Saturday evening. Full house. There’s a lot going on in the kitchen. But it’s no longer always certain that the work is paying off. Between steaming pots, the pass and the front of house, every single task now comes with a price tag. Gas, electricity, personnel: the prices are exploding. The cost pressure is only barely reflected on the menu. This makes the day-to-day restaurant business like a financial balancing act. “We are facing the challenge of adjusting prices to inflation without compromising on quality or affordability for our guests,” says one kitchen operator. “The rising prices and delivery problems are a huge burden for my company,” reported another.
The global situation exacerbates the sense of crisis in the restaurant business
The industry is currently in crisis worldwide. Entire TV programs are dedicated to saving local eateries. And they won’t be running out of material to cover any time soon. After all, in addition to the shortage of skilled workers, it is the enormous cost pressure in particular that causes trouble for many establishments. Relief? Not in sight. Ongoing wars and the scarcity of raw materials they entail further exacerbate the situation. Keyword: Energy and food prices. But how much is the industry really suffering? What are the biggest cost drivers? And what are the most promising approaches towards finding solutions?
Cost drivers in the restaurant industry vary[SJ1] from country to country
According to the Kitchen Barometer 2026 conducted by Rational and Statista, more than two-thirds of kitchen operators fear that rising energy prices will put a strain on their budgets. 250 kitchen professionals in Germany, France, the UK, Japan and the USA were surveyed. Large-scale kitchens, with their gas- and electricity-intensive appliances and refrigeration systems, are especially hard hit by fluctuating energy prices. The worries are greatest due to cost pressure in continental Europe, which is heavily dependent on imported energy. The situation has come to a head most recently with the outbreak of the war in Iran. In Egypt, for example, where the economy had already been struggling before, restaurants were temporarily forced to close earlier in the evening to save energy.
Profit margins under pressure: How restaurateurs balance rising prices with maintaining quality
Elsewhere, such drastic measures still seem to be a long way off. But in many cases, restaurateurs already face a difficult decision now: Should they increase the prices on the menu and risk losing price-conscious customers as a result? Are they willing to hazard a drop in quality? Or do they absorb the costs and reduce their already low margins even further? It is a battle fought on many fronts, which often group together. The reasons lie less in the industry itself than in the broader economic context – and yet they have a particularly pronounced impact on the labor-intensive restaurant industry, with its high fixed costs and fluctuations in demand. The cost drivers that have the greatest impact vary depending on the specific regional circumstances: The Parisian bistro is struggling with rising energy prices more than most, the Japanese sushi restaurant with expensive food, the London pub with high staff costs.
Focus on guests and staff
The approaches to solutions are as different as the various regions are. They range from the use of modern ordering and reservation software to digital checkout systems and recipe management to purchasing smart kitchen appliances. At 81 percent, the vast majority of the establishments surveyed already are at least partially networked. The most advanced is digitalization, with 48 percent in customer contact and 43 percent in staff scheduling. Almost every second kitchen operator surveyed already uses such software. This is likely to be due to the immediate impact on guest experience, work efficiency and revenue. Guests are looking for flexible, practical solutions and can find them in factors such as digital ordering options, among others. Optimized duty planning and efficient work distribution are, in turn, crucial levers when qualified staff is scarce and expensive.
Networked kitchen technology: 78 per cent of users report measurable benefits So far, however, they have been relatively reluctant to purchase networked kitchen appliances. Just under a third of the kitchen professionals surveyed already work with multifunctional appliances such as the iVario Pro from Rational. But they are convinced of the benefits they offer: 78 percent of users report significant improvements. Partially automated boiling, remote diagnostics, reduced downtimes and lower energy and water consumption help reduce cost pressure. In addition, establishments with modern equipment are getting a bit closer to achieving their sustainability goals. Total networking has not yet reached the greater majority of kitchens, which is probably due to a lack of experience, among other things. However, 78 percent of the kitchen professionals surveyed want to invest in modernizing their kitchen technology over the next twelve months in order to counteract both the growing cost pressure and staff shortages. Despite all the uncertainty, one thing seems certain: underutilized staff, mountains of waste and energy-guzzling kitchen appliances are a thing of the past.
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