COVID Caused Five Permanent Changes in the Restaurant Industry

4 Min Read By Dallas Henderson

So much was different before March 2020. Restaurant’s safety protocols were done “behind the scenes,” and guests most likely didn’t care about the sanitation of high-touch surfaces or whether they were sitting within six feet of other tables. For many brands, an annual audit was the norm, while employees may have focused on not "getting in trouble" or "getting a good score" rather than the creation of culture. Many operators relied on gut instinct, without a comprehensive view of their data to inform their decisions. So much has changed in the past few years.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been the biggest disruption that the restaurant industry has ever faced. Restaurants were unable to operate “normally” during the height of the pandemic, and many wonder if things will ever get back to “normal” for our industry again. I believe that these five things have permanently changed:

1. The Demand for TransparencyPre-pandemic, restaurant operators focused on maintaining safety…