Despite the war, devastation and staff shortages, the quality of the restaurant business in Ukraine today is still much higher than in Europe. Our HoReCa entrepreneurs manage to do the seemingly impossible, although, as the famous Ukrainian restaurateur Maksym Khramov admits, it requires considerable effort, non-standard solutions, quick response and constant transformation. He told Komersant ukrainskyi how to build a restaurant business in times of war, help the military and compete for customers at the same time as part of the special project “War & Food: challenges and solutions for the restaurant business“
When the war started, all the restaurants in Kyiv closed in one fell swoop. But on the other hand, some of them reopened in a new way. You and your colleagues stepped up to the plate, as they say, and cooked hundreds of meals a day for the military and the TROs. Is this volunteer team of cooks still working today? Is it still in Ukraine? Has the war forced anyone to give up their work?
When the full-scale invasion began, almost all restaurateurs and restaurant teams who remained in Kyiv started volunteering. Now I remember that time and think that despite the sheer horror around us, it was one of the best and brightest periods. It was a time of absolute unity and rallying around common goals, ideas, and values. It didn’t matter who you were in civilian life – a waiter, an accountant, a cook or a restaurant owner. We formed a team and lived in the restaurant “Za Dvuh Zaytsami” on a very low basement floor with thick walls. We felt safe there. Half the day we cooked for the territorial defence, police, hospitals, and half the day we sat at a big table, played the piano and dreamed of the time when the war would end and we would win. It was an absolutely fantastic time. Everyone was doing their job.
I had a pass, so I was travelling around Kyiv all the time, delivering food and taking people to work. One day I drove the ONE LOVE restaurant team opposite the Church of St Nicholas on Velyka Vasylkivska Street. And when we were asked to get off at one of the checkpoints, a firefight started right there on Velyka Vasylkivska Street, and we were forced to lie down on the ground. Of course, we had a lot of thrills, and then for almost a month the guys and girls from WINE LOVE volunteered without leaving their premises, because the terrorist defence did not let them out.
After the Russians were kicked out of Kyiv, this period began to change somewhat. Restaurants had to start working and earn some money. After all, no one had “forgiven” anyone for the utility bills during all these months, and we were shocked when we received our bills in May. The only thing that utility providers were willing to do was to defer payments if you had documents proving that you were volunteering and could not pay for everything at once. So at first, most restaurants combined volunteering and work. Now, those restaurants that continue to volunteer do so within charitable foundations that produce convenient products for the military: dry rations, dry borscht, baked goods, etc. These are separate projects. Nowadays, volunteering for most restaurants is mainly about fundraising in various ways. For example, special dishes are added to the menu, the proceeds from which go to the army.
Many restaurant workers have also been forced by life to change jobs. They have gone to work in construction or taxi driving, for example, because of the higher earnings and less workload. Many young women workers have gone abroad. About half of them have already returned and continue to work. But in general, the restaurant business is currently facing a very large shortage of staff.
Charity and business. On the one hand, these are mutually exclusive concepts, but in our realities, it’s quite the opposite. What charitable initiatives does your business support and how does this actually affect business processes?
In general, charity and business do not contradict each other, but it is difficult to combine them directly within the business. Basically, we are talking about donations made either by an institution or by people who work there. This is not a systemic story, but rather an individual one. I know for sure that at least half of the people in my team donate in one way or another. Everyone chooses their own path. Someone donates, someone supports their relatives, and sometimes we raise money as a team either for treatment after an injury or for car repairs. Today, we have many established relationships with volunteer foundations. For example, for a year, together with the 12 Sentinels charity foundation and my old friend Lala Tarapakina, we travelled around the liberated territories with a programme to support animals – evacuating, feeding and treating them. We travelled to almost all the liberated cities of Kherson region.
Almost every restaurant has its own charitable foundations or military units with which it cooperates. Many restaurants also organise gastronomic evenings where they hold auctions.
Networking in the restaurant business during the war. In an interview, you spoke about this format of restaurants as a possible way to develop your business. Did you manage to implement this approach and, if so, can it be considered a successful business model?
Networking today is not the same as it was in the first months after the liberation of the occupied territories and the Russians’ withdrawal from Kyiv. Back then, the situation was absolutely partnership-based. Everyone helped each other as much as they could. Someone had some products, someone had others, someone had people, someone had technological capabilities. Someone whose owners had moved away gave everything to those who continued to work. This is no longer the case. The business has moved to a more or less established format.
Now, in order to keep the guests interested, there are collaborations between establishments: famous chefs can visit different restaurants with their own gastronomic offerings. The rest of the work has moved to the standard, pre-war stage.
Since our restaurant prepares fresh pasta itself, we can, for example, supply it to those establishments that do not want to “bother” with it but do not want to serve store-bought pasta. We, in turn, can buy desserts from someone else to save our cooks’ efforts. But I can definitely say that relations between restaurateurs have become warmer than they were before the war. Despite the competition, there is more respect and openness towards each other.
The restaurant business is a very complex and multilevel business. Its success depends on many participants at the same time: suppliers, chefs, waiters… And this places great importance on the human factor. What personnel mistakes are fatal for a restaurateur? And how to correct them correctly?
In addition to the general business crisis, competition is increasing. And not only due to business expansion, investments and openings, but also because the number of solvent people is decreasing. The competition is getting tougher. The situation with people is also complicated. On the one hand, business is growing and new establishments are opening. On the other hand, the number of people is decreasing. Many have left and continue to leave. The fight is literally for every person. Of course, personnel mistakes are inevitable, because you cannot always find people who meet all the requirements. But there are a few things that are extremely important. The general background in which we live is mostly negative. And even if we don’t have personal tragedies, the general negative background affects everyone’s psyche. That’s why the most valuable thing we have is a positive, creative, kind atmosphere in the team.
The most fatal mistake you can make is to allow toxic people in the team, no matter how professional they are. After all, one toxic person can ruin any team of 15-20 people. People are now very vulnerable to negativity. We see this in the endless quarrels on social media. If there is a build-up of negativity in the team, it starts to crumble very quickly. That’s why I always tell all top executives to monitor the atmosphere in the team and how people communicate with each other. Professionalism can be taught, but humanity is very difficult.
What advice would you give to entrepreneurs who lost their restaurant business during the war but want to get back into business? There are a lot of them.
I would advise entrepreneurs who had a restaurant business but lost it during the war and now want to get back into business, I would advise a few things. If they are people who have assets, whether financial or material, they can safely return to those regions where the restaurant business is developing and continues to operate. The only thing I would advise before opening a restaurant is to carefully check the relevance of the concept of the restaurant that was in place before the war. After all, the market has changed. People’s tastes have changed in many ways. Trends have also changed. Therefore, not all establishments that were successful before 2022 can withstand today’s competition.
If people have the capabilities and desire, of course, their idea has the right to live. However, you need to be patient. Although all restaurateurs had gone through years of covid before the full-scale invasion, they are already “beaten”. They know not to expect fantastic results in a super short time. Sometimes franchise options, or teaming up with someone else, can help reduce risks. They will be more relevant today than some unique story. It seems to me that today the demand for uniqueness is less than the demand for clarity, accessibility and simplicity. This is worth considering for those who decide to return to the restaurant business.
You are a very well-known person in the Ukrainian restaurant industry. Your name works for brands, not vice versa. So the question is this: in addition to the reputation of the person who creates the restaurant, what are the other components of a successful brand?
Of course, the reputation of the person who creates the brand is important. But no less important is the calculated relevance of this brand. There are also cases when people say or the media write that a certain Mr Ivan has opened a great restaurant because he is so talented, but for some reason he hasn’t got the format right. There are examples like this, because no one is perfect. There are well-known restaurateurs with excellent backgrounds and reputations whose businesses have experienced a variety of situations: poisoning, staff complaints about harsh discipline, non-payment of wages. In this case, it is not only the reputation history in the professional circle that plays a big role, but also in the human circle.
To have a successful business, a person must, in addition to having a reputation as a good professional, be interesting to people, be a mentor, a guru. You have to be successful not only in terms of the brands you create, but also in terms of your personal achievements – dancing, acting, being a mentor in business communities, etc. For example, I have recently started playing the piano more. And I see that it has a great emotional response among people. I am even invited not only to give a lecture but also to play the keys for the participants, as this creates an additional emotion to the event. I gladly agree, because it is also a part of me. I also mentor in the business community. Passing on knowledge and sharing it with young people is one of my vocations. A restaurateur is, first and foremost, a profession. However, you must also be an interesting person. This also affects the success of the business.
There is a lot of competition among restaurants in Ukraine today. Is it more about pricing or other more complex aspects, such as exclusivity of dishes or building a certain customer community on the basis of the establishment?
Today, the competition among restaurants is multifaceted. It takes place in all areas. In addition to the standard competition that has always existed, it is now much tougher. There are a lot of openings, but the number of people is decreasing.
For a guest, it’s a thrill, because there are a lot of offers, people are fighting for you, it’s their time. Just as it is now the time of the staff, the employees, not the employers. It’s the time of customers, not businesses, so you have to do your best.
Today, the most dynamically developing formats are network formats, which are not expensive to open and in terms of the cost of products.
We can all see how rapidly formats like pie shops like Aunt Clara’s are developing, like the Ministries of Shawarma, Chebureks or Desserts.
In other words, all these small economic formats are now being developed quite actively, and competition will increase.
I think that this will continue until the end of the hostilities, and perhaps for some time after that.
Then, of course, the weaker ones will fall away and those who are interested regardless of any military circumstances will remain.
In addition, people really want a holiday, people want wow effects. Therefore, establishments that can offer this to guests are in great demand.
The wow effect can be anything – in service, in the interior, in serving food, in communication. People are going for it now, and often, if they get a holiday or a wow effect, they are ready to forgive more than they used to.
Previously, you could have a superb interior, incredible presentation, but the dishes were not very tasty and interesting, so you lost. Today, the level of demand for gastronomy is still lower, and the level of desire to experience a holiday is, on the contrary, higher.
For these reasons, I believe that the most competitive establishments today are either high-tech or with a super-wow effect. If you manage to combine the two, bingo, you’re a winner!
Of course, there are also venues that clearly focus on their audience. For example, those that have their own community.
Or if Kharkiv residents open establishments in Lviv or Kherson residents in Kyiv, they get the bulk of their former countrymen who go to their own to support them.
Blitz by Kommersant Ukrainian You have to choose one option or offer your own. But the answers should be in context – whether it is a profitable or more correct solution for the Ukrainian restaurant business in times of war.
If a new dish is on the menu, it is:
– a well-known traditional Ukrainian dish in a new interpretation;
– a new, experimental dish, in the trend of “restaurant fashion”.
If there is a new dish on the menu, then, in my opinion, it is a new experimental dish in the trend of restaurant fashion. The fascination with well-known traditional Ukrainian dishes in a new interpretation has been and continues to be, but it is much more difficult to get into customer preferences, as everyone knows everything about Ukrainian cuisine, just like football. And an experimental dish in a trend is always an opportunity to tell people that it is actually ours. This is our personal view, and we will surprise with it.
If a new establishment is in a small town, its concept should be based on:
“like at home” – tasty, warm, familiar;
“a breath of air from the metropolis” – tasty, unusual, non-standard.
If, for example, we are talking about a new restaurant in a small town, its concept should be based on a breath of air from the metropolis. It should be something that locals cannot cook at home, something they will come for, something that will surprise them.
If there are collaborations between restaurant brands, they should be based on:
contrasts (and why);
similarities (and why).
If it’s a collaboration between restaurants or brands, it should be based on contrasts, of course. Affinity, in fact, is very close to direct competition, and no one needs it.
And finally, some honest advice from you. Is it worth starting or developing a restaurant business in Ukraine today? Why?
I believe that it is worth it in any case, because this business is eternal. The only thing is that you need to choose the format you want to develop very carefully, and perhaps it is better not to take any risks today.
If you cannot invest in the competent development of a brand and concept, then you should take a franchise that has already proven its economic, financial and brand capacity.
If you just can’t live without it, then go ahead and open one. If you just want to invest money and make money, it is better not to do it with the restaurant business, because there are too many risks. Today, only those people who have been investing in the restaurant business for the past 15 years, i.e. those who cannot imagine their lives without it, should invest in it.
Or adventurers who are willing to risk their last penny – and what if it works!
I must warn you right away that this should not be a gamble with your last penny, because a loss in the restaurant business, if the format is not successful, is very painful.
I sincerely wish everyone to have no losses either in investments, personal life or business. I wish everyone to do well, the business to grow, and we all to be proud of our successes.
By the way, I must finally say that today, even despite the difficult situation in the country, the war, devastation, staff shortages, and so on, we still have an average level of quality in the restaurant business that is much higher than in Europe.
This is confirmed by our colleagues who have opened dozens of successful restaurants in other countries.
Our approach to service, quality, and the business itself is much deeper and more systematic than that of most restaurant operators in the West. We were able to see this through the war.
We said this before the large-scale invasion, and now it has been proven in practice. Therefore, all people who work in the restaurant business are people who deserve the deepest respect.
And everyone who visits restaurants and leaves their money there should know that they are doing a great thing because they are supporting people who invest their lives, emotions, energy and strength in making others feel good.
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