COVID -19 is disrupting lives, habits and patterns, urging us all to think out of the box to deal with the prevailing uncertainty. Some food businesses have been struggling to survive. In contrast, Spice Village in Croydon has found a unique way to survive through the pandemic. It has introduced a first-ever Drive-thru car-in service in the UK, within our large and accessible car park to continue receiving customers since the restriction on dine-in restaurants from December 2020 in an attempt to cease the outbreak of the Covid-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic fast-tracked the food transformation. The closing of borders, shortage of truck drivers and migrant workers, and lockdown of out-of-home channels pose immediate challenges to the food industry. Food retailers and the entire industry are now operating very differently than they did some 12 months ago. The pandemic has brought immense shifts in supply chains, imposed new hazard controls, and—perhaps most importantly—turned consumer preferences upside down. To accommodate these changes, food manufacturers, retailers, restaurants and others stepped up to innovate and secure the continuity of their services. But now, as many industries begin to drop the notion of ever going back to what once was, it’s time we started thinking about how many of the newly introduced processes will stick around for the long-term.

Spice Village has always been at the forefront of the UK,s food industry. Tripadvisor has recently rated spice village as the No-1 Pakistani restaurant in London. Well, it’s been a challenging year; we lost 80% of the revenue, the majority of the staff furloughed due to restrictions on #DineIn services since 2021 dawned. The restriction on offering dine in services to our customers had a detrimental effect on our business. So far, we have been surviving on takeaways and delivery service in the local areas, but as we have a huge car park facility on-site, we have been thinking about how we can make the best possible use. Whilst we have already seen businesses adopting innovative ways to survive through the pandemic, such as the drive-in cinemas, Where the individuals can watch movies sitting in their vehicles, as an alternative of going into a crowded theatre.

Here, we have developed another unique and exceptional idea by innovating a perfect solution for all those diners looking to enjoy their lunch or dinners Covid-safe on their own in their cars. We’ve been working on this idea for several months as we wanted to offer a Covid safe Drive-Thru Eat-in Car experience to our customers, We have introduced a unique tray-style service and it took several attempts to get the right design of the tray which can fit into the windows of any car, whether it is small or big. Customers will drive into our car park and order their meals through our contactless menus while sitting in their vehicles; customers have to keep their front car windows open for the Waiters to slide these trays into their vehicles before serving their meals. The Waiters will be offering personalised service by serving meals and mocktails drinks exclusively to the customers sitting in their cars, offering a unique experience to diners who have not been able to enjoy dine-in services at restaurants due to the continued lockdown. We have also set up background music in our car park for customers to enjoy while having their meals. It is our effort to survive the ongoing uncertainty while ensuring the best of hygiene.

Due to the lockdown, restaurants are restricted from offering dine -in services and customers who have not been able to go out to the restaurants can now visit Spice Village Croydon and not just enjoy our delicious food but have a unique hassle-free experience of enjoying their meals inside their cars. Some of the dishes we recommend are mix Grills, masala fish, papdi Chat, Panipuri, a small puffed bread filled with a delicious mix of spices, potato, onion and chickpeas ; also, we have introduced special kids menu so the families can come out and enjoy this unique first ever Drive-Thru Eat-in Car Experience in the UK.

We will encourage everyone to come and experience this pop-up Drive-Thru Eat-In-Car🚗service 🍽 at our #Croydon Branch who have been missing our freshly prepared healthy grilled food due to restriction on dine-in services with five-star hygiene and full-spectrum control.