COVID has proven that restaurants cannot stay stagnant. We must always be looking for ways to innovate our service, menu and experience.
We need to stay in tune with what matters to our guests. In the post-COVID world, that means investing and re-investing in new supplies, training and physical upgrades.
I believe those costs could lead to long-term success, and we cannot afford not to change. We must stay agile in everything from staffing to the supply chain, focusing on cleanliness and delivering a reliable, trustworthy and seamless experience for our guests.
It has been 15 months since the pandemic upended the U.S. restaurant industry, necessitating innovations in takeout, carry-out cocktails, outdoor dining and contactless technology. Trends that were not supposed to take hold for years have occurred at an accelerated rate.
Ultimately, no one knows what is going to happen. But there is still a romance to restaurants, and I will fight to not lose that. We are social animals … That is what we do …
Food delivery apps, vending machines, gas stations, grocery stores, grocery and retail delivery services and especially drive-thru fast-food have become the alternative for how we “nourish” today.
Lifestyles and taste preferences changed in a hurry. The future of food service and technology needs to be human-centric and focused on customer benefits.
It all falls apart without the passion, perspective and empathy that technology just can’t deliver.
We have all gotten by with less. Everyone has had to dig in and change the way we work and change the way we operate to accommodate every aspect of operations. This will never change.
We can’t unlearn or erase the emotional memory of what we’ve all just experienced.
Covid gave everyone the time to reflect … I hope the flip side of this is a restaurant industry that’s kinder, more activist, more worker-friendly, more empathetic, and more about “community.”
Dan Lew
Mansfield, Ohio
