Restaurants and hair salons are increasing prices as Tet approaches.

Near Lunar New Year, many restaurants, grocery stores, barbershops... have started to increase prices slightly.

Ms. Nga increased the price of her snail noodle dish by 5,000 VND because the ingredients increased earlier than every year - Photo: AN VI

Some places only slightly increase the price of a few dishes because the ingredients have gone up in price, while others have steadily increased the price every day. According to many sellers, around the 15th of the lunar month, restaurants increase their prices even more "steadily".

Price increase is imminent

Walking around the Ga market on Nguyen Kiem street, ward 9, Phu Nhuan district, Ho Chi Minh city, some restaurants have started to increase prices slightly when Tet is only more than half a month away.

For example, at Ms. Nga's vermicelli soup area, prices have been slightly increased since December 10, 2024 for some dishes on the menu. Specifically, the prices of vermicelli soup, vermicelli soup, and crab rice noodles remain at 25,000 VND/bowl, while vermicelli soup with snails has increased by 5,000 VND to 40,000 VND/bowl.

Ms. Nga said that only the prices of ingredients will increase, while the prices of items that are still sold at normal prices will remain the same.

"Usually around the 20th of the lunar calendar, I increase the price by 5,000 VND across the board, and after Tet around the 10th, I will sell it back to normal price," Ms. Nga shared.

Ms. Nga has been selling here for a long time, mainly to regular customers living in the area, so she always wants to sell as cheaply as possible, taking advantage of quantity to make a profit. According to her, customers are not too surprised to see the price increase because every year she increases it slightly near Tet.

“Only this year, because the price of snails suddenly increased early, I was surprised and had to increase the price of a bowl of snail noodle soup by 5,000 VND. Every year, the price of all dishes is increased exactly on the 20th of the lunar calendar,” she said.

Mr. Dinh's vegetarian restaurant has increased steadily from 2,000 - 3,000 VND - Photo: AN VI

Many restaurants on Pham Van Dong Street have also increased prices simultaneously.

At a vegetarian noodle shop, the price of a box of vegetarian noodles, which is normally 15,000 VND, has increased to 17,000 VND since January 10. Other dishes on the menu have also increased by 2,000 - 3,000 VND.

According to Mr. Dinh - the owner of the restaurant, the price has increased for about three days. He said that the increase is only slight and will last until after Tet and will not increase further.

“Even if we increase it, it won’t be much of a profit. Because I sell to passersby, I don’t have many regular customers, so I’ll increase it slightly to follow the increase in vegetable prices during Tet,” Mr. Dinh explained.

Many places have not increased prices, but have started to reduce the amount of ingredients in their food. For example, the sandwich cart of Mrs. Tran Thi Mai (47 years old, living in Thu Duc City) located on Pham Van Dong Street has also reduced the amount of meat compared to usual.

Instead of increasing prices, Ms. Mai chose to reduce the amount of raw materials - Photo: AN VI

Ms. Mai explained that it is very difficult to increase the price of bread, there are only two fixed prices: 10,000 VND and 15,000 VND.

“Instead, I reduced the meat in the loaf a bit and told the customers, and almost everyone was happy. Doing so felt less awkward than raising the price. This area is also mainly for students, raising the price would be a pity for the kids,” Ms. Mai added.

Forced price increase

The price list in the barber shop of Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh on Kha Van Can Street (Thu Duc City) has been posted with new prices for some services. For example, the hair curling service at the shop has a new price of 230,000 - 280,000 VND, the old price is 180,000 - 250,000 VND.

Services that are popular with users during Tet such as hair dyeing, side straightening... all increased by 30,000 - 50,000 VND.

Mr. Thanh shared that the price was adjusted about a week ago when he felt the number of customers getting their hair cut during Tet started to increase dramatically. However, he affirmed that the price was not increased because of the large number of customers to gain more profit.

“I bought the dye at the beginning of December, and it’s been less than half a month and it’s almost gone. It’s very difficult to get the goods now, most of them are out of stock. Sometimes, when we run out of this color or that color, we have to ask customers to go to other hair salons to buy it and mix it. And buying it like that is very expensive, so we have to increase the price,” Thanh explained.

The price of a haircut at Mr. Thanh's shop on Kha Van Can street has been increased - Photo: AN VI

To serve the peak Tet season, Mr. Thanh said he had to "beg" employees to return home later and charge them higher wages.

“I can’t do it all by myself, I have to keep two employees until the 28th of Tet. And from the 20th of Tet, I will charge higher salaries for employees, I can’t force them to work at the old price. Honestly, raising prices won’t make us richer, the situation forces us to raise prices,” Thanh said.

According to Ms. Nga, who sells vermicelli soup with crab soup at Ga market, if food prices can be controlled, restaurant owners like her are willing not to increase prices.

“The prices of input materials, especially vegetables and meat, increase rapidly as Tet approaches. This happens every year. Many people do not know because they do not have to go to the market early and late every day, so they blame us for the price increase,” said Ms. Nga.

Mr. Dinh said that for shops with available premises like his, it is still okay. But if renting for business, the seller has to pay for all seven days of Tet, even though there are very few customers on those days and the shops will usually be temporarily closed.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/quan-an-tiem-toc-ruc-rich-tang-gia-khi-tet-den-gan-20250111230629209.htm