In Asia, it’s often cheaper to buy food outside rather than cooking at home, whereas in Europe, the ratio is completely reversed. Also, culturally, everyone is often taking food and bring it back home.
I can see some reasons that might explain this, such as the cost of labor or stricter health regulations in Europe compared to Asia. But even with these factors in mind, it doesn’t explain it all.
Of course, I understand that it’s not feasible to replicate a model like Thailand’s street food culture in Europe. The regulations and cost of labor would likely make it impossible to achieve such competitive prices. But if we look at a place like Taiwan, for example, where street food is less common and instead, you have more buffet-style restaurants where you can get takeaway or eat on-site for around €3, while cooking the same meal at home might cost between €1.50. The price difference is barely 2x, which is still very far from the situation in Europe.
Why isn’t something like this possible in Europe?
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Rent costs, general cost of living being very high. Also centralising of populations has an effect, they don’t really do suburbs in Asia like we do in the west.
Say in the uk you wanted to set up a food place you need to make literally about 4 grand a month just to break even on rent and your wages alone.
That’s before you even start to do anything. Cost rise with ingredients and equipment and the high cost becomes quite obvious.
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