A Lot Of Japanese Restaurants Are Owned By Chinese People

October 8, 2016 in Daily Bulletin

Ana Swanson looked into why so many sushi places are owned by Chinese people:

  • The average Chinese restaurant meal costs $33. The average Japanese meal costs almost twice as much: $63.
  • Cooking the two isn’t all that different. It’s a mixture of rice and protein. So aspiring Chinese entrepreneurs have opted for the higher margins on Japanese food.
  • According to one estimate only a tenth of Japanese restaurants in the United States are run by people of Japanese descent.
  • Part of the reason why Japanese food is so much more expensive is because salaries in Japan are higher than those in China. So Japanese chefs cost more, and Japanese patrons can afford to pay more.
  • However as China becomes richer and starts exporting more wealthy, expect the rise of higher class, more expensive Chinese restaurant fare.

Read more at The Washington Post

Via: Marginal Revolution