April 16, 2022 – During the pandemic, cafes, eateries and various types of restaurants were one of the most adversely-affected sectors of businesses in every town, city and state in the United States, as well as globally.
The pandemic negatively impacted the restaurant business. In the beginning of March 2020, some major cities in the US announced that bars and restaurants would be closed to sit-down dinners and limited to takeout orders and delivery.
Later in the month, many states put in place restrictions that required restaurants to be takeout or delivery only. Some employees were fired, and more employees lacked sick leave in the sector compared to similar sectors.
With only carry-out and delivery services, most servers and bartenders were laid off, prompting these employees creating “virtual tip jars” across 23 U.S. cities.
In the United States, an initiative known as the “Great American Takeout” called on people under quarantine to support local restaurants each Tuesday by ordering takeout for curbside pickup or using food delivery services. It began in late March 2020.
A group of restaurant entrepreneurs however, took action to improve their businesses by taking initiatives to change the negative direction of their industry to a positive one. These were mainly in what they described as the ‘fast and casual’ segment of restaurants.
The Food and Beverage group of the tech giant Oracle helped this group who called themselves FastandCascual.com and were affiliated with Net World Media Group. As a matter of fact, in a marketing brochure they released during the Covid-19 pandemic, they called themselves: 2020 Fast Casual Top 100 Movers & Shakers.
Tom Harperwas (or probably still is) CEO of NetWorld Media Group. In an introduction in this brochure, this organization’s VP of Editorial Cherryh Cansler points out several flexible and innovative steps the entrepreneurs of ‘fast and casual brands’ took to stay in business during the severely-straining peak period of Covid-19 on the restaurant industry, such as:
“Instead of closing shop, so many fast and casual brands have not only found ways to stay in business by pivoting to online ordering, curbside pick up and delivery, but are also using precious resources to help those in need. From collecting customer donations and creating unique social media campaigns to raise money for out-of-work restaurant employees to giving thousands of dollars worth of food to frontline workers and cutting delivery fees, the giving spirit of this industry is contagious. And that’s exactly what the world needs in times like these. The world could use some positive news as well, which is why we are pleased to introduce this year’s class of Fast Casual Top 100 Movers & Shakers.