Fast-food chains foresee continued growth in online orders as COVID cases spike

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New Delhi: Leading Quick Service Restaurant chains such as – KFC, Taco Bell and McDonald’s – foresee continued growth in online orders with more states going in for partial or complete lockdown and as people follow physical-distancing guidelines amid alarming rise in COVID cases in the country.

The Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) chains are strictly following the standard hygiene and safety processes across all delivery and takeaway orders, as well as for in-store dining, as per the local government regulations applicable in that area.

“As the pandemic hit last year, most of our consumers transitioned from on-premise consumption to ordering at home. With this second wave now, we foresee continued growth in online/digital orders with more states going into partial or complete lockdown,” a KFC spokesperson told PTI.

According to KFC, a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, the delivery has been a growing channel. Earlier it was contributing to a small portion of the pre-COVID revenue, but it has become relevant to a larger audience now, due to restricted movement.

“We witnessed a surge in digital/online ordering through last year and we anticipate this trend to continue with the limited movement of people outside of their homes,” it said adding “we want to ensure we are accessible to our customers wherever they are – within the comfort of their homes or out for essential services.” Taco Bell, which has also witnessed an exponential demand and growth for the delivery and takeaway services over the last one year, said it is “cautiously optimistic” that this channel will continue to grow.

“There has been a resurgence of consumer demand in the last few months and we continue to be cautiously optimistic that this demand for delivery and takeaway will continue over the next few weeks and months, as people continue to be cautious and spend time indoors for their safety,” said Burman Hospitality (Taco Bell’s Master Franchise partner in India) Executive Director Kumar Saurabh.

Hygiene protocol

QSRs are also strictly following hygiene protocol ensuring the safety of their employees and the customers in addition to the restrictions advised by the authorities.

McDonald’s India (North and East) said it remains committed to serving customers while strictly adhering to the restrictions advised by the authorities.

“In the current COVID times, we have further elevated our safety and hygiene standards and introduced more than 50+ process changes under our global Safety+ program to ensure enhanced safety to our esteemed guests. Our restaurants are open to serve our guests within the restrictions imposed by the authorities,” said a McDonald’s India (North and East) spokesperson.

Taco Bell said, with new restrictions being announced across states, it will continue to follow its gold standard hygiene and safety processes across all delivery and takeaway orders, as well as for in-store dining, as per government regulations.

This also includes temperature checking of delivery executives at restaurants and ensuring pick up of orders from a demarcated area to ensure contactless- pickups.

Its orders continue to be ‘double – packed’, where each item is wrapped in individual packets followed by an outer bag to ensure contactless transit of the order. It is also enclosing ‘Safety Cards’ with each order, documenting all of our hygiene and safety measures, along with the name and temperature of the delivery rider.

“We will continue to operate across the country in a responsible manner and in complete compliance with the latest directives of the relevant authorities. We have reinforced our enhanced safety and hygiene procedures that we put in place last year, with our 4X Safety Promise of Screening, Social distancing, Sanitisation & Contactless and will continue operating for takeaway, delivery and/or dine-in, as per government directives across different states,” KFC spokesperson added.

India’s total tally of COVID-19 cases climbed to 1,53,21,089 with 2,59,170 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, while active cases surpassed the 20-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.