Post Covid-19 Restaurant Innovative Trends

Post Covid-19 Restaurant Innovative Trends

There’s no denying that the hospitality industry has been one of the worst affected by the global pandemic that has swept the globe. With many restaurants being shut, one of the things that we’ve missed the most during this intense period of lockdown is being able to go out and enjoy food and drinks with family and friends.

The restaurant industry plays a large role in how we entertain ourselves in our free time, and in this sense contributes to our culture quite significantly. It’s no surprise then that fast-casual restaurants were one of the first outlets that we wanted back as quickly as possible.

Although lockdown has been tough on restaurants, many have been able to innovate in order to continue to function in the current climate. Plus, as many reopen, we’re seeing a change in regulations surrounding eating out, which is in turn giving rise to amazing new innovations in the food space. Unfortunately, many of our favorite food institutions like Houston’s and Mercy Wine Bar in Addison, Five Sixty at the Union Tower, Chicken Scratch, Birds Cafe in Fort Worth, Dakota’s Steakhouse have shut down permanently right below us. Some I have frequented weekly or monthly, some I have enjoyed since I moved to Dallas in 1998, while others we have enjoyed as a family hot spot over the weekends with kids.

Here are some of the latest restaurant trends that have evolved since the coronavirus outbreak.

Online ordering Okay, so this isn’t exactly a new thing, but the pandemic has meant that many businesses have had to go online in order to keep selling their food because access to the restaurants was restricted due to COVID. This has caused a rise in restaurants using order by app services where

the customer can order directly through the app. People have been opting to enjoy a night in with a takeaway, and this has enabled businesses to explore their online offerings.

An interesting online ordering trend that we’ve also seen is the rise of smaller online ordering platforms that are city-specific rising to help their city out. Smaller businesses have been given the opportunity to serve their immediate community more effectively and at a cheaper cost to the restaurant than the bigger companies like UberEats, Grubhub, DoorDash, or Deliveroo (who often take about 15–20% of an order value!). This gap has given smaller companies the opportunity to serve their community and get their restaurants back on their feet. A great example of this is Yoello — A Cardiff-based platform that has rivaled the bigger companies and won out.

All restaurants now need a basic website with an ability to order online integrated with their Point-of-Sales (POS) and loyalty systems and in addition to integrating with delivering solutions offered by so many providers.

Curbside Delivery With isolation in full swing, and people unable to touch, we’ve seen curbside delivery pick up as a concept. This service enables people to pick up their food from the curbside, literally right outside their restaurant, their home, or wherever they are traveling.

This innovation has allowed people to get their food without having to come into contact with delivery drivers and vice versa.

Contactless Delivery Within this trend, we’ve also seen changes to the ways that the likes of Grubhub, DoorDash, Zomato, Deliveroo, JustEat and UberEats have been delivering. Contactless delivery has become essential — with drivers leaving the food on doorsteps to avoid having to come into contact with people.

Although location services and in-app communication on these kinds of apps has always been a priority, the coronavirus outbreak has meant that drivers and restaurants have had to be spot on with their delivery location and communication. In the past, delivery agents could ask someone to come down and meet them, however since that’s not been possible, the innovation and investment into the communication side of the platforms have had to step up.

Although this kind of contactless delivery is likely to wind down as the threat of coming into contact with others decreases, it’s likely that the culture of online ordering could be here to stay.

Health and safety has become the main priority As we’ve mentioned with the contactless delivery, health and safety have had to come first.

Some of the innovations in this area have included temperature recording upon entering a venue and keeping a record of each customer as they enter through the door in order to track any kind of outbreak that might break out.

As part of the health and safety step up, restaurants are calling on their customers to take extra precautions and are using tech such as no-touch thermometers to try and keep those who are unwell away from the venue. Social distancing and limited seating within the restaurant has been implemented.

Menus that you touch are a thing of the past One of the more interesting trends is that people are no longer wanting to touch menus for obvious reasons surrounding the passing of germs. As such, online ordering from your own mobile or tablet is coming into play as an innovative tech trend that is dominating the restaurant space.

Customers are being encouraged to order on their own device and get food delivered to their table through an app or web page using a barcode QR as opposed to having to come into contact with the server or waiter unnecessarily.

The high-end restaurants have tossed the old glossy menus and are now printing them on printer paper which they simply recycle.

Limited Menu Options Many restaurants have also had to consider limiting their menu options in order to use ingredients that are more readily available. With food supply issues hitting the country, and the globe, restaurants have had to partner with food distributors to use ingredients that are available. This has enabled them to cut costs whilst still functioning with limited ingredients and keeping their menus fresh.

Queueing is being reduced with tech Tech has also been very helpful when it comes to reducing the queues that build up when people go to pay. By encouraging online ordering on a device, people don’t have to move from their seats, which helps to keep the risk of spreading the virus at bay.

In the future, it’s likely that we may see this trend of online ordering continuing. People seem to be more than happy to order off their phones and keep themselves separate from others, which is great for restaurants as it reduces manual labor. On both sides, this bring your own device (BOYD) arrangement seems to work, and maybe here to stay as a result.

Create meal kits and DIY options With many places having limited space options with table covers being limited or being stopped altogether, restaurants have had to think about how they can serve patrons from the comfort of their homes.

Demand has also meant that people want access to restaurant food, from the comfort of their own homes. To use fresh produce and reduce waste, restaurants have been creating home kits that allow people to cook restaurant standard food from the comfort of their own home. There have also been bars in Texas that have started creating cocktail making kits so that people can have the cocktail experience at home.

Expanding with Pop-ups Set up pop-ups in markets, expanded their reach, and got your packaged and bundled food to other parts of your town where you do not have an establishment. The best example of this is my best friend’s food chain, Fat Straws. Terry Pham and Jennifer Pham pivoted their business and ensured their patrons got their happiness and smiles delivered in the form of their favorite Bubble Tea and chewy puff donuts.

Innovation in packaging It’s not just innovation within restaurants that we’re seeing either — the innovation in packaging that we’re seeing post-coronavirus is likely to stay too.

Packaging has come a long way in terms of how we track, trace and pinpoint where a package has been and who or what it has been in contact with, however coronavirus has accelerated that need. Packaging during this period has had to be seamless due to the increased need for food hygiene coupled with the fact that most food has needed to be delivered.

Everything from soup to hot chocolate has had to be delivered by car or bike during this period, and therefore packaging has had to keep up — this means no spillages, no soggy bottom and ability for all food types to stay put as they travel.

Continue to invest research and development Keeping an eye on the trends and customers’ needs by ensuring we are preparing our business for the new normal and being responsive to the unique needs of your customer base.

Constantly listen to your customers and needs and wants. Fat Straws is an example of a small business that did not stop innovating their menu even during the downturn due to pandemic.

They recaptured their patrons’ attention by introducing trending Dalgona cream and fresh new flavors of their popular Bubble tea and chewy donuts. This helps establishments like theirs to cut out the noise caused by the pandemic and renew smiles on their customer’s faces.

Revisit your restaurant’s digital presence People may not be driving around town or walking by your restaurants like they used to, they may be googling it or finding you through other people’s social media posts and social media groups.

As dining restrictions are lifted and consumers start looking up places to order in, pick up, or are adventurous to dine in, you have to rethink how you would like to capture their attention through all the noise. Take some time to optimize your online presence, update your website and ordering capabilities, and ensure your social media channels are consistent so that when consumers do venture out looking for your restaurant, they can actually find you and feel you have their safety in mind.

We have experienced how creative the restaurant owners have been with their social media posts, creating awareness of their existence and how they are leveraging their patrons to promote their favorite brands.

What next for restaurant innovation?

There have been many changes to how restaurants have been operating during coronavirus, and many of them look to be here to stay. What’s amazing is that most restaurant businesses have had to think on their feet, adapt to constant changes and adopt these new technologies, constantly pivoting, innovating and experimenting, pretty quickly to keep up and stay alive. It is truly amazing what constraints like the pandemic have put on an industry that the innovations that have about could not be dreamt or thought about just a few months ago. People would have laughed at these ideas that have become part of the present life.

What can we learn from the innovations in this one industry?

What food tech innovations have you found most interesting during this period? Having read this article and how restaurants that were forced to pivot and innovate due to the constraints brought in by the circumstances, how are you pivoting and innovating in your industry? (not necessarily a restaurant industry). I would love to read your comments and your unique COVID innovation story.

WRITTEN BY Rishi Khanna Thought-leader, Culture Building and Growth CEO. A leader in the following companies: ENO8, ISHIR, BorderlessMind, Digital Success and AnythingCloud.