In the last two months, a number of famous eateries and restaurants have been subjected to sudden inspections by authorities in Hyderabad. The discovery of expired items, low-quality ingredients, lack of hygiene and more has dented the trust of thousands of social media-savvy customers. It is likely that this trust deficit will continue to get worse with growing consumer awareness in the coming years.
What can restaurants do in this scenario? They must first set their house in order. But it won't be enough in winning back the consumer trust.
They could explore the option of live-telecasting food preparations in the kitchen. This will go a long way in building brand value as well. Cash-rich brands like the Rameshwaram Cafe in Bengaluru and Hyderabad should be able to do it at the earliest. "Good eating places many times have kitchens with a large window where one can see the preparation. It helps to build trust that one is eating at a hygienic place. Live stream of kitchen on delivery apps can help select a good vendor," writes a social media user named RJ.
However, the above option won't be adopted by small players, who have to incur heavy labour and rental costs all the time. They will lose out to big players in due course of time.
