Sales at fast-food restaurants increased 5.4 percent in May from a year earlier, bucking a downturn in the food and beverage industry amid a nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said last week.
International chains, including McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut and Burger King, have been able to weather the downturn because they already have robust takeout services and have been offering customers incentives to use them during the soft lockdown, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, sales fell 30.8 percent year-on-year at local restaurant chains, such as Ding Tai Fung (鼎泰豐), Wang Steak (王品台塑牛排) and Formosa Chang (鬍鬚張), as the government’s level 3 restrictions prohibited on-site dining, ministry data showed.
Photo: CNA
Revenue at restaurant chains that cater wedding banquets, such as Amazing Hall (晶宴) and New Palace (新天地), fell 14.8 percent in May from a year earlier, the ministry said.
Beverage vendors, including coffee shop chains, registered a 21.4 percent decline in sales, data showed.
The combined revenue of restaurants, food stands and beverage vendors fell 19.1 percent to NT$52.1 billion (US$1.86 billion), the data showed.
Economists forecast that Taiwan’s food and beverage industry will record a year-on-year sales drop of more than 30 percent for last month, as the level 3 alert was in place for the whole month.
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