COVID-19 BIG BLOW TO CATERING COMPANIES

MBABANE – The COVID-19 pandemic has been a big blow to catering companies.

While virtual meetings and conferences are becoming the norm due to the pandemic and social distancing rules implemented to fight against the spread of COVID-19, the catering business will be hard-hit during this festive season. It is worth noting that on October 12, 2020, during the announcement of the resumption of operations in the arts industry, Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini said they would be allowed to operate under strict COVID-19 regulations.

At a breakfast meeting with the Editors Forum held at the Hilton Garden Inn, Dlamini revealed that a maximum of 100 people could attend activities at any given point. 

Museums

The activities include theatre, comedy shows, poetry shows, fashion shows, small scale choral music, small scale music concerts, small scale launches, cinemas, as well as museums and art galleries.  The announcement came after a prolonged period of seven months in the entertainment sector, when a continuous ban on public gatherings was put into effect in March this year to combat the spread of the coronavirus. 

Sihle Mthethwa, the Events Manager of Delights Events and Catering, said one of the real challenges the industry would face going into the festive season was that it would be tough to reorganise events when they did not have any timescale.

“As there is no specific time limit of complete eradication of COVID-19 or its control, it is hard to predict scheduling of events soon,” Mthethwa said.

She further highlighted that to add to the woes of the events industry, there had been media reports which suggested there could be a second wave of COVID-19 during the festive season, making them more nervous about time and money  spent on rescheduled events.  

She shared that normally, the catering company would make about E60 000 during the festive season alone. 

“The festive season is a busy time and you will find that we provide services to many organisations, families and corporates,” she said.

She mentioned that significant staff lay-offs, with over 25 per cent of employees would be sent home. Mthethwa added that as a service-based industry that relied on networks of people who met in a live environment, the industry was not well-positioned to see demand returning to the levels experienced in the past years. 

The events manager highlighted that the demand had significantly decreased due to the pandemic and suggested a reduction in pricing in order to secure clients. 

“A downward change in pricing is needed for the sector to survive. We are really in a tight spot,” she said. 

In the same vein, Kukhanya Catering Services owner Zwile Mdluli said in previous years, his company would organise more than 400 events.  “But the outbreak has resulted in our clients pulling out on contracts and bookings,” he said. He said some clients postponed but did not give them solid postponement dates. Mdluli predicted that his business would make 50 per cent less of what it expected, if not less.

The catering company owner highlighted that by far, more than 15 clients cancelled. He mentioned that the company which had 15 full-time employees, suffered a loss of more than E15 000 in the past month alone.   He said he hoped everything would get back to normal. 

Revenue

“None of this is going to allow us to make up for the lost revenue and growth,” he said. Although his business is still small, he said it generated about E45 000 during the festive season and the money helped in paying his employees’ salaries.  The business owner said he had to let go of four of his employees as he could not pay them.  Sibane Catering and Decor Services’ Bongiwe Dludlu shared that her events company provided catering and decor services for corporate companies, weddings and private parties.  

“We were supposed to provide decor and catering services to one of the biggest corporate companies in the country, but we lost that gig as it (corporate company) got cancelled,” she said.  She said many events had been cancelled for December and this meant there would be no income at all for the next month. As a result, she said temporary employees were requested to stay home as there would be no money to pay them.

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