New Delhi: Nearly 10 per cent dine-out restaurants across the country have shut down while 30 per cent more restaurants currently not operating due to Covid are not likely to reopen even after the pandemic ends, a new report by leading food delivery company Zomato said.
According to the report released Wednesday, these restaurants are among the 83 per cent dine-outs that are currently non-operational. The remaining 43 per cent restaurants that are shut are likely to open as the situation improves.
“Out of the 83 per cent restaurants that are not open for business, 10 per cent restaurants have already shut down permanently… an additional 30 per cent restaurants might not reopen at all. The remaining 43 per cent, which are closed right now, are likely to open as the situation becomes better,” said the report.
The rest of the dining industry is operating at just 8 to 10 per cent of gross merchandise value (GMV) from earlier levels pre-pandemic levels, it said.
“Nearly 60 per cent restaurateurs said they estimate to retain less than half of their original business volumes for a few months even post-Covid,” the report said.
The slump in the dine-out industry is largely due to the markets being in lockdown, consumers not stepping out due to the fear of transmissions, and restaurants not opening up even if the city is not in lockdown, said the report.
The survey was done among “thousands of restaurants and customers across various cities in India” to understand the current state and future outlook of the industry.
“We commenced the survey on 1 August and surveyed over 15,000 restaurants in the country, with over 1,000 restaurants in each city,” a Zomato spokesperson told ThePrint.
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Food delivery business
However, the food delivery industry is clocking around 75 to 80 per cent of pre-Covid GMV.
Food delivery has largely recovered as the number of restaurants offering deliveries are at 70 per cent of pre-Covid levels. Out of this, about 5 per cent restaurants didn’t offer such services before the pandemic hit. The report also estimated that the industry may hit pre-Covid levels of business in the next two-three months.
The leading food delivery app claims it has delivered 7 crore food orders since the lockdown started on 25 March. “We estimate that between other food aggregators and direct restaurant channels, Indians have ordered 20 crore times since the lockdown,” the report said.
Maximum restaurants operational in Kolkata
In cities where there are currently no restrictions, only 17 per cent dine-out restaurants are open for business, which are running at low occupancy.
Out of the cities where the restaurants are allowed to open, Delhi has only 12 per cent restaurants functional. While Chennai has the minimum number of functional restaurants (9 per cent), Kolkata has the highest number of restaurants functioning (29 per cent).
Kolkata currently has 27,535 active Covid cases, while Delhi has 11,137 and Chennai 12,106 cases.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has left the restaurant industry in India bleeding with an estimated loss of about ₹1trn ($13bn) in the last 100 days. By now, the losses of the industry might have doubled. The size of India’s restaurant industry is estimated at ₹4.2trn ($57bn
How has the ongoing pandemic impacted the restaurant and food Industry in India and what the future holds?