Casual dining in a pandemic

Published: Dec. 30, 2020, 8:50 a.m.

Necessity is the mother of invention and Elizabeth Hotson finds out how restaurants and other food outlets - some of the most obvious casualties of the pandemic - have adapted to survive in 2020. We hear from Michael Ward, managing director of Harrods department store on how it’s looking to a domestic clientele to make up for the lack of overseas tourists, whilst JP Then, co-founder of Crosstown Doughnuts tells us how companies are incentivising their workers with his sweet treats. Briony Raven, Pret’s UK Food & Coffee Director explains how the high street chain had to learn new tricks and Thom Elliot from Pizza Pilgrims describes sending his products by post. Nicole Ponseca, founder of Jeepney in New York tells us about the ups and downs of a fraught 2020 and Dominic Allport from the NPD Group gives us the cold, hard figures. Produced by Sarah Treanor. (Pic of Regent Street in London by Elizabeth Hotson).