“I can still remember when doner kebabs were sold for €3.50,” reminisced one teenager amid calls for a price brake to stop rising kebab costs.
The German capital is the birthplace of that ubiquitous European fast food, the doner kebab, and it shows.
Kebab shops line streets of many German cities, particularly in Berlin, and the scent of roasting, skewered meat is never far off.
Some two-million doner kebabs — meat wrapped in bread, topped with sauces and vegetables — are consumed a day in Germany, according to an industry association, quite a lot for a country of 83 million people. And the doner kebab has even supplanted the old stalwart, the currywurst — fried veal sausage topped with ketchup and curry powder — as the most popular fast-food dish in the country, according to a 2022 survey.
I remember 3,50€ from fucking 2007. They make it seem like the prices have gone up from that within the last two years. Meat is way too cheap anyway.
This is why I hate that they are focussing on Döner and are even asking for a Dönerpreisbremse. For all I care, discuss falafels, french fries, anything that has no meat in it. I’m not a vegan or vegetarian but it is hilarious to complain that a meat based dish should still be the “easily affordable” fast food for everyone. In 2024. Come on.
What do you mean “meat is way too cheap”? Are you a kebab joint owner?
At least in the US there are a number of subsidies that help to keep meat prices low, which isn’t really great because it increases demand for one of the more environmentally damaging foods to produce.
A pack of dried beef is like 4 euros where i live. The vegan alternative is smoked beets, which basically tastes the same but comes in a smaller packet and is like 8.50. So you’re telling me it’s cheaper to raise a cow, feed it, make sure it doesn’t move too much, drive it somewhere to get killed, get it butchered, and smoked and dried than slice beets and smoke it?
Could it be that the beets are too expensive, by which I really mean that the proletariat is exploited and denied the benefits of the surplus gained by their increasing productivity.
I guess the quality of the meat they’re produced en masse.
I paid between 2,50€ and 4€ around 2016-2018 (depending on the city and place). It’s far more recent than 2007.
2007?
I payed 4€ at my local döner shop before the pandemic. Last year it was 6 and last week i payed 8€ for it.
Doubled the price since 2020!!
2007 I paid 2,50€ as a student. Yes meat is way too cheap but today I even pay at least 7€ for a vegetarian one.
I remember 3.50 around 2010 in some parts of Berlin. In Munich it was over 5. Pre pandemic it was around 7 and now it’s 8 or 9 (haven’t bought one in a while).
Prices for Dürüm, BTW, the clearly superior kebab delivery mechanism.
There was one place where i was living where you could get one for 2.90€ as recently as 2018. It wasn’t the best, but it was great value.
I moved around then, so I have no idea what it costs now.
Yeah this has some real “old me yells at cloud” vibes.