Quarantine painting
17 July 2020 0 comments
Quarantine picture: how restaurants change format due to epidemic
The pandemic caused the restaurant business to change the rules. To survive the consequences of quarantine, catering establishments remove expensive dishes from the menu, simplify the interior, reduce staff, and the remaining employees - salaries
Until March of this year, for many, going to the restaurant was as common as walking in the park. With the beginning of quarantine, everything has changed - some establishments close, others change the format. Not everyone will survive. "About 50% of restaurants in Moscow will somehow suffer from the crisis: some will begin bankruptcy proceedings before the end of the year, others will be sold, third owners are already forced to look for new premises," says Sergei Mironov, Ombudsman for Restaurant Business of Moscow. The number of affected establishments may amount to 40%, or even more, says Igor Bukharov, president of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers of Russia (FRiO). How will the restaurant market change before the end of 2020?
Who will survive
Either premium establishments or democratic ones will remain on the market, that is, those that work on a volume, offering simple hearty food, said Andrei Nesterov, general director of Gallery To Go and Gallery To Fly Internet restaurants. Caucasian restaurants such as Height 5642 and Italian restaurants such as Bron & N will gain momentum, as well as bright author projects: Birch, Bourgeois Bohemians, Duo, CoCoCo, Gorynych, Blush, Selfie, Twins, Bars, which are especially characteristic of the atmosphere of ease, will begin to be even more popular, Nesterov notes: here people will be able to compensate for the lack of communication and impressions experienced in isolation.
"If we talk about restaurants operating in the fine dining segment (high cuisine), then they will also remain on the market, "says Andrei Tyutikov, who worked in leadership positions at Rosinter restaurant holding, Ginza Project, "Chaykhone No. 1 Timur Lansky," and now - co-owner of the digital-cafe Lunch Box, which he is going to open in early July in Moscow City. - Expensive restaurants exist primarily at the expense of wealthy customers and tourists who are interested in getting acquainted with the cuisine of famous chefs. Demand from them will not fall even in a crisis. "
The biggest blow will be on small institutions in the average price segment, Tyutikov believes (here the restaurant market repeats the same trend that was noticed in the retail. Unlike fine dining restaurants, which will always accept wealthy customers on special occasions (birthdays, weddings), small family, as well as monoconceptual establishments in which all the menus are created around one dish or product, will suffer from the fact that the guest flow will decrease and the price of attracting a client will increase. Also, network projects with large coverage will significantly reduce the number of points and leave only profitable ones.
No colors and no personnel
Almost all restaurants adapted to new realities: optimized menus and reduced salaries. "We reduced part of the positions - mainly those that were in the least demand," explained Valery Slivka, head of communications at Chocoladnitsa Group of Companies. And in the restaurants of the London Restaurant Group (Sochi), premium positions were removed for the next six months, leaving dishes in the average price segment, said group leader Georgy Khvistani.
Before the crisis, restaurants usually did not exceed 15-20% of revenue. Now the revenue of many has decreased by 30-45%, and the rent is no more than 30%, Nesterov notes. Such institutions simply cannot survive in the conditions of reducing the number of seats. The rental share should not exceed 20% of revenue, this is a ceiling that does not give tangible profit, but at least allows you to stay afloat, the expert said. "If you have a correct and interesting concept, then with a lease of 3 million rubles. you can survive with a turnover of 15 million rubles. per month," - said Andrei Tyutikov. But restaurateurs faced not only the problem of rental payments. The cost of products among suppliers also increased: in some cases by 5%, and in others - even by 20%. Nevertheless, in Tyutikov's new project, prices will be more than democratic: breakfasts - 180 rubles, lunch - 380 rubles, dinner - 540 rubles. True, at this level they will be able to stay only with a passage of 1000 people per day.
Those who felt an increase in prices have to negotiate with counterparties. "90% of suppliers gave us installments of payment - some even before November 1," shares Alexander Korytnikov, managing partner of the restaurant Modus. He connects the price increase not with quarantine, but with the fall in early March of the ruble against the dollar and the euro. Suppliers raised prices from April 1, Korytnikov notes. It is high time for those restaurants that continue to purchase imported products to reorient to domestic ones, Nesterov said. "When in 2014 they introduced a ban on the import of food from Europe and the United States, restaurateurs were forced to switch to Russian products, which at that time simply did not exist," Nesterov recalls. "Now there are many of them, and this will help to survive another crisis."
Import substitution becomes a way to survive. "We abandoned the positions consisting of imported ingredients and emphasized seasonal vegetables and fruits," said Maria Garbut, director of restaurants Kuznyahouse and Kuznya cafe in St. Petersburg. "Until we bring oysters from New Zealand, the price of Italian summer truffle and fresh artichokes has increased significantly, they are not used now. In the future, we will adjust the menu to what appears on the market and is more accessible for us and for guests. " They plan to make seasonal offers in Chocolate Girl. "We will offer summer dishes, Mediterranean cuisine, spend thematic weeks," - Slivka.
Restaurants optimize other costs. In the near future, guests are unlikely to see new collections of dishes and a buffoon of flowers on the verandahs, Nesterov notes. Such institutions simply cannot survive in the conditions of reducing the number of seats. The rental share should not exceed 20% of revenue, this is a ceiling that does not give tangible profit, but at least allows you to stay afloat, the expert said. "If you have a correct and interesting concept, then with a lease of 3 million rubles. you can survive with a turnover of 15 million rubles. per month," - said Andrei Tyutikov. But restaurateurs faced not only the problem of rental payments. The cost of products among suppliers also increased: in some cases by 5%, and in others - even by 20%. Nevertheless, in Tyutikov's new project, prices will be more than democratic: breakfasts - 180 rubles, lunch - 380 rubles, dinner - 540 rubles. True, at this level they will be able to stay only with a passage of 1000 people per day.
Those who felt an increase in prices have to negotiate with counterparties. "90% of suppliers gave us installments of payment - some even before November 1," shares Alexander Korytnikov, managing partner of the restaurant Modus. He connects the price increase not with quarantine, but with the fall in early March of the ruble against the dollar and the euro. Suppliers raised prices from April 1, Korytnikov notes. It is high time for those restaurants that continue to purchase imported products to reorient to domestic ones, Nesterov said. "When in 2014 they introduced a ban on the import of food from Europe and the United States, restaurateurs were forced to switch to Russian products, which at that time simply did not exist," Nesterov recalls. "Now there are many of them, and this will help to survive another crisis."
Import substitution becomes a way to survive. "We abandoned the positions consisting of imported ingredients and emphasized seasonal vegetables and fruits," said Maria Garbut, director of restaurants Kuznyahouse and Kuznya cafe in St. Petersburg. "Until we bring oysters from New Zealand, the price of Italian summer truffle and fresh artichokes has increased significantly, they are not used now. In the future, we will adjust the menu to what appears on the market and is more accessible for us and for guests. " They plan to make seasonal offers in Chocolate Girl. "We will offer summer dishes, Mediterranean cuisine, spend thematic weeks," - Slivka.
Restaurants optimize other costs. In the near future, guests are unlikely to see new collections of dishes and a buffoon of flowers on the verandahs, Nesterov notes. "In current realities, it is advisable to reduce security costs (the average market salary of a guard in Moscow is 60 thousand rubles per month), as well as cut salaries of other employees: by 30-40% to management and managers and by 10-15% to line personnel," Tyutikov said. According to Korytnikov, the restaurant had to reduce staff rates, as well as reduce advertising and PR departments. At the same time, Modus cut the cost of maintaining ventilation systems: if before they were cleaned once a month, now once every two months. The budgets of the London Restaurant Group also clipped. "But this will not greatly affect the reduction in costs in general since utility bills are constantly growing, "admits Khvistani. According to him, in the restaurants of the group, the average check fell by 20-30%, now it is 500-700 rubles.
But if restaurants want to survive, they will still have to continue to invest in new technologies and equipment. "A second breath will receive, for example, a su-species - a technology in which any raw material of animal or plant origin is placed in a bag of pumped air and prepared at various temperatures," says Nesterov. The use of this culinary method allows not only to maintain the initial humidity of the product, its natural usefulness, but also significantly reduces the cost of the dish, the CEO of Gallery To Go notes. Preparation in a vacuum bag does not require the addition of many related products, for example, oil, it is a simple process that even the beginner can master. The trend will also include low-temperature cooking, "like from a Russian oven," fermentation, dehydration, fudpearing (introduction of non-standard combinations of taste and aroma. - RBC), Nesterov lists. Some technologies do not require additional costs, others require. For example, the cost of introducing professional equipment for su-type, which takes two to three days, can reach €5-7 thousand, but there are also more budgetary options - from 20 to 100 thousand rubles.
Cook
Reviewing the costs that can be cut, restaurants still focus on staff. "Many are forced to reduce up to 90% of employees," says Felix Kugel, managing director of Unity. According to him, the layoffs affected all workers without exception: chefs, su-chefs, confectioners, dishwashers, waiters. Left unemployed in the first months of the pandemic, people were unclaimed in other industries. And even now that restaurants have resumed work, the situation with employment has not improved, Kugel notes. Employers are in no hurry to expand the staff, and those who are out of work go to restaurants at resort chain hotels or change their scope to feed.
Nevertheless, in the future, multi-tasking specialists will be in demand, who will be able to perform several functions at once. "For example, if it is a cook, then he will be able to cook everything: snacks, desserts, and hot dishes, and possibly clean his workplace on his own," Kugel explained.
Late Optimization
Restaurant experts are confident that cutting costs will not help everyone. Those institutions that still occupied strong positions before the crisis have long optimized the main business processes, Mironov notes. "Leading a reasonable economy for many has become relevant for some reason only now. Restaurants, for example, started talking about optimizing the menu, began to think about how to reduce food losses, although any professional catering institution solves these issues every day, "Mironov notes. The same applies to staff: it is necessary to calculate the optimal number of employees in the staff both in crisis and in benefits
The situation is aggravated by the fact that new expenses have appeared, which cannot be abandoned. "This is an individual one-time menu for guests, protective equipment for staff, a large amount of packaging for take away, since establishments cannot always accommodate everyone," Garbut lists. "Only on gloves we spend about 100 thousand rubles. per month."
As for the ways to increase sales, there are still few in the crisis. Now it is most expedient to develop delivery, restaurateurs are convinced. "Since many still work remotely and order food home, sales from delivery in the near future may amount to 25-30% of revenue," Tyutikov predicts.
Looking from the outside
"Restaurants solve small tactical problems"
Galina Shcheblanina, Marketing Director, Viner Group Restaurant Chain
Restaurants solve small tactical tasks - remove expensive dishes from the menu, reduce staff and other costs. Many do this with an eye on competitors, explaining their decisions by the fact that everyone is doing this now, that is, not conducting market research and not trying to find out the mood of consumers. And people at any time, whether it is a crisis or economically prosperous times, visit restaurants for three main reasons. First, they want to have a nice time, communicate and enjoy the atmosphere. Secondly, to relieve stress, work fatigue. Thirdly, restaurants are an ideal place for business meetings. No matter how much the quarantine affects us, we will always strive to communicate outside the office, so the restaurant at least needs to have a good coffee menu and snack menu. In all three cases, the client is ready to pay for an expensive lunch or dinner, and he will cook simple traditional dishes at home himself.
Now restaurateurs should conduct a weekly ABC analysis of sales (a method that allows you to classify the company's resources by the degree of their importance. - RBC) and track the dynamics in order to correctly adjust their economy. Many are focused on pre-quarantine indicators and do not have basic knowledge, for example, how to correctly calculate the number of seats in a particular kitchen. The high rates that restaurateurs agreed to before the pandemic in 90% of cases were the main reason for the failure.
The pandemic caused the restaurant business to change the rules. To survive the consequences of quarantine, catering establishments remove expensive dishes from the menu, simplify the interior, reduce staff, and the remaining employees - salaries
Until March of this year, for many, going to the restaurant was as common as walking in the park. With the beginning of quarantine, everything has changed - some establishments close, others change the format. Not everyone will survive. "About 50% of restaurants in Moscow will somehow suffer from the crisis: some will begin bankruptcy proceedings before the end of the year, others will be sold, third owners are already forced to look for new premises," says Sergei Mironov, Ombudsman for Restaurant Business of Moscow. The number of affected establishments may amount to 40%, or even more, says Igor Bukharov, president of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers of Russia (FRiO). How will the restaurant market change before the end of 2020?
Who will survive
Either premium establishments or democratic ones will remain on the market, that is, those that work on a volume, offering simple hearty food, said Andrei Nesterov, general director of Gallery To Go and Gallery To Fly Internet restaurants. Caucasian restaurants such as Height 5642 and Italian restaurants such as Bron & N will gain momentum, as well as bright author projects: Birch, Bourgeois Bohemians, Duo, CoCoCo, Gorynych, Blush, Selfie, Twins, Bars, which are especially characteristic of the atmosphere of ease, will begin to be even more popular, Nesterov notes: here people will be able to compensate for the lack of communication and impressions experienced in isolation.
"If we talk about restaurants operating in the fine dining segment (high cuisine), then they will also remain on the market, "says Andrei Tyutikov, who worked in leadership positions at Rosinter restaurant holding, Ginza Project, "Chaykhone No. 1 Timur Lansky," and now - co-owner of the digital-cafe Lunch Box, which he is going to open in early July in Moscow City. - Expensive restaurants exist primarily at the expense of wealthy customers and tourists who are interested in getting acquainted with the cuisine of famous chefs. Demand from them will not fall even in a crisis. "
The biggest blow will be on small institutions in the average price segment, Tyutikov believes (here the restaurant market repeats the same trend that was noticed in the retail. Unlike fine dining restaurants, which will always accept wealthy customers on special occasions (birthdays, weddings), small family, as well as monoconceptual establishments in which all the menus are created around one dish or product, will suffer from the fact that the guest flow will decrease and the price of attracting a client will increase. Also, network projects with large coverage will significantly reduce the number of points and leave only profitable ones.
No colors and no personnel
Almost all restaurants adapted to new realities: optimized menus and reduced salaries. "We reduced part of the positions - mainly those that were in the least demand," explained Valery Slivka, head of communications at Chocoladnitsa Group of Companies. And in the restaurants of the London Restaurant Group (Sochi), premium positions were removed for the next six months, leaving dishes in the average price segment, said group leader Georgy Khvistani.
Before the crisis, restaurants usually did not exceed 15-20% of revenue. Now the revenue of many has decreased by 30-45%, and the rent is no more than 30%, Nesterov notes. Such institutions simply cannot survive in the conditions of reducing the number of seats. The rental share should not exceed 20% of revenue, this is a ceiling that does not give tangible profit, but at least allows you to stay afloat, the expert said. "If you have a correct and interesting concept, then with a lease of 3 million rubles. you can survive with a turnover of 15 million rubles. per month," - said Andrei Tyutikov. But restaurateurs faced not only the problem of rental payments. The cost of products among suppliers also increased: in some cases by 5%, and in others - even by 20%. Nevertheless, in Tyutikov's new project, prices will be more than democratic: breakfasts - 180 rubles, lunch - 380 rubles, dinner - 540 rubles. True, at this level they will be able to stay only with a passage of 1000 people per day.
Those who felt an increase in prices have to negotiate with counterparties. "90% of suppliers gave us installments of payment - some even before November 1," shares Alexander Korytnikov, managing partner of the restaurant Modus. He connects the price increase not with quarantine, but with the fall in early March of the ruble against the dollar and the euro. Suppliers raised prices from April 1, Korytnikov notes. It is high time for those restaurants that continue to purchase imported products to reorient to domestic ones, Nesterov said. "When in 2014 they introduced a ban on the import of food from Europe and the United States, restaurateurs were forced to switch to Russian products, which at that time simply did not exist," Nesterov recalls. "Now there are many of them, and this will help to survive another crisis."
Import substitution becomes a way to survive. "We abandoned the positions consisting of imported ingredients and emphasized seasonal vegetables and fruits," said Maria Garbut, director of restaurants Kuznyahouse and Kuznya cafe in St. Petersburg. "Until we bring oysters from New Zealand, the price of Italian summer truffle and fresh artichokes has increased significantly, they are not used now. In the future, we will adjust the menu to what appears on the market and is more accessible for us and for guests. " They plan to make seasonal offers in Chocolate Girl. "We will offer summer dishes, Mediterranean cuisine, spend thematic weeks," - Slivka.
Restaurants optimize other costs. In the near future, guests are unlikely to see new collections of dishes and a buffoon of flowers on the verandahs, Nesterov notes. Such institutions simply cannot survive in the conditions of reducing the number of seats. The rental share should not exceed 20% of revenue, this is a ceiling that does not give tangible profit, but at least allows you to stay afloat, the expert said. "If you have a correct and interesting concept, then with a lease of 3 million rubles. you can survive with a turnover of 15 million rubles. per month," - said Andrei Tyutikov. But restaurateurs faced not only the problem of rental payments. The cost of products among suppliers also increased: in some cases by 5%, and in others - even by 20%. Nevertheless, in Tyutikov's new project, prices will be more than democratic: breakfasts - 180 rubles, lunch - 380 rubles, dinner - 540 rubles. True, at this level they will be able to stay only with a passage of 1000 people per day.
Those who felt an increase in prices have to negotiate with counterparties. "90% of suppliers gave us installments of payment - some even before November 1," shares Alexander Korytnikov, managing partner of the restaurant Modus. He connects the price increase not with quarantine, but with the fall in early March of the ruble against the dollar and the euro. Suppliers raised prices from April 1, Korytnikov notes. It is high time for those restaurants that continue to purchase imported products to reorient to domestic ones, Nesterov said. "When in 2014 they introduced a ban on the import of food from Europe and the United States, restaurateurs were forced to switch to Russian products, which at that time simply did not exist," Nesterov recalls. "Now there are many of them, and this will help to survive another crisis."
Import substitution becomes a way to survive. "We abandoned the positions consisting of imported ingredients and emphasized seasonal vegetables and fruits," said Maria Garbut, director of restaurants Kuznyahouse and Kuznya cafe in St. Petersburg. "Until we bring oysters from New Zealand, the price of Italian summer truffle and fresh artichokes has increased significantly, they are not used now. In the future, we will adjust the menu to what appears on the market and is more accessible for us and for guests. " They plan to make seasonal offers in Chocolate Girl. "We will offer summer dishes, Mediterranean cuisine, spend thematic weeks," - Slivka.
Restaurants optimize other costs. In the near future, guests are unlikely to see new collections of dishes and a buffoon of flowers on the verandahs, Nesterov notes. "In current realities, it is advisable to reduce security costs (the average market salary of a guard in Moscow is 60 thousand rubles per month), as well as cut salaries of other employees: by 30-40% to management and managers and by 10-15% to line personnel," Tyutikov said. According to Korytnikov, the restaurant had to reduce staff rates, as well as reduce advertising and PR departments. At the same time, Modus cut the cost of maintaining ventilation systems: if before they were cleaned once a month, now once every two months. The budgets of the London Restaurant Group also clipped. "But this will not greatly affect the reduction in costs in general since utility bills are constantly growing, "admits Khvistani. According to him, in the restaurants of the group, the average check fell by 20-30%, now it is 500-700 rubles.
But if restaurants want to survive, they will still have to continue to invest in new technologies and equipment. "A second breath will receive, for example, a su-species - a technology in which any raw material of animal or plant origin is placed in a bag of pumped air and prepared at various temperatures," says Nesterov. The use of this culinary method allows not only to maintain the initial humidity of the product, its natural usefulness, but also significantly reduces the cost of the dish, the CEO of Gallery To Go notes. Preparation in a vacuum bag does not require the addition of many related products, for example, oil, it is a simple process that even the beginner can master. The trend will also include low-temperature cooking, "like from a Russian oven," fermentation, dehydration, fudpearing (introduction of non-standard combinations of taste and aroma. - RBC), Nesterov lists. Some technologies do not require additional costs, others require. For example, the cost of introducing professional equipment for su-type, which takes two to three days, can reach €5-7 thousand, but there are also more budgetary options - from 20 to 100 thousand rubles.
Cook
Reviewing the costs that can be cut, restaurants still focus on staff. "Many are forced to reduce up to 90% of employees," says Felix Kugel, managing director of Unity. According to him, the layoffs affected all workers without exception: chefs, su-chefs, confectioners, dishwashers, waiters. Left unemployed in the first months of the pandemic, people were unclaimed in other industries. And even now that restaurants have resumed work, the situation with employment has not improved, Kugel notes. Employers are in no hurry to expand the staff, and those who are out of work go to restaurants at resort chain hotels or change their scope to feed.
Nevertheless, in the future, multi-tasking specialists will be in demand, who will be able to perform several functions at once. "For example, if it is a cook, then he will be able to cook everything: snacks, desserts, and hot dishes, and possibly clean his workplace on his own," Kugel explained.
Late Optimization
Restaurant experts are confident that cutting costs will not help everyone. Those institutions that still occupied strong positions before the crisis have long optimized the main business processes, Mironov notes. "Leading a reasonable economy for many has become relevant for some reason only now. Restaurants, for example, started talking about optimizing the menu, began to think about how to reduce food losses, although any professional catering institution solves these issues every day, "Mironov notes. The same applies to staff: it is necessary to calculate the optimal number of employees in the staff both in crisis and in benefits
The situation is aggravated by the fact that new expenses have appeared, which cannot be abandoned. "This is an individual one-time menu for guests, protective equipment for staff, a large amount of packaging for take away, since establishments cannot always accommodate everyone," Garbut lists. "Only on gloves we spend about 100 thousand rubles. per month."
As for the ways to increase sales, there are still few in the crisis. Now it is most expedient to develop delivery, restaurateurs are convinced. "Since many still work remotely and order food home, sales from delivery in the near future may amount to 25-30% of revenue," Tyutikov predicts.
Looking from the outside
"Restaurants solve small tactical problems"
Galina Shcheblanina, Marketing Director, Viner Group Restaurant Chain
Restaurants solve small tactical tasks - remove expensive dishes from the menu, reduce staff and other costs. Many do this with an eye on competitors, explaining their decisions by the fact that everyone is doing this now, that is, not conducting market research and not trying to find out the mood of consumers. And people at any time, whether it is a crisis or economically prosperous times, visit restaurants for three main reasons. First, they want to have a nice time, communicate and enjoy the atmosphere. Secondly, to relieve stress, work fatigue. Thirdly, restaurants are an ideal place for business meetings. No matter how much the quarantine affects us, we will always strive to communicate outside the office, so the restaurant at least needs to have a good coffee menu and snack menu. In all three cases, the client is ready to pay for an expensive lunch or dinner, and he will cook simple traditional dishes at home himself.
Now restaurateurs should conduct a weekly ABC analysis of sales (a method that allows you to classify the company's resources by the degree of their importance. - RBC) and track the dynamics in order to correctly adjust their economy. Many are focused on pre-quarantine indicators and do not have basic knowledge, for example, how to correctly calculate the number of seats in a particular kitchen. The high rates that restaurateurs agreed to before the pandemic in 90% of cases were the main reason for the failure.