Restaurants serve change: Fine-dining chains switch to delivery in Covid-19

Speciality Restaurants, Barbeque Nation, Indigo among companies 'adjusting to market realities'.

Covid-19 is forcing restaurant owners to reinvent their business models. Fine-dining chains, where operations revolve around providing a gourmet experience on the ground to patrons, are now following their fast-food peers to pivot to a delivery model.

To put things in perspective, dine-in sales at a restaurant constituted 93-95 per cent of their total sales in before Covid-19. Delivery and takeaways were a mere 5-7 per cent. Takeaway and delivery are inching up as dine-in remains constrained due to restrictions in cities to contain Covid-19.

Speciality Restaurants, which has brands such as Oh! Calcutta, Sigree and Mainland China, derived 34