• Good news.

    From this Wednesday, the sale of food and drink is again authorized in all closed places, in particular cinemas, concert halls, theaters, stadiums...

  • A financial windfall which was sorely missed by bar owners during these months of restriction.

  • They hope for the return of profits and happy days.

Prepare your taste buds, hold on to your faith and say goodbye to the “winter body” for good.

This Wednesday, February 16 marks the return of the consumption of food and drink in event venues, prohibited since December and the wave of Omicron which had swept over France.

Welcome back to the crunchy popcorns at the cinema, the hot dogs that stick to your fingers in the stadiums, the filling petits fours in the fairs and fairs and the lukewarm beer in the concerts.

It may be a detail for you, but for the actors of the bamboche, it means a lot.

And when we say "a lot", we are talking in particular in terms of cash inflows.

In 2014, for example, the sale of food and drink brought in 14% of cinema revenue in France.

In the hall of the Zenith of Paris, the bar represented 20% of the annual turnover in 2010.

“Even though most venues have not closed, unlike previous waves of coronavirus, events are struggling to be profitable without this kind of ancillary revenue.

Take-away sales and consumption inside performance venues are significant financial windfalls,” confirms Philippe Abergel, general delegate of the National Syndicate of Scenic and Event Audiovisual Providers (Synpase).

Between second wind and crazy optimism

Observation shared by Clément Tournier, president of the Union of Solidarity Professionals of the Event (UPSE) who hopes that the worst is over: “We will be able to breathe a little, after very difficult months.

Everything will not be perfect yet in 2022, not everything can be compensated for, especially since there is still the fear of yet another stop-and-go, but that is already good news.

The president readily admits it, without state aid and the extended “Whatever the cost” for events and culture, the sector would currently be totally devastated.

Enough caution, let's move on to unbridled enthusiasm on the part of Emmanuel de Préval, manager of Barnum, supplier of drinks for the events: "There is a real resurgence of optimism and the certainty that normal life will eventually to resume.

People want to make up for lost time and consumption will go well,” he predicts.

Will there be enough for everyone?

The seller of binouzes and companies wants to hear that the next few months could be difficult, the time to restart the machine, but for him, it is more the opposite fear that dominates: "The real risk is that demand is so strong that we can no longer follow, as in May June 2021, when everything reopened.

»

He is not the only one to invoke the spring of 2021 to justify his hope of unbridled consumption from February.

All the experts interviewed mentioned the many events postponed in recent months, which should fill the rest of the year easily by allowing a strong recovery in the sector.

The event regains its appeal

Beyond the direct benefits of cash inflows from the sale of food and drink, event professionals also hope to bring in more audiences.

“A rock concert without beer is still a bit sad,” says Emmanuel de Préval.

The same goes for the cinema without popcorn, or for the financial fair without a cocktail.

Opinion shared by Jean Aubinat, Head of Communication at the Union Française des Métiers de l'Événement (Unimev): “A theater is a welcoming, friendly place where you feel good.

Just the end of the standing drinking ban will change a lot of things for the attractiveness of trade shows and fairs.

In the same logic, the date of February 28, when the mask will no longer be compulsory during closed events requiring the vaccination pass, is checked by all the players in the sector.

“Little by little, the event sectors will regain all their appeal.

When we are freed from all the constraints, we can really restart.

The government must trust us and continue to let go of ballast, ”continues Jean Aubinat.

The time to live

Eric Rouvier, manager of France Bières, confirms the current good shape of the market: "Since the date of February 16 fell, orders are flowing in again", replies the alcohol seller, who had had to turn to wine merchants and supermarkets to sell their stock during closing times.

A reconversion of fortune, insufficient to make up for its losses, he recalls, and which benefited from state aid and partial unemployment.

Difficult times that Eric Rouvier thinks are over for good: “With the vaccination pass, there is the idea that the event crisis is really behind us and that cultural life will – finally – resume as before, that this time it's the right one.

Some festivals are already planning for this summer, while in other years they did not dare for fear of the coronavirus.

Happy to leave the crisis on the sidelines, the manager promises a 2022 of great vintage: “It is estimated that after a period of war, the sale of alcohol reaches peaks during the five years which follow.

France was at war with the coronavirus.

We, the businesses attached to the event, we were content to survive.

Now, clients and professionals alike, it's time to live.

»

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Coronavirus: The announced return of the bamboche, pure concentrate of happiness for the French

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