Júlio Pereira, representing the Funchal Commercial and Industrial Association (ACIF), admitted that Madeira's middle and lower-middle classes can no longer afford to frequent restaurants with the same regularity as in previous years due to price increases.
Pereira linked this situation to the successive rise in raw material costs, such as chicken, meat, and fish, expenses that restaurants struggle to absorb or pass on to customers without alienating them.
The ACIF representative also warned that the island's economic model needs rethinking, given the growing income inequality and the impact of planned salary increases on businesses.
