The COVID-19 pandemic affects the global food industry as governments close down restaurants and bars to slow the spread of the virus. Across the world, restaurants' daily traffic dropped precipitously compared to the same period in 2019. Closures of restaurants caused a ripple effect among related industries such as food production, liquor, wine, and beer production, food and beverage shipping, fishing, and farming.

The issues were particularly disruptive in industrialized areas where large proportions of entire categories of food are typically imported using just-in-time logistics.

The pandemic also accelerated existing trends within the restaurant sector, particularly the adoption of technology for enhanced customer experiences. Mobile apps for ordering and reservations, QR code-based menus, and data analytics for personalized marketing gained prominence.

In June 2020, the United Nations warned that the world was facing the worst food crisis in half a century due to the recession caused by the pandemic.

Global impact Global food security expert Peter Alexander of the University of Edinburgh said that the free-market, just-in-time logistical systems common in industrialized areas are very good at dealing with disruptions in one place or sudden shortages of one commodity but are more vulnerable to systemic shock because there is no slack in the system and no supply reserves to fall back on.

In many places there was panic buying with resulting shortages. There were some supply chain disruptions for some products; for instance, many hand pumps for hand sanitizer bottles are imported into the US from China and were in shorter supply. For most food products in the US normal resupply happened, but panic buying causing empty shelves contributed to consumers' impulse to stock up and hoard. A US food retail trade group advised retailers to accelerate ordering and consider rationing to prevent empty shelves. Food retailers were "among the most affected by the coronavirus, but one of the few businesses that might actually benefit," at least in the short term according to the television channel Cheddar. Some areas saw price gouging.

Food traffic to restaurants and cafes declined by 75% in Latin America, where as North America and Middle East markets saw a decline of 90% by end of March. Later on, as demand for certain agricultural products fell due to lockdowns and closure of restaurants, farmers reported a glut in supply, such as potatoes in the Netherlands and milk in the U.S. state of Wisconsin.

Online grocery shopping grew substantially during the pandemic. Small-scale farmers have been embracing digital technologies as a way to directly sell produce, and community-supported agriculture and direct-sell delivery systems are on the rise during the coronavirus pandemic.

Newly-homebound workers became interested in baking. In much of the world breadbaking became symbolic of resilience in response to the lockdowns.

Hazard controls

For retail workers in food and grocery businesses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Occupational Safety and Health Administration have recommended specific COVID-19 hazard controls beyond general workplace recommendations. For employees, these include encouraging touchless payment options and minimizing handling of cash and credit cards, placing cash on the counter rather than passing it directly by hand, and routinely disinfecting frequently touched surfaces such as workstations, cash registers, payment terminals, door handles, tables, and countertops. Employers may place sneeze guards with a pass-through opening at the bottom of the barrier in checkout and customer service locations, use every other check-out lane, move the electronic payment terminal farther from the cashier, place visual cues such as floor decals to indicate where customers should stand during check out, provide remote shopping alternatives, and limit the maximum customer capacity at the door. Food workers experiencing clinical gastrointestinal or respiratory disease symptoms should not participate in food processing or preparation.

All types of food can potentially be contaminated though contact with any contaminated equipment, surfaces or environment. Proper cleaning and prevention of cross-contamination are critical in the control of foodborne illnesses. Once pathogens are deposited on surfaces by a previously contaminated product (cross-contamination), aerosols or touch from contaminated hands or clothing, they can survive on inanimate objects such as knives, saws, transport containers and conveyor belts made of metal, plastic and wood. Coronaviruses have been shown to remain infectious for up to nine days on such surfaces.

Good hygiene practices are particularly important when handling fresh foods that may be consumed raw and/or without any further processing. Examples include fresh fruits and vegetables and ready-to-use foods for consumption without further heat treatment. These can be particularly susceptible to contamination from the environment and food handlers. To minimize risk of exposure to any foodborne bacteria and viruses, it is important to keep food contact environments, equipment and tools clean, observe good handwashing practices, and separate raw and cooked foods and use clean water.

Impacts by country Australia

In Melbourne, city officials announced a relief package for the Queen Victoria Market. According to Eater, petitions were circulating urging the state government to rescue the industry.

Brazil On 23 March 2020, the Brazilian Association of Bars and Restaurants (Abrasel) reported that more than 3 million workers could lose their jobs over the next 40 days.

Canada

, 15% of the infections in Alberta – 358 cases – have been connected to the Cargill meat processing plant in High River. The outbreak itself has been linked to an employee of a long-term care facility who had close contact with an employee of the plant in their household. The plant was idled by Cargill on 20 April.

China

Starbucks, KFC, Pizza Hut, and McDonald's had closed restaurants in Wuhan or Hubei by 27 January. Because the closings came just before the Lunar New Year celebrations, they came "at probably the worst time for China," according to Jude Blanchette, head of China studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The Lunar New Year as of 2020 was considered China's single most important economic event, with 2019 spending of US$150 billion. The service sector in 2020 represented 52% of China's economy.

By 24 March, Starbucks had reopened 95% of the 2000 restaurants that had closed, including some in Wuhan. Starbucks announced it expected a $400 million or more in lowered revenues for the fiscal second quarter because of the China closures.

Before the outbreak, about 54 percent of survey respondents bought food and groceries from supermarkets. During the pandemic, the proportion of consumers choosing to purchase food from supermarkets dropped to 35%, and the proportion of products purchased from farmers' markets dropped sharply from 23% to 10%. In contrast, consumers buying food and groceries online rose to 38 percent from 11 percent.

France According to Eater, "The whole French food chain may become less individual and more corporate as only big restaurant groups like Alain Ducasse and major industrial food producers survive."

Germany Fast casual chain Vapiano announced 20 March that it was insolvent and might have to declare bankruptcy, asking the German government for help.

Hungary According to Eater, restaurants in Budapest depend heavily on tourism, and will likely not survive.

India On 23 March 2020, the National Restaurants Association of India asked the Finance Ministry for a bailout for the industry. The economic value of the industry is estimated at ₹4,238.65 billion.

Ireland

All bars and pubs were closed in Ireland by 15 March. On 22 March, it was announced that all McDonald's outlets in Ireland would be closed from 7 pm on 23 March. The day after the McDonald's announcement, coffeehouse chain Costa Coffee and restaurant franchise Subway both announced they would shut their Irish outlets, as did doughnut company Krispy Kreme regarding its one Irish outlet in Dublin. The Irish fast food restaurant chain Supermac's announced the same day as the Costa and Subway closures that it would shut all its restaurants by the evening of 26 March; it intended the delay to allow emergency services using its facilities time to plan where they would eat, but did say it would shut its seating areas that night. By August 2020, McDonald's, Supermac's, Costa Coffee, Subway and Krispy Kreme reopened providing takeaway, delivery or drive thru services only.

As the third phase of the government's roadmap got underway on 29 June, all restaurants and cafés reopened serving on premises food and strict social distancing and cleaning measures in place. Pubs and bars reopened only if they served "substantial" meals of at least €9—according to the Government of Ireland and Fáilte Ireland. Indoor hospitality soon closed again in October after the government imposed a national six-week lockdown. On 4 December, thousands of restaurants, cafés and gastropubs reopened after six weeks of closure. On Christmas Eve, all restaurants, cafés and gastropubs closed again at 3 pm following the reimposition of lockdown restrictions until 12 January 2021 at the earliest, after a third wave of COVID-19 arrived in Ireland. Due to the repeated extension of the lockdown, they remained closed throughout the first five months of 2021.

Under the government's reopening plan throughout May and June 2021, all bars, restaurants and cafés reopened for outdoor service on 7 June, while indoor service remained closed. On 29 June, due to the rapidly increasing incidence of the Delta variant, the government announced that the planned reopening of indoor dining and drinking in restaurants and pubs on 5 July would be delayed. After further delays, the government eventually approved legislation for the resumption of indoor hospitality, with proofs of vaccination needed for those who were vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19, while those under 18 would be required to be accompanied by a fully vaccinated person. On 21 July, it was confirmed that indoor dining in pubs and restaurants could resume on Monday 26 July for fully vaccinated and COVID-19 recovered people, after President Michael D. Higgins signed the legislation underpinning new guidelines into law.

Italy According to Eater, much of Italy's artisanal food production depends heavily on tourism, both directly and indirectly via restaurants, and may not survive.

In mid–July 2022, Domino's Pizza's Italian franchise EPizza SpA closed down all 29 of its stores. The company had declared bankruptcy in April 2022 after two years of declining sales caused by lockdown restrictions and competition from local pizza chains and restaurants, which began using food delivery apps in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.

Japan in March 2020 was felt down into 0.7 which was worst value ever. , a yakitori-style izakaya chain, announced on 2 April that they would shut all 394 of their stores from 4 April to 6 May. Announcement on Torikizoku's official site (Ja) Doutor Coffee shut all about 250 of their stores in seven prefectures (Tokyo, Chiba, Saitama, Kanagawa, Osaka, Hyogo and Fukuoka), which are issued emergency declaration initially, from 8 April. Starbucks also shut all about 850 of their stores in seven prefectures from 9 April. Tully's Coffee shut about 400 of their stores in seven prefectures and about 50 of their stores in six prefectures (Hokkaido, Ibarakim Ishikawa, Gifu, Aichi and Kyoto), which are designated as , from 16 April to 6 May and from 23 April to 6 May respectively. Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries asked people to drink milk more for reducing disposal of it.