May 2020

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THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 

SPECIAL EDITION 

MAY 2020 $4.00

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VOLUME 53, NO.5 | MAY 2020 

THE COVID-19 ISSUE: A LOOK AT THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE RESTAURANT LANDSCAPE 

21 CHANGING LANES 

Operators are pivoting to takeout and 

delivery as dining-rooms close 

25 ONE VOICE 

Industry bands together to send strong 

message to government 

25 

27 DELIVERING ANSWERS 

Third-party-delivery presents challenges 

for restaurant operators 

FEATURES 

9 ACTION PLAN 

Crisis-management tips for the 

hospitality industry 

12 REALITY CHECK 

Webinar series helps operators 

navigate the fallout from COVID-19 

14 MEETING OF THE MINDS 

Industry experts discuss the 

ramifications of the current crisis 

16 SUPPORTIVE MEASURES 

The Federal Government is offering 

economic support for businesses 

18 THE NEW NORMAL 

Experts say COVID-19 will change how 

we interact with foodservice 

9 

29 CLEANING UP YOUR ACT 

Chemical dispensers in restaurants can 

help support health and wellness 

31 SAFETY FIRST 

Tips for restaurant food handling 

in the new environment 

33 PICKING UP THE PACE 

Time is of the essence when it comes to 

launching new technology during a crisis 

34 PRECAUTIOUS PRACTICES 

Insight into how to market your brand 

during a pandemic 

37 HELPING HANDS 

Managing mental health during a crisis 

needs to be a top priority 

39 PRODUCT SHOWCASE 

Guide to products available to help 

operators during COVID-19 

27 

DEPARTMENTS 

2 FROM THE EDITOR 

4 FYI 

7 FROM THE DESK OF NPD GROUP 

40 GOOD NEWS 

FOODSERVICEANDHOSPITALITY.COM 

MAY 2020 FOODSERVICE AND HOSPITALITY 1

FROM THE EDITOR 

UNITED 

WE STAND 

With each passing day, the war against COVID- 

19 intensifies. The number of casualties 

increases, the fear intensifies and our lives 

change inalterably. 

In only a few short weeks, the world as 

we know it has forever altered. Who could have magined that 

we would be living through what seems like a bad sciencefiction 

movie? No individual or business has been spared by the 

onslaught, with many businesses forced to close, leaving operators 

to question how they will pay their rents, mortgages and bills. For 

the foodservice-and-hospitality industry, the fall-out is 

seismic. According to the NPD Group, in a matter of a few weeks, 

10 per cent of the industry’s restaurants disappeared from the 

landscape, representing about 7,000 units — more than what 

closed in the previous decade. And the closures have produced 

spinoff effects for several other groups that service the industry — 

food, beverage and equipment suppliers have all felt the impact. 

As we navigate the new normal, we continue to learn new 

lessons and turn increasingly to government for direction and 

financial aid. Through the despair, we’ve been surprised by our 

capacity to care, realizing we gain strength by standing together. 

It’s during moments like these we’re reminded 

humanity trumps everything. 

As our businesses become impacted and vulnerable, 

we come to realize and better understand 

that it’s only by working together that we can 

survive and, ultimately, emerge stronger. 

Like other businesses, KML has had to make 

changes in the way we operate. Since March 

12th, our staff has been working remotely, taking 

advantage of technology to help us stay 

connected and creative. In an effort to keep our 

readers informed of the myriad changes fuelled 

by COVID-19, we increased the frequency of 

our Hospitality Headlines e-newsletter from 

weekly to daily. We also made the leap to a digital 

publication for the short term (May, June 

and July/August issues). Though this decision 

makes sense on many fronts, it’s nonetheless a 

huge departure, as it represents the first time our 

magazine has been forced to suspend any of its 

print editions in our history, which spans more 

than 50 years. We’ve also been forced to reschedule our fledgling 

VISION 2020 conference from our scheduled date of April 21, to a 

later date, still to be determined. Lastly, and unfortunately, like so 

many businesses, we’ve had to lay off a few of our staff for the next 

few months until we return to “normal.” 

Until then, let’s do our part to work together, support one 

another and, more importantly, let’s hope this crisis has given us 

pause to learn some hard truths and lessons about what’s really 

important in our lives. And, let’s hope we don’t soon forget 

them. Stay safe. 

ROSANNA CAIRA rcaira@kostuchmedia.com 

@foodservicemag 

facebook.com/foodservicehospitalitymagazine 

instagram.com/rosannacaira 

NICK WONG, LOCATION PROVIDED BY VIA CIBO 

2 FOODSERVICE AND HOSPITALITY MAY 2020 FOODSERVICEANDHOSPITALITY.COM

EST. 1968 | VOLUME 53, NO. 5 | MAY 2020 

EDITOR & PUBLISHER ROSANNA CAIRA 

MANAGING EDITOR AMY BOSTOCK 

ASSOCIATE EDITOR DANIELLE SCHALK 

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT NICK LAWS 

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CO-ORDINATOR JHANELLE PORTER 

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ADVISORY BOARD 

FAIRFAX FINANCIAL HOLDINGS LIMITED NICK PERPICK 

FHG INTERNATIONAL INC. DOUG FISHER 

JOEY RESTAURANT GROUP BRITT INNES 

MTY GROUP MARIE-LINE BEAUCHAMP 

PROFILE HOSPITALITY GROUP SCOTT BELLHOUSE 

SOTOS LLP ALLAN DICK 

THE HOUSE OF COMMONS JUDSON SIMPSON 

THE MCEWAN GROUP MARK MCEWAN 

UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH, SCHOOL OF HOSPITALITY 

& TOURISM MANAGEMENT BRUCE MCADAMS 

WELBILT MARY CHIAROT 

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MONTHLY NEWS AND UPDATES FOR THE FOODSERVICE INDUSTRY 

SHIFTING 

GEARS 

Many restaurants across the country 

have shifted their offerings to fill 

customer needs during the current 

crisis. Local Public Eatery has launched 

Local Corner Store at its locations 

across Canada, offering basic groceries, 

meal kits, liquor and necessities 

in addition to its regular delivery 

and takeout menus. Similarly, Earls 

Restaurants introduced Earls Grocery 

at its operating locations and Joey is 

offering Joey Market. 

RITUAL 

RELIEF 

Toronto-based order-ahead platform, 

Ritual, launched an initiative in April 

allowing customers to donate to their local 

restaurants through the Ritual app. By 

searching “donate” in the app, users can 

find restaurants near them seeking support 

during the COVID-19 crisis. Donation 

options are displayed under “COVID 

Support Fund” on each restaurant’s in-app 

menu. Ritual will match donations up to a 

total of US$25,000, with 100-per-cent of the 

donations going directly to the restaurants 

customers select. 

DELIVERING 

PEACE 

OF MIND 

Pizza Pizza introduced a tamper-proof pizza box featuring 

a safety-locking mechanism that must be broken by the 

customer to access the pizza inside. The proprietary box 

provides extra assurance that the order has been untouched 

during delivery. The new box, in all sizes, was rolled out 

across Canada through April. “Our team has been working 

tirelessly to adapt to the recent health crisis so we can 

continue to provide safe and secure service to Canadians. 

We’re pleased to be able to offer a packaging solution that 

will give our customers added confidence in knowing their 

food is protected and safe,” says Paul Goddard, CEO, 

Pizza Pizza. 

ROAD 

WARRIORS 

Recognizing that restaurant shutdowns have made it 

difficult for truck drivers on the road to meet their basic 

needs — including food, drink and bathroom access — 

brands such as McDonald’s Canada and Tim Hortons have 

modified policies at some of their locations. Tim Hortons 

opened more than 400 restaurants along Canadian 

highways to provide services for truck drivers, including 

bathroom access. Tim Hortons is also working on introducing 

a new curbside mobile-ordering system to aid in 

takeout purchases while reducing contact. McDonald’s 

made modifications to its My McD’s app allowing truck 

drivers to order curbside pickup and have a staff member 

deliver their order to the truck. 

NICK WONG, LOCATION PROVIDED BY VIA CIBO 


JOLLIBEE 

DELIVERY 

With its dining-rooms temporarily 

closed, Jollibee launched delivery 

service across Canada and the U.S., 

in April. The service, powered by 

DoorDash is available at currently 

operating stores. Every order will be 

secured with a tamper-evident seal 

to ensure food isn’t touched 

after being packed in-store. 

Jollibee continues to operate 

its drive-thrus and pickup 

service at select locations. 

Customers can order the 

brand’s signature offerings 

à la carte, build their own 

meals or order a family pack. 

SERVING SENIORS 

Freshii has partnered with AlayaCare to provide seniors in the Greater Toronto Area with 

healthy prepared meals. Seniors in need are identified via the AlayaCare platform, which 

is widely used by home and community care clients in Ontario, and the meals are delivered 

by home- and community-care agencies. “The whole Freshii team is delighted 

to support the partnership with AlayaCare, serving seniors in need. Our mission is to 

bring healthy food to citizens of the world,” says Oliver Rodbard, senior vice-president, 

Freshii. “I can’t think of another time when this has been more important and the 

team and I feel privileged to provide Freshii meals to those most in need.” 



SUPPORT NET 

As the foodservice industry faces financial challenges due 

to the current crisis, members of the restaurant industry 

in major cities, such as Vancouver and Montreal, have 

come together to launch relief funds to provide support 

for industry workers impacted by COVID-19. The Vancouver 

Food & Beverage Community (VFBC) Relief Fund has 

distributed funds of between $25 and $150 to workers 

STANDING UNITED 

Sysco Canada launched Foodies Unite, an initiative to help heal 

the food industry in Canada. The program leverages the company’s 

supply chain to help its restaurant customers and grocery 

retailers adapt to the current and evolving environment created 

by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as provide meals to those in 

need. Sysco developed a wide range of online tools and resources, 

including industry insights, how to develop a takeout/delivery 

platform and social-media best practices. The company also 

partnered with food-relief organizations to donate 250,000 meals 

through the Food Rescue program. 

DIGITAL 

DONATION 

MaxTV Media, a provider of condo-based digital 

notice boards, is offering restaurant operators 

access to free advertising on its network of 1,700 

digital screens. The company is giving restaurants 

and bars in Ontario free advertising to target local 

residents with special offers and incentives to 

mitigate business losses during the pandemic. 

“COVID-19 is an unexpected, worst-case scenario 

for Ontario businesses,” says Erik Kehat, CEO of 

MaxTV Media. “Spending on new marketing campaigns 

is simply not an option for these businesses 

right now. We wanted to step up and help them 

reach local customers in a new way to keep sales 

coming in.” 

in need of short-term assistance for use toward basic 

necessities, such as groceries, bills, rent, prescriptions, 

et cetera. The Montreal Restaurant Workers Relief Fund 

(MRWRF) is providing funds of $50 to $150 to applicants 

based on their needs. It received 349 applications from 

restaurant workers in less than 24 hours and subsequently 

raised the $41,500 needed for these applicants. 

FEEDING 

THE 

FRONTLINE 

The Windsor Arms Hotel and Cerise 

Fine Catering have partnered to 

deliver free meals to first responders at 

Michael Garron Hospital in Toronto, 

as well as prepared snacks to the 

University Health Network, to support 

healthcare professionals on the 

frontline battling the COVID-19 crisis. 

The partnership first offered this support 

on April 2, delivering 500 lunches 

and 1,000 snacks and has continued 

the effort on a weekly basis. “After 

receiving an overwhelming amount of 

support from community members 

and healthcare professionals, we’re 

giving back in a small way by serving 

up something fresh in the kitchen,” 

says George Friedmann, president of 

Windsor Arms Hotel. 

SAFEGUARDING 

SUMMER JOBS 

In April, the federal government announced temporary changes 

to the Canada Summer Jobs program. The changes aim to help 

small-businesses hire and keep the workers they need so they can 

continue to deliver essential services during the COVID-19 crisis. 

These changes include an increase to the wage subsidy, so privateand 

public-sector employers can also receive up to 100 per cent 

of the provincial or territorial minimum hourly wage for each 

employee (up from 50 per cent in previous years). The updated 

program has also been extended to Feb. 28, 2021; allows employers to 

adapt their projects and job activities to support essential services; 

and allows employers to hire staff on a part-time basis. The call 

for applications for the 2020 season closed in February, however, 

the federal government will work to identify organizations that 

provide essential services in the community and could provide 

youth jobs but did not apply for the Canada Summer Jobs 

program in 2020. 

ISTOCK.COM/SVETLANA [FACES WITH MASKS]; ISTOCK.COM/TECHA TUNGATEJA [DIGITAL ORDERING] 


FROM THE DESK OF NPD 

SETTING THE STAGE 

Operators need to focus on winning back 

customers post-COVID-19 

As we ended the fourth 

quarter of 2019, restaurant 

growth was slowing. 

Unemployment had risen, 

consumer sentiment had 

fallen and household debt 

was at a record high. January and February 

continued with the slow traffic-growth 

trend of just one per cent — the lowest in five 

years. When there is economic uncertainly, 

one of the first things people cut back on 

is restaurant meals and, with many economists 

suggesting Canada will face a recession 

coming out of this isolation period, 

restaurants will have to work harder than 

ever to win back their customers. 

Here are some areas for restaurant 

oper-ators to focus on based on market 

trends from before the COVID-19 crisis. 

LET’S MAKE A DEAL 

With a high likelihood of an economic 

recession as we come out of the isolation 

period, expect consumers to be looking for 

deals. It will be important for the industry 

to avoid the pitfalls of deep discounting and 

instead come up with ‘deals’ that present the 

consumer with good value and not necessarily 

just a good price. 

Dealing is typically higher among consumers 

aged 18 to 34 and those with lower 

incomes. The overall deal rate has risen by 

five points over the last five years to just 

under 27 per cent of commercial visits, with 

research showing combos and coupons are 

the most popular forms of dealing. 

Digital orders (placed online or via 

mobile devices) generate the highest dealing 

rates, approaching 50 per cent of all orders 

that include a deal. Curiously, 

family visits include fewer 

deals than adult-only visits 

so, moving forward, more 

‘family-meal deal’ types of 

offers could be an area where 

operators can provide something 

unique. 

The average check on deal 

visits is higher than on nondeal 

visits and is rising at a 

similar rate. This supports the 

earlier statement that a deal 

does not necessarily mean a 

low price, just good value. In 

other words, it’s possible to get 

people to spend more to get 

a good deal — for example, offering something 

for free (delivery, dessert, appetizer) if 

a minimum threshold is met. 

DELIVERING THE GOODS 

The obvious behaviour that comes to the 

forefront during this time is increased delivery 

use. The question on everybody’s mind is 

how much of this behaviour will carry over 

post-COVID-19. Will the operators who are 

new to delivery realize its value and continue 

to support it? Will consumers who are new 

to delivery continue to order or will they go 

back to their previous ways? 

Delivery has been one of the fastest-growing 

segments of the market for several years 

and represents 300-million visits, or four 

per cent of total visits. Over the past year, 

delivery was up 19 per cent and represented 

about half of all market-visit growth. 

According to research company 

CivicScience, the biggest growth in delivery 

in the U.S. market at this time is displaced 

office workers working from home. 

CivicScience also reports that while people 

are ordering more delivery, they’re also tipping 

their drivers more, which is good news 

for frontline workers. 



TECH TALK 

Technology is the engine that drives all of the 

above trends — from the delivery boom to 

the rise in dealing. But technology also facilitates 

additional trends, such as touchless payment, 

which currently accounts for less than 

two per cent of all transactions. This form of 

payment is expected to climb as consumers 

continue to exercise caution around touching 

surfaces in public places or handling money. 

Pre-ordering has also risen in popularity, 

even before the COVID-19 crisis began. In 

fact, digital orders currently account for six 

per cent of all restaurant dollars and have 

been climbing faster than any other segment 

of the market for about three years. 

Customer interaction through social media 

allows restaurants to communicate with 

their customers, even if they are closed or on 

reduced service through this crisis. 

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION 

According to the NPD Group ReCount census 

of restaurant locations, there are approximately 

65,000 commercial restaurants in Canada. And, 

while independent restaurant counts peaked in 

2008 — followed by declines every year since 

— chains continue to grow, although the overall 

number of restaurants is down about 7,000, 

or just under 10 per cent in about 10 years. 

Restaurants Canada suggests another 10 per 

cent closed at the start of this crisis and many 

more are on the verge of shuttering. 

Amid these closures, independents have 

actually grown share of visits in recent years 

and those remaining open are stronger 

than ever as consumers gravitate towards 

the unique and authentic dining experiences 

offered by independent operators. In 

fact, a recent study completed in the U.S. by 

CivicScience indicates consumers are looking 

for ways to support their local businesses during, 

and after, this crisis. While this is a difficult 

time for independent restaurants, those 

able to survive the hardship should come out 

stronger on the other side. 

A NEW OUTLOOK 

Now, more than ever, restaurateurs need 

to realize going out to a restaurant is not 

just about the food. If it were, restaurants 

wouldn’t be suffering as much as they are 

right now because we still need to eat. Instead, 

eating out is about the experience. It’s all 

about spending time with friends and family, 

enjoying a night out and soaking in the ambiance. 

The functional side of eating out — the 

food — is further down on the list. In fact, a 

recent study completed by The NPD Group 

in the EU confirms going to a restaurant is 

one of the first things that many plan to do as 

soon as they’re able. 

SUMMING UP 

During this crisis, it’s important for operators 

to focus on their core. Understand your customer, 

why they visit and how your restaurant 

is different and unique. Continue to do what 

you do — only better than ever. But don’t be 

afraid to try new things to stay relevant and 

current, as long as they remain aligned with 

your core offerings. FH 

Vince Sgabellone is 

a foodservice 

industry analyst with 

The NPD Group. He can 

be reached at vince. 

sgabellone@npd.com 

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CRISIS MANAGEMENT 

PLANS 

FOR 

ACTION 

Crisis management for the hospitality industry 

BY ALLAN DICK 

ISTOCK.COM/CA-SSIS 

Crisis-management planning has 

been an important responsibility of company 

management and boards of directors. 

It’s fair to say that although hospitals 

have included preparing for pandemics 

in their crisis-management planning, the 

same cannot necessarily be said for most 

businesses in the hospitality industry. 

Businesses have been scrambling in the 

face of the current COVID-19 crisis to address 

its effects with little indication an 

effective and strategic plan had already 

been in place. 

Although only several weeks into 

closures or significant reductions in offerings, 

we’ve identified the following areas 

where hospitality businesses have had to 

react and need future plans. 



LEASES 

Most businesses have had to review 

their leases to determine their legal 

rights and practical options related 

to full or partial closures of their 

location(s). Following SARS, a number 

of landlords specifically included 

viruses as an exception in the “forcemajeure” 

provisions in their leases 

to deny an operator’s right to use an 

epidemic or pandemic as a basis for 

avoiding its lease obligations. Even 

without that express exclusion, many 

businesses are surprised when told the 

force-majeure provisions of their leases 

may not allow them to suspend their 

lease obligations. As a matter of planning 

moving forward, we can expect 

this “boiler-plate” provision to be hotly 

negotiated in the future. 

Every operator is making its own 

assessment of its ability to survive the crisis 

or avoid a lease, with a careful eye on 

any personal guarantees under the lease. 

INSURANCE 

Having the right insurance in place to 

cover identified risks has long been an 

element of good crisis-management 

planning. The insurance industry also 

reacted to SARS and many insurers 

excluded viruses as an event triggering 

coverage in their policies. 

Most business-interruption provisions 

require there to be physical damage 

to the business before coverage is 

available. Class actions have already 

sprouted up in the U.S. to address the 

denials of coverage that have been communicated 

in response to claims made 

in the industry. Denial-of-coverage 

responses have also been made to 

claims made by Canadian restaurants. 

It’s possible a restaurant could have 

closed because of physical damage 

caused by the COVID-19 virus, which 

we know can linger on surfaces for 

varying and lengthy periods of time. 

However, proof of that fact and the 

quantification of the loss relating to 

that event may be exceedingly difficult. 

Massive litigation over the application 

of business-interruption insurance can 

be expected in Canada as well with very 

uncertain outcomes. 

COMMUNICATIONS 

Businesses in the hospitality 

industry have had to hastily 

craft their communications 

messages to their suppliers, 

customers and, for franchisors, 

to their franchisees, 

without much evidence of 

advance planning having 

been in place. Health-andsafety 

shutdowns have long 

been identified as a serious risk factor 

in the industry requiring preparedness. 

Most plans, though, have centred on the 

need for operators to know who to call 

and to have public-relations firms at the 

ready to respond to social media targeting 

a location hit by a health-and-safety 

event. With COVID-19, no business in 

the industry has been left unaffected, 

so few have felt as if they’ve been put in 

the spotlight for adverse media attention. 

Nevertheless, proper messaging 

has been needed to ensure suppliers, 

customers and franchisees know the 

position of the business and its plan to 

function through — and survive — following 

the closures, including providing 

for customer and employee safety 

where operations have continued. 

Formulating and communicating 

to franchisees what’s expected of them 

and what support is available to them 

is necessary to ensure franchise systems 

remain intact. Franchisors should be a 

resource to help franchisees with their 

everY OperatOr 

Is MaKing Its Own 

assessMent Of Its 

abIlItY to survIve 

the crIsIs 

own financial challenges, including 

guiding them through the various government 

programs and providing information 

that can be used commonly 

when addressing landlords, lenders and 

their own employees and customers. 

EMPLOYEES 

Three important issues have arisen in 

managing employees during the current 

crisis. The first concerns their physical 

health and well-being. For those 

operators that continue, businesses 

have had to ensure those coming to 

work are aware of their responsibilities 

to themselves, their families, their coworkers 

and their customers to practice 

physical distancing and proper hygiene. 

The requirement to stay at home if any 

symptoms appear has been a clear message. 

The second concerns the necessary 

planning if any employee is identified as 

possibly having COVID-19. Restaurants 

must have their procedures in place 

for closing, disinfecting, identifying 

ISTOCK.COM/NICOELNINO 


which other employees must self-isolate for 

14 days, having replacement workers at the 

ready and communicating with customers. 

The third concerns lay-offs. Many businesses 

have had no choice but to lay off a significant 

percentage of employees. In the hotel industry, 

collective-bargaining agreements often 

address this right. For restaurants, the notion 

of a lay-off is often misunderstood. Lay-offs 

can give rise to constructive dismissal and 

employment-standards claims if the required 

notice period was not given. These dismissals 

will occur in a market where it will be difficult 

for terminated employees to mitigate their 

damages by finding new positions or know 

the future solvency of their employer to pay 

any entitlements. 

It can also be expected that there will be 

a large number of talented and experienced 

people who will be on the market once businesses 

start back up. There are projections 

that perhaps a third or more of all restaurants 

will not re-open for business once the pandemic 

passes. That presents an opportunity 

worthy of proper planning for those that want 

to access cooks and other staff. 

PUBLIC RELATIONS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS 

The need to have a public-relations and, in 

particular, a social-media response to the 

linkage of a case of COVID-19 infection to a 

particular business may have lessened given 

the widespread impact and effects of the 

disease. It is, nevertheless, important that the 

hospitality industry use this time to plan campaigns 

for connecting with the public during 

the pandemic and have a re-emergence strategy. 

Restaurants are hygienic and safe places 

to eat while physical distancing, which may 

continue, could be accommodated. It can be 

expected that the public will return to dining 

out before it may necessarily go to a movie, 

concert or sporting event. Getting the message 

out early and building up the demand and 

ability to be ready for it is an important strategy, 

which is best planned for in advance. 

Similarly, the industry associations have 

been hard at work lobbying governments and 

making their concerns known to those making 

decisions about their future, including 

the financial support needed by these businesses. 

It’s therefore important for industry 

participants to stay active and current and 

to know the people and resources they can 

access to get information on a timely basis. It’s 

often been said that by the time information 

becomes available to the public, it’s beyond its 

value for planning responses. The lesson here 

is to stay engaged with industry representatives 

and in front of the decisions that will be 

made affecting your businesses. 

FINANCE AND RESOURCES 

The pandemic has reinforced the need to have 

planned for cash reserves and credit available to 

allow businesses to survive through a shutdown. 

Whether for purposes of retaining key employees, 

keeping locations open where landlords 

may be challenging or funding necessary professional-service 

providers, financial resources are 

necessary at a time when revenues are either not 

available or significantly reduced. 

Knowing which sources you’ll be looking 

to for timely and accurate information is 

aslo key. Whether it’s to know the state of the 

virus, projections for lockdown periods and 

recovery times and knowing which government 

programs are available or being considered, 

hospitality businesses must know to 

whom they can turn for timely and accurate 

information and advice. 

It’s also a time where budgets must be 

revisited and financial planning conducted for 

a series of possible eventualities. These plans 

should consider weekly, monthly, quarterly, 

semi-annual and yearly scenarios using carefully 

considered assumptions to enable changes 

to be made quickly. It can be expected that 

those assumptions, and the results they produce, 

will change frequently given the fluidity 

of the pandemic and its impact. 

YOUR TEAM 

A good crisis-management program begins 

with the right team. Your key management 

personnel, board members where relevant, 

public relations, legal and financial advisors 

should all be in place together, with a communications 

plan, to allow meetings and realtime 

decision-making to occur. 

CONCLUSION 

It’s understandable that many in the industry 

had not accounted for this COVID-19 

pandemic as part of their crisis-management 

planning. Nevertheless, we’re still at the early 

stage of this crisis in North America. There 

are many unknowns as we progress through 

the pandemic. Planning can and should continue 

following best practices. FH 

Allan D.J. Dick is a 

partner with Sotos 

LLP, which is actively 

involved in crisismanagement 

planning 

and advisory for 

the hospitality and 

franchise industry. 

He can be reached 

at adjdick@ 

sotosllp.com or by cell at 416-805-8989. 


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Facing 

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INDUSTRY TOWN HALL 

ISTOCK.COM/FAYSAL AHAMED 


As the impact of COVID-19 became a 

reality and the devastating effect on 

the $80-billion Canadian foodservice 

market became more real, many of 

us struggled with how we could 

help. With that in mind, the online 

Town Hall Canada Foodservice 

COVID-19 Impact panel discussion 

webinar series launched 

on March 30. The goal of 

the series, running every 

Monday through April, was 

to bring together a panel 

of industry experts in 

an effort to start conversations 

and share 

as many data points, 

insights and opinions 

as possible. 

Our first 

panel discussion 

included Chris Elliot, senior economist, Restaurants Canada; David 

Lefebvre, vice-president, Federal, Restaurants Canada; Rosanna 

Caira, editor and publisher of Foodservice and Hospitality 

magazine; and Margot Swindall, Canadian director, Technomic. 

Restaurants Canada has been providing resources and advice to 

its members throughout the COVID-19 crises, with a strong focus 

on employment standards, health and safety when it comes to food 

delivery and resources dedicated to mental health and wellness. 

“[We’ve also been] sharing information, especially as it relates 

to if a staff member has COVID-19 and how to run [restaurant] 

operations during these difficult times” Elliot shared. 

The much-needed association support came as the Canadian 

foodservice industry took a devastating hit from the fallout of 

COVID-19 in the first two weeks of March. “The industry saw 

a 72-per-cent decline in sales in the first and the last two weeks 

of March,” said Elliot. “This has affected more than 800,000 jobs. 

Because of this, we’ve seen one in 10 restaurant operators shut 

down permanently, just in the last two weeks. It’s been devastating 

for the industry. And behind every statistic, there’s a story of an 

operator that’s been in the business for 20 or 30 years that’s lost 

their dream, that’s lost their life savings and they’re just struggling 

to get by.” 

Lefebvre provided insight into how Restaurants Canada started 

immediately working with the government to ensure restaurants 

and food delivery would be classified as essential services as the 

government started to impose physical-distancing measures and 

shut down of business. 

“The first thing we worked on with the government was [making 

sure that for] restaurants with delivery, takeout and drivethrough, 

there would be some part of the businesses that would be 

recognized as essential services and be able to move forward.” 

He added the Canadian government needs to be doing more to 

assist the foodservice industry, “We need something a little bit more 

structured in between the federal government, and probably the 

provinces, [when it comes to] mortgage payments, rents and also 

utilities. So, this is what we see as the next frontier.” 

“People are going into debt to pay their rent or mortgages,” said 

Elliot. “They’ve lost their jobs and so there’s going to be a slow 

recovery on the consumer-spending side. But, because of that slow 

recovery on the foodservice side, it’s going to continue to extend 

into the second and third quarter. Tourism is obviously going to 

be hit hard. So, if you’re in a tourist community that relies on 

tourism over the summer, that’s an area where you’re going to be 

hit particularly hard” 

ADJUSTING TO THE NEW NORMAL 

Technomic’s U.S. research regarding shifting consumer behaviours 

due to the COVID-19 impact, “[showed] a huge shift to increased 

purchases at the grocery level,” said Swindall. “That ranges anywhere 

from an increase of 22 per cent up to a significant 25 per 

cent, 30 per cent and even higher” 

She also provided views on what future consumer behaviour 

might look like. “Some consumers would respond or return to 

their foodservice activity within a matter of days once the all-clear 

happens,” she noted. “Other [may take] up to six months to get 

back whatever that new normal is going to be.” 

That new normal includes the explosive growth of thirdparty 

aggregators such as SkiptheDishes and Uber Eats and the 

role they play during this difficult time. With the delivery market 

already pushing sales over $4 billion, the panel agreed the 

COVID-19 impact was going to make the digital channel of a 

restaurant’s business a more-significant area of focus during and 

post-COVID-19. 

From a workforce standpoint, Caira said restaurant businesses 

will need to focus on how to transition staff back into the workforce 

after being away for several weeks “as well as how employees 

work, the shifts and how employers can also be more flexible 

about ways to bring staff back.” 

She also detailed how the impact of COVID-19 may make 

operators stronger as they emerge from this crisis, “Operators will 

need to focus on how to prioritize innovation. This has been such 

a grueling time and it’s taught us all a lot of lessons. But they’ll 

need to understand how can they use technology better to create 

more efficiencies moving forward, so we can focus more on preparing 

for the constant disruption and transformation that we’re 

all getting used to.” FH 

To view recordings of the Town Hall webinars, please visit 

stratonhunter.com 


ROUNDTABLE 

MEETING o 

KML podcast brings industry associations together to discuss ramifica 

As the foodservice-and- 

hospitality industry deals with 

the fallout of the COVID-19 pan- 

demic on business, the industry’s 

associations are working around 

the clock to advocate on behalf of 

their memberships for continued 

government relief. 

In a KML podcast moderated 

by editor/publisher Rosanna 

Caira on March 26, the leaders 

of Restaurants Canada, the 

Ontario Restaurant Hotel & 

Motel Association (ORHMA), 

the Greater Toronto Hotel 

Association (GTHA) and the 

Hotel Association of Canada 

(HAC), as well as a partner of 

Toronto law firm Sotos LLP, came 

together virtually to discuss the 

implications of the pandemic. 

While each of the panelists on 

the podcast believes the government 

is doing its best to deal with 

the ramifications of this pandemic, 

all stressed the need for more to 

be done over the coming weeks to 

ensure the industry can survive. 

According to Susie Grynol, 

president and CEO of Ottawabased 

HAC, “Our governments 

have done a very good job of 

getting out early, focusing where 

they should be focused: on individuals 

and on those who are 

vulnerable, on public health and 

safety, making sure we have the 

right technology and supplies 

and that our for first responders 

are well taken care of. They’ve 

done their announcements 

in the right order. But there’s 

more to be done on the business 

side, in terms of driving 

the economy, which specifically 

concerns this sector. We will see 

more announcements on that 

front. We’re in direct contact 

with the Department of Finance 

and working very closely with 

their officials on a proposal as we 

speak. There’s more to come and 

we hope they’ll be focusing on 

that this week and next.” 

From the national foodservice 

perspective, Shanna 

Munro, president and CEO of 

Restaurants Canada, said, “We’re 

encouraged by the measures 

introduced across the country 

so far. We’ve been encouraging 

government on the urgency that 

needs to take place to take more 

immediate action. For foodservice, 

restaurants that are closed 

still have to pay their rent. There’s 

no cash coming in. How can they 

do that? Our immediate priority 

is to maintain liquidity for the 

foodservice businesses so we can 

keep our staff employed with 

takeout and delivery and drive 

thrus that remain open. Their 

focus is now on how they can 

continue to serve the communities 

they operate within. We need 

help in strengthening the relief in 

the areas of loans, mortgages and 

especially rents — it’s a daunting 

issue as we move forward, as 

landlords expect to get paid but 

the money’s not there; so what 

does that mean for the operator? 

The window for restaurants to 

survive COVID-19 is definitely 

closing…so there’s a huge urgency 

from the industry to get relief,” 

she said. 

For HAC, the wish list to 

government “falls into three key 

buckets,” said Grynol. “First is 

liquidity (deferring tax payments, 

forgoing tax payments, putting 

pressure on banks so they’re 

flexible), then employment and 

recovery. We have a number 

of different recommendations 

under those buckets. [Last week] 

the government addressed our 

concerns with employment,” she 

says, explaining that at first it was 

only those employees who would 

be off due to illness that could 

collect EI, but “last week they 

included laid-off individuals — 

and our hotel industry did have 

to lay off tens of thousands.” Still, 

even with those measures Grynol 

ISTOCK.COM/DANIJELALA 


f the MINDS 

tions of COVID-19 for the foodservice and hospitality industry 

anticipated the system would be 

overloaded, causing a three- or 

four-week waiting period. 

From an Ontario perspective, 

Tony Elenis, president and CEO 

of ORHMA, believes “The entire 

Western world could have reacted 

quicker with prompt safety 

restrictions and controls and the 

WHO should have had better 

criteria to define a pandemic… 

But we now see the government 

leaders exemplifying true leadership. 

They’re communicating, 

collaborating and taking action. 

The priority is health; it’s about 

safety and controlling the spread 

of the virus, closing restaurants, 

restricting travel at the right steps 

and, of course, it’s tremendously 

impacting our industry, but it’s 

the right thing to do.” But with 

regard to the economic package, 

Elenis stresses that “remains to be 

seen, as there has not been swift 

support yet.” He does add some 

provincial decisions are expected 

this week. “We’re advocating on 

all fronts and hoping for the best 

for our industry.” 

For now, the top-two priorities 

are clear, said Elenis. “[First], 

employees have to be taken care 

of through a reform of EI. It 

comes up over and over again as 

the number-1 issue, even from 

business owners, because they 

want their employees to survive. 

We’re talking about extending the 

layoff period time frame, because 

once they come back after 13 

weeks, businesses won’t be able 

to support a severance package. 

Secondly, it’s liquidity…it’s about 

leniency; but we need to also talk 

about delaying hydro, utility bills, 

property taxes and rent. It’s a big 

issue that will put most under. 

We’re hearing that a lot of landlords 

are sticking to the books,” 

and expecting rent to be paid as 

usual. But Elenis is hopeful there 

will be changes when the Landlord 

Act comes under review. 

Certainly, as Terry Mundell of 

the GTHA, notes, these are challenging 

times for government. 

“They’re trying to find solutions 

but this is the most complex 

environment we’ve ever been in.” 

Governments, much like us, 

says Mundell are struggling to find 

the right solutions. “It’s still a real 

challenge to get the public-health 

situation looked after. Toronto 

Public Health, provincial and 

federal public health have communicated 

quite well, but clearly, 

we need more. All the politicians 

we’ve talked to, whether it’s senior 

finance minister, the mayors, the 

councilors, they’re all in the same 

boat — they know they have to 

act, and they are, but this is far 

larger than anybody expected.” 

While government has done its 

best to deal with the challenges, 

Allan Dick, partner at Sotos LLP, 

believes “Government messaging 

has been a bit confusing. It’s 

hard to explain to people why 

they can’t go to a safe and clean 

restaurant, which can observe 

social-distancing protocols, yet 

those same people can go to a 

LCBO or a crowded supermarket, 

where proper hygiene is so much 

harder to control.” 

Dick applauds the Quebec 

government for implementing “a 

policy right off the bat for restaurants 

to reduce their capacities 

by half, which would allow for 

social distancing; given the other 

regulations that apply to restaurants. 

It was a good first 

measure and probably something 

we should have introduced here 

[in the beginning],” he said, adding, 

“The one thing governments 

have done properly is focus on 

employee support because that’s 

fairly critical from a number 

of perspectives. Making sure 

employees can stay at home 

where warranted will keep people 

from engaging in risky practices 

if they feel desperate.” FH 



ECONOMIC SUPPORT 

GETTING 

SUPPORT 

The federal government is offering a suite of 

economic-support measures for businesses 

BY DANIELLE SCHALK 

Many changes and additions 

have been made to the federal 

government’s COVID-19 

Economic Response Plan since 

it was originally announced in 

mid-March. 

“We’re going to continue to consider the 

next steps we might need to take as this crisis 

unfolds and will be open to new measures 

appropriate to the challenges we face,” Minister 

of Finance, Bill Morneau, said at an April 1 

press conference. 

Support for businesses currently includes 

access to credit, wage subsidies, an extension of 

the Work-Sharing program and flexibility on 

tax remitatance. 

The BCAP (Business Credit Availability 

Program) includes the new Canada Emergency 

Business Account, which provides interest-free, 

guaranteed loans of up to $40,000 to small 

businesses and not-for-profits to help cover 

operating costs. To qualify, organizations must 

have paid $50,000 to $1.5 million in total payroll 

in 2019. Full loan repayment by Dec. 31, 

2022 will result in a 25-per-cent loan forgiveness. 

On April 5, the government confirmed 

restaurants and bars were eligible to apply for 

the BCAP. 

The Business Development Bank of Canada 

(BDC) and Export Development Canada 

(EDC) have also worked with financial institutions 

to issue new operating credit and 

cash-flow term loans of up to $6.25 million 

to small- and medium-sized enterprises 

(SMEs) and co-lend term loans to SMEs for 

their operational cash-flow requirements. The 

co-lending program will provide incremental 

credit amounts of up to $6.25 million to 

eligible businesses. 

The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy 

(CEWS) will cover 75-per-cent of each employee’s 

wage and is available to all businesses, 

ISTOCK.COM/NUTHAWUT SOMSUK 


Many industry organizations have 

been lobbying for increased measures 

to support the hospitality industry 

and its workers, particularly as publichealth 

measures became increasingly 

restrictive for operators. 

Restaurants Canada, along with industry 

associations from across the country, 

has submitted relief recommendations 

to government. Groups such as 

SaveHospitalityCA and One Table have 

also formed in the midst of the COVID- 

19 crisis to boost the voice of 

the industry. 

Recommended actions being pushed 

by the industry include a stay on rent 

payments and injunction on evictions; 

flexibility on loans and mortgages; 

supplemented Employment Insurance 

(EI) benefits for those in cities with 

higher costs of living; forgivable loans 

to restaurants; suspension of federal 

and provincial taxes; lowered interest 

rates on credit cards; and extending 

the temporary-layoff period. 

“Many in our industry shut down 

even before it was mandated and we 

know we’ll likely be among the last of 

businesses able to reopen — meaning 

we’ll be incurring costs with 

zero revenues longer than any other 

industry,” says John Sinopoli, partner 

& executive chef of Ascari Hospitality 

Group and one of SaveHospitalityCA’s 

co-founders. “The majority of owners 

will not have the funds to make rent 

and continue to pay benefits to their 

laid off employees.” 

regardless of size, that meet eligibility criteria. 

To qualify, applicants must provide evidence 

their business has lost a minimum of 15 per 

cent of its gross revenue as a result of COVID- 

19 for the month of March and a minimum of 

30 per cent for April and May. 

Businesses will have to re-apply on a 

monthly basis through the Canada Revenue 

Agency (CRA), calculating revenue loss based 

on year-over-year revenue comparisons for 

each month. To address the needs of highgrowth 

companies and new businesses, losses 

can also be based on an average of revenue 

earned in January and February 2020. It has 


also been proposed that employers be allowed 

to measure revenues either on the basis of 

accrual accounting (as they are earned) or cash 

accounting (as they are received). 

Based on an April 1 announcement, funds 

from this subsidy are expected to be available 

around May 13. The subsidy, which is being 

backdated to March 15, will cover up to three 

months and will be on the first $58,700 earned 

— allowing for up to $847 a week. 

The originally announced 10-per-cent 

Temporary Wage Subsidy for Employers, which 

was introduced as part of the initial federal 

response, is also available to small businesses, 

with no requirement to prove a decline in revenues. 

This three-month measure reduces the 

amount of payroll deductions required to be 

remitted to the CRA — up to $1,375 for each 

eligible employee and 

to a maximum of $25,000 total per employer. 

Additional measures include the Work- 

Sharing program, the maximum duration for 

which has been extended from 38 to 76 weeks, 

for workers who agree to reduce their normal 

working hours. And, GST/HST payments, 

duties and taxes on imports have been deferred 

for businesses until the end of June in an effort 

to ensure businesses have more liquidity. FH 


FEATURE 

The New Nor 

COVID-19 will have a far-reaching impact on how Canadians inte 

BY AMY BOSTOCKThe New 

spread across 

the country, 

ASCOVID-19 

many provinces 

declared a state of emergency, 

closing restaurants and bars in 

an effort to flatten the curve. 

For those that were able, takeout 

and delivery orders became the 

new lifeblood of the restaurant 

industry and operators had to 

re-examine their business models 

in order to adapt to what 

many are predicting will be the 

new normal. 

In this new normal, experts 

say the foodservice industry 

will likely see myriad changes 

— from the viability of sustainability 

programs, to the changing 

role of third-party-delivery 

services, to customers looking 

more closely at how restaurant 

operators treat their workforce 

— that will have far-reaching 

implications across every aspect 

of operations. 

CHANGING THE MODEL 

When provincial governments 

began mandating restaurant dining-room 

closures in mid-March, 

operators were forced to pivot 

to takeout and delivery offerings 

in order to stay in business. For 

large operators with resources 

already dedicated to this model, 

the changeover was seamless. 

“We’ve always offered takeout 

and delivery, so nothing [really 

changed], except for the fact 

[it became] the sole revenue 

stream for those restaurants in 

our system that still operated 

ISTOCK.COM/TOONDELAMOUR 

18 FOODSERVICE AND HOSPITALITY MAY 2020 

FOODSERVICEANDHOSPITALITY.COM

mal 

ract with foodservice 

in jurisdictions that allowed it,” 

says Bruce Fox, EVP, Business 

Development at Vancouver-based 

Browns Restaurant Group. “The 

third-party-delivery landscape 

has changed rapidly in the last 

few years, so we’ve been ramping 

up as demand called for it. We’ve 

adapted with some practical 

operational solutions regarding 

better containers, order-accuracy 

methodology and safety/sanitation 

needs, but, generally speaking, 

all of this was in the pipe 

before the COVID-19 crisis 

hit us.” 

But, for smaller, independent 

operators, the struggle to find 

safe and affordable alternatives 

to dine-in required more creative 

thinking. In Stouffville, Ont., a 

rural community northeast of 

Toronto with a population of a 

little more than 45,000 people, 

family-run restaurants outnumber 

chains. Many of these 

small, one-off concepts were not 

equipped to pivot to a takeout 

and delivery model and were 

forced to close their doors while 

owners tried to navigate the 

world of third-party-delivery 

platforms. 

Main Street Bake House, a 

popular community hub, built 

a new e-commerce site and 

transformed its neighbourhood 

coffee-house concept to offer preordered 

bakery-boxes that could 

be picked up or delivered three 

times a week. 

“As a small, family business, 

we’ve been hard at work reimagining 

ways to continue engaging 

with you,” the owners posted on 

the company’s Facebook page at 

the launch of the initiative. 

The Smokery Kitchen + Bar, 

an elevated casual-dining spot on 

Stouffville’s main street, began 

creating Family Meals to Go for 

takeout and delivery, along with 

a scaled-down version of its 

seasonal menu. 

And, while it may seem logical 

that the millennial cohort 

will be ordering most of the 

takeout and delivery, Jo-Ann 

McArthur, president of Torontobased 

Nourish Food Marketing, 

warns operators shouldn’t 

discount Baby Boomers. 

“That generation hasn’t adapted 

to online technology the same 

way, so they don’t have Uber Eats 

on their phone. But [during the 

crisis], you started to see their 

kids, their grandkids concerned 

Great 

SLUG HERE 

Expectations 

Survey shows consumers will 

expect improved restaurant 

hygiene post-COVID-19 

A survey conducted by GP PRO, a 

provider of disposable products for 

foodservice and advanced dispensing 

solutions for commercial facilities, 

has revealed that while consumers 

were less concerned about foodservice-related 

hygiene prior to the 

coronavirus outbreak, the outbreak 

has heightened their concern and 

their concern will remain elevated 

once the pandemic is over. 

The proprietary survey of 468 participants 

between March 20 and 23, 

identified pre- and post-COVID-19 

consumer attitudes and behaviours 

related to hygiene within takeout, 

delivery and quick-serve dining. 

Some of the key findings included: 

60 per cent of those surveyed 

said that post-COVID-19, they will 

remain more concerned about 

unwrapped cutlery being unhygienic 

than they were before the outbreak 

59 per cent state that post- 

COVID-19, they will remain more concerned 

about restaurant tables being 

sanitized than they were before 



about a foodservice worker 

touching their beverage lid than they 

were before the outbreak 


COVID-19, they will remain more 

concerned about delivery drivers 

touching their food than they were 

before the outbreak 



about a foodservice worker 

touching their napkins than they 

were before the outbreak 

“These findings demonstrate a 

critical need for foodservice owners 

and operators to prioritize hygiene 

in the post-COVID-19 world,” says 

Alec Frisch, vice-president and 

general manager of Foodservice with 

GP PRO. “Undoubtedly, it will not be 

business as usual when restaurants 

re-open their doors. Those that look 

at hygiene as a way to win customers 

back and re-gain their loyalty 

will be much more likely to succeed 

long-term.” 



about their personal safety and 

teaching them how to use [the 

apps]. So, while they weren’t 

technology adopters before, [this 

was the] tipping point for them 

as well.” 

CHANGING PERCEPTIONS 

McArthur says post-COVID-19, 

the transparency diners have long 

demanded in terms of their food 

will now extend to treatment of 

workers — especially third-partydelivery 

staff. “There’s going to be 

a questioning of the gig economy, 

because a lot of people [who 

work in it] don’t have a social 

safety net,” adds McArthur. “And 

we know the average person is 

one paycheque away from not 

being able to make their rent.” 

She adds the gig economy, 

which includes third-partydelivery 

employees, “while 

responsible for creating flexible 

employment opportunities for 

many, has inherent risks and 

lacks a social safety net. One of 

the things we’ll see [once we get 

back to normal] is a reckoning 

around the whole gig-economy 

model,” says McArthur. “It’s been 

starting to move to more of a 

collective, potentially unionized, 

model and you’ll start seeing 

that as well. [People will gain an] 

understanding that these workers 

are incredibly vulnerable.” 

She says operators and customers 

will also be taking another 

look at the role of sustainability, 

adding an increase in single-use 

plastics could be seen very early 

on in the COVID-19 crisis. “Short 

term, it’s got to be personal safety 

over planet safety,” she says. “And 

also, [restaurants] that accepted 

bring-your-own-cup or bringyour-own-container 

stopped all 

of that because they didn’t want 

to put their staff at risk of touching 

something that may not have 

been thoroughly cleaned.” 

In fact, in the early days of 

COVID-19, reusable cups were 

one of the first causalities of 

increased health-and-safety measures, 

with large chains such as 

Starbucks, Tim Hortons, Second 

Cup and McDonald’s imposing 

temporary bans on their 

use. And post-COVID, says one 

industry analyst, green restaurant 

practices are likely to continue 

to take a hit as customers choose 

safety over sustainability. 

“The COVID-19 crisis will 

thrust reusable takeout containers 

and cups into the trough 

of disillusionment,” says Vince 

Sgabellone, foodservice industry 

analyst with Toronto-based NPD 

Group. “This was a great idea 

when everybody was worried 

about saving the planet for our 

grandkids. But, now everybody is 

so focused on their own survival 

for today that protecting the 

future will likely take a backseat 

for a while.” 

Moving forward, McArthur 

hopes people will continue to get 

behind the hospitality industry 

“because it always suffers more 

than any other industry [during 

a crisis].” 

After working on the frontlines 

of the SARS crisis in 2003, 

she recalls that good can come 

out of bad times. 

“Out of crisis usually comes 

something really disruptive in 

terms of technology. In 2003, it 

was (e-commerce and technology 

company) Alibaba [out of] 

China,” she recalls, adding post- 

COVID, “touch [technology] is 

going to be a real issue, because 

at a lot of quick-serve restaurants 

you have to use touch for kiosks 

and such. So, I wonder if [the 

industry] will move more towards 

voice [-activated technology]?” 

“Something will come out of 

this,” she predicts. “I don’t know 

what it’s going to be yet, but it 

always does — and it’s going to 

be super cool.” FH 

We salute the 

resilience and 

ingenuity of our 

foodservice 

and hospitality 

community. 

We’re in this 

together. 

YOUR HOSPITALITY 

BUILDING PARTNER 

info@bltconstruction.com 

TORONTO | 416.755.2505 

VANCOUVER | 604.563.2505 


Q&A 

the pivot to 

takeout and 

delivery 

As COVID-19 continues to impact foodservice 

operations across the country, an increasing 

number of operators are setting their sights 

on takeout and delivery 

INTERVIEW BY ROSANNA CAIRA 

THE PARTICIPANTS 

KEN OTTO 

CEO, REDBERRY 

JOHN F. LETTIERI 

PRESIDENT, HERO BURGER 

ISTOCK.COM/OLGA STRELNIKOVA 

Rosanna Caira: Since the World Health 

Organization declared COVID-19 a 

pandemic, most restaurants have 

been forced to close their operations. 

Takeout and delivery has become the 

only viable option for a lot of 

restaurant companies. How has your 

company morphed to this new reality? 

Ken Otto: It’s certainly been a time 

of pivoting almost every single day. 

Currently, at our Burger King and Pizza 

Hut [locations] in Alberta, we’re serving 

our guests exclusively through our drive 

thru. We’re one of the lucky ones — well 

over 90 per cent of our Burger Kings 

have the drive-thru lane and drive-thru 

window available to our guests. And 

we’ve relied on our partnerships 

with Uber, SkipTheDishes 

and, most recently, DoorDash 

to generate a substantial revenue 

stream through our delivery and aggregator 

partners. 

We closed our dining rooms for takeout 

primarily [out of concern] for the 

safety of our crew in our stores. And, 

obviously, revenues are down. But we’re 

lucky to have the drive-thru lanes. We 

were very supportive of our aggregator 

partners from the get go and have quite 

a loyal following on the three platforms. 

Right now, about 20 per cent of our sales 

are coming through the aggregator partners. 

We’re making our way through this. 

It changes every day. 



to offer a different format. We’ve 

been working on this for the 

past six months as something we 

looked to do in retail — probably 

in Q4 of this year — but we 

accelerated it and it’s a great test 

for us to see how it performs. 

RC: How does that impact Pizza 

Hut, which doesn’t have the 

drive-thru capacity? 

RC: What new hurdles are you 

dealing with in this new in this 

new normal? 

KO: The pizza channel is primarily 

takeout and delivery anyway, 

and our takeouts do remain. [Our 

Pizza Hut locations are] open in 

Alberta and we’ve designed new 

service techniques, but our delivery 

channel is growing rapidly. 

We’re happy with how Pizza Hut 

is performing and when people 

are cocooning, ordering pizza is a 

natural choice. 

RC: John, how has this crisis 

impacted Hero Burger? 

John Lettieri: It’s impacted 

us quite a bit. Our sales are 

substantially down, [so we’ve] 

intensified how we communicate 

to consumers that we’re 

open and about the health-andsafety 

aspect [with regard to] the 

delivery of food and also at the 

restaurant level. We’re working 

with our aggregators — we don’t 

have the luxury of drive thru, but 

there’s been a substantial increase 

on our online ordering. [For 

pick-up orders] we got explicit 

at the beginning, through social 

media, on the details and we’ve 

created signage within the store. 

We’ve put customer pickup and 

delivery on separate ends of the 

counters and we’ve indicated 

where they should be standing 

— they just pick up their food 

and go. 

RC: How many people have you 

had to lay off in your stores? 

JL: Of the 500 to 550 people in 

the system, I would figure 70 

per cent. 

KO: We went from a full-staff 

component [in March] and now 

we’re probably operating with 60 

to 65 per cent of our staff. I say 

this from the bottom of my heart, 

we’re one of the lucky ones. 

RC: What hurdles have you had 

to deal with in dedicating your 

business primarily to this area? 

JL: We’ve ensured the franchisees 

stay open because, in most areas, 

there’s quite a bit of delivery. 

We’re now introducing homemeal 

replacements, introducing 

all our proteins in a special 

box that can be safely ordered. 

[It includes] cooking instructions, 

the description of the product 

and how it can be prepared 

at home. If you want French 

fries, we’ll include a small bag of 

French fries, or vegetables, and 

you can make the burger. We’ll 

provide bread, lettuce, tomato, 

onions. We have all that set up in 

different packaging formats. 

RC: What made you introduce 

this concept? 

JL: It’s always been there. We 

developed six or seven labels last 

year because we wanted to do 

some more grocery [sales] and 

now, with introducing our virtual 

kitchen, it gives us options 

KO: We’re pivoting to larger 

orders. It’s really interesting 

watching the orders come in from 

the aggregator delivery partners. 

When aggregators first started, 

we would have people ordering, 

one burger or one shake ,but 

now we’re seeing people ordering 

five, six, eight, 10 meals because 

they’re feeding the household. I 

would strongly recommend people 

that have their menu on one 

of those platforms get out there 

and sponsor bundles, because 

people aren’t behaving 

as individuals. 

We also have no-contact drive 

thru, so we’re working with 

Burger King and our franchisor 

partners on getting food in sealed 

bags passed to you in a tray. It’s 

just learning different ways of 

connecting with a guest and 

giving that guest a level of comfort 

that we’ve done everything 

humanly possible to make our 

food safe. Then it’s pivoting on 

marketing — working with your 

marketing crew or your social/ 

digital-marketing people to really 

experiment with ways to connect 

with people differently. 

RC: What are you doing to stand 

out on social media? 

KO: Burger King and Pizza Hut 

have been great on this one and 

I give a solid shout out to my 

franchisor partners who pivoted 

very quickly to the first campaign; 

we’re all about safety and that was 

the key message people were most 

interested in. We’ve now pivoted 


into advertising the delivery and 

the drive-thru channels. It’s just 

being very specific. There’s a 

time on social to build a brand 

and there’s a time to simplify 

your message. There’s so much 

information coming to people 

these days, so keep your message 

simple, keep it relevant and easy 

to understand. 

JL: You’ve got to keep it simple. 

It’s an opportunity to comunicate 

your message, what you’re 

doing, what you stand for and 

how you’re there to deliver safe 

food to their homes. 

RC: How has your food supply 

chain been impacted? 

JL: We have ample food and we do 

have our own distribution. Our 

warehouse is full and the suppliers 

seem to have enough food. It’s not 

a problem on that end. 

KO: It’s very important for 

Canadians to know that first and 

foremost, our supply chain and 

our food-safety chain for every 

restaurateur and distributor in 

Canada has always been world 

class and that hasn’t changed. We 

have so many heroes out there 

working for our distributor partners. 

These are times where we 

rely on these people and they’ve 

stepped up. They’ve adjusted their 

shipping and drop-off procedures, 

they work on their own contingency 

plans to manage through 

this crisis and we have nothing but 

thanks for the whole supply chain. 

RC: What kind of safety 

protocols are you implementing 

at the store level and through 

the delivery-chain process to 

ensure customers feel their food 

is being handled safely? 

JL: On our end, it’s been our staff 

that’s concerned — it’s not coming 

from the customer’s perspective. 

At the store level, we have 

indicators on how far[customers] 

should stand back from the 

counter to pick up. And our back 

room is quite the distance from 

the customer. But it’s our staff on 

the street [saying] ‘I’ve got kids at 

home, I’m concerned’ and that’s 

the biggest challenge. But we’re 

really pushing on how the deliveries 

are dropped off at the store, 

what time it gets dropped off and 

how they’re receiving it and, in 

the kitchen, in minimizing the 

staff that will be able to accommodate 

the volume of sales. 

RC: Are your employees wearing 

safety items such as gloves and 

masks? 

JL: We’ve delivered all our masks 

and gloves, but they don’t want 

to scare the customer with the 

masks. The perception is there’s 

something going on [because 

staff are] wearing a mask. We’ve 

given that option to the franchisees, 

but they have it all in house. 

KO: It’s important to know we’re 

not making our own rules here. 

Then again, our various government 

authorities have stepped up 

during this crisis with the level 

of communication on what’s safe 

and operating best practices coming 

from our health boards and 

authorities, at the municipal, provincial 

and federal level. Where 

people need to wear gloves, they 

are. There are no masks as they 

haven’t been deemed necessary 

based on [health] authorities. 

But, if our crew feels more comfortable 

[wearing masks], that’s 

okay. We’ve got to make sure 

they’re leaving their house every 

day to work in our stores a do 

what’s safe for them. 

RC: How do you ensure thirdparty 

aggregators are following 

the same safety precautions? 

KO: While working with Uber, 

Skip and DoorDash, they’ve told 

us what they’re working on and 

have stepped up. We’ve already 

been sealing our delivery bags so 

that hasn’t changed. We’re dropping 

food on your doorstep and 

not even knocking on the door 

or ringing the doorbell — it’s 

just the app that tells you it’s 

there. I’ve seen it myself while 

ordering food in and supporting 

our favourite local restaurant. 

They just drop it off and the app 

tells me it’s there. They give you 

instructions for no-contact 

delivery or pickup. 

JL: They showed us they’re taking 

all the measures to practice 

proper health and safety. The 

little silver lining here is it’s going 

to continue after this. The whole 

system has cleaned up to the tiptop 

shape it should always be at. 

But now everybody’s been very, 

very cautious from all levels of 

manufacturing right through to 

the distribution end of it and 

it’s going to continue moving 

forward. 

RC: There’s been a lot of talk 

about third-party delivery 

companies charging high commission 

rates, even through this 

very trouble troubling time. How 

do you feel about this? 

KO: The industry is very competitive. 

We’re now entering year 

three or four of having our delivery 

partners with us in Canada. 

We’ve seen fees, as the industry 

has become more competitive, 

come down. I’m a big believer 

in our aggregator and delivery 

partners. If you look at managing 

delivery,─I’ve been in businesses 

where you would manage delivery 

yourself ─— arguably doing 

it yourself is very difficult, if not 

impossible, and is equally expensive. 

I always teach our operators, 

myself and our people, there’s 

still profit in that bag when it 

leaves your door, despite the 

commissions. But we’re relying 

on these people. And I’m very 

thankful they’re out there trying 

hard to keep restaurant revenue 

coming in, putting revenue in 

your till — that’s what we need 

right now. 

RC: In many cases operators 

offering takeout say they’re 

doing it to keep staff employed, 

or to do something in the short 

term. Is that the case, or is it 

profitable for operators to offer 

takeout and delivery right now? 

KO: There’s two different scenarios. 

When your restaurants 

are operational, there’s a lot of 

incremental profit from a delivery 

order. Clearly, it’s different if 

that’s all you’re doing now. And 

I completely understand, if this 

was your only revenue channel, 

that the profit margin on that sale 

— just by the fact there’s a sizable 

commission attached to it — is a 

lot less. But this is an opportunity 

to be relevant, to support your 

community and to support your 

staff. We all want to keep our 

great staff with us — we want to 

keep great managers and a great 

crew. I know the industry’s been 

terribly impacted and we feel for 

every operator, but if you have 

great people, you still want to 

keep them and this is an opportunity 

to do that, both in your 

kitchen and through takeout. 

The industry is going to 

[recover], but there’s no doubt 

behaviour will be different for the 

foreseeable future. There will be a 

day where people are dining out 

and getting together and sharing 

a burger or a meal or a glass 

of wine together. So, use this as 

a marketing opportunity: put a 

coupon in the bag, do some kind 

of bounce back, deliver a menu. 

It’s a very unique marketing 

channel. Connect with your people 

and see how you can message 

the guests and bring them back 

when things return to normal 



RC: We know not all food travels 

well. What are your thoughts on 

maintaining the integrity of the 

food? 

JL: Food and coffee degenerate 

every second after they’re made. 

You’re compromising quality, 

and I [now understand] why my 

grandmother would scream at 

me to come downstairs when the 

food was on the table, because 

every minute after that, it was not 

of good quality. 

We work on getting orders in 

[our office] all the time — from 

ourselves and from our competitors 

— to see how the food is 

arriving. And it’s not the same as 

when you get it at the counter, of 

course, so we try to minimize that 

as much as possible. And, as long 

as the aggregators are delivering 

in the timeframe and they’ve kept 

it in their bags properly, that’s the 

best we can possibly do. 

RC: How is this crisis going to 

impact your sales in 2020? 

KO: Someone taught me a long 

time ago, this is the kind of year 

that makes next year look really 

good. You know, when we’re 

reporting to your board and rolling 

over comps of 50 per cent, 

we’re going to say we’re just great 

leaders and heroes. But financially 

it’s terrible on people. It’s 

hard enough on myself and our 

people, when arguably we still 

have a sizable level of revenue 

coming in. There’s been some 

awesome initiatives out there, too, 

so we support restaurateurs the 

best way we can — by ordering 

from them and lobbying the government 

to help with wages and 

subsidies and loans. Everyone’s 

trying to do the right thing. 

If anyone is fortunate enough 

to be open and serving food, this 

has to be considered one of the 

biggest brand-building opportunities 

you’ve ever faced. And, 

not to feel like you’re going to 

win and beat anyone, but just 

as an opportunity to build trust 

within your community and with 

your guests. The quality [of food] 

you serve, the standards of your 

operation, how you’re taking care 

of your people, how good the 

food is — this is the focus. We’re 

focused on the people still choosing 

to come to us, not the people 

who aren’t because if you focus 

on that, it’s a sad story. But, for 

restaurants like us that are open, 

it’s a chance to shine and to be 

better than you’ve ever been. 

JL: It’s going to have an impact 

financially. If we’re able to survive 

and move forward…our virtual 

kitchen we launched about six 

months ago is really an opportunity 

for us to offer the industry 

some sustainability in their existing 

restaurants and to distribute 

our food in their areas. So that’s 

one thing we’re very much concentrating 

on and there’s a big 

opportunity. But Ken’s absolutely 

right, this is an opportunity for 

companies to make a difference 

out there, stay [true] to what they 

stand for and have that resonate 

well with the consumer. And we’ll 

see where the chips land once this 

is done. This isn’t going to go 

away quickly. 

RC: Are you happy with the 

financial-aid package the 

government has offered? 

KO: The general answer is yes. The 

government has had to respond 

to different operating conditions 

that are changing. I applaud 

both Premier [Doug] Ford and 

our Prime Minister for the daily 

updates. Literally, the wage subsidy 

is very good news. It does 

mean you need to be working. 

If you happen to be employing 

people, you’d have an incentive to 

employ more, but that, arguably, 

means you’re open for business. 

We need to hear more about what 

happens when you’re fundamentally 

closed and don’t have an 

opportunity to keep your people 

on board. This is a story that still 

needs to be told. 

JL: They’ve done a great job. 

There’s a lot of unknowns and 

they’ve really communicated well 

and frequently. And they’ve made 

decisions — the biggest thing is 

to make the decision and then see 

how it works out into the system. 

RC: How can the industry work 

better in tandem to get where 

we need to go? 

JL: People getting into the foodservice-and-hospitality 

industry 

should give thought to how they 

can maintain the integrity of it… 

Anybody that’s in this business 

or who’s considering being in the 

business has to look deeper into 

the hospitality sector and see how 

they’re going to contribute with 

great integrity moving forward. 

KO: The power of restaurateurs 

in this country, the reputation 

we have with people — this is an 

opportunity for Canadians and 

consumers to look at this industry 

not as it’s been — as entrylevel 

work. We talked earlier 

about our standards; we’ve always 

had amazing standards. The 

standards our [employees] have 

to learn and practice every single 

day aren’t entirely new right 

now, because they’ve been doing 

it every single day before this 

started. But the industry needs 

to band together and support 

ourselves when this is over…We 

employ hundreds of thousands 

of people and, as we see today, it’s 

integral to making society work. 

We need to come out of this 

remembering that and getting the 

credit for this. 

RC: What advice do you have for 

operators about staying strong 

and getting to the next stage in 

this journey? 

JL: This is almost like the first 

day of opening the restaurant. 

You’re excited, you’re nervous and 

you don’t know what’s going to 

happen tomorrow. If you keep 

that vision and that passion alive 

— don’t quit on the industry, 

don’t quit on what you believe in 

─— you can really deliver to people. 

Be true to the industry as a 

whole and to your business; keep 

the lights on and fight through 

this. Because if it’s two months, 

it’s really only two months. The 

impact is great. Seconds will go 

by and the minutes will go by and 

we’ll get to the end of it. 

KO: It’s about being true to 

our craft. We’ve been given the 

responsibility for those restaurants 

that are allowed to be 

open. We’re lucky to wake up 

every day, looking at it as a new 

level of responsibility for feeding 

Canadians. People are relying 

on us to help them get through 

their day. People are relying on 

us to treat them fairly and to 

keep them safe. Every day is just 

day one again, so everything 

you make has to be perfect. Your 

smiles are bigger, your good 

mornings and goodbyes are 

louder. It’s an opportunity to 

build your brand. For people who 

are struggling, control what you 

can control. Reach out to your 

partners, be honest with everyone 

around you — communicate, 

communicate, communicate. 

Don’t hide. Face everything headon 

and when we get back to normal, 

because we will, this industry 

will thrive once again. FH 

LISTEN TO THE 

ENTIRE PODCAST, 

PRESENTED 

BY KML 

HERE 


ONE TABLE 

ALL 

FORONE 

BY ROSANNA CAIRA 

Industry bands together to send strong message to government 

ISTOCK.COM/ KANYAKITS 

While Canadians have been dealing 

with the fall-out of the COVID-19 pandemic, 

several foodservice-industry stakeholders have 

been working tirelessly to form coalitions in 

an effort to galvanize the industry and send 

a strong and united message to government. 

In April, a new group called One Table came 

into existence by introducing a social-media 

awareness program, with the goal to share the 

stories of countless independent restaurant 

operators who have been impacted by the lingering 

COVID-19 epidemic and the business 

closures it’s spurred. 

According to Frank Hennessey, president 

and CEO of Recipe Unlimited and the person 

behind the initiative, the idea for the socialmedia 

campaign surfaced when he was talking 

to an independent-restaurateur friend who 

lives in Richmond, Va. “This [crisis] obviously 

impacts restaurants around the world,” 

said Hennessey during a Foodservice and 

Hospitality podcast. “They had done a video, 

and as I started talking to different independent 

owners, it became clear they really don’t 

have a voice.” 

As president and CEO of one of the country’s 

largest foodservice companies, which 

includes legacy brands such as Swiss Chalet, 

the Keg, St. Hubert, The Bier Markt, Harvey’s 

and others, Hennessey decided to use some 

of the resources at his disposal — such as a 

“great digital and video team” — to help create 

a series of videos and a campaign to give 

voice to how this pandemic is impacting independent 

restaurants. 

“We have all these resources and all these 

things we’re doing for franchisees, so why 

can’t we try to provide a voice for independent 

restaurants?” said Hennessey, adding, 

“candidly, I believe this is an industry that’s 

only as good and as strong as the independents 

that make up the fabric and richness of 

the industry.” 

He reached out to Alex Rechichi, president 

of Crave It Restaurants, which operates Via 

Cibo restaurant and the Burger’s Priest burger 

chain. “Alex knows a lot of people like Anita 

(Mancuso, owner of Sotto Voce), so I asked 



for his help. We wanted to start giving 

voice to the independent restaurateurs, 

not so much in a legislative way, that’s 

where Restaurants Canada can play a 

part and are.” 

For Hennessey, the goal was to convey 

the real emotion of what the industry is 

about. “It’s about sharing those stories 

to give us a better voice,” said Hennessey. 

To date, he says the industry has lost 

“somewhere over 700,000 employees” to 

layoffs. “We’ve laid off between 25,000 

and 30,000 people,” he admitted. “This 

impacts not just the industry, but the 

Canadian economy.” 

“The thing about the One-Table initiative 

is it really captures the voice of 

every type of operator,” said Rechichi. 

“The fear is the restaurant landscape is 

going to change and we don’t know if it’s 

going to go back to what it was before. 

There’s a trickle-down effect that we’re 

starting to see. The relationship between 

We have all these 

resources and all 

these things we're 

doing for franchisees, 

so why can't we try 

to provide a voice 

for independent 

restaurants? 

our employees our dishwashers, our suppliers, 

landlords, the banks, our customers. 

Everyone is sitting at one table, and 

we’re all impacted by what’s happening 

and the positioning of the One-Table 

initiative and the fact that it brought the 

voices together so quickly,” said the operator, 

explaining the initiative came together 

in within 48 hours. “Everyone is suffering 

the same fate; it’s a great initiative, it captures 

the voice of everyone and it started 

to spread right across the country, from 

province to province.” 

Hennessey stressed this campaign is 

not meant to “replace other industry 

efforts in going to politicians but, in 

Recipe’s case, we’re sharing through all 

our brands’ social channels and suppliers 

to get involved.” The videos capture the 

stories of operators, bartenders, servers 

and others in the industry, all linking 

back to One Table. “As much voice as we 

can give, there’s lots of other industries 

out there that are better capitalized than 

the vast majority in the restaurant space, 

so we want our voice certainly heard,” 

said Hennessey. 

For Anita Mancuso, owner of 

Toronto’s Sotto Voce restaurant, getting 

involved with One Table was a way 

to speak up for the smaller restaurant 

operators out there. “As a small business, 

you feel like you don’t have a voice. 

For 20 years, we’ve been under the radar. 

We were happy to do our thing and our 

customers were happy...but this was one 

of those times I felt I had to step out of 

the shadows and say something. And the 

guys were amazing to give me that spot 

to say what was happening.” 

Mancuso’s 20-year-old restaurant 

operation has been closed during the 

pandemic, as it wasn’t feasible for her 

to pivot to takeout and delivery. The 

restaurateur believes it’s important to 

qualify the small-business moniker 

and to define what constitutes a small 

business. As an employer of 10, “when 

you try to explain what we are…we’re 

literally a micro-business; we’re smaller 

than small,” she said. “You’re like the ant 

trying to run around and [One Table] 

gave me a platform I would never have 

had access to and be able to speak out 

for people in my position. It’s important 

for Canadians who are suffering to hear 

us and to see us. It was a difficult thing 

to do, to actually admit out loud to the 

world that you’re having a hard time.” 

While the initiative was started in 

Ontario, Hennessey said by the end of 

the first week, it will have video representation 

from restaurateurs in B.C., Alberta 

and Quebec, with more provinces set to 

join. “It’s going to be across the country.” 

In the Maritimes, suppliers will also 

be highlighted in the campaign. “This 

industry impacts one-in-five people in 

this country, but when you add people 

that touch our industry, it’s two in five. 

It’s a massive business and it impacts a 

lot of people.” 

In the early days, One Table also linked 

to other groups “once again to get the 

voice out there,” said Hennessey. 

As Hennessey passionately explained, 

this initiative gets down to the neighbourhood 

level and local favourites. “It’s 

important for everyone to understand 

that, for most restaurants, the margins in 

this business are razor thin to begin with. 

They don’t have a lot of cash just sitting 

in the bank waiting to have their business 

turned off for three or four months.” But 

he reminded everyone that restaurants 

are part of what makes society great and 

independents are the fabric of the restaurant 

industry. “These restaurants need to 

survive, but costs can’t be deferred. You 

can’t just say we’ll defer the rent. That 

doesn’t work for the majority of restaurants. 

They don’t have the ability to pay 

it back in the future. That’s where more 

and more help is required, not just to get 

through this downtime, but also just to be 

able to restart their business and be able 

to survive going forward.” 

Though the One Table “initiative 

wasn’t intended to be a legislative lobby 

group,” Hennessey said, “we are talking 

to those people who are there talking to 

politicians.” And, what One Table would 

like to see is twofold: “Number-1 is protection 

for restaurateurs that the CRA 

can’t come in and freeze their accounts 

or lock their restaurants.” 

Secondly, it’s all about providing forgivable 

loans. “If you look back at the 

financial crisis of 2008-’09, one of the 

problems was the support given wasn’t 

enough to get people back up and working. 

“The longer the mandated shutdowns 

happen, the higher the working 

capital costs are going to be to restart. 

You may not be able to bring back your 

employees so you may need to hire new 

employees. It’s like opening a new business 

so there’s working capital required. 

People’s bank accounts will be depleted. 

They’re not going to have that capital.” 

That’s where government can play a 

crucial role, suggested Hennessey. “They 

can come in to provide forgivable loans 

of working capital to restaurant owners 

to be able to rehire and restart their business. 

It can be done simply…It’s necessary” 

otherwise, he warned, “the failure 

rate is going to be much higher.” FH 


THIRD-PARTY DELIVERY 

Delivering 

answers 

Third-party 

delivery fees 

present 

challenges 

for struggling 

operators 

BY DANIELLE SCHALK 

ISTOCK.COM NRQEMI 

It’s widely agreed, 

COVID-19 has essentially 

put a halt to normal 

restaurant operations. 

Despite restaurants in 

some regions having the 

option to offer dine-in 

service, many pre-emptively closed 

their dining rooms and health 

concerns undoubtedly steering 

customers away from dining in. 

As restaurants were forced to 

rely more heavily — then almost 

completely — on delivery in order 

to stay in operation as the COVID- 

19 crisis evolved, third-partydelivery 

platforms became essential 

to success. In fact, many operators 

are thankful to have them available 

during this economic crisis. 

However, while many platforms 

— such as Uber Eats, DoorDash 

and SkipTheDishes — have implemented 

measures to help support 

Canadian restaurants, some restaurateurs 

feel high commission fees 

are hurting them further during 

this crisis. 

Nick Di Donato, president & 

CEO of Toronto-based Liberty 

Entertainment Group, notes the 

commissions charged by Uber 

Eats in particular — which has 

the highest fees — are unsustainable 

for his business. 

“The Uber Eats model is one 

that’s not sustainable and makes 

it very difficult for any operator 

to make any money,” he says. 

“When we’re open regularly, Uber 

Eats was always incremental revenue, 

so many of the costs — for 

example, your chefs in the kitchen, 

your managers, people who take 

an order online — are [already 

there] so there’s minimal incremental 

costs of labour associated 

with an Uber Eats order. Today, 

all I have is Uber Eats and they’re 

charging me 30 per cent. Typically, 

our food costs are between 30 and 

35 per cent…packaging is another 

five per cent, so when you add on 

the Uber Eats charge, the operator 

makes zero.” 

As part of Uber Eats’ support 

package, the aggregator included 

waiving delivery fees on all its 

orders from independent restaurants 

and dedicated in-app and 

email-marketing campaigns to 

promote delivery from local restaurants, 

especially those new to 

the app. The platform also introduced 

an option for restaurants 

to receive daily payouts rather 

than the standard weekly payout. 

According to an Uber Eats 

spokesperson, “We support efforts 

to help the hospitality industry, 

which is why we’ve focused the 

majority of our efforts on driving 

demand to independent local restaurants, 

which we know is a key 

concern of our partners during 

these unprecedented times. 

“But providing our platform 

and services to restaurants costs 

money — changing commission 

rates would force us to alter the 

way we do business, potentially 

hurting those we’re trying to help 

the most: customers, small businesses 

and delivery people.” 

But Di Donato and other independent 

operators like him, feel 

restaurants would have been better 

served if, rather than driving 

volume by offering free delivery 

to consumers, savings would have 

been passed along to restaurant 

operators instead. 

“Consumers want to help the 

restaurants and the situation we’re 

in,” he explains, adding that many 

would be willing to pay delivery 

fees to do so. “They’re probably 

ordering from Uber Eats, to some 

degree, to support the restaurant 

industry, but really aren’t aware 

that we’re just covering our costs.” 

According to Tony Elenis, 

president & CEO of the Ontario 

Restaurant Hotel and Motel 



Coming 

Together 

Chefs, culinary 

leaders and personalities 

from 

across Canada 

joined forces to 

launch Takeout 

Day to support the 

restaurant industry 

by encouraging 

Canadians to order 

takeout/delivery on 

April 15 and every 

Wednesday 

following the 

launch. The 

campaign is 

promoted by 

#CanadaTakeOut 

and includes the 

canadatakeout. 

com website, which 

features a restaurant-finder 

map 

of participating 

establishments. 

Association, “in these challenging 

times, all services who are working 

with hospitality operations should 

be accommodating in reducing their 

prices. Delivery providers whose total 

success rests on the existence of restaurants 

must reduce their high commissions 

as the industry is hurting. 

When this crisis is over the industry 

will remember those who were 

flexible and compassionate.” 

Some aggregators, such as 

DoorDash, have implemented 

various changes. For example, from 

March 17 through the end of April, 

it allowed independent restaurants 

in Canada to join the platform for 

free and pay zero commissions for 30 

days. And then in April, the company 

announced a 50-per-cent reduction 

in commission fees for local restaurant 

partners. In March, it had eliminated 

commission fees on pickup 

orders for existing DoorDash partners 

and added “more than 100,000 

independent restaurant partners” 

across its network to its $0-delivery 

subscription program DashPass. 

These programs are currently set to 

continue through the end of May. 

DoorDash also launched a ‘Local- 

Restaurant-Saturdays’ promotion, 

which offers no delivery fee on orders 

over $15 from local restaurants. 

Additionally, the company committed 

up to $20 million in merchantmarketing 

programs. This included 

the #OpenForDelivery multi-platform 

campaign that launched 

in the U.S. and Canada to 

let consumers know restaurants 

are open, delivery 

is safe and restaurants 

need patronage to weather 

COVID-19. The campaign 

also included the launch 

of the openfordelivery. 

com website. 

SkipTheDishes 

launched a 30-day support 

package (on March 

19) that includes an automatic 

15-per-cent rebate 

on commissions for all 

orders through the platform. It also 

introduced an option for customers 

to leave a tip for restaurants through 

their menus, with 100-per-cent of the 

tip going directly to the restaurant. 

SkipTheDishes has indicated it continues 

to work on immediate and longterm 

initiatives as COVID-19 evolves. 

For its part, foodora has not introduced 

sweeping measures to aid the 

restaurant industry. However, in a 

newsletter announcing an exclusive 

free-delivery deal with the platform, 

Toronto-based restaurant Salad King 

stated: “We will continue to work 

exclusively with [foodora] for delivery 

because we believe good businesses 

should support other good businesses. 

Unfortunately, they don’t have the 

deep pockets of the other companies 

and can’t offer free delivery for all, 

and we’re grateful that foodora is able 

to work with us to present this offer 

to our customers. Please continue to 

support your favourite restaurants 

and foodora — and not just the ones 

who can afford free delivery.” 

While it hasn’t announced broad 

free-delivery offerings, foodora already 

had a program in place where it partners 

with a selection of top restaurants 

in the cities it operates in — on a rotating, 

month-long basis — to offer free 

delivery. This program is still in place. 

foodora’s parent company, Berlinbased 

Delivery Hero, has stated it’s 

“implementing measures according 

to local need, including more 

Suds 

Delivery 

for 

Many provinces have made 

regulatory changes amid 

the COVID-19 crisis to allow 

alcohol to be delivered with 

restaurant takeout and delivery 

orders. The provinces 

allowing alcohol delivery 

include Alberta, B.C. Ontario, 

Manitoba, Nova Scotia and 

Saskatchewan. Manitoba had 

already introduced legislation 

to allow the inclusion 

of liquor with takeout and 

delivery meals in December 

2019, however the bill never 

received a second or third 

reading. After being pressured 

by restaurants to allow 

them to deliver alcohol, 

the province put temporary 

measures in place, in early 

April, to allow alcohol with 

meal orders. 

frequent payment. For new restaurants 

joining our platform, we aim to 

onboard as fast as possible in order 

to support them in maintaining 

order levels as well as provide more 

choice for our customers.” But there 

is no indication of how or if this will 

impact foodora Canada. 

A report from Toronto-based 

business-law firm, Osler, recommends 

franchisors/operators 

“research which services offer the 

best value and consider negotiating a 

commission waiver if none is 

being offered.” FH 

ISTOCK.COM/ ROCKDRIGO68 [UBER EATS] ISTOCK.COM/ MYSTERYSHOT [FOODORA] 


WHITEPAPER 

 

UP 

 

Chemical dispensers can 

help support health 

and wellness 

In an age when viruses can quickly spread throughout 

work, school and other public environments, it’s crucial for 

facility managers to understand the latest outbreak updates 

and best practices for keeping indoor environments clean 

during periods of elevated illness. 



Within this environment, chemical-dispensing 

systems help clean and disinfect surfaces by measuring 

the right amount of chemical and water 

required for cleaning and disinfecting solutions. 

It’s important for facility managers to understand 

the impact of an outbreak such as COVID-19, the 

role chemical dispensers play in upholding cleanliness 

and best practices for selection, installation 

and maintenance. 

Key ways to reduce the risk of being exposed 

to the disease include promoting proper hand 

hygiene, limiting exposure and using the proper 

cleaning tools. 

Updating the janitorial closet before and during 

an outbreak is a great way to ensure your facility 

has the right equipment on hand for periods that 

require extra stock. Using the right tools — such as 

disinfectant solutions that thoroughly kill pathogens, 

microfibre cloths and mops and chemicaldispensing 

systems —supports employees as they 

work to kill germs. It’s also important to increase 

cleaning frequencies to further control the spread 

of germs. 

Disinfecting Considerations 

According to the Centers of Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC), cleaning and disinfecting frequently 

touched objects and surfaces is a preventative 

action to help reduce the spread of respiratory 

diseases. During an outbreak or pandemic, it’s 

important to pay special attention to high-touch 

surfaces when disinfecting, such as restroom counters 

and sink handles, floors, light switches, door 

handles, desks, office telephones and more. 

To promote health and well-being in facilities, 

clean and disinfect regularly. Surfaces that are 

visibly soiled, such as food-contact surfaces in a 

kitchen or floors, should be cleaned and disinfected 

immediately. At minimum, clean and disinfect 

surfaces to kill germs on a daily basis and more 

often if cases of Coronavirus have been reported in 

your immediate area. 

The Role of Chemical Dispensers 

Manually measuring cleaning chemicals can 

put employees in harm’s way. In fact, the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports 

2.8-million people in the cleaning industry are 

exposed to potentially dangerous chemicals every 

day. Improper handling of chemicals can lead to 

spills, which could cause injuries such as burns 

and respiratory problems from fume inhalation. 

Additionally, using products at the wrong dilution 

can result in skin irritation and surface damage. 

Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, the American 

It’s important 

to understand 

the difference 

between 

cleaning, 

disinfecting 

and 

sanitizing: 

Cleaning 

removes dirt, 

germs and other 

impurities by using 

soap or detergent 

with water to 

physically remove 

germs from surfaces. 

Cleaning doesn’t 

always kill germs, but 

removing them helps 

reduce the spread 

of infection. 

Disinfecting 

uses chemicals to kill 

germs. This process 

does not always clean 

a dirty surface or 

remove germs, but it 

does kill germs, which 

lowers the risk of 

infection. 

Sanitizing 

a surface lowers 

the number of 

germs to a safe level 

according to publichealth 

standards 

or requirements. To 

sanitize a surface or 

object, it must be 

properly cleaned or 

disinfected. 

Chemistry Council’s (ACC) Center for Biocide 

Chemistries (CBC) created a list of EPA preapproved 

products to use against emerging 

enveloped viral pathogens. However, without 

proper dilution, these products won’t achieve 

their kill claims. If an employee cleans a surface 

with an improperly diluted solution, germs that 

cause illnesses, including COVID-19, could continue 

to survive on the surface for hours. 

Chemical dispensers provide accuracy and 

safety, promote a healthy environment and 

enhance sustainability and cost savings. 

When considering investing in a dispensing 

system, it’s important to review the system’s 

features as well as tips for installation, training 

and maintenance. 

When looking for a dispensing 

system, best practices include: 

• Determining who will use the system and how 

often — a user-friendly interface will simplify 

training and encourage employees to 

conduct frequent cleaning. 

• Making a list of the types of products you 

use most — if your business uses numerous 

types of chemicals, you’ll need a dispenser 

capable of managing multiple products 

without chemical carry-over issues. 

• Prioritizing water flow and pressure — all 

buildings have different water pressure and 

flow and it can vary throughout the day, 

impacting the dilution of a cleaning or disinfecting 

solution. 

• Searching for a smart system — some dispensing 

systems feature technology that 

offers predictive maintenance, remote monitoring 

and automated adjustments, including 

Hydro’s Dositec Multi-Washer Systems. 

• Selecting the right area to install the system — 

dispensing systems should be installed in an 

area that is easy to access and where water is 

readily available. 

To promote the health and well-being of 

employees and guests, every facility must 

prioritize regular cleaning and disinfection. 

Having the right tools in place supports health 

and wellness and helps facilities better maintain 

cleanliness and improve productivity during 

times of an outbreak. FH 

Article courtesy of U.S.-based Hydro 


FOOD SAFETY 

SAFETY FIRST 

Restaurant food handling in the new environment 

BY MARGARET SPENCE 

ISTOCK.COM/M-GUCCI 


hese are fast-changing times, as countries 

around the world come together to battle the 

Coronavirus (COVID-19). At time of publication, 

there are well over 1.4-million global 

cases of COVID-19. Since this article was 

written several weeks ago, what you’re experiencing 

now may be better or worse than what 

you’re reading. 

In response to these dire times, many 

jurisdictions have told restaurants and bars 

to close, except for takeout and delivery. As a 

result, the restaurant industry has taken a major hit due to these physical-distancing 

measures. In fact, a recent Restaurants Canada survey 

reveals more than 800,000 foodservice workers have lost their jobs due 

to COVID-19, one in 10 restaurants is permanently closing and many 

more closures are expected. 

According to the National Restaurant Association, more than threemillion 

U.S. foodservice workers have been laid off and many more 

layoffs are still expected. 

Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures, so, in order 

to generate income, many restaurants have increased their takeout 

and delivery services. Most provincial food regulations have manda- 


tory food-safety training and certification and this certification 

requirement is still being enforced. Operators must have at least 

one person per shift with a food-handler certification — even 

if there are only one or two people working in the kitchen. 

Another requirement is that operators have measures in place 

to protect food from contamination. 

With this major shift in day-to-day foodservice operations, 

restaurant operators are grappling with how to keep their 

employees and customers safe. The first step of a food-safety 

plan is to assess potential hazards. Since COVID-19 is so 

new, the jury’s out on whether or not the virus can be passed 

through food. The World Health Organization says food is not 

known to be a route of transmission of the virus. At the time 

of publication of this article, there has been no evidence of 

cases where the virus was passed on through food. That said, it 

always makes sense to practice good food-safety habits. 

Transmission of the virus via ready-to-eat foods and foodcontact 

surfaces is another matter. Cross-contamination is a 

possibility if a sick employee sneezes or coughs onto takeout 

packaging or food not requiring cooking. 

COVID-19 needs a living host so sick employees must not 

work. This is not a new food-safety policy, but because of 

COVID-19, many operators have stepped up their personalhygiene 

policies, while others are offering paid sick leave to 

support employees who develop symptoms. Employees off 

work due to COVID-19 are covered under the federal benefits 

being offered. (see story on p. 16) 

To combat transmission, operators must develop and enforce 

new physical-distancing guidelines for their employees who 

often work in a fast-paced, compact environment. 

Distancing measures include limiting the 

number of employees working per shift and per 

work area. Some operators have placed coloured 

tape on their kitchen floors to remind employees 

to stay within their own work zones and away 

from each other. 

Many foodservice operators have reduced 

their hours of operation to allow more time for 

cleaning and sanitizing and a number of quickservice 

operators have increased employee safety 

by redesigning their drive-thrus. Tap payment 

by debit/credit card is being promoted and 

employees who handle cash must use gloves and 

are encouraged to wash their hands frequently. 

In some quick-service chains, hand-to-hand 

contact is being reduced through the installation 

of metal bins so customers can take their bagged 

purchases from there. 

Operators who use delivery services should 

ask these companies what they’re doing to 

ensure their employees are delivering food safely. 

New measures have already been implemented, such as contactfree 

curbside delivery, which supports physical distancing. 

In order to stop, or at least slow down, the transmission 

of COVID-19, operators must increase their dedication to 

teaching safe food-handling practices, enforce strict employeehygiene 

policies and ensure stringent cleaning and sanitizing is 

happening even more frequently in this new normal. 

If employees are not working, or are working reduced 

hours, utilize this time to have them get certified in a foodhandling 

course. 

Finally, the importance of physical distancing in their restaurants 

cannot be overstated. Right now, we don’t have a vaccine 

for COVID-19, so what we must do as food handlers is diligently 

practice proven tried-and-true food-safety strategies to 

lessen the impact of the COVID-19 virus. 

We’re in this together. So, let’s figure it out together and 

take these best practices with us when we come out the other 

side of COVID-19. FH 

Margaret Spence is manager, Education 

and Special Projects with TrainCan, Inc. 

A full-service provider, TrainCan, Inc. 

supplies hospitality, foodservice, education, 

public health and food-retail clients with 

management- and employee-level training 

and certification programs in both book 

and electronic formats. Spence can be 

reached at Margaret@traincan.com 

ISTOCK.COM/MARCHIEZ 


TECHNOLOGY 

PICKING 

UP THE 

PACE 

With COVID-19 

necessitating change 

in foodservice, time is 

of the essence when 

it comes to launching 

new technology 

BY AMY BOSTOCK 

ISTOCK.COM/RAWF8 

When COVID-19 hit, 

necessitating the 

closure – full or partial 

– of restaurants 

across the country, 

operators found 

themselves faced with 

two options – adapt their business model or 

close their doors. 

“Takeout and delivery [were] no longer 

about additional revenue, but [were] a significant 

source of revenue,” says Karisa Marra, 

restaurants expert for Square. 

And as delivery and takeout quickly 

become the new normal for restaurants, technologybecame 

a key differentiator. 

“We [saw] sit-down restaurants, breweries, 

bakeries and cafés all quickly pivot to offer 

takeout or delivery options to their customers,” 

says Marra. “Foodservice operators needed 

to tap into technology to push through 

this unprecedented time and their providers, 

in turn, needed to step up to make sure they 

were supported to do so.” 

As uncertainty mounted, she says people 

were less willing to venture out, leading to 

increases in takeout and delivery, which 

forced services to adapt, and quickly. Marra 

adds businesses didn’t have the luxury of testing 

the technology waters over time, so it was 

critical operators chose tools that helped them 

get up-and-running quickly, and immediately 

allowed them to reach their customers. 

“New tech features would normally take 

weeks to launch, but with time of the essence, 

the pace [had to speed] up out of necessity, 

and necessity breeds innovation. 

While physical-distancing measures meant 

more customers stayed at home, Marra says 

restaurants “fortunately had a lot of options 

to continue to service them,” such as curbside 

pickup and local-delivery options. 

“Taking orders online for the first-time 

might feel like a big change for a small operator, 

but it can be quick and easy,” she says, 

adding apps such as Square offered an affordable 

way for foodservice operators to create 

and launch an online-ordering site forno 

monthly fee. 

Many foodservice businesses across 

Canada quickly found new and interesting 

ways to employ technology to reach customers. 

For example, Tinhouse Brewing in Port 

Coquitlam, B.C. built a digital storefront 

for craft-beer pick-up and deliveries, while 

Steinhart Distillery in Nova Scotia shifted its 

production to hand sanitizer and its phone 

didn’t stop ringing. When his local farmers’ 

market closed, a PEI farmer started hurling 

pork products through his car window 

to maintain social distance, literally creating 

back-door sales. 

“Food operators can find creative ways to 

keep customers smiling during tough times,” 

says Marra. “It comes back to the customer 

and serving their needs.” FH 



MARKETING 

FORWARD T 

Precautious practices for brand marketing d 

BY MARIAN STARESINIC, PARTNER, BRANDING & BUZZING 

Audit your Current 

Calls to Action 

In social posts and advertising, 

be sure to look over all copy, especially 

any call-to-action (CTA) items. 

Keep an eye out for anything that 

doesn’t align with government/health 

recommendations, travel capabilities 

and the overall mood and tone of the 

general public. 

Example: If you’re marketing a product sold 

in brick-and-mortar shops, especially big-box 

stores such as grocers and Walmart, recall how 

busy and out of stock many of them already are. 

Plus, remember social distancing calls for essentials-only 

excursions. 

Consider product marketing without publicfacing 

CTAs. Push online ordering or delivery 

availability (if possible). Otherwise, keep it simple 

and informative, if not postponed. 

Remember, Illness and 

Isolation of the Public is 

Not a Sales Opportunity 

Do not market your product or service as a 

virus solution or preventative measure. No 

3#Coronavirus hashtags either. 

2 4 5 

Be Mindful of Insensitive 

or Irresponsible Imagery 

Current events call for preventative 

actions, including intensive handwashing, 

isolation measures and avoidance 

of gatherings. Review and remove any 

visuals which feature or promote: 

• Large or small group events and 

outings, such as eating at a restaurant, 

going to a party or attending 

a meeting, conference, sport, 

concert or festival 

• Documentation or encouragement 

of travel, international or domestic 

• Images that depict casual personto-person 

touching via handshakes, 

arm links or hugs. Hand-to-food 

touching imagery is also a big no-no 

during this time — with or without 

gloves 

• Content showing health-andwellness 

scenarios in which illness, 

death, hunger or other issues of 

humanity may be a theme 


HINKING 

uring a pandemic 

No Virtue Signalling 

When speaking about changes made to your brand’s 

marketing or business strategies due to the pandemic, 

tell your audiences more than just being “aware of the 

current situation,” and similar messaging. 

The key to your audience caring about an 

announcement is what you’re doing about it. 

Employees are safe? Great! You’re all washing 

your hands? Also great! But everyone would like 

to assume both of these go without saying and 

were being done before. 

If everything is business as usual and you’re not 

experiencing a shutdown or increased closure of 

any kind, reconsider whether you need to signal 

anything to the public about how you’re dealing 

with the pandemic. 


Avoid Too Many 

Lane Changes 

Whether you’re able to stick to your 

current voice or need to change your 

messaging, examine how many changes 

could be required tomorrow or in the 

future as situations change. If the pandemic 

gets better, how much pivoting 

would be required, if any? Reflect on the 

same question if the pandemic 

becomes worse 

for your audiences. 

“Imagine the worst 

coronavirus news is 

sitting right next to 

your post on 

Twitter or Facebook. 

Does your messaging 

sound awkward?” — 

– Jason Keith, Social Fresh 

6 

Stash 

Away for 

a Healthy 

Day 

All the work 

completed 

before 

isolation arose 

does not need 

to go to waste. 

Scale back your 

content and save 

unused posts for 

future deployment 

when 

more people 

can positively 

appreciate 

them. 

8 

Postpone, Not 

Cancel/Pivot to 

Virtual Events 

If you had any events or 

activations on the go, it 

doesn’t do any good to 

abandon stakeholders, 

brands, suppliers, attendees, 

staff, freelancers and vendors. 

Pandemics aren’t forever, but losing 

all opportunities at once could 

be devastating to at-risk industries 

and the self-employed. Take this 

time to strategize how you can 

simply push, not permanently 

erase. Prepare to move your reallife 

experiential-marketing campaigns 

online with virtual events. 

While it’s Not the 

Time to Speak, Listen 

There’s no better time to see and 

read the core values of other 

businesses, communities and customers than 

during conversations currently happening in 

real-time. Take a moment to gauge the reactions, 

needs and aspirations of those online as 

they deal with the pandemic in their own lives. 


SLUG HERE 

MARKETING 

9 

Support your Community, 

and Brand, with a Trust Campaign 

Contemplate creating a long-term content campaign 

consisting of entertainment pieces, videos, long-form 

written documents, training, webinars, et cetera. This 

campaign can be your brand’s way of connecting to your 

audiences with timeless, no-change-needed messaging, 

while also providing investments in the people around 

you. Offer on-the-spot deposits to partnering creators 

and influencers and have them invoice the rest later. 

11 

2 

Give your Community 

Opportunities to Support 

your Brand for Future 

Benefits 

No matter where people live, there are 

always groups rallying around ways to 

support local brands and businesses — 

even if their benefits and perks won’t 

come until later. 

During this pandemic, it’s highly 

recommended companies offer gift cards 

or certificates, whether brick-and-mortar 

doors are open or temporarily closed. 

Each gift-card purchase is income for your 

brand now and a guaranteed product or 

service purchase by your customers later. 

Prepare for the Future 

During a pandemic, you’re not expected to push a hustle-culture 

lifestyle of long hours and a productivity-only mindset. Self-care 

and proper familial precautions are very important at this time — 

as they should be, even without a wide-ranging crisis. 

Because there’s no set calendar date for when normalcy returns, 

you need to have a plan in place. How will you ease your staff, 

clients and campaigns back into the public? What should remain 

on pause and what should kick off right from the start of the lifts of 

such restrictions? 

Keep in mind, when you go back to business as usual, others will be 

thinking and doing the same, which could cause extreme oversaturation 

in events and content in your industry or niche. Recognize this 

when planning, scheduling and (eventually) launching. 

Ask for Help 

Even in isolative times, you’re 

not expected to go at any of this 

alone or to know exactly what 

to do, regardless of your 

department position. At the 

same time, you shouldn’t wait 

until it’s all over to figure it out. 

Ask for a consultation and get 

your brand on the right track. 

Marketers plan ahead and 

must now adapt to this new 

normal. Don’t panic, frantically 

deleting or cancelling everything 

you’ve been working on. 

Brands’ campaigns and 

content have the opportunity 

to reflect the good in their 

brand(s) and the good in the 

world, with authenticity, 

sensitivity and purpose. 


LENDING 

A HAND 

How to manage mental health 

during COVID-19 

MENTAL HEALTH 

BY AMY BOSTOCK 

ISTOCK,COM/BAKHAUADDIN-BEK SOPYBEKO 


The restaurant industry 

— and all those who 

depend on it for their 

livelihood — have been 

facing an unprecedented 

change during the 

COVID-19 pandemic. 

The resulting financial 

stress, isolation and 

uncertainty can quickly take a toll on 

their physical and mental health. 

In a recent webinar hosted by 

Restaurants Canada, Fair Kitchens 

and Unilever Food Solutions, experts 

weighed in on best practices for managing 

stress and mental health during the 

COVID-19 pandemic. 

Moderated by Roborto Sarjoo, 

director of Marketing and Brand 

Communications, Restaurants Canada, 

the panel included Liz Horvath, manager, 

Workplace Mental Health, Opening 

Minds, Mental Health Commission of 

Canada; chef Kees Van Erp, global executive 

chef, Unilever Food Solutions; and 

Hali VanVliet, senior manager, Human 

Resources Advisory, BDO Canada. 

“As restaurant operations are restricted 

to delivery or takeout and, in many 

cases, are closing their doors entirely, 

[we’re examining] the latest impact of 

Coronavirus on the foodservice industry 

in Canada and our panel will share their 

insights on managing through change, 

controlling stress and preserving mental 

health in this new reality,” said Sarjoo, 

adding most of the world is facing this 

global pandemic and “while we’re all 


SLUG HERE 

one of the first things 

we need to do is to 

acknowledge people’s 

feelings and fears and 

remember we’re having 

a normal reaction to 

a very abnormal 

situation 

searching for 

answers in terms of what we can 

do, this can really take a toll on a 

person, not only physically, but mentally. 

So, it’s important that we do have 

this conversation.” 

Research from Technomic predicts that 

in 2020, foodservice sales will be down 12 to 

27 per cent, depending on recovery. It also 

shows full-service restaurants that can’t adapt 

to the delivery and/or takeout model, as well 

as hotels or leisure-based business, will be hit 

even harder. 

Sarjoo stressed that mental health was 

already a global issue within foodservice prior 

to COVID-19, citing research that shows 63 

per cent of chefs worldwide report suffering 

from depression, 53 per cent feel they’re 

pushed to the breaking point, 60 per cent of 

young chefs feel there are limited possibilities 

for career progression and 74 per cent of 

foodservice staff feel sleep-deprived to the 

point of exhaustion. 

In her human-resources role, VanVliet 

said she spent the majority of her time in 

the early days of COVID-19 being a sounding 

board for clients “trying to develop their 

own processes, procedures and options and 

[determining] how they’re going to deal with 

this crisis — not only for themselves and their 

business, but for their employees.” 

Workers in the foodservice industry have 

been blindsided by the loss of revenue and 

jobs — as well as the associated stress – as a 

result of COVID-19. According to Horvath 

“one of the first things we need to do is to 

acknowledge people’s feelings and fears and 

remember we’re having a normal reaction 

to a very abnormal situation. We’ve never 

seen anything quite like this before and fear 

is an emotion that clouds our thinking,” she 

said, adding 

we have to 

acknowledge 

that fear and 

the fact we want 

to help people shift what 

they’re focusing on, “so they’re 

focusing on the fact we’re going 

to get through this. We also need 

to remind them their physical and 

psychological health and safety is 

important. In fact, it has to be a priority. 

And reminding people that providing 

that psychological protection for themselves 

and for their employees is important.” 

As we’re carrying out this exercise in physical 

distancing, she said we need to “remind our 

customers and staff, as well as ourselves, that 

physical distancing is important. It’s part of the 

health and safety of our employees and also of 

our customers. And yes, it really is a shift in the 

way we’re working.” 

Horvath also pointed out that, while trying 

to shift the focus from fear to solutions, 

operators should be aware there are good 

resources and credible sources of information 

available to help. “So, focus on the credible 

sources of information rather than those that 

thrive on fear mongering.” 

COPING IN UNCERTAIN TIMES 

Van Erp reminded listeners that although the 

industry cannot solve broader challenges such as 

financial losses and job cuts, it can offer support. 

“The personal connection is super important,” 

he said, citing global examples of chefs 

and operators setting up networks to field 

questions and concerns related to COVID-19. 

“The most important things right now are 

empathy, support and being there for each 

other. Maybe you can’t be there physically, but 

you can, with the technology we have today, 

stay close with others.” 

From an HR perspective, VanVliet’s advice 

to restaurant owners is to develop some sort 

of communication plan. “It doesn’t have to 

be elaborate and it doesn’t have to be in a 

document, but it’s a plan to communicate 

with your employees,” she explained. “So, who 

you need to communicate with, how often 

you need to communicate and what method 

you’re going to use for communication. It’s 

super important to ensure the contact information 

you have for these individuals is up to 

date, that you know how to get in touch with 

them and, alternatively, how they can get in 

touch with you.” 

“It’s amazing how much a ‘hey, how are 

you doing’ can make a difference in someone’s 

life,” agreed Sarjoo. 

So how can open and compassionate conversations 

between owner/operators and staff be 

both encouraged and facilitated, especially when 

people are feeling uncertain and have limited 

experience in managing fear and the unknown? 

According to VanVliet, it begins with 

understanding there’s fear and uncertainty in 

those people who are still working for you, 

“simply because they’re out of their element, 

doing something they may not have done 

before. And then there may be fear, 

especially for those individuals who have 

always been in the workplace and not been 

out, [for example], delivering or doing other 

tasks. [An employer’s] number-1 responsibility 

is helping them with the expectations. 

Number two, we’re all in this together, so if 

you’re not certain, ask questions,” she said, 

adding if employees are nervous or unsure 

about health-and-safety practices, then having 

those conversations is of paramount importance. 

“People underestimate how stressful it 

can be to be put in a new role,” she continued. 

“You may have been working with the 

restaurant for years, but to be doing something 

totally different can push you outside of 

your comfort zone, on top of all of the other 

changes that may be going on personally for 

you with respect to this crisis. It can amount 

to real uncertainty and fear in individuals.” 

Horvath reiterated the importance of utilizing 

technology to stay in touch when people are 

feeling vulnerable to stress. “Doing those checkins 

is absolutely critical. And those can be done 

by phone or by video calls, but checking in with 

people and understanding there are a number 

of people experiencing increased levels of stress 

right now, and that stress can [wreak] havoc on 

someone who is already struggling with something 

like anxiety or depression. is important.” 

She said employers also need to provide 

information to employees regarding access to 

employee-assistance programs and benefits. 

“And if you do, you should know what those 

benefits are, so that you can guide people to 

them, because they there could be no coaching 

or counseling or other benefits that can 

help them through this time. But for 

organizations that maybe don’t have access 

to an EAP program or benefits, you need to 

know what community supports you can 

point people to to help them through.” FH 


LEADING 

PRODUCT PREVIEW 

THE CHARGE 

Suppliers are stepping up with products to 

help operators during the COVID-19 crisis 

Lamb Weston 

Now more than ever, consumers are craving 

classic comfort-food items. CrispyCoat 

Crispy on Delivery 3/8” Regular Cut Skin- 

On fries have an even-batter coating, 

delivering crispiness while extending hold 

time. This revolutionary regular cut skinon 

fry provides exceptional delivery and 

takeout characteristics, maintaining crispiness 

up to 30 minutes when using vented 

packaging. The skin-on cut provides a 

unique, back-of-house appearance, perfect 

for any location. 

Scotsman 

In light of recent events, Scotsman is seeing a 

higher interest in it touch-free Meridian ice and 

water dispensers. The Meridian models utilize 

infrared sensors to dispense everyone’s 

favourite H 2 nugget ice and water, eliminating the 

need to physically touch the dispenser and providing 

a more sanitary operation. Its AquaArmor and 

AgION coatings help inhibit the growth of microbes, 

bacteria, mold and algae. 

TouchBistro 

TouchBistro has launched Restaurant Recovery Navigator as 

a go-to-source for information and one-on-one 

support to help restaurateurs now and in the future, as well 

as TouchBistro Online Ordering for restaurants to take orders 

on their own websites and keep 100 per cent of the profits. 

Online Ordering is available free for 12 months. The company 

is also offering TouchBistro Gift Cards license-fee free for 

three months. 

Hatco 

Hatco’s lightweight, 

clear, transparent polycarbonate 

Cashier Shield 

can help in the effort to prevent 

the spread of germs and viruses 

at checkout registers, restaurants 

and other critical areas. It acts 

as a physical barrier to help stop 

contagions beyond the shield and 

helps maintain social distance 

and physical separation in order to 

protect customers and employees 

alike. Cashier Shield can stand on 

its own and does not require tools 

for assembly. Feet can be secured 

to the surface using 

mounting screw holes if 

desired. The shields can 

be easily sanitized using 

non-abrasive cleaners. 

Hormel 

Get an easier way to great bacon. Now, more than 

ever, efficient labour and time is critical and HORMEL 

BACON 1 Perfectly Cooked Bacon can help by providing 

perfect bacon in just five minutes. This bacon 

looks, tastes and performs like a cooked-from-raw 

product. It can be prepared quickly, with 95-percent 

less grease and less mess, making it ideal 

for takeout, delivery and peak-volume demands. 

Eswood/Middleby 

The Eswood Mobile Hand Wash Station doesn’t require plumbing, making it ideal for setting 

requiring additional hand-washing facilities. The complete, standalone unit, which features 

more than 60 washes per fill, provides a simple, hygienic and easy solution to ensure hand 

washing is carried out by staff and visitors and its photo-electric foot sensor operation 

means no hand contact is required. 



FEEL-GOOD STORIES FROM THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY 

Rallying Cry 

In early April, Stella Artois launched Rally 

for Restaurants, a gift-card program 

providing local establishments with 

immediate financial relief. As part of the 

global initiative rolling out in 10 different 

countries, Rally for Restaurants is open 

to all bars and restaurants across Canada 

and encourages Canadians to buy a gift 

card they can use at their local favourites upon re-opening or use now for 

takeout. Stella Artois will add an additional $10 to the value of every gift 

card purchased, which will go directly to 

restaurants, bars and pubs. 

“We’re hoping Rally for Restaurants will not only help restaurants and 

bars in the immediate term, but will also help safeguard the future of the 

industry and inspire Canadians to join our efforts by purchasing gift cards 

over the weeks to come,” says Todd Allen, VP of Marketing at Labatt 

Breweries of Canada. 

BETTER 

TOGeTHER 

In April, an online food hall called the 

852 Curbside Collective was created 

to support three small Toronto food 

businesses amidst the governmentmandated 

restaurant closures 

brought on by COVID-19. Located 

on King Street West, 852 Curbside 

Collective — formed by Jane Tran, 

executive chef/founder of Chau, 

Meagan Bowden, founder/executive 

chef at Phancy Food & Catering and 

Emily de Beus, co-founder and chef 

of Sausage Party Toronto — takes 

pre-orders online for next-day 

pickup from its commercial kitchen 

and customers have the option of 

having their orders brought directly 

to their vehicle. It also offers select 

free local delivery on orders over $80. 

The operation doesn’t accept cash 

and it monitors the number of people 

inside the shop at all times. 

WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR 

YOUR FEEL GOOD STORIES 

@foodservicemag 

Helping 

Hands 

The Canteen in 

Dartmouth, N.S., owned 

by Renée Lavallée and 

her husband Doug 

Townsend, teamed up 

with the Dartmouth North 

Community Food Centre 

and Margaret’s House, 

run by Feeding Others of 

Dartmouth Society, to 

prepare 300 to 400 meals 

per week during the COVID- 

19 crisis. 

Lavallée says it had 

been looking for a way to 

help the community since 

closing in mid-March and 

laying off the majority of 

its 30 employees, adding 

the restaurant was able to 

retain five workers to assist 

in preparing the meals. 

Delivering 

Chicken Joy 

In mid-April, Jollibee announced it was donating 5,000 meals to 

healthcare workers at hospitals across the country. Every delivery 

care package included a 'Note of Joy' from customers nationwide 

to show thanks and appreciation for the hospital workers’ 

dedication and service during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“At Jollibee, it’s part of our mission to spread joy and during 

this time we want to bring it to those who need it most, our 

healthcare workers,” says Maribeth Dela Cruz, president JFC 

North America, Philippine Brands. "We’re looking forward to providing 

more than just a meal, but the appreciation from people 

all over the country for everything those on the frontlines are 

doing, day and night, for our communities.” 


For a location near you, 

visit wholesaleclub.ca 

Follow us 

@therealcanadianwholesaleclub 

Shop 

with us 

for everything 

foodservice 

Shop online 

@ wholesaleclub.ca 

Spend less time away from your business 

by placing your order online. 

We’ll get everything ready 

so all you do is pick up in store.

Getting through this together 

Like all Canadians, we have been adapting to the evolving environment around us. 

During these uncertain times, the most important thing we all can do is help in any 

way we can. That’s why we have supported a variety of critical causes for the 

fight against COVID-19. 

To date we have helped by: 

• redirecting raw material and working with partners such as 

Dairy Distilleries to make hand sanitizers for local hospitals; 

• working with Food Banks of Ontario, Food Banks of Calgary, 

Moisson Montréal and others to ensure we do our part; 

• working with several pizzeria operators so they can provide pizzas 

to hospitals and the front line workers 

Lactalis Canada (Parmalat Canada) has been a proud Foodservice & Ingredients 

dairy provider for over 140 years. We remain committed to Feed the Nation with 

healthy and nutritious dairy products, and to supporting our Foodservice partners 

and customers, who are impacted by these very challenging circumstances. 

We believe in the strength and resilience of our Foodservice industry. 

We will get through this together. 

Stay safe. Stay strong. 

Sincerely, 

Iven Zanardo 

General Manager - Foodservice, Ingredients & Export, Lactalis Canada 

® 

C M Y K

May 2020

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