Coronavirus: Unkind to Food Industry

Coronavirus lockdown has been extremely unkind to the economy of several nations worldwide. It’s a difficult time as at some places, people are still struggling to acquire basic and essential goods. While the country is in its third phase of lockdown, few industries and sectors have opened up, but with extreme caution and measures.

The food industry is one of the most suffering sectors, especially the restaurants and cafés. While few industries have resumed their work, the restaurants and cafés are waiting too, to resume their work.

In Vadodara, in the last couple of years, a lot of cafés and restaurants have mushroomed. People had a lot to choose from and online delivering services became the cherry on the cake. Coronavirus outbreak resulted in the lockdown, which nobody was prepared for. The restaurants, cafés, hotels are affected in this business. The worst affected will be the road-side stall owners, who depend on their everyday income to survive. For some, a restaurant is a side business, but for others, it is a full-time business.

The first problem is paying the rent. If the restaurants are on a rented property, then the landlords can waive off the rent until the end of lockdown, as it happened in the case of Mr. Aftab Chakra. He is the owner of The Millennium restaurant which offers a variety of cuisines under one roof to choose from. Few other restaurant owners are still in talks with their landlords regarding the rent.

The next problem is centered around the staff working in these restaurants. Mr. Aftab has a 50-50 ratio of locals and migrants in his restaurants. Whereas, Mr. Karan Vanjani, who is the owner of Sky Dine, that provides a fine dining experience, has a fully migrant staff. He is paying for their rent so that they don’t suffer during these tough times. “The staff will be sent home for 15 days and then they will re-join again”, said Mr. Vanjani. A manager from a leading hotel in Vadodara said that only a few of his staff workers are currently here and if and when the work resumes, gradually others would be called back too. Mr. Jigar Desai, the owner of Pepperazi says that the Diner has a mix of local and migrant staff in his restaurant. As per their policy, he also provides accommodation and food to his staff. A few of his staff will leave this week to go to their respective homes. “We don’t want to take any chances so we won’t open right after the lockdown is lifted and will wait to ensure all measures are taken by the government, medicines are available, and the virus can be contained, only after that the restaurant will be reopened. We do not want to risk the lives of our employees and the customers”, said Mr. Desai.

Outdoor catering is a service that is provided by many hotels and restaurants. It might be possible that the outdoor catering business will come to a complete halt for quite some time. Although there might still be weddings and celebrations which might not take place on a grand scale, and also, coronavirus will leave everyone cautious now. Mr. Vanjani said that approximately 10% of his income comes from outdoor catering and looking at the current situation, it seems like there might not be a need for outdoor catering for a long duration. 

While Mr. Desai believes that the future is not too dark for him. The business owners are going through a difficult time, financially, but there are a lot of lives at stake. Eventually, they will start making money again, because functions and celebrations won’t stop. It won’t happen immediately, but it will take some time. The hospitality industry is here to serve its customers, and whichever policies are issued post-lockdown will be for the welfare of the customers. According to him, it might take around a year to reach break-even. Even the food deliveries will not help as they have their own commission and handling charges and will not contribute much in recovering the losses.

Mr. Jigar added that more than the business owners, the loss suffered are by the staff members, as they are unable to send money to their families who are far away from them and are suffering. Mr. Aftab said that the priority right now is the safety, health, and hygiene of the people and Mr. Vanjani concluded that the government can gradually let the restaurants open and resume their work, by strictly maintaining the guidelines and taking care of the health and hygiene too.

In the food industry, especially the restaurants and cafes are not considered as essential commodities. It will take time for the people to feel safe in eating outside like they used to before. Hence, this industry will take time to revive and come back to normal.