The Contactless Conundrum
Restaurant Tech faces its biggest evaluation yet
Over the past nine months, technology has emerged as an invaluable lifeline for the industry. With concepts such as cloud kitchens, data driven backend systems, third party delivery apps, robotic servers, and so many more, becoming integral parts of the eatery ecosystem, the shift to a digital realm has definitely been expedited by circumstance. But how much of that is truly sustainable?
In precursory articles titled The Dining Dynamic, Icy Ideas, The Big Picture and Digitise or Die, among others, we have often elucidated the importance of these technology-based models and highlighted the significance of innovation in this regard. However, we have always maintained that off-premises and contactless solutions are important, but not the definitive, long-term solution. Why?
Dining is inherently experiential and cooking is an art. While we cannot ignore the industrialisation of the sector with fast-food chains, the fine dining, family dining and experiential dining establishments are simply irreplaceable. You can’t digitise feelings.
The excerpt above, from one of our previous articles, perfectly illustrates our sentiment.
How then, do we strike this balance between the human experience and contextual demands? The uncomfortable truth is—there is no straightforward solution, and only time will tell.
What we can offer, as always, is our researched take on the topic (restaurant technology) in light of a fresh set of Covid-19 restrictions. So, here’s what seems to be working for most ‘future-ready’ or ‘pandemic proof’ establishments that could perhaps dictate your course of action as well:
QR-code based ordering and payments are the most popular (and proven) way to go if your restaurant still offers in-dining
Upgrade software systems to power and optimise online order processing
Use a delivery integrator
Go virtual:
That point was underscored recently in the massive $120 million sum Ordermark raised for its NextBite platform, which pairs restaurants with kitchen space to help them develop and operate virtual restaurant brands.
—Excerpt via The Spoon
Set up a ghost kitchen (learn more about what this entails in The Big Picture)
If you liked this blog post and would like to hear from us more regularly about food tech and the restaurant industry, subscribe for FREE below!
Please reach out to aman@dashin.in for any feedback or clarifications regarding the content of this article.