Food is not sold: large restaurateurs have begun to close their establishments
Large restaurants, coffee shops and bars began to close their establishments. Shokoladnitsa, Rostiks, Yakitoria, and Menza were among those who decided to optimize their presence in the market. The Daily Bread, the Fornetto pizzeria, and the Darling bar chain have completely closed. Total, according to Kontur.During the year, 10% more catering enterprises were liquidated in Russia — 35.4 thousand. Analysts note a decrease in the growth rate of the industry, as well as an increase in the gap between the creation of new and the closure of existing outlets. Izvestia investigated the reasons for the current situation.
Who closed down and who continued to work in the catering market
Large catering companies have begun to reduce the number of their establishments. As Izvestia found out, from the end of 2025 to the present, Shokoladnitsa has optimized its market presence in Moscow — about 20 restaurants have been closed, Rostiks — about 25 outlets have stopped working, Yakitoria — eight, Menza — two, etc.
The Daily Bread market, the Fornetto pizzeria, and the Darling bar chain have completely left the market. The famous metropolitan restaurants "Valenok" and The Toy have stopped their work.
The number of restaurant businesses in the regions is also decreasing. For example, several establishments have closed in Novosibirsk since the beginning of the year: the Tait coffee shop, the Le Pin wine bar and the Mishkin & Mishkin bar-restaurant. In Tatarstan, in January, the Craft House bar and the Vietnamese cafe Chao were put up for sale — 1.3 million rubles each.
As previously reported 78.ru Since the beginning of 2025, the number of closures of restaurants, shops and cafes in the key trade corridors of St. Petersburg has exceeded the number of openings by 1.5 times. Thus, 68 establishments have closed since January on Staro-Nevsky Prospekt, Nevsky Prospekt, Rubinstein and Bolshaya Morskaya Streets, Bolshoy Prospekt of the Petrogradskaya Side and Bolshaya Konyushennaya Street, while only 46 have opened.
According to the research of the Contour project.Focus", in total, 35.4 thousand catering enterprises were liquidated in Russia last year — almost 10% more than in 2024. These include 27.8 thousand restaurants, 6.25 thousand cafes, and 1.9 thousand bars. According to a document available to Izvestia, the industry has slowed its growth from 5.52% in 2024 to 4.62% in 2025. At the same time, new establishments continue to open — last year their number amounted to 48.8 thousand.
— The slowdown in the growth of the catering industry can be explained by the saturation of the market in large cities and increased competition, while the leadership of the cafe segment is due to a more flexible format. Cafes require less initial investments, it is easier for them to adapt to consumer demands: family, vegetarian, pastry shops, pizzerias, etc., - the analyst of the Kontur project explained to Izvestia.Focus" by Veronika Skorokhodova.
According to her, the positive dynamics of registrations in relation to liquidations suggests that the industry remains attractive to businesses, but the structure is shifting towards more stable and customer-oriented formats.
Izvestia sent requests to major restaurants asking them to comment on the reasons for the reduction of outlets.
In mid-January, Rostiks announced that there were no mass closures of outlets, as well as layoffs of employees in the capital.
— In the near future, some of the restaurants closed in Moscow will resume their activities. If desired, the staff was able to continue working at other Rostiks restaurants during the closing period. Our company strictly adheres to the labor legislation of the Russian Federation," the company said.
Why is there a crisis in the industry
In early January, businesses posted more than 61.7 thousand vacancies in the HoReCa (hospitality and catering) sector, the service told Izvestia. hh.ru . The aggregator's press service noted that the activity of employers has become somewhat calmer than a year ago. But job seekers' requests are growing: by the end of December, more than 390.7 thousand resumes were published or updated in this area.
— There are 6.3 resumes per vacancy at HoReCa, which indicates a balance in the labor market. However, in the context of the specializations of chefs, bakers and pastry chefs, there are two resumes per vacancy, this demonstrates a shortage of specialists, and the activity of restaurant managers (9.6 resumes per vacancy) and waiters, bartenders and baristas (12.3) enables employers to select a suitable specialist for the company, the company's press service noted.
According to Dmitry Levitsky, a restaurateur and co-founder of the HURMA Group, there has been a shortage of personnel in the food industry for several years, but now it is especially acute.
"And it's not just about chefs in the workshops — finding a strong, high—class chef, sous chef or manager is becoming noticeably more difficult and expensive," he told Izvestia.
The industry needs not just performers, but people who are willing to invest in the project and the future of the industry, to think strategically, not tactically, he added. This can only be offered by a professional who is passionate about his business.
— The Lavry National Gastronomic Competition (co—organized by the Institute of Gastronomy of Siberian Federal University and the Bely Mys Wine City), which we are currently holding, is designed to solve this problem. We are looking for and supporting those who strive to become new industry leaders, despite all the difficulties that arise in it today, - explained the industry representative.
But Sergey Mironov, chairman of the Coordinating Council of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers, believes that the problem is not so much the lack of enthusiastic people, but also global changes in the industry itself.
— Indeed, there is a rather serious decline in the restaurant market right now. Consumer activity is declining, while rents and staff salaries are rising. Therefore, now this business has become unprofitable in many ways," he explained.
According to him, the market is likely to face a serious rotation rather than a large reduction.
— The restaurant has several main consumables. The first is the purchase of goods, wages and rent. These costs are likely to increase this year. The rent of space may decrease when the points are closed. Therefore, some restaurateurs will leave this business, while others will enter," the business representative believes.
He also noted that both non-grid and network businesses have unprofitable facilities, so it is not yet clear who will win in this situation. At the same time, according to him, the main reason for this situation in the market was the serious growth of the ready-to-eat segment. Today, almost every store sets up tables, coffee machines and at the same time operates as a small cafe-restaurant, thus selecting visitors from larger players, the expert noted.
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