Half of restaurant owners reticent to serve unvaccinated customers
Concern is growing amongst hospitality operators over serving unvaccinated customers.
A report by food delivery company Deliveroo, has found that more than half of Australia’s restaurant and café owners would be reticent to serve people who have not been vaccinated.
The HospoVitality Index Report sought feedback from 439 Deliveroo restaurant operators across Australia.
Results show 53 per cent of restaurant owners are concerned about serving unvaccinated customers; 24 per cent want the option to refuse service to anyone unvaccinated in a future outbreak.
So far only 14 per cent of Australians have been fully vaccinated, however Prime Minister Scott Morrison has flagged Australia to reach its vaccine target by Christmas this year.
“There will be the supply. We are really turning it around. We have caught up a lot of ground on this program and Australians are responding really well,” Morrison told the Today Show.
The fear among hospitality owners is that with restrictions expected to ease once vaccination rates rise high enough – the virus will inevitably circulate.
“It’s not really a surprise that some people working in that frontline might want the confidence to know that the person they’re serving has had two shots,” Deliveroo Australia chief executive officer Ed McManus told news.com.au.
“Everyone’s talking about a vaccine passport for travel to different countries but is there a version of the vaccine passport that allows you to go to sporting events where there’ll be crowds or to attend a restaurant?
“Those are not questions for today, because right now we need to get the vaccination rates up, but that’s something I think we will need to consider as a society.”
Morgan Hepworth of Melbourne’s Bistro Morgan is open to the idea of a passport, however believes enforcement would be tricky given some people don’t wear masks or sign in to the venue.
Hepworth told news.com.au that he would not want to put staff in danger of abuse.
“It’s a very fine line between showing respect to the customer and also ensuring that we’re trying to follow the health advice,” he said.
“I would imagine the vaccination situation would be on a very similar line.
“I had one staff member who told a customer they couldn’t serve them if they didn’t check in and the customer started yelling and saying she was going to sue us and then I got a call from the staff member in tears,” he said.
Vaccinations weren’t the only issues on the minds of those surveyed. Some of the stand out issues included:
- Lack of staff
- Skills shortage
- Uncertainty about the future of the industry
- Financial and mental wellbeing
- High wages during pandemic
Irit Jackson, 29th July 2021
