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McDonald's to close all UK restaurants

bbc.com

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Re: McDonald's to close all UK restaurants

#11

Post by pengaru »

jakear wrote: post #2

If this comes to the US my disaster preparedness plans will be seriously compromised... In theory drive through should be the best possible food mechanism in terms of risk to the workers (and patrons). If they could arrange for contactless payment (already possible, just affix a tap reader to the side of the drive through window), and some way to serve the food while keeping the window closed (a shelf extending out f…

Everyone should have at least one large sack of rice and beans in dry storage. Expecting an operation like McDonalds to maintain enough spare capacity to provide everyone's emergency sack of rice and beans in the event of a disaster is completely idiotic.

Re: McDonald's to close all UK restaurants

#12

Post by martinald »

dbbk wrote: post #8
martinald wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem isn't that, it's making the food itself in mcdonalds is too risky in terms of infection. You have loads of people in a small space. Nearly all restaurant kitchens of all types are like this; so I really can't see how any takeout services can operate safely. Maybe very low volume ones with one chef and one person giving out the food. But not sure how possible that is, I assume many require someone preparin…

Is it possible to reconfigure the space, perhaps take over some of the dining area?

I doubt it. You need gas supply, water supply, etc. It's not a quick job to reconfigure, plus I doubt many builders/plumbers will be available to physically do the work. I think most operators are just throwing in the towel; probably the numbers don't make sense if you have a dining area that is empty, and I imagine takeaway/drive through orders are down sharply as govt is saying only absolutely essential trips are allowed. Delivery orders were probably up sharply though I imagine.

Also many takeaway places don't have a dining room to reconfigure into.

Re: McDonald's to close all UK restaurants

#13

Post by jakear »

martinald wrote: post #5
jakear wrote: post #2

If this comes to the US my disaster preparedness plans will be seriously compromised... In theory drive through should be the best possible food mechanism in terms of risk to the workers (and patrons). If they could arrange for contactless payment (already possible, just affix a tap reader to the side of the drive through window), and some way to serve the food while keeping the window closed (a shelf extending out f…

The problem isn't that, it's making the food itself in mcdonalds is too risky in terms of infection. You have loads of people in a small space. Nearly all restaurant kitchens of all types are like this; so I really can't see how any takeout services can operate safely. Maybe very low volume ones with one chef and one person giving out the food. But not sure how possible that is, I assume many require someone preparin…

I don’t think it’s a matter of finding something 0-risk as much as it is reducing risk as much as possible. And I think drive through with 0 contact between patrons and employees helps with that.

I’ve been in crowds just two times in the past couple weeks, both were at grocery stores.

Re: McDonald's to close all UK restaurants

#14

Post by Zhyl »

aazaa wrote: post #4

> McDonald's UK boss, Paul Pomroy, said: "Over the last 24 hours, it has become clear that maintaining safe social distancing whilst operating busy takeaway and Drive Thru restaurants is increasingly difficult and therefore we have taken the decision to close every restaurant in the UK and Ireland by 7pm on Monday 23 March. A lot of Americans are relying on this method of food distribution. It seems inevitable that c…

We need innovation and quick thinking. Proper pivoting. One example is UK Restaurant Chain Leon pivoting to retail [1]. Another is restaurants becoming or setting up satellite Ghost Kitchens [2], perhaps moving to cheaper or more evenly spread locations in the mean time.

For HN, we now have a whole new set of problems. We are no longer supporting, enabling or competing with existing institutions and structures - we're building systems that will save them and in the process define new ways of getting food to plate and co-ordinating the people and payments involved.

We have food. We have people. We have new constraints. Solve for X :o)

[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51996773

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_kitchen

Re: McDonald's to close all UK restaurants

#15

Post by catalogia »

robjan wrote: post #7
martinald wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem isn't that, it's making the food itself in mcdonalds is too risky in terms of infection. You have loads of people in a small space. Nearly all restaurant kitchens of all types are like this; so I really can't see how any takeout services can operate safely. Maybe very low volume ones with one chef and one person giving out the food. But not sure how possible that is, I assume many require someone preparin…

Doesn't this risk exist with all types of food factory?

What about fresh produce sitting on store shelves, where people can touch and breath on it?

(I say this while eating a hotdog I just got from 7-11)

Re: McDonald's to close all UK restaurants

#16

Post by jakear »

pengaru wrote: post #11
jakear wrote: post #2

If this comes to the US my disaster preparedness plans will be seriously compromised... In theory drive through should be the best possible food mechanism in terms of risk to the workers (and patrons). If they could arrange for contactless payment (already possible, just affix a tap reader to the side of the drive through window), and some way to serve the food while keeping the window closed (a shelf extending out f…

Everyone should have at least one large sack of rice and beans in dry storage. Expecting an operation like McDonalds to maintain enough spare capacity to provide everyone's emergency sack of rice and beans in the event of a disaster is completely idiotic.

I was being a bit facetious. The fact of the matter is there exist people who have not prepped, and grocery stores are a complete mess. Drive through solves both these problems, as letting those that behaved “completely idiotically” either die or come join in the crowds at grocery stores isn’t a great option.

Re: McDonald's to close all UK restaurants

#17

Post by finaliteration »

catalogia wrote: post #15
robjan wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't this risk exist with all types of food factory?

What about fresh produce sitting on store shelves, where people can touch and breath on it? (I say this while eating a hotdog I just got from 7-11)

We’re still buying fresh produce because there’s plenty of it and we don’t have a ton of space to store frozen/canned food. I’ve been washing produce with soap and water for 20 seconds and then rinsing it before eating it. We also roast most of our vegetables so the risk seems small, to me.

Re: McDonald's to close all UK restaurants

#19

Post by davidwihl »

aazaa wrote: post #4

> McDonald's UK boss, Paul Pomroy, said: "Over the last 24 hours, it has become clear that maintaining safe social distancing whilst operating busy takeaway and Drive Thru restaurants is increasingly difficult and therefore we have taken the decision to close every restaurant in the UK and Ireland by 7pm on Monday 23 March. A lot of Americans are relying on this method of food distribution. It seems inevitable that c…

I’m deeply worried about the US food supply in 4-6 weeks time, not because of availability but because of a lack of healthy people to process, transport and distribute the food. Given the sorry state of migrant farm workers in the US [0], it won’t take much for infections to spread.

[0] http://www.ncfh.org/uploads/3/8/6/8/38685499/fs-migrant_demo...

Re: McDonald's to close all UK restaurants

#20

Post by notatoad »

jakear wrote: post #2

If this comes to the US my disaster preparedness plans will be seriously compromised... In theory drive through should be the best possible food mechanism in terms of risk to the workers (and patrons). If they could arrange for contactless payment (already possible, just affix a tap reader to the side of the drive through window), and some way to serve the food while keeping the window closed (a shelf extending out f…

>Sure as hell beats a bunch of people in the same supermarket breathing all over the produce and right on the cashier.

going to macdonalds twice a day is definitely riskier than getting groceries at the supermarket once a week. most of the food is packaged, and the stuff that isn't can be thoroughly washed before eating it. even for the stuff that isn't packaged and can't be washed, coronavirus isn't known to last longer than three days, so you can just buy it and let it sit.

contrast that to the multiple different staff preparing your food, which you then immediately stick in your mouth.

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