Cyprus Mail 2 April 2021 - by Kyriacos Nicolaou
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| Limassol pub, like most service businesses, are in a wait-and-see mode. |
Lockdown restrictions have been partially lifted, and many have predicted a major increase in spending, but many service businesses remain unconvinced.
“There is some movement, but we are waiting to see how things develop. There is still the danger of a third wave, and a lot of businesses are also keeping to a cautious approach,” Antonia Hadjicosta, sales manager at the Nicosia-based cleaning supplies provider Cleanset Ltd, a company which has a number of customers within the broader service industry, told the Cyprus Mail in an interview. “There has not been a major difference to our business so far.”
Bars and restaurants are not sure how to move forward.
“Bars and restaurants are reluctant to invest in stock again on a large scale. They are waiting to see if they will be closed down again. It happened to them once before with the second lockdown,” complained Tony Leonida, of the online drinks delivery company Zoom. Zoom delivers alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages to the Limassol and Paphos districts, both to individual customers (B2C), as well as a supplier to restaurants, bars and other businesses.
“Obviously being able to supply individual people was okay, but we lost that business-to-business market which was important,” Leonida added.
The Woodman’s pub in Limassol expressed a similar concern. “We lost a lot of stock during lockdown because things went out of date, including beverages. We had to reorder a lot of stuff but we have to keep the orders somewhat limited because we are waiting to see what happens next.”
“We had to decrease the numbers of our regular orders from suppliers, but they do seem to understand. We have all had to adjust to this new reality,” a Larnaca-based restaurant owner resignedly told us.
For Woodmans, limitations on seating prohibit businesses from making the most of demand at its peak.
“Business has been all right, but we have limited space outside and so we can’t fully accommodate all of the demand,” the pub owner said.
“We are receiving a lot of reservations and people are happy to be out again and are sticking to the rules. We have allocated half of our space to bookings and the other half to walk-in customers because we want to please everyone as much as we can, but it can be difficult to do that at times,” the pub added.
This predicament is far from a surprise, with numerous service industry businesses sounding warning bells several months ago.
“I think a lot of restaurants will have major problems. I don’t think all of us will survive it,” French restaurant La Maison Fleurie owner Giannis Ioannou told me in December.
Restrictions are still daunting, but some are prospering
Despite the ending of the second major lockdown imposed in Cyprus, there are still measures in place which place considerable limitations on both businesses as well as consumers.
These measures include the 11 p.m. curfew, which keeps businesses from earning into the late hours, as well as a ban on all indoor dining.
“The first two weeks have been encouraging. People are more than tired of the lockdown and staying home so they are more than eager to go out,” the Larnaca restaurant owner said.
“We didn’t have a major issue with our stock because we transitioned to a delivery service which meant that we were able to use our stock and keep things moving during the lockdown as well,” he added, but explained that consumer behaviour was different, contrasting food delivery habits and how patrons behaved when they visited the restaurant in person.
“We did end up increasing our orders on some items, including alcoholic beverages because it is an item that is almost exclusively consumed on site at the restaurant,” he said.
Food delivery is not suffering as restaurants open — and vice-versa
Food deliveries have mushroomed during the lockdowns, and are expected to continue to prosper, yet restaurants do not seem to be affected. None of the restaurateurs we interviewed complained about the effects of food delivery.
Nor is the opposite occurring.
“On the food delivery side of things, the company has experienced a positive trend and continuous growth in Cyprus since the service began and this has not been disrupted by the recent reopening of restaurants,” Bolt Marketing Manager Alexis Petrides explained.
