Turku restaurants face bankruptcies as customer habits shift

Several restaurants in Turku are facing bankruptcy or closure as changing consumer habits, rising costs and falling alcohol sales put pressure on the industry, Yle reports.

Two restaurants in the Finnish city have announced their bankruptcies in recent weeks, while another has decided to close. Morrison’s is shutting down because of bankruptcy, and Brahen Kellari went bankrupt after operating for almost 60 years. Its restaurateur, Heikki Martikainen, said the financing bank no longer believed in the business.

Turku was once known as a restaurant city where popular venues were booked well in advance and diners travelled from other cities to eat there. Earlier closures have included Hämeenportti, later known as Portti, which was popular with university and cultural circles, and Teini, a restaurant that had operated for more than 100 years. Their closures had different causes.

Last year, more bankruptcies were initiated in Finland’s accommodation and restaurant industry than at any previous point in the history of the statistics. This year has not appeared much better.

Janne Juvonen, chief executive of Voi Veljet, which operated the Panini restaurant in Turku, said customer behaviour had changed during the 2020s and restaurants had failed to keep up. People no longer routinely stop at a restaurant before going to the cinema, he said.

“If we have lost our customers to Netflix and Wolt, we need to renew our restaurants and look for new kinds of customers,” Juvonen said.

Lunch customers have also declined since the coronavirus pandemic, according to Juvonen. Many people now work remotely for part of the week, while Turku has more lunch options than before.

Juvonen also identified access to central Turku as part of the problem. Parking spaces have been reduced even though the planned tram is not yet in the city, he said. People travelling from Mynämäki and Littoinen cannot take a tram into the centre and may instead stay at shopping centres.

Turo Nolvi, chair of the Southwest Finland tourism and restaurant entrepreneurs’ association, expects more bankruptcies. Seasonal restaurants in the archipelago did not experience a sufficiently long period of hot weather, leaving their sales below expectations.

Some restaurants have not recovered from the coronavirus years, while the global political situation has increased the cost of raw materials. Nolvi said a beer costing between 8.50 and 11.50 euros may still leave restaurateurs with little or no margin after expenses.

Alcohol being easily available for home delivery is also keeping people at home, Nolvi said. Alcohol sales in restaurants have fallen sharply over the past decade. Although total consumption has also declined, restaurant sales have dropped particularly heavily.

Nolvi said nightclubs and clubs were likely experiencing the greatest difficulties. Fine dining restaurants, meanwhile, face high labour costs.

He also criticised the proposed tourist tax, saying it would provide municipalities with only a small increase in tax revenue while potentially harming the restaurant industry and raising prices. Ultimately, he said, customers decide what price for a beer is too high.