CafeBuyer-2020

17 EAT-IN VS TAKEAWAY specialityfoodmagazine.com the move to online ordering for our elderly and retired customers has been a big change, and we’re hoping that’ll carry through to the café.” The retail balance Not everyone feels that growing the seated offer is the right direction of travel. The Goods Shed in Kent is a food hall with a razor-sharp focus on direct-from-the-farmproduce. The retail/foodservice balance has shifted over its 18-year history, but never more sharply than during lockdown when the food hall pivoted to a delivery service. “We’ve got a whole medley of on-site eating options downstairs in the food hall,” explains founder and director Susanna Sait, running through a list of concessions that serve local Woodchurch coffee andMargate chai. “We’re moving towards retail more than the onsite café emporium though,” she admits. “[The latter] is very fashionable but economically it’s not as attractive as retail. The market’s very tight and I’ve found for the last two years it’s harder for pop-up food stalls to make it work. It was exciting when we could just focus on retail.” Whilst hot drinks to takeaway are still popular, it’s the veg counter and whole carcass butchery that have helped The Goods Shed pull through, each gaining £3k a week in sales through the peak of the lockdown. So is coffee still an important way to pull in the punters? “Yes, but then you have to deal with the difficulty of them wanting to stand and chat,” says Susanna. “Obviously in the current phase they’re allowed to sit and drink their coffee. At the start [of lockdown] we were just doing retail and takeaway coffee and people loved it. With the café element back in it’s all about socialising and being together, which is the antithesis of what we’re supposed to be doing.” In truth, Susanna’s love of foodservice was already on the wane. “The whole Tripadvisor culture was starting to chip away at our morale, to be honest. It’d become horrible – everyone was behaving like a food critic essentially.” So, offering a great cup of tea or coffee to takeaway feels like a winner for Susanna. “It’s great that now the customers have got a more appreciative angle. We’re appreciating them too. They’re not numbers any more, not just covers. It’s a two-way street. They understand that you’re trying to deliver a good product and they’re really embracing that.” Quick fixes can keep dining capacity up whatever the weather, says Stuart Dantzic, managing director of Caribbean Blinds Outdoor restaurants and cafés should investigate different types of seating options to safely add density back in. They also need to have clear signage on display to explain new protocols and manage the flow of people, plus AUTUMN-PROOF YOUR OUTDOOR SPACES sightlines between kitchen and dining, which can help build customer confidence. Patio awnings provide instant shelter and can be built to the specific application, requirement and budget of any establishment. Some awnings can also be designed with LED lighting and heater features to create a comfortable environment all year round. Where existing structures exist, such as verandas and pergolas, high performance external blinds can be mounted to the top and sides to provide effective shielding from the elements and create a cosy and pleasant environment. EAT OUT TO HELP OUT streets (and a 19% rise in post- 6pm visits). Market researchers Springboard put the figure at a rosier 4.5% increase for the UK’s shopping streets. CONFIDENCE “I think the result will be that it’ll encourage people back out,” says John Sinclair of Craigie’s Farm, talking about the scheme. “Before it I hadn’t anticipated how much concern there would still be about coming to eat again. Now we find Monday to Wednesdays are fantastic, Thursdays are a write-off, but we have an opportunity to build on that.” RESULTS Has Eat Out to Help Out worked for your business? Send your comments to holly.shackleton @specialityfood.co.uk How is the Government’s scheme working for you? TRAFFIC Treasury data suggests the scheme had a dramatic effect in its first week, with 10.5 million extra diners accounting for a 3.8% increase in visits to high THE GOODS SHED PRE-COVID