‘It’s this or we shut for good’ - Bristol restaurant owners raise prices as costs soar

The owners of one of Bristol’s most popular restaurant groups say they have been left with "no option" but to raise their prices to keep up with soaring costs.

Ben Harvey and Ben Dorel opened their first restaurant Pasta Loco in 2016, before going on to introduce four more - Pasta Ripiena, Cotto, Bianchis and Centrale.

Despite years of success, the owners say rising costs have left them in a 'high-risk' zone.

The pair said they made a profit of only 1% last year, despite being one of the 'busiest restaurant groups' in Bristol.

In a statement online, the cousins said they were proud to have survived the challenges faced by many in the hospitality industry during Covid when they were forced to close their doors.

During the pandemic, they set up the 'Cheers Drive' scheme with Josh Eggleton, Shona Graham and Caring in Bristol which fed hundreds of homeless people every day.

"Reopening all of our sites was one of the hardest feats we have ever experienced, but it soon became clear that this new pasture was not as green and happy as we'd hoped for.

"We trusted it would be beneficial in the long run. 'The long run' was, and is, much longer and harder than we ever expected. Once it seemed to all that we were out of the woods, the price increases began."

The group has been hit with price increases across the board, with rent at their Pasta Loco site soaring by 40%, the cousins said in an Instagram post.

Ben and Dom say their landlord initially demanded a 70% increase, which they were able to "fight".

At Bianchis, the energy bill has almost tripled from £1500 a month to £4500.

"The cost of our ingredients have increased drastically across the board, but we know the independent suppliers we use are facing the same hard times as us, so there is very little we can do", they said.

"If we were to use our actual costings to calculate menu prices, this would shock even the most loyal of our customers.

"We have recently completed our financial review of 2022 and although our turnover backs up the fact that we are one of the busiest restaurant groups in Bristol, our profit was less than 1%.

"The profit margin means we are now operating in a high-risk zone with an inadequate financial safety-net in a tumultuous financial environment."

"We want to continue, we love what we do and we believe we can survive this with radical action.

"We feel a huge sense of responsibility for all those we work with, staff and suppliers alike. And we believe our customer base needs to be informed about the crushing economic reality we are facing.

"So, in order to maintain our philosophy, our working practises and our survival as a business, we are raising our prices across our sites. You will be seeing significant price increases across food and wine between now and the Spring.

"We trust that you understand the predicament that we find ourselves in; we have no other option, it's this or we shut our doors for good."