Eat Out to Help Out Initiative

How does the Eat Out to Help Out initiative work?

The promotion allows people to get a discount of up to 50% whilst eating or drinking soft drinks in a participating venue, such as a restaurant or other food establishment.

Diners can claim a maximum discount of £10 per person when they eat or drink inside the establishment, and they are eligible to receive this all-day Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 3rd to 31st August across the UK.

While the discount is only applied to food and drinks that are consumed on the premises, it applies across the whole food and soft drink menus, as the government looks to increase footfall for hospitality businesses.

Why has the scheme been introduced?

The government hopes that the scheme will see more diners eating in, at what is typically the quieter end of the week, while helping to boost customer confidence in going out to eat.

Some venues have been able to adapt to provide takeaway service during the lockdown. But this has resulted in lower average spending per head and fewer people being employed, and it has not proven to be a viable option for all businesses.

Additionally, the initiative is being used alongside other targeted help such as a cut in VAT for hospitality and tourism businesses, being reduced to 5% from an initial 20%.

How can cloud-based software help?

Despite the lockdown continuing to ease, there are still significant numbers of professionals in the food and beverage industry who continue to work from home, including those in procurement, quality, technical and supply chain departments.

ARCUS^® Product Information Management (PIM), is a cloud-based, innovative module that automates and digitises the process for collecting detailed product information directly from suppliers.

The module allows users to send tailored product questionnaires to their suppliers, and all product data and specifications are securely stored in a cloud-based, centralised location.

The questionnaires are configurable, meaning that ARCUS^® PIM users all collecting all the product information they require from their suppliers, such as allergens, ingredients and nutritional information. Using ARCUS^® Connect, our native API, this information can then be transferred to ERP and recipe management systems, ensuring that a single source of information is used in an end-to-end solution without the need to re-key any data.

Product information and supporting documents are stored in the cloud, meaning that they can be accessed remotely by all key stakeholders at any time and from any location. This helps to create a fully auditable ane effective process for managing, storing, and sharing supplier product information, even while working from home.