Food lovers return to restaurants as Covid curbs ease: Report

NEW DELHI: With restaurants, pubs and bars around the country reopening after over a year-and-a-half long lockdown, millions of food lovers have started returning to their favorite restaurants.


A latest report by India’s largest restaurant tech platform, Dineout showed that cities like Delhi, Kolkata and Hyderabad have witnessed the maximum recovery among metros.

Restaurants in Delhi and Kolkata are now operating at nearly 2X of February 2021 levels, the report said.

Among smaller cities, Jaipur and Ludhiana have shown maximum recovery and are currently operating at nearly 2.5X of February 2021 levels.

The average order value at restaurants (ATV) in July-August increased by as much as 20% since February, with smaller cities like Agra (24%), Indore (29%) & Ludhiana (35%) registering the biggest surge in restaurant order value - pointing at a much-needed release of the pent-up demand for good food and socialising with friends and family.

Interestingly, smaller cities like Agra and Ludhiana have also registered the largest average orders worth Rs 2,509 and Rs 2,766 respectively.

The report further noted that owing to higher disposable income, luxury dining across India has increased by as much as 120% and fine dining by 105%. While, the average number of diners per booking has witnessed a jump.

As offices reopen gradually, lunch hours are getting busier at restaurants with 39% of bookings coming during these hours in August ‘21 compared to 27% in February.

Hyderabad (50%) & Chennai (45%) see the maximum business during lunch-time, while Bangalore has shown an increase in lunch-hour bookings from 24% in February to over 44% in August owing to the 9 PM curfew.

Expressing enthusiasm in welcoming diners to their favorite Dineout partner restaurants in town, Ankit Mehrotra, co-founder & CEO of Dineout said, “Most food-lovers across the country have been sitting on the fence for over a year and a half about going back to their favorite restaurants in town. At Dineout, we are confident that the premier sanitation and hygiene-related measures such as fully vaccinated staff and socially distanced seating will reassure diners as we brace to take on this new normal.”

The other notable trend was the obvious consumer preference for ‘vaccinated restaurants’. Out of 50,000 outlets across 20 cities listed on Dineout, around 67% outlets have fully vaccinated staff.

Interestingly, these outlets have contributed 72% of the total business in August, with Ludhiana, Kolkata, Jaipur, Lucknow, Delhi & Bangalore boasting the highest percentage of

dining out

at vaccinated outlets.


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