The economic situation of the gastronomy remains tense. Rising costs for the use of goods and employees burden the margins, while sales development has been stagnating since 2019. Smaller companies in particular are increasingly under pressure. The Austrian Hotel and Tourismbank (Oeht), Prodinger Tourismusberatung and Kohl> Partners have again analyzed the economic performance of the industry. The fitness check gastronomy 2025 provides detailed insights into sales development, cost structures and for the first time also ESG indicators based on the annual financial statements 2023.
Low sales increase per seat – the decline in frequency indicates
Despite inflation and increasing prices, the increase in sales per seat remains low compared to 2019. Particularly smaller companies with less than 100 seats even have a decline compared to 2022, although food prices and energy costs have increased noticeably. This indicates that despite the higher household income, the guest frequency tends to decrease, which further increases economic pressure on many companies.
The profitability cannot be secured by price increases alone. The price sensitivity of the guests is noticeably increasing, which means that restaurateurs have to rely more on cost -optimized dishes in order to stabilize their margins.
Presess goods continue to increase – professional controlling decisive
The net raw cushions vary greatly between the companies. This shows that dealing with goods operations is a decisive factor for profitability. Efficient controlling and prudent kitchen crew are essential to keep costs under control and secure margins.
A closer look at the use of the goods shows that there are noticeable cost increases both in the drinks area and in the kitchen. It is particularly critical that the price adjustments for dishes overall have remained behind the inflation for food and drinks – a fact that further tightens the pressure on the margin in many companies. Strategies for optimizing the use of goods and targeted pricing are becoming increasingly important.
Cost factors rise rapidly – employee planning is a success factor
Wage costs in the catering trade are increasing rapidly – a special challenge for smaller companies. Despite constant productivity, measured to employees per seat, the significantly higher costs per full -time equivalent (VZÄ) drive up the employee efforts. It is striking that the proportion of employee costs in sales has increased noticeably compared to the previous year. This means that these have increased more than the sales.
Marco Riederer and Thomas Reisenzahn, Managing Director of the Prodinger Tourism Consulting, emphasize: “In order to remain economically successful, an even more targeted analysis of the employee operation becomes essential: When and how many employees are actually needed?
Economic profitability disappears – small businesses & fine dining increasingly in crisis
Companies with sales of up to 300,000 euros are particularly badly affected. Your result before taxes is very declining and often negative, especially due to increased costs and the loss of state support measures.
Stefan Brida, Controlling expert from Kohl> Partner, warns: “The classic taverns are increasingly under economic pressure. The margins have shrunk significantly in recent years, while costs for employees and goods are increasing. If companies do not take targeted measures to increase efficiency, the inn’s house death will continue to do an unobtrusive.”
Fine-dining companies in particular and the hood cuisine record high GOP losses, since in addition to the increased employee costs, they also have to deal with higher operating operations and restricted price enforcement.
Another central result: The energy costs in percent of sales have increased significantly last year and thus also reduce the operational result.
ESG indicators for the first time – sustainability becomes more measurable
For the first time, ESG data was systematically collected for the catering trade. The integration of ESG criteria is becoming increasingly important for companies – not only from an economic point of view, but also from ecological and social responsibility. “The integration of ESG criteria contributes both socially, ecologically and economically to cost optimization and at the same time strengthens competitiveness, image and the long-term resilience of the companies,” emphasizes Matthias Matzer, Managing Director of Oeht.
- Environment: More than 72 % of the companies obtain their suppliers from a maximum of 100 kilometers, which indicates a strong regional added value. The water consumption per seat is 5.77 m³ annually in small restaurants, while the average waste volume per seat is 85.71 kg per year.
- Social aspects: Women are increasingly represented in leadership roles in the industry and are now almost 50 % of the leading positions.
- Governance: The fluctuation rate of 18.47 % in larger companies indicates a relatively stable employment situation within the core workforce.
Especially in times of increasing operating costs and a growing sustainability awareness of the guests, it becomes essential for companies to understand sustainable measures as an additional effort, but as a strategic advantage. Companies that specifically integrate ESG criteria into their management benefit in the long term from a stronger market position and a positive company image.
Winners and losers continue to drift apart
The results of the fitness check show increasing differentiation within the industry. While larger companies benefit from scale effects, better shopping conditions, optimized employee management and strategic price setting, smaller companies are increasingly under pressure. The structural disadvantages – higher relative costs, limited pricing and increasing lack of employees – are difficult for many to compensate for.
If you do not have your business key figures under control, you will have even more difficult in the future. The fitness check provides valuable guidance here by creating transparency through cost structures, profitability and success factors. With a targeted analysis and strategic adjustments, companies can strengthen their competitiveness and exist economically in the long term.
The fitness check is available for download here: https://www.oeht.at/beraten-lassen/know-how-und-kennzahlen/