How to optimize your takeaway business under COVID-19

In latest COVID-19 blog post you got specific knowledge about how you as a café - or restaurant owner can best meet the challenges that currently characterize eateries due to the coronavirus.

Our very first recommendation was to offer irresistible takeaway to the many hungry customers who, for good reason, cannot visit your eatery. Many cafes and restaurants work on high pressure with the takeaway concept, and conclusion across the board is the same:

The supply of takeaway is large, but the demand is greater. Customers love to #dineoutathome!

Below you will find our best advice for running an (even more) successful takeaway business 👇

# 1 Maintain your customers' trust

Due to the flourishing coronavirus, ordering food from the outside has become a matter of trust more than ever before. If your potential customers have doubts about your hygiene standards, it will be difficult to attract them. In other words, you must earn their trust. Follow the steps below to do so:

Be explicit about your high hygiene standards, and do not hesitate to repeat the messages over and over in your dialogue with customers.
Focus on thorough, frequent and visible cleaning of door handles, ordering counter and cash register. Also, make small announcements about it on your social platforms so that your customers feel safe in your hands.

By maintaining your customers' trust in you and your business, you gain a good reputation. This is not only valuable now, but also when quarantine ends again.

# 2 Focus on your usual audience

Once upon a time, takeaway was associated with food of varying quality. Today, the reality is quite another; Takeaway is now associated with good dining experiences. Meals prepared with refined culinary skills and made from carefully selected ingredients.

Takeaway is still available in all price ranges, but it is important that you maintain the same high standard or even a higher one now.

If you own one of the city's better restaurants known for its quality food, there's no need to suddenly change your profile. Customers will remember the good takeaway meals - even during, or after Covid-19.

# 3 Get control of logistics

In connection with the change from à la carte to takeaway, many people are surprised at how big a task it is, for example, to pack the food properly into suitable packaging so that it is ready to be picked up or delivered.

In order to use your and your employees' time most efficiently, you should carefully reflect on the work process in your kitchen. Do you spend unnecessary resources constantly coordinating who receives orders, handles the products, cleans, packs the meal, orders new packaging home, brings out food, etc.?

For many, a simple assembly line approach works well. Therefore, create a clear and time-efficient distribution of work where everyone knows exactly what is expected of them and when.

# 4 Make use of “the FOMO”

Some restaurant and cafe owners are so successful with their takeaway concept that they can't actually keep up. Others have difficulty estimating how many envelopes they expect to sell in one evening, which can result in raw materials being wasted.

If you recognize one of these two scenarios, you may want to put a cap on the number of envelopes for sale each day and promote it on your social media.

There is a known phenomenon called "the FOMO" or "the fear of missing out". It's about people not wanting to miss out on anything good. Make use of “the FOMO” by constantly updating your Facebook profile with how few envelopes you have left. This way, no more takeaway is ordered than you can provide, or too little in relation to how many raw materials you have purchased.

In addition, the above helps to highlight your success and make potential customers eager to get their hands on your popular food.