Restaurant Industry Outlook for 2022: Five Trends

3 Jan 2022 , 10:07 AM

The COVID-19 epidemic impacted negatively on the restaurant business, with many establishments shuttering temporarily or permanently. As a result, businesses have increased their efforts online and implemented eating policies that follow safety guidelines. They will be able to slow the spread of the disease while also earning money in the process.

Restaurants are facing difficult circumstances, but as many have reopened, proprietors have used their ingenuity to make the situation more acceptable. In the not-too-distant future, these artistic endeavors may set the bar. Meanwhile, aspiring food entrepreneurs took this terrible incident as an opportunity to share their products with their local communities. Given that food is a basic requirement, this has worked for them.

The adaptations made to stay in business have helped create or accelerate five significant themes as the restaurant sector emerges from the various obstacles and uncertainties posed by the worldwide epidemic. These developments, in my opinion, will have an influence on how restaurants operate in 2022 and beyond.

Restaurants will become much more digital in the future.

The epidemic sparked a digital and delivery revolution. If you ask me, there’s little doubt that this is a trend that will continue. This implies that online ordering, delivery, and curbside pickup must all be considered in the restaurant’s operations.It’s a certainty that a restaurant will have a presence on various online ordering applications, as well as direct ordering on the business’s own website. Restaurant owners must prioritize digital menu planning, taking into account food quality and delivery. Even indoor eating establishments are set to become increasingly digital, with some deciding to preserve online menus and table-ordering options, with food carried to tables by runners. Digital is becoming an integral component of today’s restaurant industry, and it must be taken into account in both present and future decisions.

More variety to satisfy customers’ cravings for new flavors

Consumers have been seeking diversity and new sorts of food options, owing in part to the pandemic: worldwide cuisines, healthful meals, unique ingredients, and so on. Because of social media, the trend has grown. Instagram Reels, for example, has had a significant impact in introducing people to new cuisine concepts and promoting variety.

New ideas and trends are spreading quicker than ever before, and food is no exception. A restaurant may easily offer new cuisines with a cheaper expenditure by adding virtual restaurant brands, while the business’s partner handles menu creation and marketing to create demand.

Restaurant layouts will evolve to meet the needs of the 21st century.

Restaurant owners must reassess how the physical architecture of their restaurants will work best for their company, workers, and customers as off-premise eating continues to grow in popularity. By 2025, I believe the 70/30 split, with greater front-of-the-house eating room and limited back-of-the-house cooking space, will be reversed to 30/70, with more back-of-the-house space. This renovation will adapt to the evolving restaurant industry.

Even high-end restaurants will likely have more drive-thru arrangements, and practically all brick-and-mortar restaurants will designate distinct locations for delivery drivers and customers picking up their takeout orders.

Restaurants will change their catering strategies.

Companies have rethought how they want to employ food in the workplace as a result of the transition from in-office work to a hybrid home-office split, as well as lingering fears about the pandemic. This has also spurred restaurants to think of new ways to resurrect a thriving catering industry.

Individually packed orders are more common in newer orders, such as box lunches rather than huge trays of shared meals. Managers with remote workers may wish to send food presents or treats to their staff in our new working world, such as 100 individual packages of gourmet cookies, pizza delivery for a virtual pizza party, or fresh vegetable baskets.

Robotic delivery will become more common.

Last-mile delivery is critical as delivery orders grow in popularity, but it has always relied on individuals. We must retool for future growth, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness in order to satisfy the rising demand. Because driver personnel is limited and consumer expenses must be reduced, the door is wide open for automation and technology to step in.

While none of us will remember the epidemic fondly, it did help us fast speed into a new age for the restaurant sector via endurance, inventiveness, and technology. As we approach 2022, both restaurants and customers have unprecedented revolutionary prospects. The table has been set. Let’s get some food!

The author of this article is Mr. Deepak Purohit, Founder, 36 Lebzelter

The views and opinions expressed are not of IIFL Securities, indiainfoline.com