Restaurants offer discounts, food delivery picks up as afternoon footfall dips

Pune: Restaurants and eateries are giving offers and discounts to encourage afternoon dine-ins as footfalls dip during the intense heat conditions."Food establishments are witnessing a 20%-25% drop in business in the afternoon hours. Day-time walk-ins are low owing to the persisting heat. It has decreased even on weekends and picks up only post 6pm," said a restaurant manager in Koregaon Park."We prefer to go for a movie and eat at a food court, than visit a standalone cafe. Children are falling sick in the current summer conditions," said Anisha Chaudhary, a resident of Kondhwa.Narendra Thakur, who runs Narrative, told TOI: "We have seen a 25%-40% reduction of customers during lunch hours. We are offering increased discount along with complimentary desserts to maintain the footfall."Restaurants with outdoor seating have installed air-coolers, misting systems and a new menu of cooling drinks to help people beat the heat. Aam panna, cucumber coolers and other lemon mocktails are high in demand.Saili Jahagirdar, owner of Zillionth Bistro in Kothrud, said, "Lunchtime attendance has gone down significantly. There is some office crowd that does come in, but it is a big drop overall. All of us are giving online and offline offers to encourage orders."Several restaurant owners said the share of deliveries has increased as people are not willing to step out in the heat. Restaurants are seeing a 10% hike in home deliveries, with people ordering less spicy and cold preparations.Owners are also taking special efforts to keep food products fresh, while avoiding spoilage. "In summers, the shelf life of food products reduces due to the heat. Therefore, we reduce procurement of raw vegetables and food products to avoid wastage and maintain food quality," said Ajinkya Udane, co-chapter head, Pune Chapter, NRAI.Customers are also choosing to order from nearby and busy outlets to ensure that the food quality is not compromised by the time it reaches their homes. "We choose to order from restaurants close by as the food gets spoiled in the heat if it comes from far away," said Manoj Singh, a resident of Baner.Ravi Purohit, a food delivery executive, said, "Evening orders are the same, but afternoon orders have gone up by 10%-15% on weekends."