Mass. — It’s something we all encounter these days: paying more for just about everything.
Now an idea is circulating in the restaurant industry to counter that trend.
The concept is for restaurants to serve slightly smaller portions and reduce the price of those menu items.
Using high-quality ingredients and keeping costs down is challenging for restaurants today.
“It’s almost an impossible needle to thread,” said Seth Gerber. He owns four MIDA restaurants in the Boston area. He also teaches in the hospitality program at Boston University.
“You have rising costs of food, rising costs of labor,” Gerber explained. The cost and producing and getting something on the plate is higher and has been rising consistently, but in the past few years, it has been rising almost exponentially.”
This happened as Americans we’re accustomed to being Super-Sized, basically being coaxed into restaurants at all price points with massive servings.
“In the United States, portion sizes are 30%-50% larger than anywhere outside the United States,” said Dina Tanvuia, the program chair for the hospitality program at Lasell University.
“I think it’s a waste. A waste of a lot of food and a waste of money,” said one woman in Westwood when Boston 25 sampled opinions about the restaurant industry.
In a recent survey, the National Restaurant Association found that 75% of diners would prefer to get a smaller portion and pay less.
Another woman told us she liked that premise. “Everyone’s trying to watch their weight and they don’t want big portions and then the extras to take home.”
Ann Marie Casey, the manager of Olivadi in Norwood, said it’s important for the restaurant industry to evolve and she thinks changing up portion sizes might be appealing to some customers.
“With smaller portions, you’re opening a door to a whole new statistic of people that are health conscious and not looking to have those pounds of pasta on their plate.”
Some restaurant goers think this approach could be good, as long as it’s legitimate.
One woman is concerned they will make the portions smaller without reducing the prices. That’s often referred to as shrinkflation.
Another said, “You have to be suspicious about who is doing this research and who benefits from this project, so yeah, you should naturally be suspicious.”
Another reason to reduce serving sizes is waste.
“Around 40% of the food is wasted after it makes it to the plate,” said Tanvuia.
Wasted food is an unsavory side of the restaurant business. It’s bad for the environment and for the bottom line.
“Especially right now, younger consumers are looking more into sustainability. They want to see restaurants that are actually offering better packaging, sustainable packaging,” added Tanvuia.
Since it doesn’t look like food prices are coming down at any point soon, Gerber hopes diners understand the choices in front of them.
“There are only one or two things that can happen. People can pay more for food which is not a popular vote, or they can have slightly less on their plate. The third option is they could have a lower quality item on their plate, and I don’t think people want to go in that direction.”
The idea of paying less for smaller portions is most appealing to millennials according to the survey by the National Restaurant Association.
The group also found millennials are the most likely to look for daily specials or other discounts when deciding where to go out to eat.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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