According to the NGG, VAT reductions in the catering industry miss the target

Since January, a reduced VAT rate of seven percent has been due for food in restaurants and cafés. The government also wanted to ease the burden on guests with this measure. But for them the prices remain largely unchanged - and frustration is also increasing among the workforce.

In the opinion of the Food-Gourmet-Gastronomy Union (NGG), the four billion euro VAT cut for the catering industry has missed its target. Although the federal government wanted to ease the burden on guests, only around one percent of the more than 180,000 dishes examined were cheaper, as shown by a price study and a nationwide employee survey by the NGG. At the same time, frustration among staff is increasing. 71 percent had already thought about leaving the industry. The NGG chairman Guido Zeitler drew a sobering conclusion: "In fact, none of this has reached consumers." It is also critical that the employees have not yet benefited from the tax gift.

Zeitler called for a change of course: "If you want to attract and retain skilled workers, you have to offer better wages and better working conditions instead of questioning the eight-hour day." The union sees employers as having a duty and wants to increase the pressure in the ongoing collective bargaining negotiations with the German Hotel and Catering Association (DEHOGA). The NGG is experiencing a major blockade when it comes to wage increases there, said Zeitler.

Almost no price reduction

According to the study by wmp consult on behalf of the NGG, 91 percent of the prices for the dishes examined in over 12,000 restaurants remained unchanged. Around eight percent of the dishes actually became more expensive, while only one percent became cheaper. Bowls (14 percent), schnitzel (11 percent) and steaks (10 percent) were particularly expensive. On average, prices rose by 0.5 percent. According to the study, there were on average more price increases in Hamburg and Bremen as well as in most western federal states than in the east.

The coalition between the Union and the SPD had permanently reduced the VAT for food from 19 percent to the reduced rate of seven percent at the beginning of 2026 - thereby fulfilling years of demands from the industry lobby. The draft law stated that passing it on to consumers would be possible, as would additional investments by companies. “If the tax relief had been passed on in full to consumers, the final prices could have mathematically fallen by around ten percent,” said the NGG.

According to NGG, the survey of more than 2,000 employees paints a picture of an industry at its limits. Almost every second person surveyed regularly works eight to ten hours a day, and three quarters cannot recover sufficiently after work. 79 percent report short-term roster changes that make it difficult to reconcile work, family and private life. Against this background, 96 percent of those surveyed are in favor of limiting the maximum daily working hours. “Employees can no longer foot the bill for staff shortages and work intensification,” said Mark Baumeister, NGG department head for the hospitality industry.