Sandwiches for 8 euros and drinks for 4.50: for those who stop to eat at motorway service stations, the break in the car is one of the worst memories of the holidays. It is a well-known fact and in recent months even more obvious on the days when part of the country gets moving.

In June 2024, Altroconsumo conducted a survey of 22 service areas between Milan, Naples, Rome and Venice after monitoring the prices of motorway tolls (this year they cost 4% and 2.3% more): the survey confirmed the impression of all those who travel on wheels. Some products cost up to 70% more than in city bars. The primacy goes to sandwiches, with a simple salami sandwich that can even reach €8, against a national average of €4.20 (Osservaprezzi data, 2024 sandwich). For coffee, the price is €1.40, for cappuccino €1.84 and for the inevitable brioche €1.57, which are therefore more expensive by 14, 12 and even 26 percent.

The price of bottled water is shocking, reaching €3.35 per litre compared to €0.67 in the supermarket. Not to mention carbonated drinks and energy drinks, with peaks of €10.66 and €14.40 per litre. In cans they become between €3.50 and €4.50. Finally, packaged ice cream and crisps also put off the desire for a snack: for the former €50 per kilo (12 more than the average price); for the latter €55.56. Craving chocolate? A 100 gram bar goes up to €3.70 on average.

You can get nervous, angry, feel like you’re being taken for a ride: it’s all legitimate. Ultimately, however, if you think about the rules of marketing, an explanation can be found. After three years of galloping inflation, we are certainly more sensitive, but the rule of supply/demand remains valid. Once you get on the motorway, the options are in fact extremely limited, unless you want to exit at the first toll booth. Not even the ‘packed lunch’ option is ideal (the free parking spaces are even less frequent), and so you are forced to take a break at the Autogrill or one of the few competitors, among the Sarni group, Chef Express, Finifast, MyChef and Ristop. To complete the picture, it is also necessary to mention the cost of the rental contracts to the property owners, as well as the price of the concessions for motorway catering and the royalties on the use of the brands, which these large companies must support and therefore ‘spread’ onto the travellers’ bill.

Also pay attention to the displays – or rather the baskets – of the so-called ‘offers’, which are often not so convenient. Pay attention to the price per kg or per liter, looking carefully at the label.

Eating well on the street: virtuous examples