What are the trends in Moscow’s restaurant market?
The capital is seeing a record number of restaurant openings. At the same time, the business still faces difficulties. In the first six months, twice as many food service establishments opened in the city than in the entire previous year or the year before that. According to the Department of Trade and Services, about 700 new cafes and restaurants have appeared in Moscow. In total, there are over 22.5 thousand establishments and almost 858 thousand seats in the capital, as stated on the mayor’s portal. At the same time, since the beginning of the year, there have been repeated reports in the media about closures of establishments. What has changed?
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«The dynamics of new restaurant openings don’t tell the whole story. Unfortunately, many establishments are starting to close.
There simply aren’t that many locations in Moscow, and it’s noticeable. The competition is very high. In addition, there are projects that take a very long time to launch; on average, it now takes a year or longer».
This year, at least seven well-known restaurants closed on Patriarch’s Ponds. Several major projects also ceased operations. Business is becoming less and less profitable, players complain. And the survival rate of establishments is decreasing, noted the ombudsman of the Moscow restaurant market: «Most of these restaurants opened in place of closed ones. Moscow did not suddenly see a huge number of vacant premises. The problems haven’t gone away; on the contrary, they have intensified. Consumer demand is decreasing, and the restaurant business continues to see declining margins due to rising costs and payroll. Profit margins are shrinking».
At the same time, purchasing power is falling, added the director of the Restaurant Business Academy: «In 2024, there was an increase in expenses, mainly related to wages and payments to suppliers. Market players lost out in terms of quality and quantity.
Now, openings are mainly related to projects by professional investors.
That is, these are typically restaurants either opened under a franchise or with the participation of specialists. So this mainly concerns professional players».
Businesses are trying to adapt: instead of opting for diverse menus and large teams of chefs, they are reducing portions or changing recipes. But there are still prospects. Thanks to the trend of eating out and the demand for saving time, consumers are more willing to go to restaurants and cafes in remote areas, believes a restaurateur and co-founder of Ginza Project: «Expansion is happening because not all locations in Moscow were previously evenly covered by food service outlets. Now establishments are opening in all residential areas, further and further from the center. Franchises with original concepts are appearing there. Now you have everything near your home, and that audience is enough for the business to work».
However, even here it’s not all smooth: restaurateurs are competing with retail for these consumers. As analysts calculated, the ready-made food market last year almost reached 4.5 trillion rubles.
Everything is clear with us.
