05/11/2021
We think it’s about time for us to speak up in regards to some rants we have seen and heard about the price of our Banh Mi.
Firstly, we would kindly suggest everyone to take a look at this article
https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/2021/08/17/whats-real-cost-banh-mi
Us speaking from experiences of being in the hospitality/ food industry for a year now and also by gathering advices from families and friends that have been in the hospitality/food industry for many years; what some of you don’t often see are the hidden costs and overheads costs that we are wearing everyday in our operation - business owners like us need to take into the account of these costs when we place a price on any items that we sell (which includes direct materials, direct labours and overheads costs).
If anyone has a chance to sit down and works out all the costs, you will see that the reality is, you actually make NOTHING selling banh mi below $10 using HIGH QUALITY ingredients, FRESH breads and herbs everyday, maintaining a HIGH STANDARD FOOD HYGIENE and not cutting corners! You guys really need to understand the extensive amount of work going behind of making everything from scratch, it is ridiculously time consuming! Only when you do then you would understand the true value of a Banh Mi! Business owners like us also need to make money to survive too otherwise what’s the point of opening? Please put yourself in our shoes if you ever own a Business.
When you go and pay for a product or meal at any restaurants, you don’t just pay for the product or a meal for itself , you pay for the service and the experience that come along with it too. Our price is reflected on the quality of ingredients we use and also the service & experience we provide to everyone that comes into our joint.
Do you guys realise that we don’t take surcharge on credit card transactions every time you tap on our machine? Unlike every other joints where a surcharge would be required every time you choose to pay with a credit card, or those joints with “Cash Only” means only one thing- tax evasion ; this allows those owners to keep their price down which causes a ripple effect and we ARE NOT like that here at MIS!
We believe, most of our competitors are too afraid to put a right price on their Banh Mi just because they are too afraid of losing those customers with expectation thinking that Vietnamese food should be cheap ; when it is absolutely NOT and it shouldn’t be! With this attitude and expectation you are devaluing Vietnamese food. Our belief is that when we create great quality food, we shouldn’t be fear of placing a fair price on it.
The Banh Mi market in Perth is badly saturated just like how all the nail salons trying to bring their prices so low to compete with each others. They avoid tax, they pay their staffs minimum and they don’t last! They don’t look at long term plan and a bigger picture of being survival in the long run.
Banh mi is so undervalued compared to similiar dishes from other cuisines, especially it's European counterpart. A similiar sandwich would cost at least $15 and upwards of $25 with much less ingredients and work put in to make it.
Funny how people are fine with paying $22 for a bowl of Laksa in Karrinyup, $15 for a simple continental, more than $18 for a burger or over $25-$30 for a Pasta dish at Italian restaurants but when it comes to $14 for a Banh mi (or any Vietnamese food) which has so much elements and work into making it you guys complaining that it’s over priced? 🤯😕
You may ask yourself how much would petrol costs per litre or how much everything has gone up in price since Covid19 has happened; every industry has been impacted badly, shipping a sea container used to be $1000-$1500 and now it’s gone up to $5000!
It’s not fair to criticise a small business like us for placing a fair and right price on our work. We take pride on what we do and we are proud to see the true value of our hard work to bring out the best Banh Mi to our customers. We hope every other businesses who are in the Banh Mi Market should also be the same otherwise they will be driven to the ground for trying to keep the prices so low and undervalued themselves.
We appreciate everyone that comes to support us and been loyal with us all these times! We promise to be continuously doing our best to serve the best quality food and drinks, also providing outstanding service to everyone that comes into our cafe 🤗🤗❤️❤️
Thank you,
MIS Team ✨❤️✨
