How European restaurants are using technology to enable contactless delivery
Published March 19, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic has hit Europe especially hard, as the region is currently a major hotspot for the virus. Public life in Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and other EU countries has been reduced to an absolute minimum. Social contact is discouraged, everyone is to remain in their homes and all non-vital infrastructure has been shut down.
This, of course, means no one is going out to eat — a disaster for restaurant owners. Those who can are adapting their businesses by offering take-away and delivery services instead.
This helps keep the specter of a total shut-down at bay but also reduces food waste while helping keep restaurant employees and customers safe.
Restaurants get creative
In Zurich, for example, the vegetarian/vegan restaurant Tibits has started a crowdfunding campaign to enable them to keep their business running. Starting April 1, they will offer customers a meal subscription, which will deliver a fresh, healthy meal to their doorstep every day; it’s especially great for people who have a limited supply of groceries at home. Additionally, they have also formed a cooperation with the local delivery service platform.
But it isn’t just restaurants who are adapting quickly; other food-focused businesses, such as bakeries and butcher shops are getting creative as well. Butcher shop Metzgerei Auernig in Salzburg, for example, has been taking their customers’ orders by phone or email. Customers pay online and then pick up their orders at an agreed upon time, ensuring the least amount of contact and keeping crowds from gathering. They’ve also put a delivery service in place.
Fine dining restaurant Landhaus in Bern, normally a traditional gourmet restaurant, has also had to rethink their concept. They set up their own delivery system to keep the business running and their employees motivated. “It’s not easy to re-organize a gourmet restaurant in to a delivery-based business,” says chef Tom Christen. “Many businesses outside of larger cities simply don’t have the infrastructure. They can’t get any containers to transport the delivered food, for example.”
Many restaurants in Europe already have a cooperation with a local delivery platform, which they now rely on heavily. One of Europe’s largest delivery platforms, Lieferando has adapted their way of delivering food to meet the new health safety standards. To keep the risk of infection to a minimum, deliveries are dropped at the doorstep and payments are made online. Couriers ring the door bell and keep within a safe distance until the door is opened and the customer claims their order. This way food is never left unattended.
NCR is deeply committed to helping you navigate this uncertain and challenging time. Let us know how we can help as you transform your restaurant to address the disruption caused by the pandemic, and be sure to keep checking NCR.com/coronavirus for updates, guidance and other helpful information.
