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Earlier this year, the National Restaurant Association surveyed more than 1,000 2023 profit and loss statements from across the country.
Previously, the most recent operations survey was done pre-COVID, and quite a bit has changed since then. This new post-COVID survey has key insights into national trends affecting our industry.
Our team took a look at the data and pulled out a few key highlights you should know, which you can review in a bit more detail in our 2023 Restaurant Dollar presentation.
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The main takeaway for me was the significant drop in average net profit margin for Washington restaurant operators. While nationally that number continues to remain at 4%, in Washington our average net profit is
now down to 1.5% — 60% lower! Operators are still struggling as they face rising costs of operations and labor in addition to the continued burden of paying off COVID-related debt.
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If you look at the average for sales for full-service restaurants of $1.1 million, that means the average operator only took home $16,500 last year.
And yet we hear non-industry people say, well, just raise your menu prices. We all know how difficult that is when Washington restaurants are already 12% higher than the national average in menu
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costs. We have heard all summer long about consumer backlash as price elasticity has hit its outer limits according to many operators around the state.
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And yet we hear non-industry people say, "well, then cut the fat and get more efficient." Washington restaurants already employ three fewer people per restaurant than the national average, and many operators are
hearing customer service complaints that they've never heard before. But they can't afford to hire more people or train more people to fix the problems.
And non-industry people are publicly talking about more: more taxes, more labor costs, more utility costs, more operational costs. We can’t help but feel, where else can we go?
We've got to get this word out there. Please go to our members-only section and look at our PowerPoint that explains all this. Talk to your elected official, your city official, your legislator.
At the end of the day, we’re paid advocates, you're the real people. At the end of the day, your real stories aligning with factual national data by a certified accounting firm are what's going to be the thing that can help us turn the tide to help restaurants through this.
As we are preparing to enter into a recession, if we haven't already, we simply can't afford another round of big minimum wage increases and big labor costs from 2025 legislative elected officials.
Please help us tell the story. If you are willing to, email Dale Porter at dalep@wahospitality.org.
As always, it’s an honor to serve you.
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Anthony Anton
President & CEO
Washington Hospitality Association
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