Three Big Reasons How Swine Flu Will Affect Your Restaurant Business
The Chinese proverb says, Humans would get killed for money, birds would get killed for food.
So far the proverb has proven true. I hate to think of a time when people are getting killed for food. But with the surfacing of a new virus, what they call swine influenza, it is yet another strain in a long line of strains that is especially killing for restaurant entrepreneurs like yourself.
The true situation about the swine flu should reveal in the next couple weeks. But as a restaurant owner and a businessman, you need to be ready. How is this swine flu business going to affect your business?
Here are three big reasons how.
1. Aversion to pork
It’s been made clear that the swine flu virus doesn’t transmit through eating foods of any kind, even pork. The CFIA has released a statement about this issue.
“The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has been very clear in stating that swine flu is *not* a food safety concern. It remains safe to eat properly cooked pork products.”
But even so, who could blame someone for developing an aversion to pork after seeing all those death tolls rise every day on TV? Even my wife doesn’t want me eating pork these days, and it’s got nothing to do with my cholesterol levels.
As the infection worsens, more people are going to stay away from pork products on your menu. The worst part is, there’s nothing you can do about it.
2. Effect on food supply
Okay. Somebody orders pork on your menu. But what can you do when the supply itself doesn’t hold? The disruption of pork trade in the country will affect prices in the long run, and eventually, it will affect your business as well.
The Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (CRFA), with the help of the Canadian Pork Council and Canadian Meat Council, is closely monitoring the circulation of pork products in the country. There are no indications of supply issues as we speak. But since the infection is still going on, only time will tell…
3. Less people would eat out altogether
Remember the days of the SARS outbreak when people chose to stay in their homes and even less people preferred to dine outside. Sure, the swine flu isn’t there yet, but nobody’s saying it won’t get there either.
As a precaution, the Public Health Agency of Canada has released the most up-to-date information about the swine flu on its website, especially now that a total of 13 cases of human swine flu have been confirmed in Canada, as of April 28, 2009.
You can read more about the swine flu virus on the PHAC website.
A blogger made some observations on the effects of swine flu on restaurants in Hong Kong, and wrote the following on his blog,
“…aside from the hot sales of masks, there is little sign of panic among us here in Hong Kong, restaurants are still packed with people and few are wearing masks, I hope the situation worldwide will soon be better, but no precaution is excessive, and keeping good personal hygiene is what each of us can do to help.”
The swine flue outbreak is still in its early stages, and there’s no telling how else it will affect restaurant businesses in the country. As a restaurant owner, the only thing you’re capable of doing right now is to prepare for the worst.
Hopefully the outbreak will end soon enough to not deserve another proverb.