Main content

Coronavirus: The survival business

The food entrepreneurs forced to innovate to stay afloat during the pandemic.

Food businesses have been some of the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Worldwide lockdowns have forced thousands of restaurants, bars and cafes to close, but many entrepreneurs have managed to keep their businesses afloat, forced to innovate to survive.

We revisit some past Food Chain guests to find out how they鈥檝e been coping and ask what they鈥檝e learned about their business, their customers, and themselves. Tamasin Ford speaks to a chocolate maker in Ghana who hasn鈥檛 sold a single bar since the country locked down in March, and a fried chicken entrepreneur in South Africa who鈥檚 turned to feeding frontline workers to keep his kitchens and staff going.

But business hasn鈥檛 been all bad - we hear from a baker in Montreal, Canada, who says he鈥檚 never sold more bread and has started selling bags of flour to meet a growing demand from home bakers. Plus, a restaurant critic from Melbourne, Australia, tells us what it was like going out for a meal for the first time in more than three months.

Let us know what you think about the show by emailing thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk or using #大象传媒FoodChain on social media.

Presenter: Tamasin Ford
Producers: Simon Tulett and Siobhan O鈥機onnell
Studio manager: Hal Haines

(Picture: A woman picks up food and a drink from a restaurant during lockdown. Credit: Getty Images/大象传媒)

Available now

27 minutes

Last on

Mon 15 Jun 2020 00:32GMT

Clip

Broadcasts

  • Thu 11 Jun 2020 02:32GMT
  • Thu 11 Jun 2020 10:32GMT
  • Thu 11 Jun 2020 15:32GMT
  • Thu 11 Jun 2020 17:32GMT
  • Thu 11 Jun 2020 21:32GMT
  • Thu 11 Jun 2020 22:32GMT
  • Sun 14 Jun 2020 07:32GMT
  • Mon 15 Jun 2020 00:32GMT

Food Chain highlights

Tea, coffee, spices, chillies ... snack on a selection of programme highlights

Podcast