restaurant owners who are too greedy when it comes to dessert prices?

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A good dessert, a pleasure that is priceless. Or rather yes. In restaurants, for those with a sweet tooth, the bill would be increasingly steep. “A chocolate mousse for 10 euros, for example. A little expensive”deplores a young man. “8 or 9 euros for the tiramisu, anyway. We’re not in Italy either”a young woman says offended. “I rarely have large desserts because of the price”admits a man.

Demonstration. We did our own map tour in the Paris region. In an establishment, between a main course and dessert, 8.60 euros difference. A little further, a pizza for 17.50 euros and dessert for more than 13 euros, a difference of 3.80 euros.

So how do you justify the prices? A restaurant opened its doors to us. Here, all the desserts are less than 10 euros and are homemade. Like vanilla crème brûlée. Fresh products, short circuits, but we have to deal with the rise in raw materials. “There, we don’t have any vanilla, because the costs of vanilla have become enormous. Already since sugar has taken 45%, it’s not easy to maintain prices there. We have to be careful about everything because we have to stay within our production costs so as not to have repercussions on our slates, on our cards”explains Alexandre Bernard, manager of “Café Père & Fils”

In his crème brûlée at 9.50 euros, there are, according to the boss, 2.50 euros of raw materials, 3.50 euros of charges, 2.20 euros of fixed operating costs. The margin is 1.30 euros, all taxes included. For the restaurateur, a high price must be justified: “If a restaurant sells desserts for between 12 and 15 euros and in fact they are industrial desserts, we can consider that there is abuse. Now, if the costs are calculated in relation to production that is homemade, to maintain artisanal homemade production, it is worth paying for”.

But does a high price always hide the same quality? Accompanied by gastronomic critic Fred Ricou, we tested, with a hidden camera, a renowned brasserie in a popular district of the capital. Desserts between 12.50 euros and 16 euros. We ask if they are homemade. “No, desserts are rarely ‘homemade’ in Parisian restaurants”we are told. We order a chocolate mi-cuit, a crème brûlée and macaroons. Disappointing tasting for our reviewer. We ask for explanations from the boss who assures us that almost everything is homemade and gets angry.

For the catering trades union, certain abuses should not make us forget the rising costs which weigh on the profession. “Today, we still have to be aware that the social and employer contributions that weigh on service professions are very significant. So yes, there is all that which is, at one point, transferred to the price of the product”underlines Franck Delvau, president of the Union of Trades. Despite this trend, the French consume twice as much dessert as their European neighbors.