Inside track: What does 2022 have in store? David Moore wonders
What does this year have in store? My guess is a lot will simply not change in 2022. We will continue to suffer from chronic staff shortages, supply chain problems and the ever-present Covid-19. But that's not just hospitality, that's everywhere, we are very much in it together.
My biggest worry is inflation. The cost of everything that comes through the front door has shot up, but now it's not just the front door, it's the pipes and the wires. In 30 years, I've never seen utility prices soar so high. I look at a bill and think how long is this for? I realise that what we previously budgeted for a month is now only a week or 10 days at best, and I believe we have worse to come; it's just not sustainable.
As usual, Boris will do nothing.
Could it be the year of the penis- and vagina-shaped waffles I saw recently in Covent Garden, by Zizi Factory? I didn't see the burger bug coming either, although I did spot the bubble was about to burst. I will never understand why people eat ice-cream in winter and I just don't get these new bubble tea shops popping up everywhere. What's my point? My point is, I'm not the right person to predict what's in and what's out in 2022.
That said, vegan is definitely in. Veganuary is in full flow and Pied à Terre had its first full weekend trade where we had more vegan diners than omnivores, with a spectacular 75/25 split for the first time. Meanwhile, our vegan home delivery offering is once again sold out. The home delivery and retail market for our vegan products is definitely on the rise for 2022. I hope to work with a partner to shift the production away from the restaurant to maximise the possibilities.
Staff shortages are continuing to be an issue, but I'm almost fully staffed right now. Typical, I'm massively short-staffed in December and now it's the slowest month and I have a full team. Sod's law.
My big idea for 2022, apart from sorting out business rates, is an amnesty for all immigrants. When I see a small boat on the news with 25 souls crossing the channel, I don't see refugees, I see kitchen porters, commis chefs, care workers, NHS recruits. I don't see a costly liability; I see bright, energetic, capable and very brave people whose energy we should harness.
These migrants should be channelled into the care industry, the NHS and filter down into hospitality, agricultural work, etc, with three to five years' service to get a UK passport. We wouldn't be giving them the right to remain, they would earn the right to remain.
This year will bring a host of winners and losers, and while Covid is still threatening us, I think restaurants offering a tailored, individual offering made by people of character will be the restaurants that succeed. Hospitality is a business that creates memories and some of my fondest memories have been made gathered around a table.
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