Food & Beverage

NRA to Congress: 'We need aid now'

Photo: iStock

September 14, 2020

The pandemic has caused nearly one in six U.S. restaurants (representing nearly 100,000 restaurants) to close either permanently or long-term, and about 3 million restaurant employees are still out of work. The restaurant industry is on track to lose $240 billion in sales by year's end.

Those bitter facts were among the information that the National Restaurant Association sent Monday to the nation's legislators in an effort to plead for short-term action to help stop the bleeding. The NRA said in an email that there were elements of restaurant industry aid where political parties had reached agreements, so it was asking Congress to take action to help them can hang on while Congress was on recess this fall and early winter.

The NRA said that in its survey it also found:

• Overall August restaurant consumer spending/sales were down 34% on average.
• Restaurant industry lost $165 billion in revenue from March through July 2020.
• NRA estimates show that at least 100,000 restaurants will close this year, though government data is still not available.
• 60% of operators report total operational costs (as a percent of sales) are higher than they were prior pre-COVID-19.
• Current restaurant staffing levels are 71% of what they would be if the pandemic had not occurred on average.
• 40% of operators believe it's not likely that their restaurant will be operating in six months without federal government relief.