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Eat out more often, to keep restaurants in business. That’s the plea from restaurants throughout Australia as their owners face being forced to raise prices or go out of business, with meal-delivery platforms and rising food costs eating into profits.

Restaurants and Catering Australia (R&CA) confirmed the trend today. The 2019 annual Benchmarking Report shows that restaurants, patronised by tourists and locals alike, are struggling to make ends meet, with food businesses dealing with rising below-the-line costs and delivery platforms that demand more than their fair share of the pie.

“This year, we are seeing more restaurants struggle than ever before,” said R&CA chief executive, Wes Lambert.

“There are a number of rising and additional costs that consumers don’t consider which are putting extreme financial pressure on restaurant owners. Food prices have soared as farmers combat the drought and costs such as rents, wages and utility prices continue to rise.

“Finally, restaurant, cafe and catering businesses are left to contend with the hefty chunk delivery platforms take out of the profit.  It’s a battle that business owners are slowly losing.

“We encourage people to actually go to their favourite restaurants to either pick up their food or dine in rather than use a delivery platform. Convenience is obviously a strong driver for patrons, but it is important diners understand that restaurants will close if something doesn’t change soon.

“Our call to the Australian dining public is to be prepared for their local restaurant, cafe or caterer raising the prices of their meals to ensure they survive. These businesses cannot continue to pay the high commission forced on them by delivery platforms on top of rising costs across the board. Something has to give – or businesses will be forced to close.”

R&CA’s Industry Benchmarking Survey is an industry-based survey of business conditions in the restaurant, café and catering industry. The survey monitors key trends in business costs, profitability, labour and skills shortages, as well as the general business environment. The survey is distributed to café, restaurant and catering business owners and senior managers across Australia.

R&CA’s 2019 Industry Benchmarking Survey was distributed to over 15,000 individual restaurant, cafe and catering business owners and senior managers across Australia, with 656 completing the survey. The Survey was open during August and September of 2019 and contained 70 questions relating to the 2018-19 financial year.

As part of the 2019 survey, multiple new questions were posed to respondents in order to better understand some of the emerging issues facing the restaurant, café and catering industry in areas such as online delivery, wage compliance, overall economic sentiment and responses to rising business costs.

The 2019 R&CA National Benchmark Report covers favoured bank and superannuation funds, business expectations, outdoor seating areas, business costs, skills and labour, digital technology, use of social and digital marketing channels and the importance of serving Australian wines.

Restaurant & Catering Australia (R&CA) is the national industry association representing the interests of over 47,000 restaurants, cafés and catering businesses across Australia. The café, restaurant and catering sector is vitally important to the national economy, generating over $37 billion in retail turnover each year as well as employing 450,000 people. Critically, over 92 per cent of businesses in the café, restaurant and catering sector are small businesses, employing 19 people or less.

R&CA delivers tangible outcomes to small businesses within the hospitality industry by influencing the policy decisions and regulations that impact the sector’s operating environment. R&CA is committed to ensuring the industry is recognised as one of excellence, professionalism, profitability and sustainability. This includes advocating the broader social and economic contribution of the sector to industry and government stakeholders, as well as highlighting the value of the restaurant experience to the public.