Three questions to be answered before the reopening of a restaurant after Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic and the declaration of the state of alarm in Spain has forced the F&B establishments to close or readjust in order to maintain delivery or take away activity. Now, with the entry into de-escalation in its various phases, many restaurants are reopening their doors to customers. But what should we take into account before the reopening of a restaurant in the post Covid-19 scenario?

Lluís Codó, professor at EUHT StPOL, expert in HORECA, pointed out in the webinar some “Measures to be implemented in restaurants for the reopening after Covid-19” the three questions that every establishment should ask itself before reopening its doors.

Question 1: Is it worth it to open?

With the entry into phase 1 of de-escalation in certain areas of Spain, there are many restaurants that have not opened, said Codó. The reason: “The limitation of 50% of the capacity on the terrace may not be profitable for the company”.

The profitability of the business in this new post-Covid-19 scenario is, therefore, an aspect to be analysed by the restaurant in order to consider whether it is worth it to reopen: “The company has to do the figures to know if the volume of occupation they will have will allow them to cover the opening costs”, details Codó.

Even so, according to Codó, there is a clear advantage for the restaurant sector: “The consumer has the desire to get out of the house, go to a terrace and share coffee and conversation with someone else,” he points out as an example.

Question 2: Do we have the proper guarantees?

After considering the suitability of the reopening in terms of an economic aspect, according to Codó, every restaurant should ask itself as a second question if it has all the means and resources to implement and comply with the new protocols, change the work processes and incorporate the hygienic-sanitary aspects required in the post-Covid-19 scenario. “These are guarantees that we must implement and communicate to customers” in order to reopen the restaurant, explains Codó.

Question 3: How are we going to monitor it?

Once the business is up and running again, in the post-Covid-19 scenario, “in addition to monitoring the restaurant’s income statement on a monthly basis, we will also have to monitor, for example, the HACCP system, which is going to regulate to some extent the implementation of hygiene measures in the restaurant,” explains Codó.

What measures need to be implemented when the restaurant reopens?

In the webinar “Measures to be implemented in the reopening of a restaurant”, Lluís Codó also talked about the communication area, that is, how and what should be communicated to the restaurant’s customers in the new post-Covid-19 stage. For example, about the prevention measures to be incorporated for customers, workers and the cleaning plan; also about how to supervise the whole system once the restaurant is reopened.

If you want to consult the details of Lluís Codó’s presentation in the “Measures to be implemented in the reopening of a restaurant” download the document by filling in the following form.

Retrieve the webinar here.