Due to emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic last March, the past year has had a catastrophic effect on the on-premise industry. Since March 2020, restaurants, bars and wineries have coped through ongoing struggles. The closures of restaurant dining rooms have resulted in numerous challenges for employees, including no or reduced pay and the inability to sell drinks on-premise. In some cases, the challenge to establish a take-out delivery program also was exposed.
David Henkes, advisory group senior principal at Technomic Inc., Chicago, is highly aware of the tedious state of the on-premise market.