Higher prices and the influx of tourists are rapidly increasing revenue flows in food service businesses "Catering and restaurants, bars, etc."
INSTAT data shows that in 2023, the revenues of businesses in the food service sector, including bars, reached 80.7 billion lek, a value of approximately 800 million euros, marking an annual increase of 17 percent. Net profits were 13.8 billion lek or 17% of total turnover in 2023.
Revenues in these businesses have shown steady growth in the last decade, but the acceleration began in 2017, where developments in the tourism sector became more intense, especially in coastal areas.
In the years of the 2020-2021 pandemic, due to restrictive measures, revenues in restaurant businesses declined, but returned to rapid growth in the following two years, 2022 and 2023.
The increase in income in these businesses is mainly due to two reasons. First, the number of tourists visiting Albania is increasing at a high rate from year to year, which has influenced the expansion of consumption in these units. Secondly, the income in these businesses has also been helped by the increase in prices. After the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, food prices (the raw material of restaurants) experienced a strong increase. The prices of coffee and other drinks in bars also increased. In 2023, inflation in the food group was over 13 percent. The highest increase was experienced by meat-based recipes, which Albanian cuisine has a strong point.
While profits and turnover in the bar and restaurant sector have increased, the number of businesses has shrunk between 2019 and 2023. This is due to the consolidation of bars and restaurants into large chains and the bankruptcy of small bars in rural areas due to population shrinkage.
While the financial indicators of bars and restaurants increased significantly in the last two years, the number of employees in these businesses in 2023 was only 2.3% higher than in 2022.
Indirect data on the increase in the number of visitors and prices guarantee that the turnover in these businesses has increased in the following years 2024-2025. Restaurant prices in our country are still cheaper than in Western Europe. Albanian cuisine with a mix of Mediterranean and local recipes is an attraction that is attracting more and more tourists.
Albanian cuisine is a precious and still undiscovered part of the Mediterranean. Albanian recipes are a mosaic of strong national identity with Ottoman, Italian and Balkan influences. Unlike the rest of the Mediterranean region, Albanian cuisine is less commercialized, which represents a great potential for further growth.
Immigrants have brought together the most favorite dishes of the Mediterranean, such as pizza and pasta from Italy, soufflés from Greece, and meatballs from Turkey, while traditional local cuisine has been expanding for two years.
Gastronomic tourism has a growing interest in authentic experiences and traditional foods, and Albania can offer a rare experience. But on the other hand, the development of restaurants requires more standardization, training for staff, and more promotion of traditional food./MONITOR
