The domestic hotpot chain Haidilao and noodle chain Xibei have apologized for hurting consumers' interests after they were criticized for raising their prices on reopening after the suspension of business.

This will undoubtedly endear the companies to consumers. However, it is wrong to call it a "victory for consumers".

During the novel coronavirus epidemic in China, food businesses suspended their operations and relied on food deliveries for limited income, yet their payments to employees could not be suspended. After reopening the restaurants still face heavy pressure as business has yet to return to normal.

It is unreasonable to expect enterprises to bear the losses alone. It is natural that they should raise their prices to cover some of their losses. Now consumers have shown they will not accept that, restaurants might have to reduce quantity or quality to keep going.

Consumers will either accept this or protest against it. If the former, what is its difference from rising prices? If the latter, quite a number of catering enterprises might go bankrupt, which further shrinks market supply and makes food more scarce. In that case, consumers will have to accept higher prices anyway.

Even if some enterprises do not cut the quantity or quality of the food they provide, they could still cut some dishes that are cheaper. For consumers, fewer choices mean a kind of loss, too.

Therefore, consumers should not blindly protest against any rise in food prices in restaurants. The catering industry faces difficulties and businesses have their costs. Higher prices are almost the only choice for their survival given the losses they suffered in the past more than two months, and if a restaurant goes bankrupt, there might be many people who lose their jobs, which is bad for all.

Of course, catering enterprises should not raise their prices too much.

But consumers should regard a small price increase as fair.

- BEIJING NEWS