Toulouse: Restaurants are facing a shortage of food products
Oils, cereals, poultry, mustard… Some products are missing and prices are soaring. Faced with this inflation, it is the restaurateurs who are the most impacted. Toulouse establishments then tried to adapt.
Experienced in the restaurant industry, Julian has developed a concept that is a hit. The Toulousain is the creator of “Boui Boui”. On his menu he offers a poultry kebab sandwich with fresh and quality products. “Today, I had to abandon my original concept and some customers don’t understand it,” laments the restaurateur. Victim of the rise in prices for poultry, oil or even mustard, Julian prefers for the moment to leave his original idea aside.
He is not the only one. For the past few months, in Toulouse, but also in France, restaurateurs have been experiencing shortages and price increases on various products. After confinements, health restrictions and lack of staff, it is inflation and stock shortages that are worrying the entire catering sector. Poultry, oils, mustard, flour, butter… many products are missing from the menu.
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A salty addition
“We have to adapt. The most surprising thing is that the shortage is found among the largest suppliers,” warns Robin Mothe, head of “Restaurantsansnom”. “We are told about the conflict in Ukraine, but there are also products like mustard which do not necessarily have a link with the war”, continues the chef.
If the stocks of sunflower oil and wheat have a real direct link with the conflict in Eastern Europe, the shortage of poultry is linked to avian flu. The lack of mustard follows the fires in Canada (a major seed-producing country).
It’s time to adapt
Without stocks or with prices well above normal, restaurateurs are forced to adapt in order to be able to provide service. This is the case in Blagnac at the Carlson restaurant, a great specialist in burgers and fries. “Stocks are tight, but we have to take the lead. Even if it means going to other countries like Spain, we will look for the best prices, because the big French suppliers have nothing left,” admits one of the waiters.
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Same observation for the restaurant “Boui Boui” which has modified its menu with new products. “We prefer to abandon the poultry kebabs on the menu rather than sourcing from certain countries in Eastern Europe where the meat is of lower quality,” insists Julian.
To no longer depend on stock variations, some restaurateurs are turning to local producers. Chef Robin Mothe advocates local cuisine: “From now on, the product that we are looking for at a large retailer, we find it only at a local and organic producer”.