The owners of the Bristol restaurant group behind some of the city's most popular Italian eateries have announced that they will be making "significant price increases" across their six locations. A co-founder of The Bianchis Group, which runs, Bianchis Restaurant, Pasta Loco, Pasta Ripiena, Pizza Bianchi, Cotto and Centrale, posted on Instagram that following a financial review of 2022, they made "less than 1% profit despite being one of the busiest restaurant groups in Bristol and experiencing good turnover.
Ben Harvey, who founded the group with his cousin Dominic Borel in 2016 with their first location Pasta Loco, wrote that their slim profit margins meant they were currently "operating in a high-risk zone, with an inadequate financial safety net in a tumultuous financial environment."
As a result, the chain will be raising costs at all its sites. The "significant price increases" will be across food and wine and come into effect between now and the spring.
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The post explains that high inflation and energy prices coming hard on the heels of the pandemic have made the economic environment for the group incredibly challenging. In 2020, Bianchis, collaborated on Breaking Bread, an alfresco dining site on the downs where people could still gather during bans on indoor mixing.
Breaking Bread enabled the company to keep its staff employed during times when its restaurants were forced to close, but according to Ben's Instagram post, when the project returned in 2021, it faced supply chain issues, staffing shortages and problems with staff having to isolate with Covid. This left the company with some very large debts, some of which it is still repaying.
Following the pandemic and the re-opening of the group's sites, Ben wrote that the company has tried to accommodate a better work-life balance for its staff by reducing hours while maintaining, or in some cases increasing wages, but that it's been difficult for the company to absorb these costs in the face of rising rents, energy bills and soaring ingredients costs of ingredients.
Ben wrote: “Some, not all, of our landlords hiked our rents up. With Pasta Loco, we were hit with a 70% rent increase; we fought that but only down to 40%. Like everyone else, our energy bills have gone through the roof, at Bianchis what was £1,500 a month, is now £4,500.
“The cost of our ingredients have increased drastically across the board, but we know the independent suppliers we use are facing the same hard times as us, so there is very little we can do.
“In real terms, if we were to use our actual costings to calculate menu prices, this would shock even the most loyal of our customers. We want to continue, we love what we do, and we believe we can survive this with radical action.
“We feel a huge sense of responsibility for all those we work with, staff and suppliers alike. And we believe our customer base needs to be informed about the crushing economic reality we are facing.
“So, in order to maintain our philosophy, our working practices and our survival as a business, we are raising our prices across our sites.
“Customers will be seeing a significant price increase across food and wine between now and the spring. We trust that you understand the predicament that we find ourselves in; we have no other option, it’s this, or we shut our doors for good.”
Bristol Live has approached Bianchis for comment.
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