The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly had a huge impact on the hospitality industry as a whole. Restaurants, bars, and cafes were forced to close for dine-in services on 20th March to prevent the spread of the virus, and were only given the green light to re-open for business over 100 days later in early July.
We wanted to find out how the industry coped with these drastic changes, whether businesses adapted their services, and how they felt about the future. So, between 26th May and 5th June, we surveyed a selection of participants from the food and beverages industry to find out how their business was affected by lockdown and their predictions for the future of the industry.
We have collated all the information from our survey into a report, which you can download below. Here's a sneak peek at what we found:
- The industry has been hit hard by the effects of the pandemic, with almost all restaurants having to furlough staff.
- Many restaurants shut down completely during the lockdown, while just under half remained open for takeaway services.
- A drop in sales, staff absence, and providing PPE were some of the biggest challenges that restaurants and food businesses faced during lockdown.
- Some businesses introduced new products and services such as DIY meal kits and veg boxes to generate income in the face of adversity, and half want to continue providing them indefinitely.
- Almost 60% of the companies we surveyed felt an increased sense of community during lockdown.
- Over half believed that the takeaway industry would grow after lockdown measures are eased.
You can read our full report by clicking the 'Download Report' button below.
