The daily menu has managed to contain its price in 2025 and is still at 14.20 euros on averageAfter a very moderate hike 1.5% compared to last year. This progress is still clearly lower than the Consumer Price Index, which ended the year at 3.1%, and is especially striking when compared to the rise in prices of many basic food items, which have risen sharply and reached 10% increases, such as eggthe meat or coffee. The sector has once again demonstrated remarkable resilience in the face of an environment characterized by rising costs and increasingly tight profit margins.
Despite the pressure on prices, three in ten restaurants chose not to touch their prices throughout the year, a decision they made even as the cost of inputs, electricity, rents and freelancers’ fees increased. Only 10% of establishments had to implement increases Nearly 4%, which is slightly higher than the consumer price index, to be able to meet the increase in expenses. Leaders Spain hospitality It highlights the sector’s efforts to absorb the general increase in production costs, while the report was prepared with Edenred Let us remember that the annual inflation rate reached 3% in September, then accumulated at 1.7% in the first nine months of the year.
Maintaining daily menu prices requires deep reorganization in many companies. Hoteliers have modified menus to avoid the impact of more stressful ingredients, replacing products such as certain cuts of beef with less expensive alternatives. They also strengthened proposals Half the list also Executive coordinationmore flexible for the pockets of diners, have focused their activity on peak times, and cut services during periods of low demand in order to reduce staff and energy costs. Added to this is consumer behavior that has evolved towards more practical and customizable options, a context that has allowed, in addition to promoting tourism, the sustainability of demand.
Despite the modifications, the owners defend that today’s menu continues to offer a quality-to-price ratio that is difficult to match and consider it one of the pillars of Spanish gastronomy. Remember also that this format helps reduce food waste thanks to more careful management of fresh produce and careful planning of purchasing. However, the high prices of these foods continue to worry restaurant owners, who operate on increasingly low profit margins. Although the National Institute of Statistics’ activity indicators reflect an average increase of 3.4% in the sector’s sales volume until August, profitability decreased by 0.6%, affected by higher electricity prices, which rose by 16.8%, and by increases in rents, fees for the self-employed, and labor costs, which rose by 1.3% in the first half.
All of these factors also affect price differences between regions and even between neighborhoods in the same city. The report identified the Canary Islands, Asturias, Andalusia and Murcia As the most affordable communities, with listings ranging between 13 and 13.4 euros, while Balearic Islands, Basque Country and Catalonia They offer the highest numbers and easily exceed 15 euros. It is particularly important that the Balearic Islands, Extremadura The Basque Country maintained the same rates as last year, demonstrating the difficulty that many institutions have in passing on the real increase in their costs to the client.
The Menu of the Day serves as an accessible resource for thousands of workers, a bow on increasingly difficult days that offers a healthy and sustainable alternative based on seasonal produce and traditional dishes, recalls Spain’s General Secretary of Hospitality, Emilio Gallego.
Christina AffanDirector of Public Affairs at Edenred Spain, highlights tools such as Restaurant tickets They act as the driving force of the sector and support SME activity. He also points out the need to update the daily tax-free limit, which is still set at 11 euros, a number that, according to him, lags behind the market reality and limits its ability to enhance consumption of the daily menu in the context of rising costs and changes in work habits.