Maka Vashakidze

Restaurant Business and COVID 19: Challenges and Changes Effecting the Industry

1) General challenges in the Restaurant Business before the pandemic

The hospitality and tourism industry is the largest and fastest growing industry in the
world and it includes many different professions.

The most important part of the field of travel and tourism is the restaurant business. While
satisfying the feeling of hunger is one of the most basic and primary biological needs of a
human being, the restaurant staff also has to satisfy other desires and needs of the customers:
starting from socialization and ending with fun. Which in turn requires a variety of jobs and
staff: caterers, bartenders, subways, waiters, managers, chefs, etc.

Food service in the tourism industry faces double challenge: both the customer and the guest
must be satisfied. This places a special responsibility on the employees of this field. The
quality of the food served to the customer depends significantly on whether he/she will
recommend the restaurant to others and whether the customer will benefit from the same
kind of service a second time.
The hospitality business operates 365 days a year and 24 hours a day. It is true that no one
works non-stop, but the tourism and hospitality industry has a longer working day compared
to other industries.

Other challenges:
 Keeping up with market trends
 Having enough capital
 Providing health care coverage
 Effective inventory management and menu pricing
 Hiring permanent and seasonal staff
 Economic Factors

In the restaurant industry, as well as in other areas, new technologies, new products appear
every year, old and interesting returns, and something is completely lost. It is very important
for success to understand where the general trends are going.

2) Restaurants before and after COVID 19: New challenges in the industry

The restaurant industry has seen some of the most notable changes caused by the COVID-
19 pandemic. Dining rooms are closed to customers. Carryout and delivery are the new
normal. Some businesses have been forced to close their doors. Too many people have lost
their jobs.

We should not have high hopes that in the near future tourism will contribute to the
rapid growth of the restaurant business, at the same time it will soon be known that the
struggle for survival continues. Moreover, long-term statistics show that 70 to 90% of newly
opened restaurants close in one year. And the reason for this is that the owners could not
calculate their own capabilities, re-borrowed, chose an unsuccessful location, made a faulty
excess investment, or rented storerooms too expensive, and so on. And in force majeure
situations like the present, objects often close faster than usual.

restaurant industry faces lot of problems, that consist of 5 main components:

1. Rental tax

2. Bank liabilities

3. State taxes

4. Utility bills

5. Increase in the cost of production (The menu will increase in price by about 30%. This
is due to the inflation rate.)

Reducing the number of foreign tourists will create a significant problem. With domestic
tourism alone, food outlets cannot go unnoticed because their revenues are largely
determined by international tourists.

It is also important to observe the norms of hygiene and safety, which is crucial for all
businesses, as well as for the restaurant business. Naturally, full compliance with the newly
developed regulations increases costs and imposes even more obligations on businesses.
 3) Restaurant future – What needs to be done to adapt to the new normal?

Now, with social distancing and a general fear of infection, we will see significant
behavioral changes from consumers. And operators will be adapting to a safety-first mantra.
We can expect to see significant adjustments to dine-in floor plans, the addition of no-touch
ordering and payment systems, queuing, new takeout options, menu simplification, labor
productivity, and so much more.

Thanks to online sales technology, the restaurant will be transformed from a "potentially
dangerous public zone" into an "individual service" and remote guests will be able to enjoy
ordered and personalized dishes without leaving home. Indeed, with the help of a website or
mobile app, the client can study the menu in detail, select dishes, order them in a few clicks,
pay in a personally selected way, track his order online and take it home safely.

Flexible Seating and Portable Barriers to Accommodate Social Distancing. Using space
creatively to maintain distance and maximize seating will be top of mind going forward.

Handwashing Stations. Hands-free handwashing stations for customers will become part of
the norm of any restaurant.

Cross Functional Staff. Segmentation of staff throughout the restaurant will be changing.
Some positions will remain specialized, but most will require the need for multiple
competencies.

Voice Activated. Customers will begin to see more voice activated everything as restaurants
continue to eliminate no-touch. In the kitchen, equipment such as microwaves will be using
voice commands. For consumers, ordering, payment, communication with servers, fountain
beverages and condiments may convert to voice activated. In the restaurant of the future,
touch screens will become “no-touch-screens”.

References:
https://previsorinsurance.com/blog/restaurants-and-covid-19-challenges-and-changes-
affecting-the-industry/

https://commersant.ge/ge/post/stumar-maspindzloba-tradicia-romelic-gamowvevad-iqca