Eatery dishes up lockdown success secret

Photo+by+James+Sutton+on+Unsplash

Photo by James Sutton on Unsplash

A WA burger bar says they have found the secret recipe for success for restaurants trying to survive during the coronavirus lockdown.

Billy’s Bounty has seen an unlikely increase in popularity even during the covid-19 pandemic and despite the Australian Bureau of Statistics reporting an 88 per cent reduced cash flow for hospitality businesses.

“We’re breaking records every week, we’re seeing so many more new customers, we’re seeing so many repeat customers,” Mr Hobbs says.

“It’s incredible the support we’re receiving from the local community we couldn’t have asked for more.”

Many food businesses are turning to services such as Uber eats, Menulog and Deliveroo which have reported an additional 2000 couriers’ jobs and 2.5 per cent rise in riders.

But Billy’s Bounty has no intention of using delivery services or even starting one of their own, Mr Hobbs says.

“We won’t use services like Uber eats because they take 35 per cent of every sale and it would mean we would need to jack up our pricing by a third,” Mr Hobbs says

Other hospitality businesses such as MEAST, a mobile food trailer focusing on Middle Eastern street food, are struggling due to a lack of events and social distancing rules.

MEAST owner Sandra Bahbah says her business had to completely shut down when the government banned events.

“My usual gig would be trading at Murdoch University and feeding the staff and students,” she says.

Ms Bahbah has had to invent new ways of retaining her customers and has created an online recipe book along with cooking tutorials and a home delivery service.

“The key thing is to innovate, and if you don’t innovate, you’re going to be left behind,” she says.