The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
IMPACTING BUSINESS
How the pandemic has changed the CNY restaurant industry
CENTRAL N.Y. » Now nearly seven months since this health crisis began, COVID-19 is having rippling effects on the restaurant industry. An increase in takeout demand is a particular concern, but the situation is nuanced, and not all that meets the eye.
In today’s dining experience, servers wear masks, menus are disposable, groups are limited, and the ghost of what dining used to be haunts the floor. Even as restaurants were given the green light to support in-person dining services, many chose to hold back for fear of being the host of a viral breakout, and they wanted to wait until dining could resume with some normalcy.
The beginning of the pandemic for many establishments meant switching to a largely to-go-only model of business that discouraged congregation and viral spread but encouraged the use of disposable products. Many have stuck to this model, but it’s come at quite the cost.
Ray Brothers Barbecue, known for its smoked meats and communal atmosphere, used to be the go-to spot for family gatherings and outdoor concerts in Hamilton. The establishment decided to stick to takeout-only until they can again operate at full capacity, and they say they’ve paid the price.
“Our operating costs for takeout packaging have increased by roughly 350% during this time. Sadly, we had to make up for this somewhere. Rather than raising our food prices, we
“Our operating costs for takeout packaging have increased by roughly 350% during this time. Sadly, we had to make up for this somewhere. Rather than raising our food prices, we incorporated a temporary fee of $1.50 to every order to help us absorb the cost.” — Company website
incorporated a temporary fee of $1.50 to every order to help us absorb the cost,” the company wrote on their website.
They say this fee really only covers about a quarter of their takeout expenses, but it helps leverage the difference and keep their menu prices the same. Business is still booming for Ray Brothers, though, as they sell out nearly every night — but that’s a lot of takeout.
The Rye Berry Cafe and Bakery emphasized in a Facebook post back in June that serving food-to-go can help protect their most vulnerable customers, and so they’ve also chosen the takeout-only route. Properly enforcing face covering rules and social distancing is also a feat the bakery says they find difficult to achieve along with finding a sustainable way to clean reusable dishes. The business posted again in August reaffirming that takeout will be the norm until further notice.
The Pewter Spoon Cafe in Cazenovia has adapted to their own to-go-only model of business by closing off their main dining room, creating a drop-off station for customers to pick up their orders separately, and most recently, launching an online ordering platform. Customers can order and pick up a latte and a scone in a completely contact-less fashion.
“We just want to note how grateful we are to even be operating after some of the circumstances that took place back in mid-march,” co-manager Dana Carmeli shared. Their bakery partners and coffee suppliers had struggles of their own that made maintaining the cafe’s quality menu selection difficult, but now things have stabilized and business is back on track.
Takeout expenses have significantly increased at the Pewter spoon, and every item weighs in. “Even just giving customers peace of mind by putting their individual boxes into paper bags so they are better protected has proved to be quite an added expense,” Carmeli said.
There will be no more cozy coffee-shop lunch dates or study breaks in college town cafes such as
the Rye Berry and the Pewter Spoon. In fact, for many CNY students, finding any “cozy” place for a meal may be quite difficult as the culture is changing. Colgate University announced in their reopening plans that all students coming back to campus must quarantine for 14 days, and this means 14 days of packaged and delivered meals. When dining halls do reopen, graband-go meals will be prioritized, but it’s unclear if the students’ meal options will all be packaged to-go. SUNY Morrisville has confirmed in its reopening plans that all dining hall meals are to-go only, and there will be no in-house seating, either. The use of disposable cutlery and cups is also outlined in their dining plan. The environmental impact of all this added packaging has always been a concern for the industry. Most takeout containers aren’t recyclable in Madison County, and neither are utensils, condiment packages, wrappers, and the like. Altogether, that’s a lot of waste ending up in the belly of a landfill.
The average lunch break is a half-hour, but the average container can last a lifetime.
Eco-friendly options have always been available, but at a premium cost. Carmeli from the Pewter Spoon, which has prioritized ecofriendly packaging since before the pandemic, remarked, “The cost is definitely much greater than your usual plastic or styrofoam options, but we care deeply about this issue and can’t sacrifice our ethics in order to save on costs.”
Whether they are environmentalists or not, choosing what kind of packaging to use has always been a complex issue for businesses. Many strive to give their customers the best service possible while also fulfilling their own bottom line. During the COVID-19 era, using disposable products has become a means of survival, and sometimes, eco-friendly packaging just doesn’t fit in.
Jennifer Di Giorgio, chef and co-owner of Hipstir Cafe in Oneida, shared that it’s not just the packaging that has increased her business expenses, either. Unemployment and liability insurance prices have also gone up, and that’s just the beginning of a long list of jacked prices.
A box of gloves used to cost the cafe $19 and would last around 10 days, Di Giorgio explained. Now, the same gloves are lucky to be $85 a case, and the cafe now uses four cases in a week. Other cleaning supplies and packing materials are also now sold at a premium due to high demand, and her businesses also prioritizes eco-friendly options whenever possible.
Her restaurant has also had to be flexible to stay on top of things. Initially, when pandemic-anxiety was at its highest, Di Giorgio said that basic ingredients like chicken, beef, or fish were out of stock or were more expensive. This issue was consistent for other materials too, not just foods.
The pandemic has had effects on businesses that aren’t just monetary. The Oneida chef explained that her business prides itself on providing exemplary guest interactions and spaces of respite and relaxation, and the virus has made this quite difficult.
“We still wanted to ensure that for the people that came in, we were going to welcome them and make them feel as good as we could even if their interaction with us was going to be three minutes,” Di Giorgio remarked.
There are no more friendly employee walks through the dining room and free samples of delicious tests from the kitchen, but that doesn’t stop Hipstir from showing their customers they care.
The cafe is now serving more than half of its business in-house, the co-owner said, and they are doing their best to keep those personal connections and be a reliable getaway for their customers that keep their doors open. She said her businesses has offered discounted and expanded dinners and is always looking for a way to help the community during this chaotic time.
“We’ve had such a loyal unbelievable following and such an incredible amount of support from our community and regular guests,” the co-owner shared. Turning her back on them was never an option.
Supporting one another is something Hipstir has always valued in their mission, and the pandemic has been the ultimate test of that, she said. But despite the challenges, she couldn’t be more thankful.
“I think everybody is just trying to do their part. They’re trying to exercise their patience, trying to contribute, trying to be more kind, trying to be aware.”
“I don’t know if I could have had better support than Oneida.”