser Wirtshaus Flößerei, half a light beer from the Traunsteiner Hofbräuhaus has cost 4.30 euros since the beginning of April, which is 30 cents or 7.5 percent more.

This is not an isolated case: beer has become more expensive everywhere, even in the beverage store around the corner.

Dominik Tabak is an innkeeper in Wolfratshausen.

© Sabine Hermsdorf

The 48-year-old speaks of a "difficult tightrope walk".

On the one hand, he has to run his business, on which numerous livelihoods depend, economically.

On the other hand, he mustn't strain his guests' wallets too much: if it gets too expensive, the latter won't come.

So tobacco calculates “very, very tightly”.

You can read all the news from Wolfratshausen here.

A dish that had tobacco prepared exclusively for our newspaper should illustrate how close it is.

He decided on a filet of Norwegian salmon with – seasonally appropriate – Schrobenhausen asparagus, Hollandaise sauce, new potatoes, cherry tomatoes in a wild garlic sauce and herbs.

He charges 25.80 euros for this, exactly two euros more than last spring.

Which for the innkeeper is “actually still far too little”.

"You'll see that in a moment as we go through the ingredients."

Landlord explains price increases to the court as an example - "Huge price increases of exactly 50 percent"

Well then go!

In 2021, the landlord paid "8 euros, currently it's 10" for a kilo of asparagus - all in net prices, by the way.

Last year he bought a kilo of fresh salmon fillet in organic quality from a Munich fish wholesaler for an average of 16 euros, currently it's 24. "That's a huge increase of exactly 50 percent." The net price for a liter of cooking oil is on average from 11 to 18 euros climbed.

But that is up to date, "we paid 30 euros for it a few weeks ago".

The ingredients for the sauce, which wets the asparagus in the Dutch style, are also no longer available for free: within a few weeks, the price of an ice cream has increased from 13 to 20 cents, i.e. by almost 54 percent.

Butter has increased in price by 25 to 30 percent.

250 grams are currently only available for over 2 euros.

"In 2021 it was 1.60 euros," recalls Tabak.

What comes from nearby is relatively cheaper than anything that involves long distances and high transport costs.

Dominik Tabak, innkeeper in Wolfratshausen

Potatoes that tobacco buys from the region have gone up in price by less than one euro per kilo.

"Whatever comes from nearby is relatively cheaper than anything that involves long distances and high transport costs." The 48-year-old tries to buy his products as regionally as possible.

Carrots, potatoes, onions, parsley and chives practically land from the farmer's field around the corner in the rafting kitchen.

A Munich wholesaler brings salads and vegetables such as cherry tomatoes to Wolfratshausen.

Food price explosions: “What comes from nearby is relatively cheaper”

Incidentally, Dominik Tabak did not even take the energy and delivery costs into account in his calculation for the sample dish, although the costs here have exploded by up to 30 percent.

“Nearly all suppliers are now charging an additional fuel flat rate of between five and ten euros per trip.

That didn't exist before either."

All in all, Tabak has calculated a price increase of 40 percent for purchasing salmon with asparagus.

However, he only passes on just under nine percent to the guest.

Because he sees a temporary problem in the increased costs for some ingredients, "caused by the interruption of supply chains".

The salmon, the eggs and the oil would probably become cheaper again, he suspects.

Inflation in Germany: price increases of 40 percent for salmon and asparagus

Tobacco does not want to react to the currently large fluctuations with daily price changes on the menu.

Rather, he tries to absorb the ups and downs with "a healthy mixed calculation" and relies on his enormous experience.

"I've been a restaurateur my whole life," says the 48-year-old.

This applies to him literally, since he worked in his father's company "even as a child and young person".

All in all, Tabak assumes that food prices will rise by “around 15 percent” in the long term.

He himself has so far “raised prices between 10 and 15 percent”.

However, the landlord does not want to rule out another slight adjustment.

How are customers reacting?

"Mostly understanding," answers Dominik Tabak.

However, so many guests do not even ask him about the changed prices.

"People find out for themselves what's going on when they go to the supermarket."

Anyone who gets in a bad mood from this should continue to go to an inn.

As we have now learned, it is not cheaper there, but probably more relaxed.

The same applies as before the crises: Eating and drinking keeps body and soul together.

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