Bishop’s owner John Bishop did not realize when he recently announced he would retire and close his 35-year-old restaurant in August that the announcement would provide his restaurant needed help in staying busy, as public fears of contracting COVID-19 ramp up, and potential customers become less inclined to go to restaurants.
As of press time, the novel coronavirus pandemic had infected at least 169,385 people and caused 6,513 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University Centre for Systems Science and Engineering, with no sign of abating – prompting quarantines, lockdowns and travel advisories around the world.
“We’re a bit of an anomaly,” Bishop told Business in Vancouver. “All my friends and customers who have been coming for years have been scrambling to get in for dinner before we close.”
Many other restaurants in Vancouver continue to see significant foot traffic, but owners fear that people will take provincial health officer Bonnie Henry’s advice and start “social distancing” or avoiding social gatherings whenever possible.
Worse for their bottom lines could be an upcoming B.C. government order that restaurants close. Tonight, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee tweeted that tomorrow "we will temporarily shut down restaurants, bars and entertainment/recreational facilities statewide."
"King County will shut down these establishments immediately. As the largest population center and current epicenter of this outbreak, they must act with even greater urgency," the governor tweeted.
Hoarding has already taken place at grocery stores in B.C., where shelves filled with canned goods, rice, pasta and sauces are noticeably emptier than usual.
Save-On-Foods managing director of corporate services and public affairs Julie Dixon Olmstead maintains that her company’s “very strong and robust supply chain” is sufficient to keep products in stock even if panic buying increases and people adjust to working at home and eating self-made meals.
“It’s no different to how we look to service our customers for what they want every day,” she said.
She anticipates that an increasing number of customers may want to use her company’s e-commerce delivery service, which costs between $5 and $10, depending on the delivery time, and requires a $40 minimum purchase.
Save-On-Foods’ online ordering system does not ask customers if they have an infectious disease, but Dixon Olmstead said that customers who leave a note to say that they are infected may get special treatment in that delivery drivers could leave the products at a customer’s door without getting face-to-face confirmation that the customer has received the order.
“Ordinarily, we don’t leave product unattended,” she said. “We are taking the extra step to phone [any quarantined or isolated] customers to say we’re coming, confirm that they’re there and then leave the groceries at their door so they can retrieve them without having contact with the driver. We then would use phones to communicate with them to confirm that they have in fact received the product. Then we leave.”
Meal delivery companies may also be affected by coronavirus fears, although it remains to be seen to what degree.
People who fear catching the virus may be more likely to order food from these companies because they do not want to be in crowded restaurants. BC Restaurant & Food Services Association CEO Ian Tostenson, for example, is convinced that this will be the case.
“A big part of the market will go, ‘What? Cooking?” he said. “You’ll see a continued increase, and I think a dramatic increase of people saying, ‘You know what? I’m not going out but I’m not going to sacrifice my favourite restaurant food.’ They’ll order through third party delivery services. That sector is going crazy and it will go more crazy now.”
The flip side, however, is that people who are concerned about catching the virus from the restaurant chef or the delivery driver may make meals at home because they believe that the food preparation would be safer.
Tostenson said on March 15 that he supports Inslee's action: "Washington State needs to do this as they are a hot zone. We defer to the B.C. health officer."
When asked if he was concerned that the B.C. government would implement a similar order, he said "I am, but we need to ensure government support."
Starbucks has taken steps in Canada that so far exceed government demands. It said earlier today that it would start closing seating at all Canadian stores and that this would be executed by Wednesday. Many stores will close. Others to have limited hours. The economic impact is so far unclear. Starbucks’ Chinese same-store sales were down 78% in February, and it's starting to look like other markets will see similar downturns for the company.
DoorDash told BIV that it has created a task force to develop and implement a COVID-19 strategy to protect the health and safety of its workers, partners and customers.
This strategy includes a program to assist its drivers, or “Dashers,” financially with two weeks’ worth of pay if they are diagnosed with COVID-19 or put under quarantine by a public health agency.
“The program will be available globally in all of the markets we serve in the United States, Canada, and Australia,” DoorDash said in a statement last week. “We have also begun distributing much-needed supplies to Dashers in affected areas, such as hand sanitizers and gloves.”
Competitor SkipTheDishes sent BIV a statement to stress that it prizes health and safety above all, and that it has shared Canadian government and World Health Organization information on its website for customers, restaurant partners and delivery drivers.
“We will continue to monitor the situation closely,” it said. •
