Out-of-the-Box Thinking
How Restaurants & Food Services Will Persevere
The food services industry has been upended with so many small cafes, eateries, and restaurants struggling to keep their establishments afloat. According to Yelp1, more than 32,000 food-based businesses have suspended operations since March with 61 percent of them shuttering permanently. In the first 3 months of the pandemic, the National Restaurant Association reported the industry lost $120B in sales2 with estimates as high as $240B by year end3. The loss of food-based businesses, so integral to the culture and character of neighborhoods and communities, is being felt across the country.
Faced with total shutdowns, partial re-openings, changing capacity mandates, and challenges retaining their workforce, the industry has shown true grit to adapt. Curbside pick-up, outdoor dining, mobile food trucks, and meal kits have served as a lifeline to stay open. To minimize gathering in waiting areas, many have deployed reservation apps and text alerts when a table is available. These alternative solutions are being met favorably by diners. Some eateries are minimizing human contact with QR code menus and credit card-only transactions. These seemingly simple actions are not always as easy to execute but have been necessary to keep restaurants open.
As we round the corner of coronavirus, dine-in restaurants will contemplate the value of brick-and-mortar against a newly developed online ordering model that can now include pantry items and meal kits to expand product offerings. Ghost kitchens and the renting of dine-in restaurant kitchen space helps offset fixed operating costs and opens commercial prep and cooking areas to foodie entrepreneurs with the courage to dive in.
Restauranteurs will continue to perfect these new offerings and models as we navigate the pandemic. Outdoor seating like these greenhouse-style areas and “pandemic patios” are becoming more common, offering social distancing and virus mitigation protocols to alleviate uncertainties of dining out.
New applications of technology are being tested for efficiency and food quality and consistency. White Castle is piloting Miso Robotic’s Flippy4, a burger flipping robot equipped with AI, to help reduce food waste and the resulting cost, improving quality, and minimizing human-food contact. With Flippy working kitchen tasks, the company can redeploy staff to focus on front-of-house roles serving guests and better handle surges in to-go and delivery orders.
Another example of creativity and innovation is food truck business, &pizza’s, integrated off-premise strategy. Using heat map technology and data as a guide, the company is testing the appeal of menu items and using traffic patterns to identify the most profitable locations for their food trucks. Leveraging technology and data, they can develop precise expansion plans. Being location agnostic builds resilience and flexibility into a more sustainable model for their business.
Perseverance
The food services industry is showing perseverance in the face of uncertain times. Its reinvention is combining out-of-the box thinking, technology, new business models, innovative offer expansions, and unique dining experiences. Measures taken today are shaping the customer dining experience, and some will evolve from novel to normal post pandemic.
Food brings people together and is vital to our culture and the stability of our communities. Continuing to frequent and support cafes, restaurants, and food-service businesses, will help set the table for a bright future for us all. Tip big!