Business
The room, the economics and the people who run restaurants for a living.
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Japan food tax cut leaves restaurants facing a 9-point gap
A survey of 10,560 companies finds dining businesses expect sales to fall while food retailers gain, as the tax on takeout drops to 1% and meals eaten in stay at 10%.
Giggling Squid buys Thai Express UK out of administration
The Thai casual-dining group takes on nine franchised quick-service sites and all their staff after administrators from BTG Begbies Traynor were appointed on 7 September.
Restaurant VAT cut in Germany leaves menu prices unchanged
Nine months after Germany taxed restaurant food at 7% instead of 19%, a union-commissioned study finds almost nothing got cheaper. The employers' association says the money went into wages and jobs.
BolognaFiere buys into Gambero Rosso for €5.7m
The Bologna trade-fair group takes a 49.9% stake in a new holding company built around the wine and food guide, its first move into publishing.
Santerra closure: Madrid loses a Michelin-starred game restaurant
The Madrid restaurant, known for its game cooking and a twice-awarded croqueta, has closed after its operating company entered pre-insolvency proceedings in May, according to Spanish media.
Osaka restaurant bankruptcy: LIAISON operator owes ¥1.2bn
The DINING, which opened the Michelin-starred French restaurant LIAISON in 2017 and grew to about 30 outlets, has stopped trading with some 300 creditors.
Card payment mandate: Germany targets cash-only restaurants
Finance minister Lars Klingbeil wants every shop, café and restaurant to offer at least one digital way to pay from 2027. Dehoga says the fees are the real question.
Beefeater closure: Whitbread shuts its last 106 restaurants
The carvery chain's final site traded on September 10, the last of three closure dates that also emptied Table Table, Cookhouse + Pub and Brewers Fayre this month.
Spain restaurant prices rise 4.4% as inflation catches up
Fuel pushed Spain's headline inflation to 4.3%, almost level with menus. Eating out still rises twice as fast as food shopping, and operators say margins are shrinking.
US restaurant menu prices outpace grocery inflation
Full-service meals rose 3.5 percent over the year to August, a point ahead of supermarket food, as BLS data shows the dining-out gap holding firm.
Hospitality VAT cut: 800 businesses press Burnham on 10%
Chefs from Tom Kerridge to Heston Blumenthal and chains from Wagamama to Wetherspoon want the rate halved to 10%. The Treasury says any cut must be fully funded.
Denny's closures add five diners in Minnesota and Wisconsin
The franchisee M15 Inc. shut four restaurants in Minnesota and one in Wisconsin on 3 September and said it intends to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
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