Eat Out To Help Out is about to spark an appetiser bonanza - Wired.co.uk

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The Conservative government has been signalling a move away from austerity for some time now, but honestly, six months ago, who would have predicted that the Treasury would be subsidising your McNuggets?

Eat Out To Help Out – Rishi Sunak’s much vaunted scheme to get people going out to restaurants again – starts on Monday. Diners at participating restaurants will get 50 per cent off their bill from Monday to Wednesday (eat-in only, alcoholic drinks not included) for the whole month of August, capped at a maximum of a £10 discount per person.

It’s a pretty unprecedented intervention, and according to experts, the discount could have a significant impact on how restaurants configure their menus, and on what we order when we do go out – perhaps running in direct opposition to the government’s recently announced anti-obesity drive. Eat Out To Help Out might not be enough to encourage the timid to return to restaurants, but for those who do, it’s likely to spark a bonanza of appetisers and unnecessary sides.

Kelly Haws, a professor of marketing at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee who studies food decision making, says research suggests that the scheme will make people more indulgent. First, there’s the obvious financial incentive – if it’s cheaper, people will likely order things they wouldn’t have otherwise done so. Secondly, Haws says it gives people a “moral licence” to indulge when they might otherwise be concerned about healthy eating. “It’s helping the businesses, and it seems to be positioned as being a bit patriotic in nature,” she says. “You’re doing your part.”

Finally, for many people, the discount scheme may mean that they’re actually heading out to a restaurant to eat for the first time since lockdown ended, which will give meals the feeling of a special occasion. “When something takes on the label of a special event, it becomes a more indulgent outcome,” Haws explains. “A Tuesday night dinner at Pizza Express might not have seemed that way before, and it makes it more likely that you’ll want to order an appetiser.”

Because the discount is capped at £10, it could disproportionately favour restaurants with lower price points, which could have unintended consequences. “By putting the cap on it, what they’re really doing is subsidising the least healthy area of the market,” says Aaron Allen, a global restaurant consultant. Last week, McDonald’s unveiled the prices for its menu items under the scheme – a Big Mac Meal will now cost just £2.30.

Initially, national chains such as Nando’s and Pizza Express quickly signed up for the scheme, but higher-end restaurants were slower to get involved. Some may be concerned about the reputational risk of being associated with what Allen says is essentially a "government sponsored GroupOn", although there were other potential mitigating circumstances for smaller businesses. “Plenty of businesses are still operating right on the edge, so the additional red tape may have been a concern,” says Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality. “Cash flow is certainly going to be an issue for lots of businesses after three months of enforced closure, so that may have seen some venues hesitant to sign up to a discount scheme.”

However, a survey of business leaders by UKHospitality published on Friday suggests that 84 per cent of restaurants are taking part in at least some of their locations. Those that have signed up for the scheme, which involves restaurants submitting claim forms for the extra money which will then be paid out within five working days, are likely to find ways to try and maximise the benefits from it. “Most likely there will be workarounds,” says Allen – restaurants might do offers where they incentivise those who have been in on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday to come back again later in the week, for instance. “I suspect there will be some pretty clever attempts to game the system.”

We’re likely to see lots more items priced in such a way to maximise the benefits of the Eat Out To Help out incentive. “We have already seen that it has had an effect on offering and restaurants have adapted their menus to take advantage of the offer and give customers something they otherwise might not be able to,” says Nicholls. She points to steak restaurant Hawksmoor, which has created a special addition to the menu that incorporates the discount and the cut in VAT to give customers a chance to dine in for £10.

Last week, the government announced a new set of policy measures designed to tackle obesity – and some have been critical of the scheme for potentially encouraging people to overindulge. But it’s only going to be in place for three days a week, for one month – a total of 13 days – so it’s unlikely to have any long-term impacts on people’s behaviour, Haws argues.

“It’s difficult to tell precisely how customers will react,” says Nicholls. “The intention of the scheme is not to promote food waste or excessive consumption, though. It is very much geared at enticing customers, who will be feeling the pinch too, back out into venues affordably.”

So will it work? Restaurants certainly need it to – the pandemic has put the £4 trillion global industry in real peril, and Allen estimates that one in five establishments worldwide won’t make it through. Haws thinks Eat Out To Help Out probably doesn’t offer a big enough discount to entice people who are afraid of venturing out entirely, but it may change the behaviour of those who are already going out – they might decide to go on a Wednesday instead of a Thursday, for instance, and spend more when they do.

Nicholls seems optimistic. “Consumer confidence appears to still be low, and we need to show people that they can go out and have a great time safely,” she says “If the legacy of the scheme is that people reconnect with hospitality again after months away, then it will be a positive one.”

Nugget starter, anyone?

Amit Katwala is WIRED's culture editor. He tweets from @amitkatwala

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Eat Out To Help Out is about to spark an appetiser bonanza - Wired.co.uk

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