Last week we met up online, once again, to discuss some of the challenges the food and beverage industry is facing during and post COVID-19. The focus of the conversation was how businesses can work together in order to survive the crisis. Find out the highlights, as well as a full recording of the conversation below.
The guests
- Adi Raihmann, Karma Food, Vienna
- Maarten van der Jagt, Giraffe Coffee Roasters, Rotterdam
- Gilles Reuter, Die Parfümerie, Vienna
- Alex Ciomartan, Fix me a Drink, Bucharest
- Alex Dumitru, Anika Restaurant, Bucharest
The highlights
13 ways in which food and beverage businesses can work together during COVID-19
- Work together with big partners or suppliers who are more financially stable during a crisis.
- Host Instagram live podcasts with people from the industry, or live cooking, coffee making and cocktail making classes.
- Start a slack channel where f&b businesses from the same country share information from banks, tax advisors and other governmental measures.
- Share a PR or marketing company that can help multiple businesses at the same time, through similar challenges.
- Share resources between businesses, for example, packaging or deliveries, to reduce the overall cost.
- Share any unneeded space with other initiatives who may need it. For example, Giraffe Coffee Roasters offered one of their spaces to a local initiative that brings local products together and packages them in a box.
- Set up online interviews and meet&greets with partners and suppliers.
- Organise daily cooking classes which keep the community engaged on a constant level.
- Create personal connections with your community. For example, Karma Food will be helping their community come up with dishes based on what they have available.
- Repurpose your business to support others, whether they are small food artisans or artists. For example, Artichoke Social House coffeeshop in Bucharest is going to turn into a shop during this time.
- Create an international network with similar businesses, especially when your business involves international deliveries, like coffee, for example. So, a coffee roaster from a country could send their beans to another roaster to support one another, share practices, identify trends and most importantly, start a broader conversation.
- Start a joint cookbook with multiple small businesses.
- Partner up with a postal service to broaden the reach of your products nationwide.
Other resources and ideas to help your f&b business during Covid-19
- RoadXL.de is a great tool for inputting 20 different addresses and optimise your delivery route.
- Repurpose any materials you may have available. At Fix Me A Drink, Alex reuses otherwise wasted bottles to package their cocktails.
- We have just opened up our Slack channel where we will continue sharing thoughts, ideas and initiatives, as well as organise future meet-ups. If you are interested in joining us, reach out here.
Watch the full discussion here
Join us!
Are you the owner of a small food and beverage business? Join our future conversations, which happen weekly. Register your interest here.