Food tastes better when it's with a govt discount
People eat outside and inside private dining pods, on the terrace of a restaurant, as the outbreak of the COVID-19 continues, in London, Britain, on August 6, 2020.
Everyone, it seems, loves a discount especially when it’s on the government’s credit card.
Early indications suggest that hungry, and often nervous, customers are being enticed back to restaurants in the UK as a result of a British government program that provides discounts from Monday to Wednesday this month. The plan aims to protect jobs in a sector that was hit hard during the coronavirus pandemic.
New figures published on Tuesday by the Treasury show food outlets claimed for over 35 million discounted meals in the first half of August with the number of covers more than tripling in the second week, when much of the country was basking in unusual tropical heat.
Under the program, sitting customers can receive a 50 percent discount on food and non-alcoholic drinks at participating restaurants between Monday and Wednesday up to 10 pounds (US$13) per person. Food venues from Michelin-starred outlets to international burger chains can then get the discount reimbursed by the government within five days. So far, it has cost the government 180 million pounds. It has previously estimated the total cost of the plan at 500 million pounds.
The so-called “Eat Out to Help Out” program is being used by around 85,000 restaurants, or nearly two-thirds of those eligible, in the hope that it will encourage people to return to dining out, particularly in the traditionally fallow early-week period.
