Some restaurant owners in the Ashanti Region are entreating customers to make provision to buy soup and stew for their fufu and rice due to the rising cost of foodstuff.
The business owners say ingredients such as oil, meat and vegetables are taking a toll on their operations.
They want the government to intervene before the end of November to avert the unpleasant experience for customers.
Sam Charles, who speaks for the group, told Nhyira FM’s Obidehyie Ofori Amanfo that dishing out soup and stew for free at restaurants is killing their businesses.
“We are giving the government up to the end of this month, if things continue like this, then be ready to put money aside to buy soup and stew. We can’t give these for free and run at a loss. It is not easy. What wrong have we done for giving our power to one person to lead us?” he questioned.
“When someone talks about it, they say the person has been bribed, you will come and buy soup to taste the reality too,” he added.
Sam Charles said some staff of restaurants are losing their jobs as businesses struggle to sustain operations.
“We have now started laying off our workers, because we can’t pay them. We are running at a loss. Now when you come to the restaurant, you pick your bowl and wash, so you buy your food with it.”
The food industry falls under the Tourism Ministry, but the entrepreneurs said there has been no support system.
He expressed worry about the future of the food industry.
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“The food industry falls under the tourism industry, but they have neglected us and are concentrating only on creative art.
“When the government initiated the year of return, most of the visitors were mostly talking about our local foods. But the tourism industry doesn’t care about us, even for training they don’t give to us often. We have been struggling on our own,” he lamented.