QUICK AND TO THE POINT
BYTES
Global Pandemic Impact on Food & Beverage Industry What’s happening to our “bites”? With its rich agricultural history, and as home to some of the most skilled farmers in the country, Maricopa County is one of the nation’s top food producers. While Maricopa’s agriculture industry is valued at $1.95 billion per year according to the City of Phoenix, the coronavirus has caused rapid surges and declines in demand, impacting various sectors of the food and beverage industry. Grocery stores have seen heightened demand, creating pressure to meet the growing needs of consumers confined to their homes. Food and beverage distributors have faced a different reality, with their customers — such as restaurants, hotels and cruise lines
Behind these doors lies the Nemesis Club's immersive experience of technology and animatronics.
— sharply reducing their demands for goods. Each shift
Escape: Immersive Entertainment Heeds COVID-19 Safety
has created its own challenges and opportunities.
Grocery Stores In addition to addressing concerns for the health and safety of employees and customers, grocery stores have adapted to a growing demand for online order fulfillment as more consumers opt to stay home and
Good entertainment can lift us above the struggles of life and transport us to a different place and time, while we laugh and make memories with family and friends. I’m not sure there’s ever been a time during my life when people needed that kind of escape and connectedness more than they do today! We’ve launched with staggered openings. Soda Jerk Co., opened in October, is a retro-inspired soda fountain serving up killer craft milkshakes and floats. It acts as a front to the Nemesis Club (opening this month), a next-level escape game venue into which we’re building animatronics, scoring custom soundtracks and inventing new tech. We searched for a year for the perfect location for this concept, and we are thrilled to be building at High Street. It’s such a beautiful development — simultaneously hip and serene. Now, every startup faces its share of hurdles. Those of us opening businesses in a COVID era may be getting a double or triple dose of challenges — from dealing with labor and material shortages to planning a “grand” opening when customers need to maintain social distancing guidelines. But we believe that entertainment is a resilient industry. Phoenix is a resilient community. We’re also lucky that escape games are a low-risk form of entertainment for people looking to begin venturing out again. At the Nemesis Club, guests will reserve a game for themselves and their close friends only. They won’t need to be in contact with any of our other guests during their visit, and check-in is completely contactless. We’re reserving time between groups so we can disinfect each room thoroughly. You might say entertainment is in my blood. Grandma ran away from home to join the circus, and she danced her way around the globe. Grandpa was a stage performer-turned-talent-agent who represented the likes of Abbott and Costello in New York City. So, it’s no wonder I was drawn to the entertainment industry while at UCLA, where I had the life-changing experience of studying themed entertainment design under legendary Disney Imagineers while obtaining my MBA. For the last 20 years, my wife and I have helped conceptualize and operate incredibly fun experiences all over the country. This new business is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream to bring our flavor of knock-your-socks-off immersive entertainment to Phoenix. We have deep roots here, and we love the people who make this city great. —Dustin Smith, founder and president of The Nemesis Club (thenemesisclub.com)
have food delivered. This has created new challenges, as some grocers have tried partnering with thirdparty delivery services who have been enmeshed in labor disputes and sometimes unable to make timely deliveries. Some grocers have explored hiring their own shoppers and deliverers, but these services add costs to already slim margins and create new business processes to be managed.
Distributors Distributors have had a different experience during the pandemic, undergoing a sharp decline in demand for goods as hotels, restaurants and other large-scale venues closed. Some distributors have evolved their business models to supply retail grocers, but doing so necessitates establishing new processes and changing product packaging to be suitable to individual consumers. Also, like restaurant owners, distributors have had to ride the wave of restaurants closing, then opening partially, then opening fully, then closing partially — a pattern that may continue indefinitely. Perhaps the most essential mindset for food and beverage businesses is to look to the future and aim for flexibility. —Katie Scardello, senior vice president of Global Commercial Banking for Bank of America (bankofamerica.com) [See “Considerations for the Food & Beverage Industry amidst a Global Pandemic” at www.inbusinessphx.com for an expanded discussion.]
Maricopa County is one of the nation’s top food producers; the City of Phoenix places its industry value at $1.95 billion per year.
11
DEC. 2020
INBUSINESSPHX.COM
