The F&B market has been one of the direct victims of the pandemic but has shown impressive elasticity in adapting to the new realities. Many businesses have introduced service extensions such as deliveries and take-outs. I personally think the local restaurant/ cafe can serve the neighbour with pop-up grocery stores due to economy of scale and lower wholesale rate with some food processing (such as sauce).
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Enjoying great popularity, some of these options will stick around far beyond the pandemic. From my view point, the F&B prime time may never come back; with a simple fact that many consumers discovered a new joy in cooking at home and also a paradigm shift on consumer behaviour totally.
This implies that the post-pandemic normal will likely see a shift toward eating at home more often, whether that means cooking or takeout and delivery. Therefore, restaurants are likely (have to) to continue diversifying their services, experiment with food bundles and DIY meal kits, or even luxurious in-home chef visit experiences as an alternative to high-end restaurant dining.
The past crises have shown that economic uncertainty is directly linked to changes in demand for private-label and value brands. So while luxury dining is not completely disappearing, it could take on other aspects.
Many fine dining restaurants, on the other hand, have started offering affordable lunch menus or have cut prices to correspond to the current value-conscious behaviours.
In fact, Hong Kong shall became more similar to other European country; dining out activity became a weekend activity but not day to day norm. I see a large opportunity to create an alternative service which bridge between consumer and restaurants. MERCURY provides a unique platform for F&B to register and use. Please contact us for our foodie.place solution.