Morocco’s Restaurant Industry Battles Surge in Unregulated Street Food Vendors

Café and restaurant owners in Morocco are suffering from the unfair competition of "informal restaurateurs" who have taken over the market. The latter operate in the restaurant sector without any authorization and in violation of the regulations and standards in force in terms of hygiene and food safety. To put an end to this unfair competition from street food vendors, the National Federation of Owners is calling on the Ministry of the Interior for help, relays Challenge.

These street food vendors are negatively impacting the restaurant sector, denounces the Federation, explaining that café and restaurant owners are required to pay their tax obligations and social security contributions and to comply with hygiene and food safety standards, which is not the case for informal restaurateurs. Concretely, the Federation calls for strengthening the fight against this illegal trade as well as the adoption of a framework law to regulate the rates for the use of public space.