Since the beginning of this year, the world has been physically and mentally affected by an entity that one cannot even see. The coronavirus pandemic has not only taken many a life but has also impacted various industries greatly.
Whilst substantial details of a viable vaccine available to everyone is still underway, here are a few insights as to how the food industry can function unhindered, for the time being:
Smart Farming
Every year, there’s an influx of about 60,000 migrant workers to help with farming and handling the harvest, thereafter. According to the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), there is a deficit in the labour force by a whopping 80,000 because workers have either retreated to their home countries or haven’t moved to the UK.
Proper implementation of smart farming methods via dedicated machinery that increases productivity whilst saving time and manpower is the need of the hour. This can help solve the problem of marked shortage as people continue to hoard food supplies.
Incentivized Service
Scores of food and beverage distributors in the UK have incurred losses along with restaurants that have been on the verge of closing because of the dip in the customer footfalls. Many pubs and restaurants have therefore doled out the “Eat Out to Help Out” offer where people can enjoy meals at half their price with the maximum discount being up to £10 per person.
This not just makes sustenance available to many but also protects the jobs of millions of chefs, waiters, food-chain owners, managers and other staff.
Thoughtful Branding
The first thing that people see while purchasing a commodity is the food packaging containers that they come in. Proper branding, highlighting the hygiene and food safety standards in eco-friendly packaging, will not only assure the customer but also reflect the credibility and reliability of the company.
Go-between Products
The fear of contracting Covid-19 has been more widespread than the pandemic itself. With the sudden rise in the number of home chefs around the country, many people are preferring to eat at home. Production of intermediary products such as gravy powders, pre-cooked and air-dried foods will lessen the burden of home chefs and allow them to have more personal time. It will also significantly help food industries to maximize their benefits through ready-to-eat food supplies.
Make Way for Takeaway
Takeaways have been the heart and soul of gastronomia in the UK. Capitalizing extensively on this aspect of the food business might prove to be highly successful for a lot of food chains.
This will appeal to the customer psyche of believing that there is a significantly lower risk of getting infected from takeaways as opposed to dining-in or food deliveries. With a higher chance of contactless food pick-ups, clients would be more inclined to buy edibles on-the-go.
Joey Doesn’t Share Food
For the uninitiated, Joey Tribbiani is a character of the American sitcom “Friends” who has won the hearts of many through his antics. In short, he doesn’t like sharing his food.
This behavioural trait has slowly seeped into the food habits of many people in the wake of the pandemic to minimize contact. Food companies and restaurants can, therefore, make subtle changes in portion sizes and pricing of the products accordingly. This will help people to customize their shopping carts with “meal-for-one” commodities.
Empathetic Social Distancing
Although social distancing has been deemed as the primary and easiest step to keep illness at bay, it has also stripped people of the human contact that they need. Smart choices made in dine-in restaurants like aptly distanced cubicles in enclosures that are cleaned after every single usage can lead to people interacting freely whilst staying safe.
Care should be taken to make food delivery personnel, waiters, chefs, restaurant food suppliers in the UK aware of the importance of masks and sneeze guards for the safety of themselves and the customers. Food handling guidelines should be meted out at every outlet for the segregation of different foodstuffs and their cooking techniques would minimize the perils of contamination.
Covid19 has led to bottlenecks in production, logistics and transport of the food industry to a great extent. But a holistic and innovative approach in the marketing and distribution along with following proper guidelines will help curtail losses, sustain producer-consumer relationships and salvage the market to a great extent.
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