> My point is that if you compare like meals with like meals home cooking is going to be far cheaper just about every time. Is that meant to be a tangent to th

> My point is that if you compare like meals with like meals home cooking is going to be far cheaper just about every time. Is that meant to be a tangent to the original discussion? This discussion was about restaurants not seeing the benefits of economies of scale. I'm suggesting that they have, it's just not particularly obvious because people are quick to ignore most of the costs of cooking at home. If all you are saying once you have already invested in the means of production, and don't value your time, that a home cooked meal is cheaper... then sure. I'm sure just about everything you could possibly buy is cheaper than retail if you are only including the raw materials you need to get the job done. If you already have a garden and your time is free you can grow the food for far less than the grocery store charges. Heck, if you already own a silicon fab and don't value your time designing chips, you can likely build a computer for a fraction of the cost of one in the store. But that's a pretty silly way to look at it. There are real costs to having the production capability that should not be ignored.