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”Take Michelin star chef James Sommerin as a testament to that way of thinking, as he produced thousands of meals a week for NHS staff in lockdown from the confines of his fine-dining Penarth-based kitchen. London and Oxford based Neapolitan pizza dons Pizza Pilgrims creatively came up with ‘Pizza in the Post’ - at home pizza making kits as an innovative delivery option – selling hundreds online in minutes when they were unable to open their doors to the public. While other restaurants were closing for good around them, Seattle-based, fine dining restaurant Canlis created a drive-through burger joint in their car park, a pop-up bagel shop and an at-home dinner delivery service.
In order to compete within the hospitality industry, it’s important to adapt to keep up with emerging consumer trends. Here are a few things to consider for your business.
One of the biggest challenges facing the industry currently (and maybe for some time to come) is that of compensating for reduced cover capacity. But as capacities were cut by one third, walls and other physical boundaries were found not to be quite as rigid as originally thought. Government flexibility on the use of parking areas and terraces has offered the opportunity to get creative with outdoor space. The British climate may not offer the guarantee of double-your-capacity alfresco dining of our southern European neighbours, but it's amazing what some well-thought out gazebos, pergolas, fire pits, glowing BBQ's and cosy portable furnishings can deliver. It’s no surprise then to find that 56% of chefs surveyed in our study “have already considered outdoor dining as a new way forward”.
Covid has put a magnifying glass over society as a whole and offered us the opportunity to embrace ideas and innovation in all walks of life. But as the opening mantra shows - the people and professions who have been the hardest hit respond with the finest performances. To quote Sodexo Culinary Ambassador (Food Development and Innovation) for UK & Ireland, David Mulcahy: “Chefs don’t just love a challenge. We thrive on it. The more difficult the task the more we will overcome and deliver amazing results. We must change our behaviours, habits and core beliefs so that we can be as agile and creative to meet what is without doubt a new and exhilarating future.” Inspiring words indeed.
