It's safe to serve customers at the counter, cafes tell Government

Monday, 11 May 2020

Restaurant Association chief Marisa Bidois said counter service could be managed safely.

Cafes and restaurants are appealing for counter service to be allowed when they reopen their doors to customers on Thursday.

As the country makes a staggered exit from level 3, hospitality business owners were hopeful people would return to eating out, said Marisa Bidois, chief executive of the Restaurant Association.

Cafes and restaurants were prepared for managing social distancing and increased cleaning, including cleansing menus between seatings, following the announcement from Commerce Minister Kris Faafoi that they could reopen on May 14.

But many cafes relied on counter service, which currently appeared to be banned until much later in the month, Bidois said.

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Counter service was where people go to a cafe's counter to select and pay for their food and drinks, even if they then went on to consume them on the premises, said Bidois.

But despite the Restaurant Association coming up with safety guidelines for cafes that would allow counter service, it appeared it would not be allowed for another week and a half.

“Minister Faafoi informed us at 3pm today that bars would be allowed to open at Alert Level 2 if they adhere to the rule of seated serving of food,' said Bidois.

Cafes did manage to do some business under alert level 3.

'Those that do not offer food will need to wait until May 21.'

The Restaurant Association had submitted its proposed safe counter service guidelines to the Government over the weekend, she said.

Some other retailers, including pharmacies, had been allowed to continue serving people at their counters, Bidois said.

'We still await feedback on these as well as responses to a number of questions which remain unanswered,' she said.

'We're seeking clarification around that.'

Under level 3 restrictions people have been returning to cafes, which have been able to do contactless commerce, which often meant sending meals to customers homes via delivery services, or serving customers take-away food and drinks from a counter at their door.

After cafes and restaurants reopened their doors, people could expect to see social distancing reflected in lower density table layouts in premises, increased cleaning, and the gathering of contact-tracing information from customers, Bidois said.

She appealed for people to support their local cafes and restaurants.

I hope everyone will be looking forward to getting out to their local businesses to have that morning coffee you have been missing, hopefully visiting your favourite restaurant,' Bidois said.

The lockdown had been a tough time for cafes. Some had closed for good, and others were likely to follow.

'I have heard over the last few weeks of five different businesses closing their doors, and there are more who have said they don't think they will be able to reopen,' Bidois said.

Cafes and restaurant owners, particularly those in central business districts, were nervous about how much business they would get in the coming weeks.

With many people still working from home, demand for food in business districts was expected to be low.