The worst is yet to come for Britain’s food-and-drink industry

DECADES FROM now when the grandchildren of the covid generation ask, wide-eyed, “What did you do during the great pandemic of 2020?” the wizened elders will pause to reflect on hardships past and they will answer: “I did my bit for the country. I ate a lot of steak-frites.”

Brits have taken to “eat out to help out”, a government scheme which offers a 50% discount on restaurant meals—up to £10 ($13) per person, from Mondays to Wednesdays in August—with an enthusiasm exceeding even the wildest expectations of the hospitality industry. On the scheme’s first day food sales were up by 100% over the previous Monday, according to CGA, a hospitality industry researcher. Some 64m meals were consumed at 84,000 venues over the first nine days, at a cost of £336m to the exchequer.