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PurposeThis study aims to draw attention to consumers' behaviours which are changing on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, provide an understanding of the factors influencing these behaviours and emphasise their importance in building contemporary business models for the restaurant industry. The article is a case study of the Polish restaurant sector based on a comparison with the worldwide literature.Design/methodology/approachA study of the current literature on the subject pertaining to the issues discussed, an analysis of them, mainly by examining trade reports, with a special focus on the following databases (BDL GUS, CBOS, IGGP PKD) and foreign references, as well as Internet sources, using the systematic (structured) literature review (SLR) method. The authors searched the databases between May 2020 and May 2022, paying attention to the following keywords: COVID-19, consumer behaviours, food services, market segmentation, Poland.FindingsThe analysis allowed the authors to identify the most important factors influencing consumer behaviour under the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic. This in turn enabled them to verify a hypothesis concerning the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumers' behaviours on the food service market. Results from an analysis of trade reports and from a literature review confirm the hypothesis proposed, leading to the conclusion that the contemporary reality in Poland currently requires businesses to continuously monitor consumers' behaviours in a turbulent and uncertain environment.Research limitations/implicationsThe systematic identification of changes taking place in consumers' behaviours will make it possible to adapt a portfolio of services to changes observed in this regard.Practical implicationsThe analysis conducted by the authors in 2021 to examine trends in consumer behaviours proved that changes affecting their thinking were undoubtedly accelerated by the pandemic of a contagious disease – COVID-19.Originality/valueSome consumer trends that appear to be a response to limits and restrictions may be observed for a longer period of time. Therefore, those restaurant owners who want to successfully go through the stage of adaptation to the new reality will have to focus, in the short term, on actions designed to identify their customers' needs and expectations anew and tailor their business models and offer accordingly.
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Drones operate on electric batteries and not on gasoline, so the eco-friendly role of drones has recently attracted a lot of attention. Thus, this study was designed in order to investigate differences in behavioral intentions, such as intention to use, word-of-mouth, and willingness to pay more, according to demographic characteristics and past experiences in the field of eco-friendly drone food delivery services. Data were collected from 422 potential consumers of eco-friendly drone food delivery services in South Korea. The data analysis results indicated that females are more willing to pay extra than males are, respondents who were in their 50s had higher word-of-mouth intention than other generations, marital status showed significant differences in willingness to pay more and intentions to use, and there was a difference in willingness to pay more and word-of-mouth with regards to monthly income. In addition, respondents who had previously heard of drone food delivery services had higher averages with willingness to pay more and intentions to use as opposed to respondents who had not heard of them, and respondents who had experience controlling drones were willing to pay additional fees when they used eco-friendly drone food delivery services. The results of this study would be a great assistance for executives who will operate eco-friendly drone food delivery services.
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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the latest phenomenon emerging from rural towns and villages, where a surge in traditional cafes and restaurants has spurred a new trend in sustainable tourism development. This phenomenon is linked to local efforts to mitigate the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the series of lockdowns that accompanied it. This paper focuses on two critical lines of inquiry: (1) Where did the idea stem from? and (2) How has it developed to the extent that it now constitutes one of the few primary sources of income for underdeveloped communities? Design/methodology/approach: Exploratory research was conducted in rural and urban areas where tourism is still developing. In depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample consisting of ten owners of rural and traditional cafes who consented to their participation in the study. Findings: Emerging trends such as rural and traditional cafes and restaurants can be a stable source of income for underserved communities in uncertain times. Local entrepreneurs often play a critical role in the development of sustainable rural tourism efforts as they have a better understanding of the needs of their own local community. Furthermore, their projects typically carry higher levels of authenticity and innovation with a greater ability to attract both local and international travelers. Research limitations/implications: Taking into consideration the exploratory nature of this study, a small convenience sample was used. Originality/value: This study highlights the importance of innovation in the tourism industry during precarious times, the most recent example of which was the global COVID-19 pandemic. This paper suggests that the industry can rely on new emerging trends to mitigate the loss of revenue from previous sources of tourism. Furthermore, the study showcases the importance of domestic tourism trends and how it can lead to an expansion in international tourism resources.
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Since early 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak has disrupted various supply chains including the on-demand food delivery sector. As a result, this service industry has witnessed a tremendous spike in demand that is affecting its delivery operations at the downstream level. Previous research studies have explored one-to-one and many-to-one solutions to the virtual food court delivery problem (VFCDP) to optimize on-demand food delivery services in different cities. However, research efforts have been limited to multiple restaurant orders from only one customer which does not apply to traditional systems where multiple customers request on-demand food delivery from multiple restaurants. This study rigorously analyses multiple restaurants to multiple customers (Many-to-many) food delivery simulation models in ideal weather conditions that are constrained with multiple key performance indicators (KPIs) such as delivery fleet utilization (the number of couriers utilized over the fleet size), average order delivery time, and fuel costs. This research also benchmarks the on-demand food delivery queueing methodologies using system dynamics and agent-based simulation modeling where three on-demand food delivery routing methodologies are simulated including First-in-First-Out (FIFO), Nearest, and Simulated Annealing using AnyLogic. The results suggest that the Many-to-many (Nearest) method outperforms other delivery routing methods which would have positive implications on optimizing existing food delivery systems and managerial decisions.
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The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted shortfalls in the U.S. food system, exposing how regulatory processes shape access to the market. This paper builds on ongoing research following the impact of shut-down orders on alcohol retail via small restaurants and breweries in Arizona and examines the impacts of regulatory shifts on the ability of these food enterprises to pivot. We highlight how the concept of the pivot creates expectations of individual businesses ability to be resilient to shocks. Responses within Arizona to COVID-19 induced systemic failures, demonstrate that bottom-up pivots from small businesses can creatively and quickly meet local community needs. However, those efforts were stymied by state government and top-down approaches that proved incapable of pivoting to meet local needs. Through this case study, we highlight the need and opportunity for further examination of the interplay between regulatory agencies and small businesses in times of crisis. We invite others into the work of creating guidelines for pivoting that facilitate bottom-up and top-down collaboration while ensuring the voice and agency of different players.
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This study attempted to identify the overall impact of COVID-19 on the restaurant industry in Colombia through the interviews with ten restaurant owners or chefs (e.g., fine-dining, family-dining, casual dining, and quick-service restaurants). Adopting the three phase post-pandemic planning framework, this study examined how the restaurants responded, recovered, and renewed their businesses and what survival strategies they have been implementing to respond to the new normal after the COVID-19 outbreaks. Findings of the study indicated the restaurants in Colombia focused on and developed four operational survival strategies: operational transformation and challenges, government support, social responsibility, and precautionary measurement practices, focusing on their core value and assets such as employees and menus.
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This study aims to present and discuss the different COVID-19 policies and recommendations for food service reopening. We aimed to understand each plan's profile, showing the most prominent concerns and summarizing the strategies. This study was carried out using an integrative review strategy of documents written in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, and German. We found 17 guides, 15 from the countries' health departments and institutions. The findings suggested four main categories reflecting the main concerns about safety regarding the resumption of food services during the pandemic: 1. Physical distancing;2. environmental aspects and safety;3. personal hygiene and occupational health;and 4. educational and legal measures. Because COVID-19 is a new disease, the measures were designed and adapted to a scenario full of uncertainties and improved information for each discovery. All the categories are grounded on recent or late biomedical literature. Some minor recommendations are based on the precautionary principle. The practical and policy implications are discussed. Health agencies in countries that do not yet have their regulations or guidelines for operating food services can use the categories described here as a basis for suggestions.
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This theme was chosen because tourism is an important branch of a country's economy. The HORECA industry generates 1.7% of GDP and between 3 and 4% of GDP together with related industries. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that broke out in Romania in February 2020, the Romanian Government was forced to apply certain restrictive measures that affected the economy, the worst hospital industry. This paper analyzed the revenues registered in the HORECA sector in Romania for the years 2019-2020-2021 (before the pandemic / during the emergency period / post-pandemic period). A comparative analysis was performed for the indicators: annual profit, turnover, number of tourists, number of overnight stays, types of services sought. The study was conducted on 8,357 touristic units and the results will be presented in the paper. The aim of the paper is to analyze the losses suffered by the tourism industry in 2020 and the recovery of tourism after the lifting of restrictions in Romania.
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Foodservice firms have been among the most affected business units during the COVID-19 pandemic. The slew of lockdowns and resulting apprehensions of contracting virus infections have largely deterred customers from patronizing various food outlets. However, with internet assistance consumers have increasingly found perceived refuge from unsafe dining experiences. As a result, the paper makes attempt to identify the determinants of customers' dining experience in restaurants. A total of 1,545 customer reviews from 97 foodservice outlets of 14 Indian cities were collected. R programming was used to perform qualitative analysis on the reviews to identify the features. Bigram analysis was applied to calculate the repeated phrases. Based on the repeated phrases, researchers measured the factors that contribute toward the customers' dining experience. The findings suggest that food quality and taste, food variety, staff behavior, restaurant ambience, along with social distance and safety norms mainly determine guest satisfaction. The findings also reveal that hotels need to apply recovery strategies such as training staff to adapt to the new-normal strategies and provide a safe environment to improve restaurant businesses. This study uses novel dataset and the findings essentially contribute to the food service literature. Further study can be done using big data in varied settings.
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Background Recently, behind the offline restaurant market, the issue of polarization among the self-employed is emerging. Changes in consumer propensity due to limited dining experience after COVID-19 have caused various problems in the stagnant restaurant business situation. Restaurants that can utilize online channels, have secured exposure to consumers, and small restaurants that cannot utilize them, have suffered a serious blow to their sales. In addition, the need for a change in the offline-based restaurant industry is being raised to meet the increased consumer expectations due to the rapid use of delivery apps and online services. However, existing research mainly focuses on separate access to online and offline channels or does not consider special environments such as small restaurants. At this point, this study derives the factors and detailed functions of the integrated online and offline dining experience, and presents the online for offline (O4O) service design platform prototype and service blueprint for improving the dining experience of small restaurants and strengthening COVID-19 responsiveness. Methods In this study, a total of three stages of theoretical and practical research were conducted. Through literature review, on/offline restaurant service quality and experience factors were derived. Next, a case study of the nonface- to-face ordering service was conducted to identify the interaction and experience factors of each contact point in the user's journey from online search to offline restaurant use. The detailed functions for improving the online/offline integrated dining experience were verified using the Kano model and Timko customer satisfaction coefficient. Through this, a service development area for upgrading the integrated online/offline dining experience was derived. Based on this, in-depth interviews with service providers and users of 'small restaurants' were conducted to present service design principles reflecting specific needs. Results In this study, a total of three outcomes were derived for each research stage. First, quality and experience factors of integrated online/offline dining service were derived. Service quality is divided into 'original quality' and 'additional quality', and the experience factors are 'accessibility', 'convenience', 'mobility', 'accuracy', 'relevance' and 'reliability'. Second, 27 detailed functions and three service design development areas were derived to enhance the online/offline integrated dining experience. Third, by applying this to small restaurants, the design principles of the omnichannel strategy after COVID-19 were proposed as follows: 1) Support various information search by discovering regional-based restaurants and developing content for joint participation by editors and customers who provide content that takes advantage of local characteristics;2) Connect the online and offline purchasing process by providing various online commerce functions within the service platform;and 3) Enhance the offline dining experience of consumers by providing various additional services through cooperation with local governments and POS/service linkage of stores. Based on this, the prototype and service blueprint of the O4O service platform were presented. Conclusions Accordingly, this study has theoretical and practical implications. First, this study tries to formulate a plan to advance the customer experience as well as online and offline channels by approaching the restaurant service with an omnichannel strategy rather than a single channel. Second, as a case study method, the customer-oriented dining experience journey is identified and contact points are analyzed by using the Customer Journey MAP, Kano model, and Timko customer satisfaction coefficient. This can be used to interpret the integrated online/offline dining experience in the future and can be applied as a research methodology in various fields to expand the consumer's experience. Third, this study presents an O4O service platform that applies a solution specialized for 'small restau ants' by mixing quantitative and qualitative research. The derived O4O service design principles and service blueprints can provide practical help in online and IT technology utilization of small restaurants. © 2023,. All rights reserved.
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The purpose of this study is to explore business crowdfunding donation campaigns in which there is no reward or incentive provided to the donor. Specifically, crowdfunding campaigns benefiting restaurants and their employees are examined in two large U.S. cities during the COVID-19 pandemic to determine whether the level of social embeddedness and the amount of social capital available to restaurants affected the amount donated. This study's findings indicate that the social embeddedness for COVID-19 restaurant donation campaigns is not related to the amount donated. There is a significant difference in donation amounts for campaigns started by the restaurant owner or an individual connected to the restaurant compared to campaigns started by GoFundMe. There is also a significant difference in the amounts of funds donated and the number of shares made for campaigns in large population cities compared to those not in large cities. Examinations of donation campaigns for the benefit of businesses provide new insight into the use of this emerging financial platform, particularly in relation to social embeddedness and social resource theory.
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COVID-19 had a major impact on the Canadian foodservice sector. Like most countries, the pandemic in Canada resulted in various periods of lockdown. The pandemic placed great strain on many establishments and had a major impact on the pre-COVID-19 sustainability initiatives of the Canadian foodservice sector. The purpose of this study was to observe managerial decision-making in Canadian foodservice businesses during lockdown and reopening, focusing on the impact of those decisions on pre-COVID-19 sustainability initiatives. We linked the outcomes to the theory of decision-making by objection during times of crises. This study used semi-structured interviews over a two-month period in mid-2020 with three Canadian foodservice establishments. Our results showed that decision-making impacted the environmental sustainability initiatives in foodservice establishments by imposing a throwaway culture for food and personal protective equipment. The pandemic also impacted social and economic initiatives, created higher operation costs, a complexity of government intervention and the managing of mental health. This study showed that the COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity to develop theories of managerial decisions during crises and disasters that are natural, versus human-based crises, with pandemics situated between those two concepts. Future research could investigate the impact of decision-making on other initiatives within foodservice businesses.
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The transition to sustainable food systems is one of the main challenges facing national and international action plans. It is estimated that food services and lodging accommodation activities are under pressure in terms of resource consumption and waste generation, and several tools are required to monitor their ecological transition. The present research adopts a semi-systematic and critical review of the current trends in the food service and lodging accommodation industries on a global scale and investigates the real current environmental indicators adopted internationally that can help to assess ecological transition. This research tries to answer the subsequent questions: (i) how has the ecological transition in the food service industry been monitored? and (ii) how has the ecological transition in the lodging accommodation industry been monitored? Our study reviews 66 peer-reviewed articles and conference proceedings included in Web of Science between 2015 and 2021. The results were analyzed according to content analysis and co-word analysis. Additionally, we provide a multidimensional measurement dashboard of empirical and theoretical indicators and distinguish between air, water, energy, waste, health, and economic scopes. In light of the co-word analysis, five research clusters were identified in the literature: “food cluster”, “water cluster”, “consumers cluster”, “corporate cluster”, and “energy cluster”. Overall, it emerges that food, water, and energy are the most impacted natural resources in tourism, and users and managers are the stakeholders who must be involved in active monitoring.
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Purpose>The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown have hit the food service industry very hard. The COVID-19 outbreak has created a sharp downturn for firms in the food service industry, compelling actors across the whole food service supply chain to rethink their strategies. The purpose of this paper is to document the impact of COVID-19 on the food service supply chain, as well as to identify crisis management strategies food service firms use during the hectic early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic to survive the current and prepare for future pandemics.Design/methodology/approach>We performed a qualitative descriptive study using 21 semi-structured interviews with actors across the food service supply chain (i.e. farmers, wholesalers and food service providers). Data were collected to shed light on food service firms' decision making during the hectic early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic to uncover various crisis management strategies used.Findings>By integrating the disaster and crisis pyramid and resilience theory, four core crisis management strategies to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic are conceptualized, i.e. (1) managing resources, (2) diversifying strategically, (3) prioritizing long-term outcomes and (4) bonding socially.Originality/value>The theoretical contributions include documenting the performance impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food service supply chain and exploring crisis management strategies food service firms employed during the hectic early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, functioning and survival during a pandemic, an emerging field in literature, are central to this study. Additionally, while recent research suggests that integrating crisis management and resilience literature may provide a more complete understanding of the organization–crisis relationship, these literature streams mainly developed in isolation. By integrating the literature streams of crisis management and resilience and applying these theories to the COVID-19 crisis, our study provides specific managerial guidelines.
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In the food service industry, food is wasted at every stage of the process. A significant part of food wastage is the so-called plate waste, i.e., food left by the consumer on the plate. The purpose of this research was to analyze the behavior of Polish consumers in relation to meals ordered in food establishments. The following issues were taken into account: leaving an unfinished meal on a plate and reasons for it, taking an unfinished meal home, and ordering half portions. The study was conducted on a representative group of 1115 adult Polish citizens using the CAPI method. Segmentation (cluster analysis) of respondents differing in their behavior in relation to ordered meals was carried out. It turned out that about 53% of Polish citizens do not use food services at all. Men with secondary and higher levels of education and other sources of income (cluster C) less frequently declared leaving unfinished meals on a plate and taking an unfinished meal home, especially in canteens, compared to other clusters. Few respondents declared buying half portions. Excessively large portions and inadequate taste of dishes were indicated by almost 50% of respondents as the main reasons for the generation of plate waste. Measures should be promoted to encourage consumers and food service providers to reduce the generation of plate waste.
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The COVID-19 Pandemic has been still in the spread of the global effect and that is leading to an ongoing process in the lives of million people. The Corona Virus is a contagious disease which spreads through being in the contact of an infectious person. This disease is caused by the SARS-COV2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus 2). Although, many research studies have gone through the impact of Corona Virus on performance of Hospitality sector as well as on the performance of people and number of suggestions have been made to reignite the Hospitality sector that made the sector to have a re-look strategy. Hospitality is a sector which deals with a perspective of offering satisfied level of attractive services in various areas including accommodation and travel. Hospitality industry is being a very sensitive industry among other industries and that is the reason this industry takes an effect of loss in huge masses. The COVID-19 Pandemic have made a downfall to the economy of the Hospitality industry specially on the food, cuisines, and beverages service areas. The study aims to reignite the Hospitality - Culinary area along to the effect of increasing the economy of the sector. The study finds out the effect of food, cuisine and beverage service on public masses using the structure of safety and security aftermath COVID-19. The methodology of the study will be implied on the basis of sample choosing, approach selection for the study, and performing analysis of the data which will be collected from the views of industrial hotelier professional respondents. The entire study will focus on re-building the Culinary and Beverage area in the minds of public masses post COVID-19.
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This paper documents that a large-scale government subsidy aimed at encouraging people to eat out in restaurants in the wake of the first 2020 COVID-19 wave in the United Kingdom has had a significant causal impact on new cases, accelerating the subsequent second COVID-19 wave. The scheme subsidised 50% off the cost of food and non-alcoholic drinks for an unlimited number of visits in participating restaurants on Mondays-Wednesdays from 3-31 August 2020. Areas with higher take-up saw both a notable increase in new COVID-19 infection clusters within a week of the scheme starting and a deceleration in infections within two weeks of the program ending. Similarly, areas that exhibited notable rainfall during the prime lunch and dinner hours on the days the scheme was active record lower infection incidence - a pattern that is also measurable in mobility data - and non-detectable on days during which the discount was not available or for rainfall outside the core lunch and dinner hours.
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The goal of the study is to identify the perceived key quality attributes that significantly distinguish highly satisfied diners from non-highly satisfied diners. A sample of 113 restaurant diners were included in this empirical study, in which consumers' perception on four factors: food, physical environment, service and corona precautions were measured using a validated scale. Independent t test and weighted average test were used to determine which quality attributes are critical in distinguishing highly satisfied diners from other diners. The findings facilitate restaurant management in better allocating their resources and making improvements to critical quality factors that influence customer satisfaction.
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The limitation of business and social activity during the crisis caused by the coronavirus in Russia and in the whole world led to the need to adapt the business processes of public catering enterprises to new realities. The goal of research is to study the trends of digital transformations of business processes of public catering enterprises of southern Russia, due to the need to adapt to the factors caused by the pandemic, as well as to assess their “viability” in terms of their use after the end of the coronavirus crisis. To conduct the study, the authors chose content analysis of scientific sources presented in the databases Scopus and Web of Science, which described the cases of development of public catering enterprises during the crisis caused by the coronavirus. As a result of the analysis of Russian and international experience, it was revealed that the set of solutions dealing with digitalization of business processes was focused on the use of technologies that ensure a decrease in perceived health risks, and was expressed both in changing the services provided and in changing the process of their provision. The study identified the following main trends in the digitalization of business processes in the food service industry of Russia. The characteristics of these trends are given from the point of view of their "viability" in the long term. Common problems associated with the use of digital technologies and tools in businesses are identified. The authors came to the conclusion that the digitalization of business processes in Russia will continue after the return to traditional forms of service, since modern consumers tend towards a variety of technological innovations due to their speed and relative ease of use, and the increased availability of mobile technologies that provide search, payment, and other functions also they make it possible to reduce health risks. © 2022. All Rights Reserved.
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Epidemiologists suggest that even as we deal with the current COVID-19 crisis, we also prepare for future pandemics. The purpose of this special report is to document the impact of COVID-19 on the food service industry, as well as provide strategies based on empirical evidence and suggestions for future preparedness. Studies have found a need for increased emphasis on specifi c arenas within the food service industry: (1) cleaning and sanitation of fomites such as doorknobs, menus, and table surfaces, (2) rigorous hand-washing and mask-wearing practices to decrease transmissibility of the virus, (3) effective ventilation within operations, and (4) empathetic leadership to enhance resiliency as food service operations across the country cope and work toward reopening. From the practitioner's standpoint, clear and effective communication is key for working with food service operations. The importance of social distancing and mask wearing has been documented using science-based evidence;however, the ways in which these measures are enforced in food service establishments vary across counties and cities within each state, leading to confusion and frustration. As we prepare for the next pandemic, having a rigorous plan to deal with different biological hazards across multiple organizational levels will help with preparedness and the speed of implementation.