The food service industry, which was hit hard by the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak, is showing clear signs of rebound in sales.
According to a survey conducted by the Korea Foodservice Industry Research Institute, the sales of the nation’s food service industry recovered to about 70-80 percent of the pre-MERS crisis level.
During the first weekend of last month (June 6-7) when the MERS virus spread widely, the sales of the food service industry fell 41.4 percent compared to those of the previous weekend (May 23-24). The declining pace slowed to 38.0 percent, 32.0 percent and 27.8 percent on the second, third, and last weekends of last month.
The sales of the CJ Foodville restaurants such as VIPS and Seasons Table, for instance, recovered to 97-98 percent of the pre-crisis level. The food service industry expects that it may take three to seven additional months for its sales to be fully recovered.
