Kulmbacher Restaurant Konoba concludes: Another victim of the crisis!

Kulmbacher Restaurant Konoba concludes: Another victim of the crisis!

The Croatian Konoba restaurant in Kulmbach has published the sad news that it has to close its doors. The last opening day is scheduled for July 12, 2025. Silvia and Aleksandar Nikolov, who opened the restaurant ten years ago, are faced with a difficult decision. In an open conversation, Silvia Nikolov describes the challenges they have experienced over the years through Corona pandemic. Since then, sales have broken down massively. The financial burdens have meant that the company can now only be maintained with private money and that many guests have to save due to increasing prices.

For Silvia, the closure is an emotional difficult step. "We put our passion into this gastronomy," she explains. The restaurant also hit the problem of personnel lack of personnel. Many employees have taken other professional paths during the pandemic, which forced the Nikolovs to reduce opening hours. This is not an isolated case, because the entire industry is faced with an acute lack of specialists after pandemic. Mario Furlanello, innkeeper in the Bornheim Ratskeller in Frankfurt, also fights this problem. He himself had to go into the service in order to maintain the operation and had to simplify the dishes to cope with the challenges, reports ZDF today .

The gastronomy in change

Corona pandemic has greatly shaken the gastronomy. The Lockdown in spring 2020 forced many companies to close, which resulted in massive drops in sales and a change in the way of working. In this context, we observe that numerous restaurateurs had to implement new hygiene standards and are increasingly digital, for example through online reservations and contactless payment. According to an analysis of G as Gastro have guests after the pandemic. More and more consumers want regional products and sustainable catering offers. Buyers have become more sensitive and pay more attention to pricing, which further restricts the possibility of restaurateurs to pass on increased costs to the guests.

The Nikolovs made the decision to close their restaurant, but would like to continue to run their adjacent pizza delivery service. This shows that even in difficult times they have a good knack for the needs of customers. In the future, they will concentrate exclusively on pizza and pasta. This decision reflects the trends that germinate in the catering trade; Flexibility and adaptability are essential to meet the changing market conditions.

The challenges for the catering trade are enormous, from rising costs to the shortage of skilled workers - the industry is under pressure. It is to be hoped that new specialists will be won on the one hand and, on the other hand, the appreciation for gastronomy is growing among the population. Silvia Nikolov wants more understanding and support for the catering trade, which, despite all the adversities, always does its best.