Last year wasn’t good for gastronomy in Poland. The COVID-19 pandemic has turned out to be a serious challenge for the catering industry, which still employs around 1 million employees. Profits have dropped by as much as 90%, and nearly 30% of gastronomic establishments may not survive the crisis and will permanently disappear.
The government’s decision in October 2020 to suspend bar and restaurant operations again due to the COVID-19 epidemic exacerbated the decline in revenues. Most of the premises experienced a decrease in turnover even before the introduction of the restrictions. One of the obvious consequences of such a situation is a scale of layoffs in the industry.
What’s worse, if the situation does not return quickly to normal, the next inevitable stage will be bankruptcy and many restaurants will disappear from the culinary map of Poland.
Polish cidermakers (but also winemakers and breweries) also have seen a decline in sales, and many of them lost their most profitable selling channel.

According to the report “The gastronomic market in Poland 2020”, 40% of gastronomy users supported their favourite places during the lockdown – they ordered meals, bought vouchers for later use, which allowed the restaurants to survive. You could order almost everything – from breakfast, through coffee, pastries and ice cream, to a 2-course meal with dessert. More than half of Poles were satisfied with the introduction of deliveries by restaurants, and a third of them regularly used this option. Many grassroots actions emerged on social media supporting takeaway ordering.
But is it enough for the catering industry to survive the worst crisis in years?