As the FIFA World Cup tournament moves into its final week, and no more games are scheduled to take place in Canada, the foodservice industry should take some lessons from the temporary surge in demand, an industry insider said.

“Generally, operators should treat something like this as almost a stress test for their business. Where did  my service slow down? Did I have enough refrigeration capacity to store enough beer? Did the layout of my kitchen hold up to, for example, cook enough chips? Was my POS (point of sale) system fast enough so that I could serve enough people?” Tyrone Ho, president, Canada with EconoLease, said to FoodNX in an interview.

“For myself having grown up in restaurants, the value is not just trying to get extra sales. It’s what the operator can actually learn.”

EconoLease provides financing for the foodservice industry for capital upgrades and other expenses. The company has 389 employees globally, through its parent company, The SilverChef Group in Brisbane, Australia, and it partners with 2,600 equipment-dealer companies in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the U.S.

Limited impact on overall industry

While the tournament saw a relatively small number of games in Canada (13 out of 104 matches spread across Canada, Mexico and the U.S.), since it began on June 11, its impact was limited, according to Ho.

“I think the data suggests this, it varied depending on where the restaurant was, and it makes sense. I feel that we can’t always assume a global event like FIFA will create a financial win. It does end up getting concentrated. I do live in Vancouver, and Granville Street, they closed it off: what a fantastic vibe.”

The cost to Canada to host those games was approximately $1 billion, according to many estimates, but its bottom-line impact was more difficult to quantify.

While the buzz was palpable in downtown Toronto and Vancouver, for some restaurants, some ill-advised decisions may have happened, Ho said.

“Some operators have taken on additional expenses like labour or inventory without actually seeing enough incremental gain. Personally, I feel that the sales volume is only one side of the story.”

But for some restaurants, these investments should have been undertaken in order to be ready for the surge.

“There was there was a story of a pub actually running out of beer on Granville Street in Vancouver. Let’s be honest, anyone that sells alcohol in a confined area definitely would have been the ones that that saw an uplift, but I think it’s less about the type and more about where they were located,” Ho said.

The successful operators are ones who used the experience of having a temporary overload to inform future customer traffic data planning and allowed them to ask some questions.

“My deep fryer, the recovery time is not good enough. So maybe I should be getting a deep fryer that can cook chips quicker? Maybe I should reinvest in some technology, whether that’s a self-ordering kiosk or a QR code ordering to improve that speed? Or what could I do just to make the customer experience better?”

“And if they learn those lessons, then hopefully, the impact that will have will be far greater than just the six weeks that FIFA is on,” Ho said.

Invest for longer term

While some new investment in equipment is warranted, Ho cautioned that, “some advice for a restaurant owner is, probably don’t make a long-term decision based on what potentially is just really short-term demand.”

Instead, use the opportunity to crunch some numbers that will pay dividends down the road, he said.

“Then you’ve actually made this large investment that will have a long-term impact on your cash flow that will impact how you run your business. The advice part is: review the numbers, see where the bottlenecks potentially are, or where you can improve a customer experience, and probably then invest where there’s going to be a year-round operating benefit.”

What is always a good thing to invest in, according to Ho, is upgrading technology to address future demand.

“Instead of using paper dockets, use a kitchen display screen in the kitchen, like a self-ordering (system) . . . there’s some amazing ovens that can toast a grilled cheese in 10 seconds and do an amazing job of it.”

“I think they’re all great investments that’s improved speed of service and overall, hopefully create a better customer experience so that customer keeps coming back,” Ho said.

All this comes as food costs are soaring, which is another headache for some restaurateurs. “I was talking to someone the other day that they used to get a box of tomatoes for I think it was $20 and now they’re paying $120,” he said.

But despite these challenges, “deep down there’s still a lot of confidence that they they’re (restaurant owners) a resilient bunch. They’re in it for passion, and do the right thing by the customers. The customers are going to support you. You might have to adapt . . . But I think there’s a cautious optimism that the restaurant industry has been through tough times before and there’s no reason why we won’t we won’t get through it.”