The countrywide lockdown in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic has all but been officially lifted. From gyms and salons/barber shops to shopping malls and markets, almost every business has been allowed to reopen barring just a handful, including restaurants.

There is probably no business that did not take the hit during the two months or so of the lockdown. Similarly, restaurants, too, have incurred heavy losses; the industry employs thousands of workers who may go jobless if the current situation persists for long, and there is a lot of uncertainty whether this very essential part of social life will ever be the same again.

To get a slightly clearer picture, the Lahore Restaurants Association met Punjab Food Minister Aleem Khan on May 18, apprised him of their plight and suggested SOPs they could take while resuming operations.

Mr Mahmood Akbar, chairman of the association, told Dawn that during the lockdown they were constantly taking up the issue of reopening of restaurants with the authorities. “We wrote to the chief minister, the prime minister. I personally wrote to the PM too and asked him to kindly look after us because we’re in a bad shape, people may go jobless.”

The minister’s response was apparently quite encouraging, or so claims Mr Raza Ahmad, another member of the association who attended the meeting. “As an association, we weren’t expecting gyms to open and not restaurants. But when they did, we had huge pressure on us. This meeting was the first formal conversation with someone from the government and was quite fruitful; the minister was very receptive. We presented some SOPs we could follow and all of them were accepted, but with slight modifications. We haven’t received the final SOPs they’d like us to adopt.”

Following the meeting, the restaurants owners are quite positive their dine-in sections would be allowed to open up after Eid holidays, but considering the circumstances the world is in right now, it’s no surprise they will have to follow certain SOPs for coronavirus. A copy of the ones the association presented to the minister is available with Dawn according to which the eateries agree to operate with 50 per cent of their total seating capacity, observe social distancing while customers wait to be seated, outdoor seating to be expanded, one table be limited to one family, high contact touch points to be sanitised regularly, customers to be presented with sanitisers at entrance, restrooms to be sanitised regularly, temperature scans at the entrance for all customers and mandatory for them to wear mask throughout except when consuming meals.

For the staff, the SOPs the restaurants have suggested include not coming in if sick, temperature scans when entering, wearing masks when interacting with customers, regular hand washing.

While the coming days are likely to bring some good news for restaurants, it will come at a huge cost they paid through the two-month lockdown despite running delivery and takeaway operations. Sales were down five to 15pc of what they usually made, rents were a huge expense they were struggling with.

Ahmed Shahzad Khokhar, the CEO of Café Zouk, says they started deliveries only recently but were making only 10pc of the usual sales. “We can’t make ends meet with this. The landlords are not cooperating, and we couldn’t give salaries to our waiters and staff.”

The picture was bleaker for the legendary Butt Karahi of Lakshmi Chowk that sees a large crowd any given day. Its general manager, Iqbal Khan, told Dawn the business was as good as dead for at least two months. “We were only operating our Lakshmi Chowk point for deliveries and takeaways, the other three were completely closed. We did not even make 5pc of the usual sales. But we’re taking the staff along and they also understand.”

Almost every restaurant has a similar tale to tell; deliveries and takeaways really don’t compensate for dine-in sales while hundreds of workers have to be paid too. Mr Akbar, who also owns the Salt n Pepper restaurant chain, explains how they coped. “Village restaurant was completely closed and the remaining three points were open for deliveries and takeaway, which earned us a maximum 15pc of normal sales. We have close to 600 workers -- even though we’re operating with only 10pc of them – and paid them all for March, but in instalments of 25pc and have yet to pay for April.”

He says they also explained to the workers they’d need to be careful while spending the salaries. “We told them this situation can last for long, so please spend sensibly, save as much as possible, don’t make unnecessary expenditures. And they understand; they take me as a father figure.”

Raza Ahmad, who owns Bamboo Union, echoes Mr Khokhar’s complaints about rent among other issues. “There has been a lot of trouble with landlords who have been asking for full rent. It’s understood I can’t pay in full because there is no business. So I negotiated and eventually pulled through. We are down to 15pc of sales through deliveries and takeaways from only one of our two branches.”

The restaurant owners say they’re more than willing to follow the SOPs discussed with the government, but need to reopen businesses as soon as possible. Ahmad says the minister categorically told them to operate on 50pc capacity with alternate seating and seemed okay with most of their suggestions. “But they won’t allow buffets, which we were also anticipating.”

“The SOPs are simple: Gloves, masks, distancing, sanitising, gap between tables and chairs, spraying of shoes. Aleem Khan said their study shows the virus spreads a lot through shoes. We’re in this for a little longer. I obviously want my customer to come to me with complete confidence. Forget SOPs, my goal is that a customer should feel he will be safe when he goes back to Salt n Pepper with his family,” said Mr Akbar.

Besides the SOPs, Mr Khan of Butt Karahi wants the government to allow them to operate for longer hours to help recover the loss. “We only want them to extend the duration of operations. Even if we lose by operating with half the capacity, we’ll earn some revenue at least.”

Mr Khokhar also wants another issue sorted that he thinks will hit them as soon as they reopen. “The government should give us an industry status; we employ a lot of people. It should have announced no charging of rents because when we start operations how can we pay the same rent when we’re not making money? The government should announce discounted rents or initial two-month waivers.”

While eateries are all set to reopen most likely after Eid, there’s no doubt the culture, the whole purpose of going out for food to a restaurant will never be the same. Being a veteran in the business, Mr Akbar has a hunch the industry will see a major collapse soon after reopening. “I personally feel around 50pc restaurants won’t be able to reopen even or survive. Only multinationals and those with sustaining power can sustain. And within three months of reopening, half of the 50pc that initially survive will close. This always happens with businesses during a crisis -- smaller ones are wiped out, bigger ones sustain and later, the bigger ones usually pick up the smaller ones that close down.”

Predicting tough times ahead, he says if they run with 50pc seating capacity, “we’ll be very lucky if we touch 25pc to 30pc of what our sales were before the virus. We have to strive to get to 50pc, but will start from 25 to 30”.

Bamboo Union’s Ahmad also sees an uncertain future, mainly owing to cutting down of half their capacity. “After reopening, initially we have payments to clear. All restaurants in the market owe millions to vendors. Then supply is another challenge because imports have stopped. Eventually, we will have to go local because the government also doesn’t seem to be in a mood to encourage imports, which is fine.”

While the world tries to adjust to the ‘new normal’, customers are also likely to think twice before going out to eat, or at least not as regularly as they did and businesses are likely to take a hit in more ways than one. Mr Akbar concurs it can never be what it was pre-coronavirus. “People’s thinking and psyche will have changed. There’s fear also. A few factors to consider when people go out will be: even if restaurants are open, coronavirus hasn’t gone anywhere yet; there will be less or no money to spend because businesses aren’t functioning. Those who used to go out weekly may now do it monthly. Deliveries in offices, homes, committee parties, all will be slowed down.”

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2020