China Shows How To Rethink Restaurants For Post Pandemic Dining

With small operating margins, sky high rents in urban areas and employees not being able to make ends meet on the wages they make, Bloomberg argues that the whole restaurant industry needs a rethink.

The food sector in China is starting to respond to issues raised during the pandemic–there’s a move by high-end restaurants to embrace street food, to pare down their offering in terms of complexity and cost, and a rebranding away from wet markets and towards animal welfare. It might show the way forward for other countries too.

The current situation in the U.S. is startling

The U.S. restaurant trade–which employs 15.6 million people and took $863 billion in revenue in 2019–is in a dire situation:

1. As of April 13, U.S. restaurants had laid off 91% of their hourly workforce and nearly 70% of their salaried employees (with paying rents and vendors, the biggest worries to owners).
2. The Independent Restaurant Coalition found that only 1 in 5 restaurant owners felt sure they could survive the pandemic.
3. 56% of restaurant owners have over $50,000 in new debt arising from Covid-19.
4. As reported by Bloomberg, estimates of restaurants who cannot reopen after the pandemic, range from 25% to 80%.

And it isn’t just the direct employees who are affected. As Bloomberg points out, it’s the farmers, butchers, linen companies and wineries that also lose business. Magnify this to every country around the world, with tourists and consumers who no longer relish the idea of eating under the same conditions as before.

China offers an idea of a way forward

The World Economic Forum reported from China that since the lockdown ended, the food industry hasn’t so much reinvented itself as simply galloped towards pre-existing trends.

Economic growth was slowing pre Covid-19 and that was encouraging high-end restaurants to open more affordable options; Shanghai restaurant Yong Fu opened a bistro option, and the country’s only Michelin three-star restaurant dedicated to Chinese cuisine opened a stripped back version of itself and then later still, a simple diner, centred around noodle soup.

People need to be physically distant from one another and in uncertain economic conditions, they are turning to value-for-money eateries–Chinese hot pots places and barbecue grills are full. Operating margins are also not as high.

High-end restaurants are offering good value lunch deals and tailoring their service so that, for the people who have money, the restaurant comes to you, not the other way round. Fu Yisheng, owner of the restaurant group Yanyu, has started deliveries that offer customers the chance to cook quality meals in their own homes.

With the world’s attention turned towards wet markets during the pandemic and with the onus now on safety, many restaurant owners have reassessed their offering. Sixth Tone has reported that in China, far fewer people want to see the trade and consumption of wild animals.

The onus is on “more value, more safety and more variety”.