Feature

The Resurgence of the Hospitality Sector

As we approach the eleven-month mark since we first closed our doors due to COVID-19, I feel a renewed sense of optimism once again as daily case counts, positivity rates and hospitalizations trend downward. I am hopeful that we are nearing the end of the ‘second wave’.

Like so many small businesses, our teams are currently making plans to re-launch based on a myriad of potential scenarios – will we be allowed to open for outdoor dining only? Will we have any opportunity to serve indoors? If so, will we be capped at ten Guests regardless of the size of our buildings? Will it be fifty Guests? Will we be allowed to maximize our capacity based on spacing criteria? All of this remains up in the air and puts our industry in a position to ‘game out’ each of these paths for readiness.

Each scenario requires different thinking with respect to product ordering, scheduling of staff and how best to deploy our finite capital resources to maximize our opportunity upon re-opening. Should we be investing in more outdoor heaters and furniture for expanded patios or should we be focused on innovations around air filters or plexiglass as dividers?

There has been constant pivoting in our industry over the past year – full-serve restaurants have quickly developed online ordering platforms and curbside pick-up protocols. With changing legislation where liquor service is concerned many licensees became pop-up retail liquor or beer stores. Meal kits, cocktail kits, grocery packs – our industry reacted swiftly and creatively in so many ways. Without being able to serve inside our four walls, we truly had to think ‘outside of the box’. Restaurants have adjusted many internal systems and protocols around COVID as well. More than fifty standards of operation were changed in our company alone. Everything from masks and eye protection to single use menus, table cleaning protocols to contact tracing systems were implemented to ensure the safety and comfort of both our Guests and Team Members.

Entering the next phase of the pandemic, it is imperative that our local, provincial and federal governments are working in concert with urgency and a shared purpose to get our communities safely back to work – one job at a time. While we must all do everything possible to eliminate COVID from our community, we must also be aware of the long-term impact of joblessness and isolation and the secondary and tertiary effects that will follow the pandemic. An important aspect of this for the hospitality industry is facilitating any and all expanded patio opportunities as well as safely and sensibly maximizing internal capacity. Every eight tables we are permitted to seat, translates to seven full-time jobs and seven members of our community getting back to work.

Throughout the first wave, one topic that was discussed often in media and ‘safely distanced’ social circles, was how the pandemic might affect our behaviours and habits long after it is over. Will people dine out again? While I am sure that there have been lasting shifts in how we live our lives and how we spend our time, I believe that we have all grown to value human contact and social experiences to a greater degree than ever before. Upon re-opening last June, it was extremely gratifying to receive the incredible support from our communities when they did indeed join us in great numbers to re-connect with family, friends and our amazing teams.

I am even more optimistic today that the same will be true upon this next re-opening. I firmly believe that just like after the last pandemic we are on the precipice of the ‘Roaring 20’s’.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jody Palubiski

Jody Palubiski is a partner and the CEO of the Charcoal Group of Restaurants

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