Restaurants to the rescue: quality and technology are key ingredients

Various research released in the first half of 2022 confirms growing indicators in the Ho.Re.Ca. sector. To grasp this trend and not be caught unprepared, it is essential to have the right tools, such as high-performance management software.

TheFork report: sharp growth in 2021

The current year opened under the best auspices with the presentation of the report by TheFork, a popular platform for online restaurant reservations. According to this analysis, Italy had an 11 percent increase in reservations in 2021 compared to 2020. The result for August was particularly significant, with the positive trend exceeding even pre-pandemic levels: +4.5% up from 2020, and even +4% up from 2019.

Another encouraging sign comes from tourism, especially the foreign sector. The number of bookings made by foreigners for the year as a whole was up by 46 percent compared to 2020. During the three summer months, there was a +75% increase in bookings from tourists from other countries.

Lastly, TheFork indicated possible restaurant trends for 2022: the rediscovery of old products, adoption of sustainable practices, certification of food quality and technological innovation, particularly with regard to digital transformation.

Post-Pandemic Challenges for Food Retail

Meanwhile, the first growth figures for 2022 are also arriving. According to the Confimprese-EY Observatory, the restaurant industry confirmed its return to normalcy in April, with a +0.9% rise in consumption compared to the same month in 2019. Deloitte go further still, reporting a +23.2% year-over-year growth for their restaurant chains, and the Netcomm Observatory with Milan Polytechnic, which are already reporting a +17% year-over-year growth in 2022 compared to 2021 for their Food & Grocery home service.

Delivery is indeed one of the 5 challenges the restaurant industry is faced with in its post-pandemic comeback. It has become an essential factor, together with four others that are equally important: a healthy food offer, the increasing centrality of an omnichannel physical store, creation of a structured business and an innovative approach to hiring.

Italy first in Europe for quality restaurants

Finally, the Foodservice Market Monitor 2021, presented in June by the aforementioned Deloitte, is recent history. The study confirms that Italy is first in Europe and sixth in the world in terms of its widespread availability of full-service restaurants. This format is the most popular internationally, with a 48% share (up by 2 percentage points from 2020).

In Italy, one in two restaurants choose this type of format. Its growth in 2021 was +14.5% above the previous year, to the tune of 31 billion euros. This was achieved within an extremely positive global environment, in which the restaurant market reached a total value of 2,221 billion euro last year, marking an increase of 15.6%.

Keep Up Pro: the complete restaurant management system from Custom

In such a dynamic and demanding environment, the restaurant industry must be equipped with the right tools. Custom is playing its part by offering the sector an advanced solution: Keep Up Pro, the complete management software for restaurants, pizzerias, bars, diners and canteens. With this software, the entire workflow is under control, from the order to the bill, from the pantry to the dining area, and from staff coordination to sales analysis.

Extremely easy to use and with customizable interfaces, Keep Up Pro will allow you to manage even several platforms, cash registers and rooms. Each device is autonomous and connected in real time: with cloud backup, full data is always available. The reports and statistics will finally provide you with valuable data to increase revenues, reduce costs and optimize management. 

Discover all the details of Keep Up Pro on this page!