Selling on Tet holiday: Unpredictable burden or great opportunity?

Human resource challenges, increased costs and potential risks require restaurant and cafe owners to plan carefully when choosing to sell during Tet, to avoid unwanted incidents at the beginning of the year.

Cafe Giang staff took a photo with Mr. Le Hong Minh, founder of VNG and Mr. Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA (third and fourth from left) - Photo: CAFE GIANG.

Coffee shops have a 'headache' selling on Tet holiday

"We open during Tet mainly to please customers, but we have never made any money during this time. We don't increase prices, there aren't too many customers, and related costs such as staff and parking are also high," a representative of a coffee shop told Tuoi Tre Online about the plan to sell during Tet this year.

Not only this unit, Mr. Vu Khac Son, manager of Giang coffee brand (Hanoi), is also struggling with the Tet sales season.

According to Mr. Son, in the past two years, the restaurant closed a day before New Year's Eve but would open early, depending on the location.

Specifically, Cafe Giang Lotte Mall Tay Ho will be open from the morning of the second day, while the location on Nguyen Huu Huan Street will open a day later. In particular, the restaurant at Van Lake (Temple of Literature) will be open throughout the Tet holiday.

Sharing with Tuoi Tre Online , Mr. Son said that he chose to sell during Tet because almost every year, the shop receives questions from travel agencies and international visitors about whether Cafe Giang is open or not.

"For us, serving customers on special occasions like Tet is a mission, not necessarily to earn extra income," Mr. Son shared.

Cafe Giang maintains the tradition of not charging service fees and not increasing prices on holidays and Tet.

However, the biggest challenge for this brand during Tet is the shortage of staff, because most of the employees come from far away provinces such as Son La and Thanh Hoa.

Employees who live far away will be able to return home early to celebrate Tet with their families and return to work on the morning of the third day.

"We will pay for your train and bus tickets to go home and back to Hanoi. Before that, employees will receive a bonus for the Lunar New Year and Lunar New Year and a seniority bonus," said Mr. Son.

To have enough manpower to serve Tet, Giang planned to mobilize maximum resources, including family members and relatives.

For employees working during Tet, the restaurant applies a suitable treatment regime, including a bonus of 1-1.5 million VND/day.

In addition, they will receive additional daily wages and three days off with full pay.

Heavy loss from selling European dishes during Tet

"Two years were both tiring and a loss. Not taking my wife home for Tet made her feel sad and my wife's family sad. I was very stressed and it took me about seven months to regain my balance," Nguyen Giang Tung, owner of the Like Steak brand, sadly shared with Tuoi Tre Online .

Two years ago, Mr. Tung had the ambition to turn Like Steak into a famous European restaurant in Vung Tau City.

With that determination, he opened a second store, larger than the first, located right on the beach front, with a total investment of nearly one billion VND and opened close to Christmas and New Year.

Referring to a popular restaurant model in Ho Chi Minh City, he 'played big' by hiring a painter to paint a mural to create a virtual check-in place for young people.

He even invited a good chef and store manager from a famous F&B chain, spending about 100 million VND on a marketing campaign carried out by five units.

With careful preparation, Mr. Tung believed that the possibility of success was very high. However, the reality was the opposite because it did not meet the needs of the target customers.

Visitors to Vung Tau mainly experience seafood cuisine, instead of European dishes such as steak or pasta.

For locals, if they want to enjoy European food, they often choose restaurants in the city center instead of going to the beach.

The owner of the Like Steak brand has suffered huge losses during the Tet holiday business in recent years - Photo: LIKE STEAK

After a period of holding out, Mr. Tung decided to close the coastal facility to cut losses and focus on the first branch.

Last year, the economic recession caused a decline in purchasing power, especially during Tet.

"European dishes like beef steak and creamy pasta with lots of cheese were quite boring. As a result, sales were slow," Mr. Quang recalled the difficult period.

On the positive side, Mr. Quang was right to decide to close the ineffective branch and not operate during Tet, helping to avoid bigger losses.

Large restaurant chains prepare carefully

Mr. Tran Dinh Huy, owner of famous F&B chains such as Secret Garden, Somtam Zaap, Bepbo and Corner Coffee with eight branches in Ho Chi Minh City, has decided to do business during Tet this year.

This decision comes from two main reasons. First, the cost of renting space and staff is high, if we stop selling for any day, the revenue will not be enough to cover the cost.

Besides, if you take a break, the mentality of employees going to work before and after Tet holiday can slow down the operation of the restaurant.

However, doing business during Tet faces many challenges.

First, it is difficult to find staff even though salaries have increased 3-4 times, especially for kitchen and bartending positions.

"These positions cannot be filled because these positions ensure the taste and quality of food and drinks," said Mr. Huy.

In addition, even if you can recruit part-time staff for service positions, they may not be familiar with the restaurant's operations and customer base.

In addition, during Tet, raw material prices increase and it is difficult to ensure regularity without careful preparation.

To solve the above challenges, Mr. Huy arranged for employees to take turns taking days off before and after Tet to ensure that the system did not encounter difficulties in personnel for Tet.

"During the three days of Tet, when suppliers have not opened for sale, we have a warehouse to ensure fresh products are always ready to serve," Huy shared about how to ensure raw materials.

According to Mr. Hoang Tung, founder of F&B Investment, when doing business during Tet, shop owners need to choose suitable dishes, prioritizing dishes that help reduce the feeling of fullness such as vermicelli with crab soup, vermicelli with grilled pork, pho or beef vermicelli, which are popular with diners.

Drink shops with spacious spaces are also good choices for family and friends meetings.

Shop owners need to research customer habits in each area and be transparent in adjusting prices.

Instead of implementing promotional programs, restaurant owners can give customers small lucky red envelopes worth 5,000-10,000 VND, creating a fun and meaningful experience at the beginning of the year.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ban-hang-ngay-tet-ganh-nang-kho-luong-hay-co-hoi-lon-2025011916395876.htm