The doner, known as Germany’s national dish, is being skewered by the rising prices of ingredients amid cost of living crisis, MPs are told
It has always been a delicious – if slightly greasy – treat for Germans, perhaps even their national dish.
But the mighty döner kebab has now become a symbol of the country’s cost of living crisis, amid warnings from some quarters that the dish will soon cost more than €10 a serving.
Peckish Germans are so concerned about rising prices that the issue was debated this week in the Bundestag, the German parliament.
Hanna Steinmüller, an MP for the Greens, raised the issue after she was approached by anxious members of a frisbee youth club in Gesundbrunnen, part of her Berlin constituency.
Among the frisbee players’ main concerns, she told MPs, was “increased kebab prices” which are estimated to have gone up from around €3.50 (£2.90) in 2022 to at least €6 (£5.10) in recent months.
In November, one major döner producer warned that it was becoming a “luxury” dish that could soon end up costing as much as €10 (£8.50).
I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s already 10 Euros in some places. E.g. my town is notorious for not having cheap options, every single place has good meat, not only are none trying to get away with selling Hackfleischspieß as Döner, none of them use any ground meat at all (by law, a Döner skewer can’t contain stabilisers which severely limits the amount of ground meat you can include before it falls apart).
Eight Euros are pretty much standard here. Just under 10 if you want a Lahmacun Döner, and my town isn’t the poshest, by far – we just have good taste in Döner and one very old shop which always made their own skewers, own spice mix, own everything, which set the standard.
Try to get the same stuff in Westerland and I wouldn’t be surprise if it costs 15 Euros.
Really? Is that normal Kebab size in pita bread, or the bigger variant in rolls? Because that sounds crazy expensive even here, and I’m from Denmark, the 2nd most expensive country in Europe after Norway AFAIK.
Pide and Dürum tend to be equal size and generally also cost the same. Lahmacun tend to be bigger than Dürum in the first place and then you have extra meat on there, no wonder it costs more you’re putting a Döner in something that’s already a proper Pizza.
And, as said: It’s actually good meat. If you want bad meat go to McDonalds.
OK it’s apparently been a while since I last bought Kebab or Shawarma which is more common here in Copenhagen, but AFAIK the same thing. I just checked the prices, and they are already €8-10 here!
20 years ago they were only €2 on Nørrebrogade which had super steep competition, and they were crazy good, I’ve only gotten good quality meat here too. Crazy that it’s so expensive now?!