All facets of society are being forced to adapt to the confines of a global pandemic, and the restaurant industry is no different, with one West Michigan restaurant charging introducing a $1 dollar (82p) “COVID surcharge” to help them cope with rising food costs and decreasing profits.
Goog’s Pub & Grub introduced the “COVID surcharge” on the 7th of May as a way for them to maintain transparency about the rising costs in the restaurant industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, with owner Brad White justifying the increased price as ensuring his restaurant’s survival:
We’re just trying to pay the bills so we can stay open until this is over.
As a result of lockdown measures, the restaurant is only open for takeout, which not only means losses from food and drink sales, but rising takeout and food costs are making it difficult to stay open. Speaking to Fox 17, Brad explained that takeout costs more than a typical meal on average, with the additional packaging and cutlery needed:
Takeout averages about 82 cents more per meal just to put that meal out cause you’re not just putting it on a plate or tray and washing that again. It’s the silverware, the boxes.
The “COVID surcharge” may initially appear to be a lucrative way to exploit customers in a vulnerable situation, but this pandemic is also affecting the restaurant owners economically, with food costs drastically increasing:
When this started, we were running about $50 for a case of burgers and then it was up to $55, $62, $66, $72 last week and they just told me next week it’ll probably be up to $88 a case, so almost double what we were paying. It’s going to be a while before the food industry, the suppliers catch up. If the industry’s prices are going to stay, it’s going to affect people down the road just as much as it is now.
Both Brad and general manager, Palmer White believe that they are the only restaurant in the local area to implement such a surcharge, but asserts that “other places are just raising their prices and not telling you”.
Ultimately, like many other cultural sectors, the decision to introduce a “COVID surcharge” was a necessary one, for survival, and not done out of greed, with Palmer saying, “We’re not doing this to get rich. We just want to see our staff is taken care of, make sure people are fed, make sure our lights are on.”
The world is being forced to adapt to a global pandemic, with it impacting all corners of society – culturally, economically, socially. If we look back to the past for reassurance, for humanity’s sake, let’s hope that our outcome is more akin to the cultural flourishing of the Renaissance after the Black Death than the economic devastation of the Great Depression following the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.
To learn more about the adaptations restaurants are making to the COVID-19 pandemic, click here to read about one Amsterdam restaurant’s innovative precautions against coronavirus.
