Despite the considerable hardships that restaurants globally are experiencing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some United States restaurants are benefitting from lower seafood prices.
Tampa, Florida-based Bloomin’ Brands, parent company of Outback Steakhouse and Bonefish Grill, is one such chain. Bloomin’ Brands CEO Dave Deno said on CNBC’s "Closing Bell" that meat and seafood prices have “been an opportunity” for the company.
"There was some concern about the supply chain. That did not materialize like we expected,” Deno said. ”We're finding that beef costs, seafood costs are actually coming down and something that we can take advantage of."
Even though Bloomin’ Brands’ revenues plummeted 43 percent in its most recent quarter, shares in the company’s stock closed 7.43 percent higher on 24 July because its loss was less than Wall Street analysts had expected.
Bonefish Grill’s sales have benefitted from offering Family Meal Bundles, such as a Mahi and Shrimp Bundle and a Grilled Salmon Bundle, for takeout since the start of the pandemic. The meals serve five people and include salad, cookies, and bread.
Other restaurant chains are also offering creative to-go options to take advantage of lower seafood costs.
TGI Friday’s, for example, recently began featuring Butcher Shop meal kits, allowing consumers to prepare meals themselves at home from uncooked meat and seafood, along with other ingredients.
The restaurant’s chain’s Surf & Turf Kit, for example, includes: two flat iron steaks, two chicken breasts, two pieces of salmon, and 18 garlic-marinated shrimp. It is served with family-sized mashed potatoes, lemon-butter broccoli, house salad, and breadsticks, TGI Friday’s said on its website.
Despite lower costs on purchasing some food items – while other commodity costs have risen – the U.S. restaurant continues to struggle and is asking Congress for a USD 200 billion (EUR 170.5 billion) Stability Fund via the RESTAURANTS Act.
While the HEALS Act, introduced on 27 July, aims to provide aid to individuals and businesses impacted by coronavirus, it is “not enough and does not provide direct aid to the nation’s 500,000 independent restaurants and bars,” the Independent Restaurant Coalition said in a news release.
“As we expected, the legislation includes another extension to the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses, but no industry-specific grant programs. These new loans are a start to protecting independent restaurants from permanently closing, but more must be done,” IRC added.
