Sunday evening the total count of Covid-19 cases in South Africa rose to 402. In just over two weeks, we have seen how the number of people infected by the virus is increasing rapidly. The government has put in place strict new measures that prohibit restaurants and bars from selling alcohol past 18h00 to discourage fraternisation. Last night the President announced that we are going into a 21 day lockdown – this means all business must close down by midnight on Thursday except for supermarkets and pharmacies.

Cape Town Restaurants Look for New Revenue Opportunities

In the past two weeks, we have seen Cape Town restaurants spring into action, finding new ways to create revenue as they have been forced to change the way they operate. We are now seeing restaurants we wouldn’t have otherwise seen on delivery apps, such as the highly rated Belly of the Beast. This novel virus has created a whole new market for the takeaway industry from not only the normal takeaway go-to places but from those ‘higher-end’ restaurants too. Unfortunately all of these Cape Town restaurants have only two more days to continue trying to make a profit in the creative ways they have been since the beginning of self-isolation in South Africa.

Cape Town restaurants are now not only selling just takeaways, but are also selling individual products as well as ingredients for your convenience, in the hopes that this could be a new revenue stream while the impact of the virus is still uncertain. We are seeing places like Kleinskys, El Burro and Clarkes now selling “care packages” that include all the ingredients to make your own meals with their products. Kleinskys has their ‘Dog Box’, which for R280, gets you their beef frankfurters, pickle spears, chipotle ketchup, mustard, coleslaw, and pretzel rolls. They have other options on sale, like their bagel boxes as well which are available for takeaway and delivery. Clarkes is selling fresh vegetables as well as their menu items in takeaway boxes.

Delivery Has Been Cape Town Restaurants Saving Grace Until The Lockdown

Arthur’s Mini Superette is now offering take away and pick up of not only the cafe items but their normal products as well as products they wouldn’t normally sell.  Whether it be Okja milk, Woodstock Bakery bread, Deluxe coffee, variety of jams or your favourite snacks you want, they are got you covered. They are also selling their homemade tomato sauce, so you can add it to a bolognese or what have you. We also are starting to see places like Sweet Lion Heart getting creative and offering Social Distancing Cakes for order. With sayings like ‘Eat cake, don’t contaminate’ and ‘Be wise, Sanitise’. They are also offering online patisserie courses where they show you step-by-step how to make delicious cakes, which is perfect as we go into lockdown.

Tamboerswinkel is now offering free delivery of the wine that they sell at their shop. By allowing people to order their wine they are able to still sell their products at retail price and still generate income in order to sustain themselves. Publik Wine has partnered up with Frankie Ferner, Jason Bakery, Jack Black Beer and Deluxe. If you order from any of these shops as well as from Publik they will bring it all to you along with your Publik wine order. No extra charge, no delivery charge at all. They are acting as a delivery service and ensuring that it gets to you in a single drop-off.

Maybe after the lockdown is over restaurants will revert back to the strategies we have outlined above to continue to make a profit. Maybe we will start seeing these Cape Town Restaurants selling more goods than convenience stores sell. Maybe we’ll start ordering toilet paper along with our favourite Junior Fried Chicken Burger, who knows, this virus has opened and closed doors for the restaurant business.

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO IF YOU SUSPECT YOU MAY BE INFECTED

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has a toll-free number for the public that deals with Covid-19 related issues or questions: 0800 029 999. The line is operated 24 hours a day.