The big restaurant comeback


Restaurants are once again open for business, but the ongoing pandemic has left many diners feeling unsafe. What can restaurant managers do to reduce infection risks while also reassuring customers, asks Essity’s Jeremy Bennett?


The hospitality industry has had a tough pandemic. Besides being forced to close completely during the repeated lockdowns, businesses faced a series of restrictions when they were eventually allowed to reopen.


Research by Square for Restaurants reveals that 98% of eating houses have had to reorganise their business models in order to survive over the past two years. Various edicts have obliged them to implement social distancing, install one-way systems, axe buffets, close their premises by 10PM, and limit diners to using outside areas only.


These and other changes to dining requirements have been the least of the restaurateur’s problems. Staff shortages have become a real issue as many employees switched industries during lockdowns. As a result, nearly 200,000 vacant positions in hospitality were logged in November 2021, with around a quarter of pubs, restaurants and hotels being forced to reduce their opening hours due to limited staff numbers.


While many diners were delighted to be able to eat out again once the restrictions had eased, others remained nervous and were slow to return to their favourite restaurants, with some staying away altogether. In fact, according to Statista, there was a 14% drop in seated diner numbers recorded between February 2020 and November 2021.


The pandemic has revealed just how resourceful restaurants can be, though. Many business owners seamlessly incorporated new practices in order to make their customers feel safe. Wipe-clean menus, Perspex screens around tables, and the creative use of outdoor spaces were just a few of the measures instigated in pubs and eating houses.


Some businesses went further and managed to turn their COVID restrictions into a talking point. For example, when hospitality venues reopened for the first time in summer 2020, a number of restaurants placed mannequins or cardboard cut-outs in the seats of alternate tables to ensure social distancing.


Others upped the fun factor by giving customers ‘socially distancing hats’. Some Burger King outlets in Germany offered sombrero-sized crowns to keep people apart, while a German chain of café bars lent patrons broad hats in the shape of helicopter propellers.


‘Ordering via the app’ became a new practice during the pandemic – one that has very much taken off. After the 2020 reopening, several pub chains were quick to introduce their own apps allowing customers to browse the food and drink options and order via their smartphones, without having to leave their tables.


App ordering offers several advantages. It prevents the need for customers to mill around at the bar where they could potentially pass on COVID-19 to fellow customers and


42 | FOOD SAFETY AND STEAM CLEANING


waiting staff. It also frees up staff members from the task of physically taking orders – a hugely important benefit in light of the current staff shortages.


In fact, remote ordering has become so successful that the Square for Restaurants research reveals that one in four consumers now considers contactless technology to be critical to their dining experience.


However, one hospitality practice that cannot be managed via an app is the customer’s trip to the washroom. A high percentage of customers are likely to visit the loo during their evening out whether to freshen up, wash their hands, take time out with friends or simply to use the facilities.


Unfortunately, washrooms tend to be crowded spaces where entry is unrestricted and where people will be touching multiple surfaces. So, how can hospitality venues keep their washrooms safe?


Good ventilation is instrumental in reducing the infection risks, so all windows and doors should be left open where possible. Washrooms should be easy to access via a partition or a push-to-open door since door handles could quickly become contaminated by ill customers. Automatic taps and flush systems will further help to reduce cross-contamination.


Many restaurants and bars once prided themselves on offering luxurious washrooms where ‘extras’ such as flowers, hand creams, illuminated mirrors and toiletries helped to create a welcoming ambiance, but in today’s socially distanced world, people need to be discouraged from lingering in the toilets any longer than necessary. There’s a strong argument for temporarily turning them into more functional, business-like places.


Customers will spend less time in a washroom that is devoid of mirrors and seating, for example, and there should be a strong focus on the hand hygiene facilities since hand washing is vital in preventing cross-contamination. So, businesses have two goals in the washroom: to speed up customers’ visits, and to encourage good hand hygiene.


Intuitive sensor systems and easy-to-use dispensers will make the hand washing task both quick and seamless. For example, the Tork Skincare Dispenser has been designed to require a particularly low push force to access the soap inside, while the Tork PeakServe Dispenser delivers each towel in just three seconds, reducing the user’s waiting time.


Paper towels in general will speed up hand drying, which can take at least 10 seconds when using an air dryer. Where paper towels are provided, on the other hand, each visitor can take a towel and move on, drying their hands on their way to the bin which should be located near the exit for optimum efficiency.


(https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211028005512/en/Square-Study-Reveals-How-UK-Retailers-and-Restauranteurs-are-Redefining-the-Future-of-Commerce) twitter.com/TomoCleaning


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