Effects of COVID-19 pandemic: ramifications and prevailing strategies of independent foodservice establishments / Wan Hayati Wan Bujang ... [et al.]

An independent food establishment’ is defined as an establishment owned by an individual or a private group where the restaurant’s concept, menu, and experience are unique. In 2019, the world was devastated by COVID-19 pandemic. Foodservice industry was one of the most affected and was practically paralyzed after the first wave of the virus attack. After the pandemic was over, the food industry had adjusted their operations accordingly, although still badly affected. Consequently, this research was done to achieve 2 main objectives; (i) to explore the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic towards the operations of independent food establishment, and (ii) to discover independent food establishment operators’ strategy to cope with COVID-19 pandemic aftermaths. Ten respondents were interviewed using qualitative, semi-structured approach. Interview transcripts were registered into and analyzed using ATLAS.ti as the main analysis tool. Two themes and two networks were conceived with a total of twelve combined codes. Findings and discussions were presented with the aid of selected quotations. Conclusively, the effects of the pandemic on the respondents and their coping strategies can be a very valuable lessons to other restauranteurs. By learning from their experiences, contingency plans can be made in case similar predicaments repeats itself henceforward