What changes will happen to the catering industry during the epidemic? What preparations are needed?

China's catering industry has always been a "popular" industry. The irreplaceable offline scene-based and creative social functions make "food" more pyrotechnic and humane.

However, the COVID-19 epidemic around the Spring Festival of 2020 caused the entire industry to suffer unprecedented heavy losses.

Crisis, danger first, then opportunity. Let me predict the following new trends that may emerge after the epidemic.

① As diners’ personal hygiene habits improve, the hand-washing station may be moved forward to the lobby

For Chinese people who have become accustomed to "washing hands frequently" during this period, when entering the restaurant in the future You can see a beautifully designed sink or area from the location, which is bound to be a much-needed satisfaction. When eating hot pot, especially skewers, it is easy to get oily or come into contact with raw food. Previously, customers could only "walk a long way" to the bathroom to wash their hands, and we admit frankly that the bathroom design of many restaurants in China is not so popular.

Imagine that in the future, one or two beautiful and exquisite wash basins will be installed at the entrance of the restaurant. After entering the restaurant, customers can wash their hands elegantly and conveniently before and after meals. This will also make them feel "more beautiful". Clean and safe”. In fact, Western fast food like McDonald's, KFC or Dicos have been using this for a long time. The improvement of personal hygiene habits is bound to greatly improve the hygiene environment of the entire Chinese restaurant.

②Don’t wait for the cleaners anymore, there are more instant recycling devices for food waste

It is still a matter of improving personal hygiene habits. Everyone will pay more and more attention to restaurant etiquette and good manners dining habits. For example, a situation we often encountered when eating Chongqing hot pot in the past was that there was a huge demand for napkins! It was so spicy that I had a runny nose, tears, and wiped my mouth, and then the napkin was thrown directly to the floor. After each table has settled, the cleaning lady will sweep out a lot of used napkins and other food waste, which may actually contain a lot of germs. Therefore, when we design the restaurant in the future, we must consider setting aside more immediate recycling devices for food waste. At the same time, this will also greatly increase the requirements for waiters to serve food. The waiters should also know how to use the corresponding devices to sort the garbage immediately, instead of collecting the food in a rough manner as before, so that subsequent customers will feel that the orderly hygiene details of the store are "visible and accessible".

③Distance creates a sense of security! There will be more and more semi-partitioned private rooms

Restaurants across the country that are now allowed to resume operations require a certain distance between each table, and even the distance between each diner has strict requirements. A large number of semi-partitioned private rooms will appear, allowing each table to maintain relative comfort while also providing a certain degree of separation from neighboring tables.

④ Kitchen transparency is accelerated! The chef’s personal image pays more attention

What we are currently talking about is “safe visualization” in design. At this stage, when any store talks about takeout, they will take a picture of the chef and waiters wearing protective clothing, gloves, and masks to indicate "no contact." In the next phase, complete transparency in the kitchen will also become a trend. If you dare to display this as a key space, this restaurant will definitely win more consumers.

Nowadays, the kitchens of many hot pot restaurants have been moved forward and the windows are transparent, but this will not be enough in the future. When designing a new store, we will definitely put the dishwasher and disinfection cabinet at the forefront of the kitchen so that guests can see the entire cleaning and disinfection process. After the kitchen becomes transparent, the personal requirements for the chef will also be quite high, because he has to be exposed to all the dishes. Therefore, the chef's personal hygiene image, hygienic clothing, hygiene certificate, etc. must be clearly visible to people, so that people can feel at ease when they see it and eat with peace of mind.

⑤Transparent disclosure of dishes! The food traceability system can be scanned

This epidemic has made most people aware of the dangers of eating wild animals and unsafe food. In the next game, there should be a huge food announcement in the next stage Card. Even every piece of meat on the table should be traceable. If we can ensure that all meat and vegetarian food can be found in its slaughterhouse, the base where it is grown, and its transportation route, and clearly know how it is served on every table, everyone will become better when they consume it. More assured. Such a restaurant will definitely be favored by more consumers.

⑥The asset-light model resists risks! Emphasis on equipment and light decoration is on the horizon

The new coronavirus has caused heavy losses to many catering companies in China, especially those stores that invested a lot of money in luxury decoration in the early stages of the epidemic. The result of "heavy" asset investment is that there is no way to turn around when disaster strikes. Catering decoration design such as hot pot restaurants has embarked on a path of emphasizing installation and neglecting decoration. In the next stage, more installation materials can be used instead of increasing the cost of hard decoration (such as expensive stone). On the one hand, the introduction of the device can speed up the decoration process and save more capital costs and time costs. On the other hand, due to its detachability, when adjustments are needed later, most of them can be moved away to minimize losses. Let investors have stronger adaptability. This is an unstoppable trend in the next stage.

⑦The store has been renovated! Catering operators face "micro plastic surgery"

The catering industry is facing the survival pressure of reshuffle, which will exist in the next few months. Operators who have entered the market before are facing two types of changes: one is the catering owners who do not have strong financial strength and have no choice but to leave because they cannot survive these few months; the second is the big catering brands that have survived this extraordinary period and are responding to the epidemic. Later, in order to cope with changes in consumer psychology, the original store must be partially transformed and upgraded.

So in the second half of the year, a large number of such partial renovation shops will appear. This is also a new challenge, that is, while maintaining the beauty and effect of the original store, making it more innovative and matching the requirements and standards for catering hygiene that have greatly improved after the epidemic. More importantly, we must save money as much as possible. After all, for catering operators who have suffered huge losses at the beginning of the year, every penny spent is even more precious. These will also bring greater challenges to designers.

The epidemic has happened. Instead of complaining... it is better to live in the present again and think about how to proactively adapt to the changes in consumer psychology that may occur after this "war". Food is the most important thing for the people, and they have urgent needs. There is always a market for sexual consumption!