The restaurant sector, which has about 500,000 establishments in Mexico, will grow 6.0 percent this year, said Jose Luis Mier Díaz, the National Chamber of the Restaurant and Food Industry, Canirac.
In a press conference to announce the realization of the Expo Abastur 2017, he explained that the estimated value of the industry at the end of 2015 was about 243 billion pesos, with effect in 83 percent of the branches of economic activity, which implies 1.8 percent in the national Gross Domestic Product and 13 percent in the tourist.
He pointed out that seven out of 10 jobs in the tourism sector are provided by restaurant establishments, and that industry is the main shaper in the sector’s labor competencies.
In turn, it is the second economic branch in employment generation and the first in self-employment, where the female gender prevails, up to 64 percent of the labor force.
In this context, the manager said that as a result of the increase in the National Consumer Price Index (INPC), so far this year the restaurant industry has increased consumer prices by 15 percent.
He assured that it was impossible for the businessmen of the sector to maintain their prices of last year due to the increase in the costs of production, reason why they were in need of transfer it to the consumer.
He explained that based on data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI, for its acronym in Spanish), there are 451 thousand 854 food and beverage preparation establishments, with a staff of one million 475 thousand 981 people.
He said that 23 percent of these large stores sell snack foods, 22 percent tacos and cakes, 11 percent “comida corrida” or à la carte, and a similar percentage are concentrated in cafes and sodas.
Another 11 percent sells pizzas, hamburgers, hotdogs and roasted chickens; 8.0 percent sell fast food; 4.0 percent offers seafood, and 1.0 percent are self-service restaurants.
NTX/AAR/AGO-RMN/JCG
