Published: 16 March 2020
Last updated: 4 March 2024
THE CORONAVIRUS HAS had a severe impact on Australian Jewish catering companies, with leading caterers in Sydney and Melbourne looking at huge holes in their business.
“All communal functions that we had booked have been cancelled as well as private functions,” Felicia Kahn, co-owner of Sydney’s largest kosher caterer, Amaze in Taste, told The Jewish Independent yesterday.
“Some private functions have been postponed and people are thinking October, November, December [instead].” But the biggest cancellations have come from the larger community organisations, she added.
Kahn said the government’s health and movement restrictions have had a huge impact on the business and they are about to boost advertising for their home delivery service, to encourage people to entertain at home.
Her answers were echoed by Raizel Fogel, co-owner of Eshel kosher caterers in Melbourne, who described the impact as “terrible; we don’t know what to do.”
“Most things have been cancelled - UIA events, senior residents and aged care homes schmoozing get-togethers,” she explained.
Mrs Fogel said some people were taking drastic measures to save their simchas. One wedding scheduled for tomorrow was brough forward to yesterday at very short notice.
She said not everything has been cancelled. “We have one barmitzvah this weekend; and another the weekend after – we’re waiting to whether they’re going ahead.”
"I understand their uncertainty but it's affecting our whole supply chain – produce shops, chefs, waiters, etc.”
Mrs Fogel also indicated they might focus on encouraging home deliveries
The OzHarvest Food rescue charity is also suffering from the virus fallout. Founder and CEO Ronni Kahn told The Jewish Independent they had lost $4 million in funding and had to cancel the annual CEO Cookoff, which usually brings in around $3 million. Other regular revenue streams affected include Cooking for a Cause, Food Truck and donations, which are well down, according to Media and Communications Manager, Fiona Nearn. "We are now in an extremely vulnerable position financially for this year and beyond," she said.
OzhHarvest also said another issue was that more people were in need of food because of the restrictions but many of the charities in OzHarvest’s network had closed down, leaving fewer drop-off points for food distribution.
"Everything is affected. The hospitality sector is suffering great losses at the moment and whilst we are collecting food from cancelled events at the moment, this will soon be over and then many venues are facing temporary closures and reduced trade, which means there will be less food to donate," Nearn said.
"If the shelves are empty in supermarkets then there is no food for us to collect. Airlines are another great source of surplus food, especially items like pre-packed sandwiches, muesli bars, crackers, drinks and other snack items that are great for support school lunch programs. With a downturn in domestic travel, the usual volumes will of food will be vastly reduced.
"Everyone is struggling to understand what society will like tomorrow, let alone next week or in the months to come. We know the most vulnerable people in our community will suffer first and the hardest and it is our duty of care to try and maintain our service to support them in these unparalleled times of uncertainty."
