[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":208},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-en-prijsstrategie-horeca":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"body":7,"description":192,"extension":193,"meta":194,"meta_description":195,"navigation":196,"path":197,"published":196,"publishedAt":198,"readingTime":199,"seo":200,"stem":201,"summary":202,"tags":203,"__hash__":207},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fprijsstrategie-horeca.md","Why prices have to go up (and why discount stunts cost more than you think)","Horecaflix",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":180},"minimark",[10,22,27,59,63,69,76,79,83,89,92,95,99,102,108,111,114,118,121,124,127,130,133,137,140,143,147,150,158,161,165,168,171,174,177],[11,12,13,14,21],"p",{},"You raise your prices because the bills demand it, but the guest already thinks hospitality is too expensive. That tension isn't a one-off: four independent sources confirmed it in the past few weeks, each on their own. Dutch hospitality prices rose by an average of 5% in 2026 (",[15,16,20],"a",{"href":17,"rel":18},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.entreemagazine.nl\u002Fondernemen\u002Fhorecagroei-valt-stil-door-zuinige-consument-prijzen-stijgen-5-in-2026",[19],"nofollow","Entree Magazine","), while the sector simultaneously battles a stubborn \"too expensive\" image. Operators who justify and explain a price increase properly don't have to lose guests over it. Discount stunts look like the easy way out, but in practice they often cost more than an honest, explained price.",[23,24,26],"h2",{"id":25},"key-takeaways","Key takeaways",[28,29,30,38,45,48,51],"ul",{},[31,32,33,34,37],"li",{},"Dutch hospitality prices rose by an average of 5% in 2026, while restaurants and cafés sold 1.6% fewer dishes and drinks in the first half of the year compared to a year earlier (",[15,35,20],{"href":17,"rel":36},[19],").",[31,39,40,41,37],{},"A large share of Dutch consumers now find eating out too expensive, even though that image is partly perception rather than a direct reflection of actual costs (",[15,42,20],{"href":43,"rel":44},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.entreemagazine.nl\u002Fondernemen\u002Fhoe-houd-je-de-prijzen-acceptabel-gast-vindt-uit-eten-gaan-te-duur",[19],[31,46,47],{},"Discount stunts eat into the margin you actually need when your cost base has gone up structurally; they don't fix the underlying cost problem, they hide it temporarily.",[31,49,50],{},"A price increase you explain concretely (higher purchasing costs, higher wages, no hidden margin grab) lands better with guests than a silent increase with no explanation.",[31,52,53,54,37],{},"Keeping food cost under control, typically between 28% and 35% of revenue, is the basis for justifying a price increase instead of setting prices by feel (",[15,55,58],{"href":56,"rel":57},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.lightspeedhq.nl\u002Fblog\u002Frestaurant-kostprijs-berekenen\u002F",[19],"Lightspeed",[23,60,62],{"id":61},"the-two-sides-of-the-price-squeeze-higher-costs-a-more-careful-guest","The two sides of the price squeeze: higher costs, a more careful guest",[11,64,65,66,37],{},"Hospitality operators are caught this year between two forces happening at once. On one side, costs are rising: purchasing, energy, rent and labor all cost more than a year ago, and that cost has to land somewhere. Dutch hospitality prices rose by an average of 5% in 2026, after a nearly 4% rise the year before driven by higher rent, purchasing and labor costs (",[15,67,20],{"href":17,"rel":68},[19],[11,70,71,72,75],{},"On the other side, the guest is spending more carefully. The same figures show that restaurants and cafés sold 1.6% fewer dishes and drinks in the first half of 2026 than a year earlier, while revenue still grew by nearly 3%. That revenue growth comes entirely from higher prices, not from more visitors or more spending per visit (",[15,73,20],{"href":17,"rel":74},[19],"). In other words, you're selling to fewer guests for more money, and that's a fundamentally different business model than a few years ago.",[11,77,78],{},"This isn't a temporary blip. It's a structural shift where you can no longer count on growing volume to offset higher costs. Your pricing strategy has to hold up with fewer guests coming through the door, not thanks to more of them.",[23,80,82],{"id":81},"why-too-expensive-is-a-perception-problem-not-a-fact","Why \"too expensive\" is a perception problem, not a fact",[11,84,85,86,37],{},"Part of the \"too expensive\" image is real: prices genuinely went up. But part of it is perception, and the two don't automatically move together. A large share of Dutch consumers now find eating out too expensive, regardless of whether the price of a specific dish actually diverges from its cost (",[15,87,20],{"href":43,"rel":88},[19],[11,90,91],{},"That distinction matters, because it determines what kind of problem you're actually solving. If \"too expensive\" were purely a fact, the only fix would be to become cheaper, which simply isn't sustainable when your underlying costs have risen structurally. But because part of the image is perception, part of the solution also lies in communication and context: explaining why a price is what it is, instead of just showing the price and hoping the guest accepts it.",[11,93,94],{},"Guests also don't weigh the price of a dish in isolation, they weigh the total experience: atmosphere, service and the overall visit all factor into whether a price feels reasonable. A dish that isn't cheap on paper can still land as fairly priced when the rest of the experience holds up. The reverse is also true: a sharp price on paper doesn't rescue a mediocre experience.",[23,96,98],{"id":97},"the-real-cost-of-discount-stunts","The real cost of discount stunts",[11,100,101],{},"When the \"too expensive\" feeling hits, the first reflex is often a discount: a happy hour, a promo price, a temporary offer to lower the threshold. In the short term it works: more visitors, more revenue during that window. But the bill that comes with it is often underestimated.",[11,103,104,105,37],{},"A discount doesn't come out of your profit, it comes out of your margin, and that margin is exactly the part already under pressure from the higher costs you were trying to offset with your original price increase. With food cost often already sitting between 28% and 35% of revenue, there's little room left to hand out a discount on top of that without dropping below cost (",[15,106,58],{"href":56,"rel":107},[19],[11,109,110],{},"There's also a behavioral effect. A guest who gets used to a promo price expects that same price the next time, and experiences the regular price afterward as an increase rather than as the actual price. You've shifted the guest's anchor point downward, and then have to push that anchor back up once the promotion ends. That's a harder and more expensive position than if you'd started with an explained, stable price from the beginning.",[11,112,113],{},"That doesn't mean every promotion is a mistake. A targeted promotion during a quiet period, with a clear goal (introducing a new menu, filling a slow midweek slot) is different from a standing discount used as a reaction to the \"too expensive\" feeling. The difference is whether the promotion is a deliberate choice with a time horizon, or a permanent patch over a structural pricing problem.",[23,115,117],{"id":116},"how-to-justify-and-explain-a-price-increase-to-guests","How to justify and explain a price increase to guests",[11,119,120],{},"A price increase that appears with no explanation feels arbitrary to a guest. The same increase, explained with a concrete reason, feels like a logical consequence of something the guest notices too: higher grocery prices, higher energy bills, paying more for staff who are hard to find. The sector itself is now publicly acknowledging that explanation is needed, not just a new number on the menu.",[11,122,123],{},"In practice, a price increase works best in three steps.",[11,125,126],{},"First, base the increase on your own cost price, not on what the competitor charges or what \"feels\" acceptable. A price increase that follows from a concrete cost increase (purchasing, energy, wages) is easier to defend than a round-number increase that appears to come from nowhere.",[11,128,129],{},"Then communicate that increase briefly and concretely, without over-apologizing and without burying it in fine print. A short note on the menu, a word from staff at checkout, or a brief message to regular guests does more than a price that quietly changes and only gets noticed when the bill arrives.",[11,131,132],{},"Finally, hold your price once it's communicated. A price increase you reverse at the first complaint, or quietly offset with a free extra, undermines the justification you just gave. Consistency is what makes a price increase credible over time.",[23,134,136],{"id":135},"cost-price-as-the-foundation-not-an-afterthought","Cost price as the foundation, not an afterthought",[11,138,139],{},"A justified price increase starts with an accurate cost price per dish, not an educated guess. Without current insight into what a dish actually costs in ingredients, you lose track the moment purchasing prices change, and you often only notice the margin has eroded after the fact.",[11,141,142],{},"Horecaflix supports this through recipe management with cost price calculation: recipes and prep instructions are recorded centrally, including the ingredients and quantities the cost price is based on. When a purchasing price changes, you immediately see what that means for a dish's margin, instead of discovering it in the year-end figures. That's not a substitute for a pricing strategy, but it is the foundation you can build one on: you raise a price because the numbers point to it, not because it feels right.",[23,144,146],{"id":145},"practical-scenario-two-locations-two-responses-to-the-same-cost-increase","Practical scenario: two locations, two responses to the same cost increase",[11,148,149],{},"Two hospitality operators face a higher purchasing price for their key ingredients in the same quarter. The first responds with a discount: a temporary promo price to keep guests coming, hoping volume will offset the lower margin. A few months in, the margin is still under pressure, because the cost price hasn't changed, only the selling price was temporarily lowered. The promotion ends, most of the guests who came for the promo price stay away, and the price still has to go up, now facing a less forgiving audience that just watched a discount disappear.",[11,151,152,153,157],{},"The second operator first recalculates the new cost price per dish, sets a price increase of a few percent based on that, and explains it on the menu: \"Due to higher purchasing prices for ",[154,155,156],"span",{},"ingredient",", we're slightly adjusting our prices.\" Some guests barely notice, some ask about it and get a short, honest answer. There's no spike in complaints, and the margin is back at its pre-increase level instead of below it.",[11,159,160],{},"The difference isn't which guest values the operator more, it's which operator ties a price to a reason, and which one tries to hide a price behind a temporary discount.",[23,162,164],{"id":163},"short-plan-decide-communicate-evaluate","Short plan: decide, communicate, evaluate",[11,166,167],{},"A price increase doesn't need to be a complicated process if you tackle it in three steps.",[11,169,170],{},"First, determine which dishes or drinks were hit hardest by higher costs, based on an up-to-date cost price calculation per item, not an estimate.",[11,172,173],{},"Then communicate the increase briefly and concretely to guests, with the reason included, via the menu, at the table, or in a message to regular visitors.",[11,175,176],{},"After a few weeks, evaluate what happens to visitor numbers and reactions, and adjust where needed, but don't fall back on a discount the moment the first guest comments. A price increase you just explained deserves the chance to land before you reverse it.",[11,178,179],{},"Not sure how to best map out your own cost prices and pricing strategy? Get in touch with Horecaflix, and we'll look at the numbers behind your menu together.",{"title":181,"searchDepth":182,"depth":182,"links":183},"",2,[184,185,186,187,188,189,190,191],{"id":25,"depth":182,"text":26},{"id":61,"depth":182,"text":62},{"id":81,"depth":182,"text":82},{"id":97,"depth":182,"text":98},{"id":116,"depth":182,"text":117},{"id":135,"depth":182,"text":136},{"id":145,"depth":182,"text":146},{"id":163,"depth":182,"text":164},"You raise your prices because the bills demand it, but the guest already thinks hospitality is too expensive. That tension isn't a one-off: four independent sources confirmed it in the past few weeks, each on their own. Dutch hospitality prices rose by an average of 5% in 2026 (Entree Magazine), while the sector simultaneously battles a stubborn \"too expensive\" image. Operators who justify and explain a price increase properly don't have to lose guests over it. Discount stunts look like the easy way out, but in practice they often cost more than an honest, explained price.","md",{},"Dutch hospitality prices rose 5% in 2026, yet 'too expensive' still sticks. See why discount stunts often cost more and how to explain a price rise.",true,"\u002Fblog\u002Fprijsstrategie-horeca","2026-08-27",8,{"title":5,"description":192},"blog\u002Fprijsstrategie-horeca","Dutch hospitality prices are rising as costs climb, while the sector fights a 'too expensive' image. Here's how to justify and explain a price increase.",[204,205,206],"pricing strategy","food cost","hospitality trends","ChvZswjdncYgGirwtDHog32F6bkUf0xFBcYwP2dRUQU",1788765817338]