23/08/2025

LYFE SATURDAY | AUG 23, 2025

/thesuntelegram FOLLOW / Malaysian Paper

ON TELEGRAM m RAM

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Cash-conscious consumers cut back on eating out

C ASH-CONSCIOUS consumers choosing to eat in rather than dine out have raised the prospect of an upturn in earnings for supermarkets and food delivery firms, according to data, analysts and company executives. US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies have added to economic uncertainty, increased the likelihood of stubborn inflation and made consumers question whether restaurants are worth the expense. “I eat much more at home because first of all, eating out is way more expensive lately, and quality is not always guaranteed,” Marilena Graziano, a Florence-based teacher, said. Dutch retailer Ahold Delhaize, owner of the Food Lion and Giant stores in the US, said earlier this month that it was increasing its offers tailored to low-cost eating in. “We have solutions for customers to have a very affordable meal of US$2.50 (RM10.60) per person at home with the family. We have increased a lot of that proposition in our stores,” Ahold’s CEO Frans Muller said in an interview this month. The shift hints at a revival of the boom in eating at home during the Covid-19 pandemic when people could not go out. Home delivery companies such as Just Eat.com made record sales, although they struggled once lockdown restrictions were lifted. Figures from Rabobank and Eurostat show food retail sales volumes adjusted for inflation in supermarkets, hypermarkets and similar stores grew by 1.5% in the Eurozone between January and May this year. That compares with 0.1% growth over the same period last year. For food and beverage services, such as restaurants and bars, the metric fell by 0.3%. Last year’s growth was flat at 0%. figures suggest sales at supermarkets are recovering faster than at restaurants, especially for routine weekday meals, Restaurants lag The inflation-adjusted downtown Kinshasa to enjoy liboke , blissfully unaware of the linguistic brouhaha surrounding the Democratic Republic of Congo’s national dish. Made by grilling fish from the “mighty” River Congo wrapped in a banana-leaf parcel with spices, tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic and chillies, liboke enjoys cult status across the central African country. But liboke ’s inclusion in one of France’s top dictionaries has upset Congolese intellectuals, who say its compilers have failed to capture the full meaning of a word derived from the local Lingala language and closely associated with national identity. The Petit Larousse dictionary – an encyclopaedic tome considered a foremost reference on the French language – announced in May it was including liboke in its 2026 edition. Its definition:“A dish made from fish or meat, wrapped in banana leaves and cooked over charcoal.” Tucking into a plate on the terrace in the city centre, civil servant Patrick Bewa said it was a“source of pride”that

o Food retail growth outpaces restaurants as Trump’s tariffs raise concerns of persistent inflation

A customer walking past a supermarket in Eindhoven, Netherlands.

Food is put into a plastic container at a restaurant in Vienna, Austria.

The stocked aisles of a supermarket in Madrid, Spain. – PICS FROM REUTERS

the national slogan. “Tolingi Zaire liboke moko, lisanga moko,”was a rallying cry, meaning:“We want a united and undivided Zaire”, the former name for the DRC during Mobutu’s 32 years in power. “I am not happy about restricting this precious word, so essential to our culture... liboke moko , it is above all that communion, that national unity,” writer and former international cooperation minister Pepin Guillaume Manjolo said. “Limiting it to its culinary aspects may be all very well for the French, but for us, it will not do.” The Petit Larousse should have drawn up the definition by consulting the literary academies of the DRC and its neighbour the Republic of Congo, as the region where the word originated, he said. The publishers of the Petit Larousse dictionary was contacted for comment but there was no response. Edimo, the language teacher, explained in Lingala, liboke means “a little group”. While liboke ’s inclusion in the dictionary is a good thing, Edimo said, a German meal-kit maker that makes most of its revenue in North America, showed 93% of them expect to cook as much as last year or more in the next year. Among those who plan to cook more at home in the next year, more than three-quarters say the economy is a factor. Visits to grocery stores have steadily outpaced those to restaurants and bars in the US, data from foot traffic tracking firm Placer.ai showed. The data showed visits to grocery stores grew by 1.3% year-on-year in

“We love it, it is really a typically African and Congolese meal. With the smoky flavour which takes on the aroma of the leaf, it is an inimitable taste. “You have to taste it to believe it,” he said. But some scholars argue the definition was compiled in Paris by the Academie Francaise (French Academy), the chief arbiter on matters pertaining to the French language, without doing justice to liboke ’s original meanings. ‘United, undivided’ Referring only to liboke as food is “very reductive”, argued Moise Edimo Lumbidi, a cultural promoter and teacher of Lingala, one of scores of languages spoken in the DRC where French remains the official language. Under dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, whose rise to power was helped by former colonial master Belgium and whose kleptocratic rule was backed by the US as a bulwark against Cold War communism, liboke was even part of Rabobank’s consumer foods sector analyst Maria Castroviejo said. Castroviejo cited the rising popularity of grab-and-go meals, salads, wraps and sandwiches. “This offer has increased and improved a lot and we know that this is taking away some demands from certain foodservice players,” she said. Delivery Hero, which owns Glovo and Foodpanda, said consumers go out less during times of economic hardship, but will order in as a cheaper alternative. A survey of more than 5,000 US adults commissioned by Hellofresh,

administration, said she prefers to eat at home as prices rise and restaurants’ portions shrink in Italy’s financial capital. “I get €7 (RM34.31) food vouchers at work and I cannot even buy a sandwich, which costs around €9 in restaurants around my office. “On the other hand, I can use them in supermarkets where all in all it is more convenient,” she said. – Reuters

June, while they fell 0.4% in the same months for restaurants. Jenny Russmann, who works for an international organisation in Vienna, is among those using supermarkets more. “I switched to eating at home a bit over a month ago due to wanting to just be healthier and especially also costs.” In Milan, Chiara Schiavoni, employed at the regional

French dictionary rapped over Congolese liboke banana leaf dish liboke had made it into the leading French dictionary. DINERS flock to the terrace of Mother Antho Aembe’s restaurant in

Pieces of fish being prepared before they are wrapped in leaves to be grilled.– PICS FROM AFP

In Kinshasa, a vendor grills liboke , which is made by grilling fish from the River Congo and wrapped in a banana-leaf parcel with spices, tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic and chillies.

Larousse’s compilers should “deepen their research so as to give us the true etymology of the word”. That would be “a way for them to express their respect for our culture,” he added.

At her restaurant in Kinshasa’s upscale Gombe district, 41-year-old Mother Aembe was unaware of liboke ’s newfound literary status, but said she just hoped it would bring in more customers. – AFP