Gastronomy at ETH during the corona crisis

The lockdown announcement last March hit us like a shock.  All restaurants were forced to cease operations overnight, including the 20 restaurants on the ETH Zurich campus. “It was a challenging and unparalleled situation,” says Pia Fach, who oversees canteen operations for Switzerland at the external pageSV Groupcall_made. Along with Compass Group, the SV Group is the biggest restaurant operator on campus. Its locations include the Mensa Polyterrasse, Polysnack and the foodmarket on Hönggerberg campus. “Our employees strongly identify with ETH,” says Fach. “Having to suddenly send everyone home for an indefinite period of time was very difficult for them.”

Thomas Truttmann is Managing Director at external pageCompass Group (Schweiz)call_made, which operates Fusion meal und coffee on Hönggerberg campus. He also describes it as a challenging time. Action plans had to be created at lightning speed. The amount of effort required was immense – and so was the pace. “It was, and still is, a time of snap decisions,” says Truttmann. “It's no longer possible to wait and see. The time to weigh decisions got a lot shorter. And you have to constantly test any hypotheses you have about the future.”

Remote working and short-time work

The unprecedented situation continues to pose challenges for restaurant operators. Safety plans have to be implemented and constantly updated to meet health officials’ requirements, and customers and employees have to be made aware of the changes. On top of that, most ETH employees and students are working and studying from home, which makes it difficult for restaurant operators to anticipate their daily number of visitors. This can lead to restaurants scheduling too many workers or ordering too many supplies, which results in increased costs and food waste.

Both the SV Group and the Compass Group have switched to a short-time work system. Although it works well, the system also requires very careful planning for designing staff schedules. There was also the question of how to occupy employees who could not work from home or be placed in any of the restaurants slated for re-opening in the near future.  “We couldn't exactly tell restaurant staff to take the plates home and wash them there,” says Fach. 

Tough times for employees

The situation has been very stressful for many restaurant workers. Underemployment has been another challenge on top of general uncertainty about the length and financial consequences of the pandemic. “Not being able to work is only fun at the beginning,” says Truttmann. “Our employees work in hospitality. They're looking forward to getting back to work and welcoming guests. It's a very difficult situation for them. At some of our locations in Switzerland, employees are 100% on short-time work and haven't set foot inside their restaurants in over a year. Fortunately this isn't the case at ETH. “

Lack of social interaction

To provide a bit of relief, the SV Group and Compass Group have been rotating employees through different locations that are open wherever possible. They have also connected with employees via digital continuing education courses and regular online meetings to provide updates on the next steps.

But there is still a definite lack of social interaction. “It's the same for our employees as it is for the rest of the population,” says Fach. “Many are worn out, feel trapped at home and just want to get back to work.”

Difficult financial situation

The financial situation is also posing great challenges for restaurant operators. SV Switzerland estimates that their total revenue for 2020 dropped by 43% compared with 2019. For 2021, they are even anticipating that their revenues will fall by 49% for the first half of the year. At ETH, the financial loss amounts to 64% for 2020. A contributing factor is the lack of events and event catering at ETH since the spring of 2020, which can be used to balance out financial losses from daily operations.

Compass Group operates internationally and does not disclose separate figures for Switzerland. Their financial losses are likely to be significant as well.

Reducing staff has also been discussed. The short-time work system and normal employee turnover have prevented some redundancies – but by no means all. Both operators anticipate that it will take a while before they can return to what business was like before the pandemic.

Close cooperation with ETH

Smooth collaboration with ETH has been important to both companies during the crisis. Marcel Zurbuchen and his team, who are responsible for managing gastronomy at ETH Zurich, have emphasised having a close exchange and friendly working relationship with restaurant operators from the very beginning. In this spirit, ETH waived rental fees and utility costs for all restaurant and catering businesses throughout 2020. The university has also been shouldering the costs for some safety measures such as having doorkeepers to monitor the number of guests in restaurants. “These companies have been business partners with our university for many years,” says Zurbuchen. “For that reason, it has been important to treat them fairly and to accommodate them financially wherever possible during the crisis.”

Seizing opportunities

Despite all the difficulties that restaurant operators have faced over the past year, there have been positive developments as well. Both companies used the opportunity to speed up ongoing projects and try out new things: expanding take away options, implementing an ‘order and collect’ system, introducing a smart refrigerator stocked with meals and snacks ahead of schedule, and offering home delivery.

What's here to stay?

It is too early to say which of these new products and services will still be with us after the corona crisis is over. Both restaurant operators have also noticed changes in customer behaviour. “We've noticed that people are eating more consciously and paying more attention to quality than they were before the crisis,” says Fach. “And when eating out, they're treating themselves to more options, like enjoying dessert after lunch.”

Truttmann has also identified similar trends. “Restaurants are places where people can come together and connect. In the current era of remote working, interactive spaces like these have become more important than ever,” he says. “When personal and social interaction is generally lacking, people are even more excited about grabbing lunch with co-workers or meeting over coffee. Awareness of this social aspect is going to grow.”