Juan Garcia

ORGL-3311

11-30-2020

How Covid-19 Affected Restaurants

The covid-19 pandemic has negatively influenced the global and food industry as

government shuts down bars and restaurants to slow the coronavirus's mushrooming. The

restaurant's daily activities have dropped swiftly as compared to last year. The closure of

cafeterias has been initiated amongst interrelated industries, such as beer production, farming,

beverage shipping, fishing, wine, liquor, and food production. When the situation stabilizes, it

could take quite some time for the hotel industry to improve. The covid-19 effect is hazardous

even in the tourism sector; therefore, people should be patient with the virus and admit the
normal.

The food and beverage industry has faced critical conditions as a result of the pandemic.

Normal hotel operations have drastically gone down, and several businesses are obligated to be

focused for them to survive during this pandemic (Gursoy et al., 2020). A lot of time would be

taken for the food industry to reassure their guests and create customer contentment concerning

hygiene and welfare standards. It is significant to prepare the restaurant staff for handling sick

patients, keeping everyday health checklists, maintaining cleanliness at the delivery counter, and

ensuring all-time availability of masks, aprons, gloves, and hairnets. All restaurant staff ought to
be adequately trained, and protocols followed as directed by the local authorities (Kim et al.,

2020). Once the restaurants are allowed to open, they would be required to keep social distance,

accommodating fewer customers in the lawns, banquets, and restaurants. Therefore, revenue will

shrink, and an additional cost of safety and sanitation equipment would be incurred.

Distinctive transformation should be taken into consideration in contemplation of keeping

the sector new and stimulating. Due to the covid-19 pandemic, the customers are further price-

driven compared to before; hence, affordable meals would be in high demand, and this affects

restaurants as most of them prepare quality foods expecting high prices (Gursoy et al., 2020).

Additionally, people will be regarding extra value experiences, which brings about reliability,

and thus, restaurants are bound to abide accordingly. Most of the customers will prefer an

experienced restaurant in food innovation. Hotels are now having a chance of hosting fewer

gatherings, therefore enabling a substantial business opportunity to uplift the restaurants' status.

The Covid-19 cannot be predicted when it will end. Although technology enables everything, it

cannot replace the human authenticity and warmth of resonating with customers. Before the

crisis, the restaurant services were luxurious, and customers were free to consider varied

experiences, which gave them satisfaction. With a structured plan and an affirmative outlook, the

hotel industry must thrive and prosper soon.

Many of the restaurant's employees were given a mandatory layoff. The laid-off

employees could not afford to pay their rent. Life was difficult for them, and also, they were not
permitted to sick leave. Covid-19 affected all industries, starting with the restaurant owners,

chefs, waiters, waitresses, barbacks, and busboys. Their lifestyle changed as they could not

afford house rent, and many suffered physical and psychological torture. The covid-19 virus has

affected US meat processing plants, causing the closure of some facilities, infections, and lots of

deaths amongst the meat processing personnel (Song et al., 2020). Restaurants have lacked

sufficient revenue to pay their bills. Debts have accumulated, including their rental premises,

paying their staff, and buying safety equipment all through. The majority of those restaurants

have not yet revived from such problems.

Consequently, restaurants are having a challenge transitioning and adjusting to the current

business ideal of online ordering. The restaurants that were not doing online ordering before the

pandemic struggled to adjust to this business trend. Many of the customers travel short distances

to pick their orders. Restaurants set up an online menu to ensure labor costs are low and sell their

orders to ensure high revenue and low costs. Again, customers have changed their ordering time,

with the majority ordering more during lunch orders than dinner. New customers have been

identified to be ordering more, which improves the hotel revenues for its continued sustenance.

The pandemic has led to seating reorganization as people do not want to feel safe and

comfortable sitting near others. Social distancing is the norm; therefore, every restaurant should

adhere to the health safety guidelines (Tucker et al., 2020). Reorganizing seats would mean that

few customers would be accommodated simultaneously, leading to hotel losses as they relied on

maximizing space and seating to enhance profits.

The coronavirus crisis is a global pandemic, and neither experts nor the government

knows when it will come to an end. The economic damage it might bring forth is unpredictable.

People should focus on ways of reviving the economy, which is the backbone of every country. If

individuals are nervous about gathering in groups, then society and the economy will continue

sinking with its scars. Safety measures such as keeping social distance, sanitizing, reorganizing

seats, and transforming online ordering of food would help lower the pandemic cases.

Restaurants should ensure their staff's safety and their customers to ensure the virus does not
spread.

References
Gursoy, D., & Chi, C. G. (2020). Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on hospitality industry: review

of the current situations and a research agenda.

Kim, J., & Lee, J. C. (2020). Effects of COVID-19 on preferences for private dining facilities in

restaurants. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 45, 67-70.

Song, H. J., Yeon, J., & Lee, S. (2020). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from the

US restaurant industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 92, 102702.

Tucker, C. E., & Yu, S. (2020). The early effects of coronavirus-related social distancing

restrictions on brands. Available at SSRN 3566612.