Covid-19 / Coronavirus ordering / restrictions in Hospitality

The majority of restrictions in restaurants, cafes, etc during the Covid-19 pandemic relate to social distancing, which requires staff as well as customers to keep a distance of 2m between them.

Social distancing - Restaurants, Takeaways, Bakeries, Pubs, Cafes, Bars and more.

The advice on social distancing measures applies to everyone. You need to minimise opportunities for the virus to spread by maintaining a distance of 2 metres between individuals. This advice applies to both inside the food business and in the external public areas where customers may need to queue. People should be reminded to wash their hands for 20 seconds and more frequently than normal.

The practical implementation of this advice will depend on the local circumstances. This may be best evaluated by the store manager, however a few general indicators may be relevant to the majority of retail outlets:

• use additional signage to ask customers not to enter the shop if they have symptoms
• regulate entry so that the premises do not become overcrowded
• use floor markings inside the commercial spaces to facilitate compliance with the social distancing advice of 2 metres, particularly in the most crowded areas, such as serving counters and tills
• use vertical signage to direct customers into lanes if feasible to facilitate movement within the premises while maintaining 2 metre distance
• make regular announcements to remind customers to follow social distancing advice and clean their hands regularly
• place plexiglass barriers at tills and counters if feasible, as an additional element of protection for workers and customers
• encourage the use of contactless payments where possible, without disadvantaging older or vulnerable customers
• provide additional pop-up handwashing stations or facilities if possible, providing soap, water and hand sanitiser

Food-Ordering.co.uk has already released functionality for time slots, facilitating social distancing and enabling the spread of customer visits for collection / pick-up of orders.

Supermarkets

Supermarkets need to avoid crowding and create adequate spacing between individuals.

Effective measures to support this will vary by store and location but could include:

• monitoring the number of customers within store and limiting access to avoid congestion
• implementing queue management systems to limit crowds gathering at entrances and maintain the 2 metres distance
• reminding customers to only buy what they need

Food-Ordering.co.uk has developer time slots functionality to facilitate deliveries for supermarkets.

Staff canteens and rest areas

It is very unlikely that coronavirus is transmitted through food. Workplace canteens may remain open where there are no practical alternatives for staff to obtain food.

• as far as reasonably possible, a distance of 2 metres should be maintained between users
• staff can continue to use rest areas if they apply the same social distancing
• notices promoting hand hygiene and social distancing should be placed visibly in these areas
• if possible, increase the number of hand washing stations available

Food-Ordering.co.uk supports self-service ordering either using your own device / phone or a kiosk / tablet solution

Takeaways and restaurants offering a pick-up service

Customers should be encouraged to order online, by app, or by phone.

Customers waiting to order or collect should wait in a designated area where a 2-metre distance from other people can be maintained. If this is not possible, customers should enter the premises one at a time and only when their order is ready to be made or collected.

Collection times should be staggered to discourage crowding outside the premises. Where queuing is taking place, you should use queue management systems to maintain a 2-metre distance between people.

Food-Ordering.co.uk offers both online ordering for delivery or collection / pick up, as well as suppor for telephone orders, or it could be embedded and published as a mobile app in the various app stores.

Outdoor food markets and farmers markets

The main concern with outdoor food markets is to avoid crowds gathering. Local Authorities may have decided to close such markets as part of actions taken to maintain social distancing.

Where markets are still in operation, we encourage food market operators to consider how they can safely sell their products without encouraging crowds and ensure hygiene measures are in place. This can be done by:

• taking orders online or by telephone in advance and pre-packing orders to limit face-to-face time in the market
• considering delivery services if possible

Food-Ordering.co.uk offers fuctionality both for delivery and collection / pickup which can be easily combined with time slots, thus facilitating the management of human contact and social distancing.