Every professional has their own tricks, and in supermarkets or department stores, there are many strategies to attract customers and make them spend more money. What you may not know is that cafes and restaurants also have their own methods.
You've probably been to a cafe to order those croquettes, dumplings, or sausages you like so much, only to find that the number of units was either too few or too many, making it impossible to share equally.
This is a common practice in food service establishments, and while it is annoying to customers, it has a purpose. It is a strategy to increase portion sales. This translates into a mathematical rule, based on the use of prime numbers for portion distribution. Remember that prime numbers are those that are greater than one and can only be divided by one and by themselves: 2, 3, 5…
To illustrate this “tactic”, the next time you go to a restaurant and order a portion to share with your friends or family, the number of units will probably be odd. Of course, depending on the number of people present, the restaurant may also serve you an even number of units. The goal is to create a “fight” because the amount served is never equal.
Free appetizers To balance this number, customers tend to order another portion. Of course, it is always possible to share the last unit. Another common practice in many cafés is to offer free appetizers to customers. However, these are almost always salty snacks, such as chips, peanuts or almonds. Not only are they very tempting when we start to feel hungry, but they also make us thirsty, which encourages us to order more drinks.
Some establishments also charge customers for cutlery. This practice is illegal: “Unless the intent is to charge customers to take the cutlery home, it is just as illegal as charging extra to clear the table or lay the tablecloth. In other words, you cannot charge for what is necessary to provide the service. Therefore, if this happens to you, you can request a claim form and refuse to pay,” they add. As you can see, cafes and restaurants, just like supermarkets, have their own strategies to get you to spend more than you expect.
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