In the restaurant business, not all business models are the same. Some have reacted better than others to the pandemic and the forced break in April and May. Still others have been forced to change their way of doing things or to search by all means to earn more income. Otherwise, it is bankruptcy!
Initially, have you returned to eat at the food fairs in shopping centers since they reopened?
Remember that at the end of 2019, we talked about a few openings of gourmet halls, which left a trend for the genre in Quebec.
A few months later, however, these food fairs must comply with the new sanitary rules. Since the reopening permitted in June, only a certain percentage of the restaurants present at the fairs have reopened their doors.
In the large dining rooms, tables have been removed, Plexiglas panels have been installed and additional cleaning crews are in action regularly. Some fairs have also developed mobile applications to promote contactless orders.
Second, despite themselves, the restaurateurs sought to increase their incomes, which had drastically disappeared for weeks into the spring. Not to mention that the carrying capacity has decreased significantly with the imposition of physical distancing.
Unfortunately, some of them had no other choice or found no other solution than to increase their menu prices.
It must be said that the new sanitary measures have brought new expenses. To all this must be added the increase in food prices at suppliers, most likely for the same reasons.
Eventually, those who were unable to adjust to these changes, or who did not have strong enough backs, were forced to file for bankruptcy.
So far, we have counted nearly 100 bankruptcies and closures. And according to some experts, the number could multiply by the onset of fall.