Author Topic: How can Monsey restaurants justify their prices? (specifically milchig ones)  (Read 25088 times)

Offline bem684

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I truly don't understand the proliferation of expensive restaurants in Monsey in the past 5-10 years.  There are dozens of milchig restaurants selling $20+ breakfast specials and $25+ pasta dishes, with nothing under $10 on the menu except bread with cream cheese and similar joke meals.  Who is buying this?  Why is it so expensive?  Similar non kosher meals are a full 30-50% less in the same area - I've asked gentiles to verify this.  Kashrus certification alone can't account for that increase.  They exist alongside the old Monsey pizza joints where you can get a filling lunch for $15 (up from $10 a few short years ago) and those pizza joints have the same certifying rabbis and landlords as the expensive places.  Am I missing something?  Am I wrong?  Anyone know?

Offline JMHO

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Because they can and people seem to be paying it?

Offline ya

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How can grocery stores justify pricing? How can Sukkah places justify? Kosher wine is insane.

The list goes on and on.

Basically any Jewish item is well above what it should be.

Offline Yakov15

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I truly don't understand the proliferation of expensive restaurants in Monsey in the past 5-10 years.  There are dozens of milchig restaurants selling $20+ breakfast specials and $25+ pasta dishes, with nothing under $10 on the menu except bread with cream cheese and similar joke meals.  Who is buying this?  Why is it so expensive?  Similar non kosher meals are a full 30-50% less in the same area - I've asked gentiles to verify this.  Kashrus certification alone can't account for that increase.  They exist alongside the old Monsey pizza joints where you can get a filling lunch for $15 (up from $10 a few short years ago) and those pizza joints have the same certifying rabbis and landlords as the expensive places.  Am I missing something?  Am I wrong?  Anyone know?
Tried making it at home and saw how much it costs?
Also if they’re paying x for their house plus x for their grocery bills plus x for their car payments etc. then they need to charge x for their food. Welcome to the new world.

Offline JMHO

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How can Monsey restaurants justify their prices?
How can grocery stores justify pricing? How can Sukkah places justify?
Why and to whom do they have to justify?

Offline bem684

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Tried making it at home and saw how much it costs?
Also if they’re paying x for their house plus x for their grocery bills plus x for their car payments etc. then they need to charge x for their food. Welcome to the new world.

I get that but I don't understand why people are willing to pay that price.  If the customers weren't there the restaurants would shut down.  But more keep opening and prices don't get any lower.  Is it just a case of demand being far ahead of supply?  You'd think adding multiple competing restaurants every year for half a decade would put downward pressure on pricing but it hasn't.

Offline bem684

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Why and to whom do they have to justify?

They don't, the increase or decrease in customers will do that for them.  But if you ask a question that sounds accusatory you get more replies  :)

Offline ya

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We do not have any competition in the Jewish food and wine market since 1 company controls most of it.

https://www.kayco.com/brands/

https://royalwine.com/brand/

Offline JMHO

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They don't, the increase or decrease in customers will do that for them.
100% and OP says that there is a proliferation of these types of restaurants the last few years so I guess customers are going for it...

Offline ya

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Why and to whom do they have to justify?
to struggling Frum families who are trying to survive.

Offline gubevo18

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We do not have any competition in the Jewish food and wine market since 1 company controls most of it.

https://www.kayco.com/brands/
Exactly. Biggest racket of all time. I'd love for someone to successfully bring an antitrust suit against them - crazy how much kosher wine costs. Kosher meat costs more because there are so many more costs that go into it (shochtim, bodkim, melicha, back half of the animal, most animals sold off as treifos, etc.) but kosher wine? Other than mashgichim until the time of bishul, I'm not sure why the cost is so high. Average nonkosher wine sold is less than 10 or 20 bucks (or something like that). Hard to get a decent drinkable kosher bottle at that price.

Offline EliJelly

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to struggling Frum families who are trying to survive.

Sad fact is that many "struggling families" don't look at prices, are getting huge amounts of FS, and aren't budget savvy at all. You ask them if for their family size it doesn't make more sense to shop at Costco/Bingo etc. and they laugh in your face. I've long concluded that it's our culture's problem which enables the prices we see, not the other way around. 

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to struggling Frum families who are trying to survive.

Why can't they go to

the old Monsey pizza joints where you can get a filling lunch for $15 (up from $10 a few short years ago) and those pizza joints have the same certifying rabbis and landlords as the expensive places.  Am I missing something?  Am I wrong?  Anyone know?

Feelings don't care about your facts

Offline ya

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Why can't they go to


Most of those families do not eat out. I was talking grocery, yom tov items etc.

Offline Alexsei

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Because they can get away with it?
Jews ≠ Zionists
Palestinians ≠ Hamas
Satmar ≠ SatmarHQ

Offline ya

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Sad fact is that many "struggling families" don't look at prices, are getting huge amounts of FS, and aren't budget savvy at all. You ask them if for their family size it doesn't make more sense to shop at Costco/Bingo etc. and they laugh in your face. I've long concluded that it's our culture's problem which enables the prices we see, not the other way around. 
This is probably the reason.

Offline ya

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Exactly. Biggest racket of all time. I'd love for someone to successfully bring an antitrust suit against them - crazy how much kosher wine costs. Kosher meat costs more because there are so many more costs that go into it (shochtim, bodkim, melicha, back half of the animal, most animals sold off as treifos, etc.) but kosher wine? Other than mashgichim until the time of bishul, I'm not sure why the cost is so high. Average nonkosher wine sold is less than 10 or 20 bucks (or something like that). Hard to get a decent drinkable kosher bottle at that price.
too small of a market for anti trust. But after 120 im sure they will pay.

Offline farmbochur

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BH we have freedom of enterprise in this country. If you're truly convinced the product is overpriced, find a way to establish a short position.
Risk is opportunity

Offline Alexsei

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But after 120 im sure they will pay.

Tell me, what else do you know ?

Is https://happyheartswine.com/ for example also part of Kayco?

Israel has 100s of kosher wineries, how do the prices of imported wine compare ?

Disclaimer, I have wine running in my blood but other than my occasional Napa valley here and there I'm mostly surviving on grape juice
Jews ≠ Zionists
Palestinians ≠ Hamas
Satmar ≠ SatmarHQ

Offline ya

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BH we have freedom of enterprise in this country. If you're truly convinced the product is overpriced, find a way to establish a short position.
Good luck on that. With a monopoly you can not. (don't you think its strange that Jews drink alot of grape juice and their is basically no one else selling its besides Kedem)

In short, no food store can survive without Kayco/Royal so they have to abide by whatever they say.
« Last Edit: February 14, 2023, 03:30:03 PM by ya »