TOT: is this reasonable?

In message <113652u$258c2$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me, at 21:10:05 on Tue, 14 Jul

And yet the hospitality outlets still struggle to make a profit. By the way, the markup on the food is the same.

In message snipped-for-privacy@perry.uk, at 20:21:15 on Tue, 14 Jul 2026, Roland Perry snipped-for-privacy@perry.co.uk> remarked:

I was recently given a free container, but told to fill it up myself.

car was parked a fifteen minute walk away from the restaurant in question. And didn't have any suitable containers in it, anyway.

That depends.

In message <1146tac$2vj1s$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me, at 07:19:56 on Mon, 27 Jul

I know some hospitality outlets don't struggle, but the majority do.

As for markups, the standard pricing algorithm is to take the cost of all the ingredients in a dish, and multiply by three.

In message snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com, at 09:46:11 on Wed, 15 Jul 2026, Scott snipped-for-privacy@gefion.myzen.co.uk> remarked:

Water is basically free, did your dad know where to get free beer (approx £2/pint wholesale).

Can be as low as 15% cost of ingredients and as high as 50%, depending on various factors. An early GF was catering manageress at the BBC...had quallies in catering. And was the first person to say that Jimmy Sav8ile was 'weird and pervy'

Subsidised canteen?

I met JS at BH. He wasn't pervy towards me, but I was a smelly 19 year old hippie.

I was quite new and was a bit shocked to find that his 'old record club' programme wasn't recorded at a party, just a tape of a party.

In a place of work the canteen may be subsidised by having no rent for the floor space or maybe no bills for the power.

This happened to me on Saturday.

At least mine was about two minutes away.

In message <11477vk$32q7t$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me, at 10:21:56 on Mon, 27 Jul

Subsidised corporate canteen. Absolutely nothing at all like the environment in a commercial pub.

In message snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net>, at 12:37:11 on Mon, 27 Jul 2026, alan_m snipped-for-privacy@admac.myzen.co.uk> remarked:

They also tend to "level out" the price of the meals, irrespective of the ingredients. But TNP already told us that.

In message snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com, at 15:34:01 on Mon, 27 Jul 2026, Scott snipped-for-privacy@gefion.myzen.co.uk> remarked:

I wonder if this is a new trend? Could be caused by penny-pinching on staff in the current financial crisis.

I was wondering the same. Also, I think even asking for a 'doggy bag' is a relatively new trend. In the past this would have been considered vulgar.

Or maybe just can't get the staff anymore. One of the things which seems strange having moved from up-country to Penwith is the local (excellent) Indian restaurant delivery service. All the delivery men are middle-aged long-bearded Cornish men, not young sharp-dressed Indian men, though just as brown.

You ,miss the point. She had been trained in catering including 'normal' markups.

Yes the BBC was around 30% food cost. Other restaurant places were far far less.

A few really subsidised canteens were more

There are only rough guidelines. Many places that become 'fashionable' raise prices even higher

When you say markup do you include labour costs, storage costs, premises costs, etc? If the mark-up used genuine accounting of all (proportional) costs the profit would be 2/3s. But what you mean is something like 3x food ingredients cost, ignoring associated costs such a preparation.

The point being the work preparing, storing, a bottle of wine is not similar, proportionally, to the cost of preparing food.

In reality restaurants will generate profit where they can. They charge markups that customers are willing to pay.

Which bring us back to your doggy bag.

That is because restaurateurs are not financial geniuses or economists.

The retail sector in *anything* tends to work on a 3:1 markup irrsepective of labour overheads etc

Not because its right,m but because it is simple.

Neither is the work reheating a frozen ready meal the same as fresh cooking a sunday roast.

Or in many case are increasingly less willing to pay...

Hard core surfers funding their habit?

In message <11482vk$3c3hi$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me, at 18:02:44 on Mon, 27 Jul

We were talking about pubs. Traditional grub at about half the retail of restaurants.

Can you name very many Michelin Starred pubs, not gastro-pubs obviously.