Guidelines to help restaurants adapt to a post-COVID-19 phase

TNN | May 5, 2020, 21:24 IST

Picture for representational purposes only

To help the food and beverage (F&B) industry prepare for the post-pandemic phase, Dineout has come up with guidelines and best practices for the restaurant industry. Titled ‘Reinventing The Wheel: Dining Out In A Post-COVID Era Whitepaper’, the guidelines were released by Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism. The whitepaper comprises restoration guidelines for the restaurant industry, with respect to staff management, staff health and safety, restaurant space sanitisation, food safety, social distancing, inventory management and special measures for takeaway and delivery businesses.
It also addresses key action points to successfully operate outlets in a contactless manner, keeping under consideration the safety of both diners and staff members.
While releasing the whitepaper, Brar also recognised the merits of contactless dining as a confidence-building measure to bring back diners. She reiterated the importance of following the recommended practices for restaurant operations. “I am glad to see through this initiative that technology can be used to create a safe environment for everyone. It is re-assuring that while dining out, basic protocols will be in place,” Brar said.
One of the guidelines mentions that restaurants must maintain at least a two metre gap between tables for diners. There are also a multitude of touch-points for restaurateurs looking at contactless dining to remove non-essential human interaction with the help of technology. They include booking tables in advance, pre-ordering meals, takeaways, digital ordering, digital payment, etc.
Ankit Mehrotra, co-founder and CEO of Dineout, said, “As the world negotiates the enduring impact of COVID-19 pandemic, our interaction with the outside world will reorient in both the short and long-term. These post-COVID sensibilities are likely to have an enduring impact on how the country’s food & beverages industry is expected to operate. The whitepaper is our way to help Indian restaurateurs comprehend and adapt to this new normal.”