Boycott against exorbitant food prices grows on social media. All eyes on the weekend

Following a call by economist İris Cibre, a boycott against restaurant prices has begun on social media. 30 thousand people who participated in the survey stated that they would support the boycott by not going to restaurants on April 20-21.

Cibre made the following call:

"By majority decision, we are not going to Cafes and Restaurants on Saturday and Sunday, April 20-21.

We invite everyone to join in to put an end to opportunism.

Cibre's post received great attention in a short time and became a trending topic on social media.

Armağan Çağlayan also supported the #fahişyemeğeBOYKOT (boycott against exorbitant food) hashtag and added the note, "I am also curious about how the participation will be."

Speaking to T24 following the strong support for the boycott call, economist İris Cibre stated that some businesses are "treating the consumer like a fool, and that inflation has not affected prices to this extent."

Ramazan Bingöl, President of the Association of All Restaurants and Tourism Professionals (TÜRES), also emphasized "supply and demand," stating that they are working on fixing restaurant prices and that "they will not intervene in the free market, but they will intervene against opportunists."

"I REALIZED THAT THERE WAS AN 80 PERCENT PRICE HIKE"

When asked about the experience that triggered the boycott call, Cibre explained, "The other evening, I ate the menu I always eat at the cafe I always go to. I realized that there had been an 80 percent price hike in dollar terms in 10 months. This triggered me and I wrote it directly on Twitter. After that, the reactions grew like a snowball."

"WE THINK IT IS OPPORTUNISM"

Regarding restaurants that have made exorbitant increases in dollar terms beyond inflation, Cibre said, "We are complaining about this. We think that this increase cannot be explained by inflation, that we have not experienced such inflation in dollar terms, and therefore this is opportunism."

Cibre stated that they received negative reactions from the food and beverage sector following the boycott reactions, adding, "But some in the sector are also speaking sincerely, saying 'we know there are places that abuse this.'

Apart from that, there are also those who say, 'If this boycott harms us, we will raise prices by 30 percent and recover the loss.' I don't know how common an idea that is, but if they do something like that, the boycott will also be extended."

Cibre continued her statement as follows:

"We do not have a motivation for businesses to be punished, to close down, or to lose money. Let them stop treating us like fools; inflation has not affected prices this much, they are reflecting much more than that to us. Enough is enough, let's return to an ethical ground.

It would be in everyone's best interest for them to take this seriously. If we look at income distribution in Turkey, 10 percent of the wealthy share 54 percent of the income in Turkey. The remaining 90 percent share the remaining 46 percent.

But somewhere in between, they finished off the middle class and white-collar workers due to very wrong economic policies, but there are still people left somewhere in between. Right now, they can't go either. If they keep prices at a reasonable level, then they will also earn from volume, and more people will be able to go. Right now, no one can go, they are struggling. The sector should do everything necessary within itself to prevent this abuse so that more people can go."

STATEMENT FROM THE RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT

Ramazan Bingöl, President of the Association of All Restaurants, stated that both customers and the sector have a point, saying, "A group is doing this boycott, but...

Both sides have a point. TÜRES is the association to which Turkey's largest restaurants and eateries are affiliated. We are actually carrying out serious work on this issue.

We are working on fixing prices, lowering them, or stopping price hikes," he said. Bingöl, who did not answer the question about the details of the work, said that an announcement would be made when it becomes clear.

News Source: 12punto