For millions of people laid off or furloughed due to the coronavirus, their best and only option for surviving this national shutdown is to bulk buy groceries at as cheap a rate as possible. But if you’re one of the lucky workers still capable of making an income from working remotely, you should seriously consider maximizing the amount of meals and groceries you purchase from restaurants.
Credit and debit card data from 6 million people found that even after a monumental surge of panic purchasing, regular grocery sales have remained significantly higher than usual. Among online grocers, they’ve nearly doubled. So grocers don’t need increased spending. Restaurants, more than almost any other industry, do.
Spending on fine dining has almost completely collapsed. Spending at casual restaurants has fallen by more than half, and spending at fast casual restaurants, such as Panera Bread and Sweetgreen, has nearly done so. Even fast food eateries have seen demand fall by a quarter.
Unlike airlines or other industries hard-hit by the coronavirus, restaurants operate with razor thin margins even in the best of times. If the coronavirus forces their closure, even returned consumer demand wouldn’t provide enough cash to revive them. Most restaurants, once gone, are gone forever.
In a new working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, researchers found that restaurateurs believe they have a 72% chance of surviving a one-month shutdown, but that falls to a staggering 30% chance of survival if asked about a four-month shutdown and to just 15% if asked about a six-month shutdown.
Some of these restaurants are lost causes. Keeping a kitchen open for limited demand is nearly impossible for the least profitable restaurants.
This is why, if you can buy from restaurants, you really should.
The most obvious way is straight takeout from those restaurants still in operation and gift cards from those that aren’t. But another innovative way to grant a lifeline to an extra industry is to order groceries from restaurants that sell them. Chains like Panera are selling their raw ingredients, such as bread, bagels, and vegetables. California Pizza Kitchen is selling meal kits, beer, and wine. Some restaurants are even selling toilet paper and hand sanitizer.
Because restaurants use a separate supply chain for groceries that allows them to buy in bulk, buying from restaurants can provide a boon to restaurants and wholesale grocers and save you money.
Only consumers can save the restaurant industry. If you want them to be here after the coronavirus crisis passes, start patronizing them now.
