Increase prices or stop selling? HCMC restaurant owners are confused amid the storm of F&B industry costs

With the current difficulties of the F&B industry, some restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City have quietly increased prices to survive, while others are worried about losing customers if they raise prices.

The reason they have a headache is because if they increase the price, customers will leave. Meanwhile, if they keep the old price, they are afraid they will "not be able to survive" because of many difficulties in business.

Price increase after many years of remaining the same

Since the beginning of 2025, a noodle shop on Hoang Sa Street (District 3, Ho Chi Minh City) has increased the price of beef noodle soup, meatball noodle soup... from 35,000 VND to 38,000 VND for a normal bowl.

The owner said the reason for the price increase was due to the rising cost of ingredients such as pork and beef. She was forced to increase the price by 3,000 VND per bowl to maintain operations. However, if the price increases too much, customers will no longer visit the restaurant as often, and the decrease in consumption could cause the restaurant to... become deserted.

Noodle shop announces new prices

PHOTO: DUONG LAN

"If the price is too high, customers will come back less often, not every day like before. Every time the price is adjusted, it is a headache, very difficult to deal with. If a bowl of noodles is too expensive, no one will dare to eat it. Currently, a breakfast price of 50,000 VND is only suitable for people with income, but for ordinary workers, a price of under 40,000 VND is reasonable. I really do not want to increase the price at all, but because input costs are increasing, I am forced to adjust the selling price accordingly," the restaurant owner shared.

This person believes that, in the context of changing raw material prices, premises, tax calculation methods and increasingly escalating operating costs, they have to solve a difficult problem: Increase prices to survive or maintain prices to retain customers?

Restaurants increase prices for various reasons.

PHOTO: DUONG LAN

"Price adjustment is one of the problems that gives restaurant owners like me a headache. It's not a simple matter. Since I just increased the price at the beginning of this year, I haven't thought about increasing it again yet. I'll just keep selling at the old price and then figure out what to do next," said the restaurant owner.

A pho restaurant on Cach Mang Thang Tam Street (District 3) has also increased its price to 35,000 VND - 40,000 VND/bowl for about 2 months now. The owner said that for the past 3 years, he has kept the selling price the same. Recently, the price of ingredients, especially beef, has increased, so he had to increase it by 5,000 VND/bowl to cover costs. He printed the new price list on the menu, and at first, many people wondered why the price had increased. He said that most of his regular customers still continued to support the restaurant.

"Recently I've heard people talking about taxes, but for now I'm keeping the price the same. I haven't thought about increasing it yet because every time I increase it, I have to consider it carefully," said the pho restaurant owner.

Hesitate about price increase

Recently, a Chinese noodle shop in District 5, which is familiar to many diners in Ho Chi Minh City, suddenly received attention on culinary groups about the story of the shop owner planning to close and stop selling.

TNS account shared: "Whoever is a regular at this restaurant, hurry up and eat while you still have time. The restaurant is about to close down. I just ate here, he (the owner - PV) said that now the business is much worse than before, if the price increases, it will be even worse. If we don't increase the price, we will have difficulties.

Just now I comforted him, saying "The tide is rising, the boat is rising, brother." But he seemed so pessimistic. When I asked him when he would decide to quit, he said before going out to eat, call first to be sure. The boss hasn't decided yet."

In the current difficult situation, the owner of a Chinese noodle shop in Ho Chi Minh City said he is thinking about closing his business.

PHOTO: CAO AN BIEN

The post immediately received the attention of many diners, some of whom were regular customers of the restaurant. Many expressed regret at the above information, while others expressed sympathy for the current difficulties that F&B in general and many restaurants are facing.

We visited the restaurant on a weekday, when it opened in the evening. The owner confirmed the information shared on social media. He said that his and his wife’s restaurant has been in operation for 25 years.

The prices of the dishes at the restaurant have remained the same for many years.

PHOTO: CAO AN BIEN

The restaurant said that in general, the number of customers is not as high as before. Meanwhile, input materials and cash costs are increasing, but the price has been kept the same for many years, 50,000 - 80,000 VND/meal. According to him, if the price increases, the number of customers will decrease, but if they continue to sell in this situation, it will be a headache.

"Besides objective factors, my health is no longer good, so I intend to quit," the owner added.

Meanwhile, a beef noodle shop in District 4 (HCMC) also said that at the present time, when facing many difficulties, the shop is thinking about increasing prices, but everything just stops at... intention.

The restaurant has kept the price for a long time, but in the current situation, when input materials increase, cash rent decreases, customers are regular but not as crowded as before, raising prices is something to consider.

"If I go up, I'm afraid I'll lose customers. If I don't go up, I'm afraid I won't be able to survive. I keep thinking about it. However, I'll wait until the next time, see how the tax situation is, the cost of raw materials, and then decide. The price increase will only be carried out when there are no better options," he added.

The owner of a famous pho restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City said that in the next few days, the price is expected to increase by 3,000 - 5,000 VND due to the increase in input materials as well as many subjective and objective factors. Currently, the price at the restaurant is 80,000 - 100,000 VND/bowl of pho.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tang-gia-hay-nghi-ban-chu-quan-tphcm-roi-boi-giua-bao-chi-phi-nganh-fb-185250611210212158.htm