F&B/Hospitality Roundtable Reviews Vax Mandate and More

TRSA recently hosted a virtual roundtable for linen, uniform and facility services operators and supplier partners that serve the Food-and-Beverage (F&B)/Hospitality market.

The Nov. 10 meeting kicked off with an industry update from TRSA President & CEO Joseph Ricci. He discussed TRSA’s year-long Reopening Tour, which recently concluded with visits to 13 member operators and supplier partners in the Northeast U.S. In total, the tour covered nearly 7,000 miles and more than 80 visits. Click here to read more about the tour.

Ricci also highlighted several in-person events, including TRSA’s recently concluded Annual Conference in Carlsbad, CA, as well as the upcoming Fourth Annual Marketing & Sales Summit and 10th Annual Healthcare Conference. Both events will take place Nov. 16-18 in Plano, TX.

After Ricci’s presentation, Ken Koepper, director of membership and industry outreach for TRSA, took over and introduced several new members on the call. Afterward, Koepper took several polls to gather information on topics such as COVID-19 vaccinations. For example:

• In operator company workplace(s), the most common threshold exceeded in percentage of fully vaccinated employees was 70%, by nearly one-third of respondents. About one-third hit thresholds of 80% or more and slightly more than one-third reported the 60% threshold or less. (Total respondents: 18)
• In supplier partner company workplace(s), full-vaccination performance was essentially a mirror image of operators in hitting these thresholds. (14 respondents)

Close to two-thirds (25) of all roundtable participants indicated their workplace(s) had experienced a rise in vaccination rates satisfactory to them. They were given a list of several possible reasons for the increase and asked to select two of them as the most significant. Two-thirds (17) of these individuals cited, as one of their two reasons, workers’ desire to enter venues where vaccination is required. Other reasons suggested in the poll paled in comparison:

• Family member or colleague infected (6)
• Peer pressure from colleagues at work (6)
• Unlisted reason [“Other”] (6)
• Management made appointments for staff to receive vaccine (5)
• Vaccination clinic at worksite (2)
• Workplace-provided transport to vaccine clinic (2)

To gauge revenue recovery in the pandemic, operators were asked to compare the combined weight in linen/uniform/textile items they are currently serving to continuing customers with the pounds they served to these customers pre-COVID. More than two-thirds of the 13 respondents to this question said these customers’ inventory now exceeds 80% of the pre-COVID level; less than one third said this figure is in the 60% to 80% range. No one cited a lower threshold.

Given the importance of shedding low-margin business to profitability during the pandemic, operators were asked what percentage of their all-time-high annual revenue they willingly sacrificed for this purpose. Seven of the 10 respondents to this question said the figure was 5% or less. The remaining three respondents said 5% to 7%, 9% to 11%, and 15% or more.

Asked what percentage of this lost revenue has been recovered, either from new business or returning revenue from existing accounts, the most popular answer (4 of 9 respondents) was 80% to 99%. Three respondents said less than 40%; the other two said 100% and 60% to 79%.

Because the industry has relied in part on minimum service levels to secure revenues and COVID may have spooked customers from committing to these going forward, attendees were asked these before-and-after-pandemic questions regarding minimums:

• Prior to COVID, what percent of your service agreements had minimum linen/uniform/textile use or associated dollar requirements, freeing you to drop an account if it did not meet your minimum? Five of the 13 respondents said they had such provisions in 80% to 99% of their contracts; two said they had them in 100%. Another five said they had them in less than 40%; one said 60% to 79%.
• Since COVID, in what percentage of your service agreements have you waived AT LEAST ONE required minimum linen/uniform/textile use or associated dollar requirement, waiving the right to drop an account? Half of the eight respondents said 80% or more; one said 40% to 59%; three said less than 40%.
• Today if you enter into a service agreement with a new customer, what percent of agreements have NO MINIMUM linen use or associated dollar requirements? Nine of the 10 respondents said less than 40%; one said 80% to 99%.

These responses reflected varying levels of recovery but it appears the industry’s most common practices are likely to remain as long as revenues continue to inch the rest of the way back to pre-COVID levels.

TRSA’s Vice President of Government Relations Kevin Schwalb concluded the roundtable with an update from the nation’s capital, focused primarily on the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration’s (OSHA) recently released COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). Schwalb fielded a wide ranging question-and-answer session from attendees following his presentation. For more information on the ETS, click here.