The world has been reeling under the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic with economies hitting rock bottom, people losing jobs in hordes, businesses shutting down, and so on. The impact on the F&B and tourism industries has been the maximum with people having completely stopped eating out and travelling. At this point, one does wonder if liquor service at outlets could be the magic that could turn it all around, especially when it is freely available at all the ‘thekas’, and would people really make a dash to their favourite joints because of this?
September 9 has become something like an iconic date in 2020 when the entire (or at least a majority of) F&B industry breathes a sigh of relief in the capital city. Restaurant owners and hoteliers see this as an opportunity to revive their much-stalled businesses, while hospitality professionals are hopeful of getting back their jobs somewhere in the industry. With so many establishments having shut down, what is in store for the ones that have opened/plan to reopen in the near future?
Minakshi Singh, for one, is excited and happy that things are getting back to normal and quite confident that business will be on a high again soon. As the co-owner of Sidecar, Café Lungta and Speakeasy, she says, “People have put their faith in us; our regulars had already started dining here when we opened our kitchen, but with the our very popular cocktails from Yangdup Lama’s bar, we are confident that our customers are as excited as we are and people will be happy to start coming in!”
However, people from different strata of society differ in their opinions on this. Rajiv Aneja, a food influencer and ex- restaurateur, feels that he is not ready to go out yet. “We have waited for so many months, a few more won’t harm, especially with cases on the rise. I wonder how people are going to be suddenly ready to flock at restaurants despite job losses, pay cuts, etc.”
Simi Kohli, one of the co- owners of Shibuya, is one of those who would “not be jumping into the bandwagon of opening the restaurant immediately just because of the alcohol service”. She says, “I will be taking baby steps in terms of opening the restaurant. For me, it is more important to build a model that is sustainable, so we don’t have to take a step back at any time. I would also like to get most of my staff back to keep their home fires burning; we are work- ing with limited people right now.”
Shammi Manik, CEO of a large Indian company, however, feels very strongly about dining out now that the liquor service has begun. He adds, “Establishments should open and people need to start going out at the earliest to revive the economy and the social connect. Jobs will come as soon as people start mingling and with due precautions, and human beings need to have that social connection. Alcohol is not just for consumption; it’s for the experience of meeting people and taking businesses
forward. I already have.”
Not only have the prices of everything gone up, the way of working has evolved in a big way too, especially for the F&B industry. The most important word today is ‘contactless’; ‘safe and hygienic’ have always been there. When it comes to operational costs, things have changed drastically. With only 50% occupancy allowed at an establishment, most restaurant owners feel terrible about not being able to bring their entire staff back and work with a smaller menu.
With costs and stress lev- els for maintaining top class safety and hygiene, Simi adds: “For some of us, F&B is what we have totally invested in. This is all we have, and this is what we do. The stress is
huge; we’ve bled for months, but I want to make sure that people who have loved our food should put their faith in us again. There is no point in rushing it because that may push us back further rather than taking us forward. We will start with deliveries and opening one floor of the restaurant in the evenings for dinner, but the idea is to go slow and get the entire staff back step by step.”
The ball game at hotels is slightly more complicated though because maintenance of a group of hotels and an entire property in a city needs far more SOPs than a restaurant. Says Rohit Arora, general man- ager of The Park, “Having taken all the precautions, we have also started a contactless menu where you come in and scan the QR code for the menu to come alive on your phone. The same thing goes for our in- room dining as well. We have also launched an in-house programme called SHIELD (Sanitisation
Hygiene ISO standards Excellence Luxury re-defined Distancing), which is an SOP document that has to be strictly abided by, not only the staff but all our guests too. Opening will be gradual for our restaurants.”
Even with Unlock 4.0, many companies have declared that they would not be reopening their offices in 2020 at all and their employees will work from home till 2021. There is also a segment of people who are very clear that they will not go out and eat till the Covid vaccine is out. Home deliveries are still acceptable to many, but going to a restaurant is something that is off the menu. However, the other side of the coin is that people have been holed up at their homes for so long that they just need to get out and get that drink out- side! With the boundary lines fading between one’s personal and professional life, working from home is fast becoming no less than a burden! For them, going out is not about the availability of alcohol; it’s the entire experience of mingling, laughing and spending a memorable evening with one’s circle.
Minakshi adds, “These are testing times for us all, especially those who have invested everything — from our money to our life’s skills — in this business. We are F&B people: We are in it for the passion, our love for food and what we believe in. That’s why we are still here even though there’s no certainty about when the government will announce another lockdown. We will need to keep investing at this time and keep afloat, rather than thinking of profitability. Our cost of operations and produce has gone higher, but we cannot increase the cost in our menus for the end customer. People have started coming in for our signature cocktails and our food.”
Sugandha Saxena, a chef entrepreneur, who has recently launched her brand, Okhli, is very clear in say- ing, “People are happy to order the food they want to have from a particular brand or person they know person- ally at the moment. Going out to restaurants is a big no for people for safety reasons like using their cutlery and washrooms. I feel that the comfort of home with the cuisine you like is going to be the way for the next few months.”
Talking about the impact of being able to serve liquor on the business, Rohit Arora adds, “The sentiments of people are not great yet. Most aren’t happy about spending the money to begin with; fear of Covid-19 comes next. The business is likely to pick up but not immediately; the liquor service is an added advantage and we will have to wait for weekends to see how everything goes.”
With India slowly unlock- ing itself, we are gearing up for exciting times ahead. Or, are we?
Anurima Roy is a publishing professional, marketeer and editor who writes on the food and alchobev industries.