It is expected that life as we knew it will change as the lockdown lifts and people are allowed to be out and about again. And one of the key things that most people do when they go out is eat. How does eating out, an experience so intrinsic to life in many places, then change in the post COVID-19 world?
To tackle this, restaurant aggregators Zomato and Dineout have come out with ‘Contactless Dining’, on the heels of ‘Contactless Delivery’.
“We anticipate that the food service industry, specifically the dining out segment, will experience significant and permanent changes in the way it operates. Based on some recent consumer surveys, diners are ranking safety assurance and hygiene as their top factors when they choose a restaurant for dine in,” Zomato said in a statement.
Zomato’s contactless dining focusses on three things — a contactless menu where one can scan a QR code at the table for a menu (with dish and pairing recommendations), contactless ordering through the app, and contactless payment, also through the app.
Dineout, along with restaurant solutions partner InResto that it acquired, put out a blog for restaurants and customers about how contactless dining would operate. It states that restaurants must first inform customers about measures, optimise making reservations online, adopt pre-ordering to optimise wait time, adopting a digital valet to streamline queues, adopt mandatory temperature checks for staffers and diners, allow diners to self-check-in at restaurants, discard physical menus, and the diners pay and give feedback through the app itself, thus minimising the points of contact.
But what does the restaurant industry think of the same? Manu Chandra, the Chef Partner at Toast & Tonic, The Fatty Bao and Monkey Bar and Executive Chef at the Olive Beach, says that contactless dining is what the consumer may take comfort in, if they are to step out. “It’s also the only sure shot way to provide a high level of safety to the consumer and employee,” he says.
When asked about a potential loss of jobs, he said, “Loss of jobs is an inevitability that is unavoidable. Business cannot sustain the high costs of labour with no sales.
National Restaurant Association of India President Anurag Katriar says the idea is premature, as we do not know the full extent of the problem as yet.
“We don’t know how this will play out. Unless we know the extent of the problem, how do we find the solution?” he asks.
He says that their reaction to any problem will depend on three variables — how long the lockdown will last, the extent of scare about the virus, and the ultimate damage that it leaves behind.
“I’m glad that they are thinking of the way ahead, but it is hugely premature because to solve a problem without knowing the problem, it doesn’t appeal much to me,” he says.
Restaurants have tussled with apps before on deep discounting, including Zomato and Dineout. Anurag, however, says if they come up with something positive that is workable, they are open to the idea.
However, he questions how the human touch can be taken away from the dining experience.
“There is always human touch available, otherwise there is no dining experience. I don’t fully understand contactless service. Having no menu cards has been in place before, and places have a digital version. A disposable menu card is also an option. At the end of the day, there will be a human element in someone bringing food to the table, serving water, putting chutneys, someone cleaning your table. It is good to hear, but I don’t understand its practicality,” he says.