A Matusz-vad Zrt. Gastro Genius GmbH has been serving the Austrian hospitality industry for more than 7 years. We have a wealth of experience in understanding the raw material needs of restaurants. In Austria, we still serve more than 500 restaurants a day. In dealing with the virus situation, not only the government is following the Austrian example, but we also have a lot to learn from them in the catering sector. Fortunately, we have not yet been hit by the great stringency that has already been introduced in Austria, but looking at the numbers, we are not too far away.
Our neighbours in Vienna have opted for much cheaper window sales at noon in addition to door-to-door deliveries, following the shutdown announced days ago. The restaurant is staffed anyway, just set up a touch-free delivery point and you're ready to serve. Especially at lunchtime, people tend to choose a restaurant that they can quickly approach and have a quick lunch. So the time factor to concentrate on is quality and price at midday. Many people take advantage of the possibility to have their menus pre-packed and delivered to the customer at a moment's notice.
Facebook is a very good platform to transmit this information to your guests, and for a few thousand forints you can create a whole effective campaign to attract your customers.
Unfortunately, delivery is essential for evening traffic. The delivery companies charge a commission of 22-25% on the gross price, which is quite a discount, but in fact it is a huge help when one is struggling to survive. Unfortunately, the Hungarian catering industry is completely lacking that cohesion. If the neighbouring restaurants could organise delivery together, then orders could be fulfilled in a much more optimal and cost-effective way. Once a customer has placed an order, no one can change it, no matter who delivers it. By joining forces, neighbouring restaurants could make huge gains.
The now widely available rapid tests and the vaccination announced for the beginning of the year give hope to restaurateurs that they can resume normal business in the spring.
