The biggest current problem in Turkey is inflation in food and dining prices. Every time I enter and exit the country, I see more absurd prices. The minimum wage has remained the same for five months, and the dollar has increased by 5.5% since the beginning of the year. In these five months, if there was an increase, it was at most once, around 30%. Despite these figures, food and dining prices are increasing by an average of 10-30% every month. Portions have shrunk to the size of a bird, even down to grams. As far as I can see, the main reason is that the food and beverage sector is unwilling to give up the profit margins it got used to after the pandemic, and it wants to operate with the same profitability. As the number of people eating out decreases, they maintain profitability by increasing prices on what remains. People are starting to eat out less, moving from low income to middle income groups.

If the government is determined to fight inflation, the urgent point to address is here. In many countries, eating out is cheaper, so people try not to cook much at home. In Turkey, it’s the exact opposite now, which also increases food inflation. Instead of leaving the free market to its own devices, if this fire is not extinguished through regulation, incentives, and strict monitoring, the cycle will continue to escalate with price hikes. Eventually, when there are no more customers to sustain the cycle of rising prices, bankruptcies will begin, taking many related sectors down with them.