Maltese diners are tipping less in the last three years, according to Valletta restaurant boss Oswald Caruana, who runs La Sfoglia in the heart of the city. 

“Tipping has gone down a lot. It was never really in Maltese culture to tip well in my opinion because they aren’t obliged to. However, I have seen a decline in tipping from the Maltese population especially. Prices are high, we understand this. Even foreigners aren’t tipping as well anymore, save for a few Brits, Americans, Saudis and Russians, who do tip generously,” Mr Caruana tells BusinessNow.mt.

According to the a recent survey from the Association of Catering Establishments (ACE), Maltese people tend to tip 5 per cent, if they are satisfied with their meal and service. This is a stark contrast to the 40 per cent of tourists who say they don’t tip at all. On the other hand, only 14 per cent of locals don’t.

A key difference between Maltese and locals is a contrast in spending. Tourists spend more per outing, while locals spend more over time. The average tourist spends around €42 per visit, with most reporting a spend of around €50. Local participants had a monthly average of spending roughly €95. This included 31 per cent spending under €50 and more than a quarter (29 per cent) spending around €100.

ACE revealed that over half of Maltese participants – around 59 per cent – felt that local restaurants were expensive, while only 13.8 per cent believed that restaurants offered good value for money.

Restaurant prices have been climbing year after year. During the launch of the survey on Wednesday, ACE secretary general Matthew Pace noted that besides tackling high expenses, which includes significant fluctuations in raw produce prices, restaurants pay 18 per cent VAT, higher than many Mediterranean countries. 

ACE has spent years lobbying the government to slash VAT for the sector, arguing that local restaurants are hardly making a profit.  

“Prices have sky rocketed. At La Sfoglia, we’re not even charging full markup on certain produce as we should, otherwise it would be too expensive. I’d rather have a client come dine with us three times a month rather than once every six months," Mr Caruana explains.

King prawns, he added, went from €30 a kilo to €60 a kilo. Premium ribeye from €20 to €30 a kilo, in a matter of two years.

Still, Mr Caruana, 13 years running the restaurant in Merchant Street, remains positive. 

“Business is still good, tourism is still booming. We have good weather, we’re a safe country. It’s an uphill battle in catering, but we’re happy to be in it.”

La Sfoglia is one of 4,000 restaurants in Malta and Gozo.