The lockdown has hit the hospitality industry hard, who for the second year in a row see their income disappear in the most important quarter of the year. Where normally everything is packed around the holidays, Christmas dinner at home with up to four guests is the norm this year. Although the catering industry already had an early closing time of 5 p.m., many entrepreneurs did not see a complete closure coming. They were counting on a good Christmas lunch. What are they doing with the Christmas stock this year?
Orders
Wholesalers Sligro and Makro let it be known that they are in full dialogue with catering entrepreneurs about their orders for the Christmas period. Many catering businesses had already placed orders before the lockdown was announced.
Also Stephanie Lücken, co-owner of restaurant Lille in East. “If they had shut everything down sooner, we could anticipate. We had already come up with a Christmas menu and done some shopping. The timing is worthless.”
‘Fortunately’ the kitchen has not yet bought any meat and a lot can be sent back to suppliers. “Everything we have left is processed by our chef to save for later,” says Lücken. “Chickens are turned into ragout for the staff, the truffles are processed into butter and the cheeses and vegetables are distributed among the staff.”
All employees are cleaning hard on Monday, because Lille will close for the next few weeks. No takeout, says Lücken, that would all be too rushed. “We will meet again in the first week of January. Maybe, if the lockdown is not over yet, we will come up with a takeout menu.”
donate food
Cinema and restaurant FC Hyena in Noord wanted to organize a special film program in the restaurant. “Put all the benches together and show Christmas movies,” says floor manager Jeroen Kroes. “With hot chocolate and mulled wine.”
FC Hyena didn’t have a special lunch, but all the supplies they bought for the regular program, the company donates to Helen’s Free Food Market and the Buurtbuik. Two organizations in Noord that collect leftover food from restaurants, and then give it away for free to people with a smaller wallet.
As soon as it became known that the catering industry had to close, founder Helen van der Bilt of Helen’s Free Food Market immediately made a call to various restaurants. “That is a regular fixture after the announcement of each lockdown. Restaurants never call me themselves and that makes sense: they probably have other things on their mind.”
‘Incredibly happy’
From fruit and vegetables, to dairy products and fresh fries: the company was able to collect fifteen crates with 150 kilos of food from restaurant Noorderlicht on the NDSM wharf on the IJ in Noord. “We are very happy with this,” says Van der Bilt. It’s such a shame to throw all that away. Now other people can still enjoy it.”
“It was a big surprise for us that we had to close all our doors the next morning,” explains Noorderlicht owner Graham Sydney. That’s why we had so much food left over. We hoped we could still work last Sunday.” Still, I think it’s a nice thought that it’s still going somewhere. And 150 kilos is quite a lot.”
According to Van der Bilt, there are not many restaurants in Noord that participate in the promotion. She therefore notices a big difference with the previous lockdowns. “Many have a takeaway service and at small restaurants the stock is distributed among the staff.”
Van der Bilt also thinks that the earlier evening lockdown plays a role. “Restaurants have had to close at five o’clock for three weeks. Then you simply have less stock.”
Dinner boxes
At the Ron Gastrobars of star chef Ron Blaauw they continue to offer a delivery and takeaway service, so they don’t have to waste a lot of food. “During corona we started with the composite dinner boxes and we didn’t stop with this. This was just a strategy for if we had another lockdown. And unfortunately it has come.”
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