Traditional souvlakia – tasty little skewers made with grilled chicken or pork meat, a staple of Greek cuisine – have won over fast food cuisine that hit the country over 30 years ago and was supposed to beat all rivals on the market. This is mainly due to the economic crisis which in the past five years has drastically reduced the spending power of the average Greek citizen.
The fall of hamburgers and French fries made headlines in Athens daily Kathimerini which reported the shutdown last month of the last US Mc Donald’s fast food restaurant still open in Thessaloniki, northern Greece. The restaurant was in a way a ‘flagship’ of the Californian multinational as it had opened in 1994 on the busy corner between Egnatia and Saint Sofia roads close to the port.
Though as of August 1 the Greek government has cut 10 VAT points on restaurant services- from 23 to 13% until December – in a bid to boost spending and increase tax revenues, the sector had already been damaged by the credit crunch.
Moreover not all restaurants and food chains – including McDonald’s – made it into the criteria enabling to lower VAT with the result that the oldest McDonald’s in Thessaloniki could not renew its rental. Out of the initial 11 McDonald’s restaurants opened in Greece over the past few years, only two are left in Athens.
The crisis has naturally also damaged other famous ‘brands’ like Greece’s Goody’s, founded in Thessaloniki in 1975, which also sells burgers with French fries and a soda drink for only three euros. Several Goody’s restaurants have been closed lately and the food chain, together with its Flocafes, remains the biggest in the country with 150 spots.
Goody’s revenues in 2012 dropped to 212,36 million euros from the 278,44 million recorded the previous year, tumbling 23.7%.
Overall sales on all Goody’s restaurants shrank 28% while the company’s market share was estimated at 11.6% from 12.7% in 2011.
In theory, the fast food industry should have performed better given that people tend to buy cheaper food during the credit crunch. The drop in spending power and an unemployment rate which hit 58.7% for youths under 2 5 years of age in June – the main target of fast food chains – has led to a decrease in fast food consumption.
(source: ANSA)
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