The cracks under the eyes are dissipating little by little, the head is less heavy and a smile is finally emerging on this face still slightly in pain. To describe the kebab and its sensations, let’s skip the usual journalistic cliches seen and seen again from the heat of the spit or the smell that invades the snack and let’s focus instead on the express resurrection of Arnaud’s face, bite by bite. This 23-year-old Parisian has the face of someone who easily abused three too many beers the day before, and after a night in the fog, this Greek gulp down five minutes watch in hand finally constitutes a window of blue sky.
We were 20s too, and we had those crazy nights and the aftermath of crawling to the nearest kebab reborn in one meal. Arnaud proves to us that the anti-hangover remedy still works miracles. But if the efficiency has not changed, the profitability is no longer the same. Count 9 euros with fries for our student’s salad-tomato-onion, when in our youth – in the early 2010s, we had the same sandwich for half price. “I rarely go there, confides Arnaud, his gaze still a little in the void. It has become a luxury outing, like the cinema. But here, I really needed it. »
40% increase in five years
Bernard Boutboul, founder of the Gira Conseil firm specializing in food consumption, confirms the budget increase: “Five years ago, the average price of a kebab in France, drink included, was around 5 euros. The price was 6.50 euros in the summer of 2022. Now the average is 7 euros. That’s an increase of 40% in the space of five years, a heat stroke even stronger than that experienced by Arnaud’s liver last night.
Prices are soaring but the kebab is struggling to shed its image as a cheap snack. For years it represented the most profitable midday break or late-night rescue in France. High school students, students and anyone with a little stiff finances went to the Greek with an accomplice deal. Ok, it wasn’t necessarily haute cuisine, not really “healthy” either, but with less than a 5 euro note, we were ready for the afternoon, with a full stomach and not so empty pockets. .
“Customers do not forgive the rise in prices”
This legend sticks to the kebab like the last bite in the stomach. And forces the chefs to touch the price as little as possible. “Customers do not forgive it,” says Noé, head of Gemüse in the 18th arrondissement. Already, the passage of the menu with fries from 11 euros to 11.50 euros remains in the establishment a more historic event than Mbappé’s hat-trick in the World Cup final. “No choice”, with soaring prices of raw materials and energy.
Despite these exploding costs, it is out of the question to touch the price of the solo kebab. “It was 8 euros when we started four years ago because we do top-of-the-range products with house products, it remains at 8 euros”. The Covid, inflation, and telecommuting storms have passed without changing things a penny. The less quality neighboring kebabs have not deprived themselves to boost prices, but here we know the complex equation. “A kebab has more than 8 euros in people’s heads, it’s impossible. We suffer from our reputation as a super affordable product. A premium burger that goes from 14 to 16 euros, with inflation, no one would find anything wrong. We…” So Noé reduces the margins, knowing that he won’t be able to cut back on them for good.
The price, both the number 1 argument and the big taboo
At Gemüse, price inflexibility seems to pay off. There’s a queue to order the precious sesame from the “chef” and we’re still going crazy when it’s closer to snack time than midday. The Berliner still fulfills its mission of being able to save any stomach in trouble at any time of the day or night, but a feeling of injustice blows in the middle. “With inflation, nobody is shocked to pay 4 balls for a wafer of butter or 7 euros for a Danone yoghurt. On the other hand, the kebab, it must cost 4.5 balls otherwise it is scandalous, ”is indignant Christophe, manager of La Boule, double sign in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris and in Drancy (Seine-Saint-Denis). Prices have increased here, “much less than those of costs”, he specifies in case, not without consequences: a loss of customers of 12% between 2021 and 2022. “We are not McDonalds, we are not There isn’t a big enough foundation in people’s eating habits to be able to change prices without losing customers. »
All the paradox of the kebab world. The price is both the number one argument and the biggest taboo in the industry. This is the case with Hemmet, to the point that he prefers that the name of his establishment not be mentioned in this paper. Even he seems to be hiding, with his sanitary mask still worn outside in April 2023 and the fogging of his glasses as a result. Impossible to know either by how much saltier the bill is. “But everything has increased, he almost pleads to defend himself against an attack that has not been formulated. It is normal that our prices also increase. Especially since we don’t put just anything in our pancakes. “.
“They are going to buy triangle sandwiches at Franprix”
The chef knows and personally greets each customer, it smells like frying and elbow grease to keep the shop running, the crowd gathers every lunchtime, and the love of good food sticks to your fingers – literally and metaphorically. But behind appearances and his foggy glasses, Hemmet knows, things have changed: “I see former clients who come by without stopping. They no longer have the budget for us, they are going to buy triangle sandwiches for 2 euros in the Franprix across the street. »
Myriam has remained faithful and hits her best fang in her chicken pancake. The 30-year-old argues along the lines of Hemmet: “Yes, it’s not the same price as during adolescence, but it’s not the same quality either. “By planting our canines in it, we confirm: no more questionable meat, salad that looks like it came from the nursing home and tomatoes closer to rubber than vegetables. The kebabs that puke their fries in flashy orange boxes are on the way out, and the product is now seeking its letters of nobility far from our Proust madeleines. What Bernard Boutboul confirms: “The rise in kebab prices dates back to well before inflation. The very cheap kebab of ten years ago is no longer a recipe and the product is trying to become ”premium”, to align itself with other fast-food brands. »
The end of an era
The product is still a hit – 360 million sales on average each year in France – but is trying to change. If the consumer wants the best quality that much, we will have to pay the price. In the middle, we wait for the time that the budgets adapt to the increase in requirements and we look at each other like a dog. “Nobody wants to be the kebab that announces the bad news of yet another euro on the menu. We are waiting for others to do it, for it to be socially accepted, and then we can increase and have a little more leeway,” says Noé.
When we evoke our memories of kebabs with four or five balls, Pierre, not even 20 years old, looks at us as if we were talking about VHS tapes or Tamagotchi: we are cute but it would be a question of living with the times and doing the grief. “The kebab is a bit expensive. If you really want to break your belly for nothing, take a taco instead, ”he advises. This is now where the students come to run aground after the evening and snap five tickets for a menu or almost, without worrying too much about quality, confirms Bernard Boutboul. The kebab is not dead, it is like us, it just grew.