The French have found their way back to restaurants, so much so that this branch is back in the green for the first time since the start of the Covid-19 crisis.
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After more than two years of difficulties linked to the Covid-19 pandemic and the various confinements, the catering industry is once again afloat, even if the activity remains difficult in certain cases. This is revealed in the latest strategic review by specialist consultancy Food Service Vision.
As for traditional commercial catering, the increase is 7%. For their part, food businesses, such as bakeries, have also regained real momentum with increases in attendance of 12% in May compared to the same month of 2019. On the other hand, the situation of collective catering is more complicated. The activity of self-catering and canteens remains down compared to what it was before the crisis, mainly under the effect of teleworking.
This survey mainly takes into account attendance and consumption habits, not just activity in terms of turnover. This revival is driven by the need to regain a social life and conviviality. This pushed the consumer to resume his good habits. The boss of the firm Food Service Vision, François Blouin, explains for example that 96% of French people who frequented a restaurant before the health crisis returned to it, in particular strongly over the period February-May with a highest level ever known. This is in addition to take-out and delivery consumption which is taking hold in the landscape, after a start during the confinements.
This welcome rise in power should not hide the fact that many restaurateurs have not regained the level of customers before the crisis. For some, the activity remains 30% lower which, at the end of the year, in cash, can go up to 300,000 euros missing from the coffers.