Forums > Food & Drink > Western-run places in KM too expensive? @Colinflahive
First, you don't have to justify your business idea or costs calculations.
For all you should care you could charge 1000 RMB for a Coke. It's your successful business and how much profit you make, or how you make it, is as you please.
But you are
comparing 2 different things.
The local food market price vs. bulk and F&B supplier prices.
I am sure that your bulk purchase costs have not changed.
The same goes for staff salaries, unless you hire experienced, already trained staff.
The local staff we hired was had an increase of 500RMB from 10 years ago. Without experience and training in the restaurant business 1500 RMB - 2000RMB [the years ago] to nowadays 2500 RMB to 3000 RMB. All depending on skill and experience. A good staff manager or bar manager, of course can ask for more.
And I am sure that the prices you pay for coffee, booze and food ingredients have not changed a lot in the last ten years, -when buying large quantities.
Smoked salmon is very cheap, from what I remember at METRO. A bit over 100RMB for 700gram of already smoked salmon. 139RMB for a kilo of uncured salmon, if you want to trouble yourself or fry it.
Burmese avocados are also rather cheap when bought in bulk through the right suppliers, same goes with vegetables and even meat [including beef].
There have been increases in prices but in my calculations, it doesn't justify what many owners do. To link their overall prices to single market items, or just raise whenever they feel like, when the news report tofu prices
to increase.
Plus, you cannot just add RMB's on all items. A restaurant lives from crowds of customers and talking about what a bowl of noodles costs has little to do with the business concept of a bar or restaurant
Well of course you can all do that and I don't have a problem with that, at all. It is a business and it shall thrive, but you have to expect complaints from customers and them argue about increases of prices.
And they are right. It cannot be that Kunming is more expansive, or at least on the same price level with Beijing or Shanghai.
that just doesn't add up
The only agreeable point is rent, but many have dodged that bullet by moving to a cost friendlier location.
I understand the frustration of some customers, I only visit two foreign owned joints in Kunming, because all others are overpriced for the quality and portions.
In short having a foreign restaurant is still a very good business with very large profit margins.
You guys seem to have a very good life, otherwise you wouldn't run the café and expand. Right?
Anning refinery fined for violation of national environmental laws
Posted by31000 US$, Wow, that's a lot of money.
I hope they will manage to keep operation after a massive financial blow, like this.
I'm not concerned about the environmental impact of the plant, the mayor said he will look into it. So nothing, to be concerned about.
Kunming to invest in public electric car fleet
Posted byE-cars should be banned, especially in China where most of the power is produced with coal. The main problem of the climate change, carbo-footprint discussion.
Unfortunately no emission, doesn't mean they are clean. Electric cars only pollute other elements.
At the moment e-cars are toys and due to the lack of range, loss of storage capacity and the dirty production of those cars and some of their components.
So unless, the technology advances dramatically, in a very short time and better storage capacity is available, and the production of battery components cleaner and away from, exploiting workers in poor countries and poisoning their water sources. It's just a problem shift, if not making things worse.
They will continue to be just, feel-good cars, but not helping the effort at all.
The future of the car and the cleanest way, is hydrogen cars and hybrids. Although for now, the production of hydrogen is still complicated, and not as clean as it could be, in a few years it will be.
If you want to help, there are investment platforms helping to put money in gas station networks. The main reason, we don't see more of them. The industry is ready, they fixed most of the hiccups. The only thing they need for the customer is a solid refueling stations network.
I also want less cars in the city and certainly smaller vehicles would help. So, for now hybrids are the best solution.
Until the power is produced emission free and the batteries getting better, E-cars are useless and more expensive than a good, efficient and reliable hybrid.
Megatrudge 2014: 400 kilometers across the Gobi
Posted byIs it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's SuperPavel.
What is an "elite" "semi" professional runner. Are you professional or amateur, and where are you elite?
You are definitely a pro in being a condescending, arrogant, 'have-it-all-figured-out'-ism
.
Have you actually read your own articles.
e.g. 'The Turtle Race'
-making fun of people unprepared.
-Leader by default, of course!!! If not Pavel, who else could?
-Slinging people up and down the hills because they don't even know how to push their bikes.
-Saving a girl's life, lone wolf style, of course!
... back to the current Gobi march
If you are a long distance runner you would actually know how to take care of your feet during a race, you could actually finish an Ultra and some day actually become a pro. So maybe that's where the master splits from the novice.
And you wouldn't have to make fun of people that actually prepare proper gear before a 400km race through a desert.
And for this article:
-Dashing off with shoes tight together with dental floss. Swiss cheese socks, I guess next time you will just run with a bikini and flip flops to show those fools how it is done properly.
-You of course, being the only one knowing what he is doing including reading a GPS.
-Running 27hours straight while mocking Chinese runners for not pacing themselves...!
- Leading the flock by superiority. Leading everyone through the dark Gobi night, scaring other runners, pretending to be a wolf!!!
-Whining about ridiculous behaviour, whilst excelling at such, yourself. Plus, putting others in danger?
-You don't care about this Chinese kid taking advantage of your excellence (by the way, it's a race that's what people do in races)...until that guy is close to a TV camera??...Roooight!
And isn't that ridiculous if you don't want to give him his moment in the limelight since he overtook you. Isn't that also pretty bad sportsmanship?
-And then in the end you have to give up because you are too cool to get your feet the proper gear and treatment, due to your philosophy.
-Making fun of other participant's gear and equipment while you actually can't even finish the race.
-Making fun of people whom actually who prepared.
In my humble opinion I think you are Toropov-ing your article a lot. Should be a new word for exaggerating.
To stay faithful to your [questionable] philosophy. The stuff you need for such a race, you rarely win in a race, because it's cheap, easy to get, very easy to carry, and looks too trivial for a prize.
Pavel your stories could be great fun to read, if you would take in a little bit of humility and maybe some respect for others.
And of course if you'd stop getting off about yourself we would find out how others saw and experienced the race.
Please don't forget the times when you started and learned from others, not knowing what you were doing? How would you have reacted to an article of this kind.
So far you sound like a joke to me.
That said, ...respect for trying the Gobi and the other races.
Cheers,
A former 'elite-semi-pro runner' and paratrooper {= the "marchalots"}.
Official proposes reopening Wujiaba Airport
Posted byit wouldn't be that weird.
most big cities have 2 or more airports. so it wouldn't be that crazy to consider.
plus most foreign airlines don't even bother considering kunming for specifically the crappy kmg airport. e.g. for it's extraorbitant landing and processing fees, terrible management and for christsake not even having an updated ILS.
a runway in wujiabao would be welcomed at least by me. closer to the city less bad weather and less hassle.
but there is no way that some rich real estate developer will let go of his multi billion RMB project. although i still hope they reopen even if just with one small terminal for cheap carriers.
the way changshui is run it will mainly stay provincial anyway since other international airlines will avoid kmg. coz they got a great and working airport in chengdu. from there they could just code share with local airlines.saves trouble and money.
another chinese success story how to f*** up a whole airport by idiots making idiot decisions. how hard could it be to choose a location for an airport?
Yunnan air routes a hot commodity
Posted byYeah a European directflight would be fantastic, sweet!
But as far as I know (I was told) and spoiler alert....the landing, processing and fuel fees are so gigantic in Yunnan, (of course primarily for foreign airlines) that this guy told me the ticket price would be ridiculously high, after the promotion period.
He estimated that if the airport fees won't be lowered it would still make more sense financially to fly through other 'real' hubs.
Hopefully this stupid and untrue philosophy of, 'charge high - gain high profit' will change someday so that we get the perks of a normalized market. Until then I try to not use the Changshui airport, it's China's worst airport by fay, anyway.