Coca-Cola supports restaurant reopening with contactless menus

With springtime came the moment so many were waiting for: our favourite restaurants, diners, buffets, and bars opened so we could enjoy the delicious flavours on their terrace together with a glass of ice-cold Coca-Cola. To ensure we can order completely safely on location, Coca-Cola has developed its own contactless menu platform for smartphones, which they offer to local restaurants free of charge. Next time we see a table where everybody is browsing their smartphones, we shouldn’t judge them: they might just be looking at the menu.

The contactless menu, which is comfortable and safe to use for both restaurants and their guests, was developed by Coca-Cola Hungary to support local restaurants in the reopening period. The beverage company provides the service to its HoReCa partners, completely free of charge. It is already available in several restaurants, including popular places such as the Alessio Café and Restaurant in Buda and the Trattoria Cardinale restaurant at Szentendre Dunakorzó. The interface was developed in Hungary, in collaboration with Isobar Budapest. However, after seeing its great success, hospitality sectors of neighbouring countries can soon start using it as well.

“Our experience so far has shown that guests like it; they are always very open to novelties, and this platform is easy to use, which is a special benefit and will be useful in the long run. The pandemic has made people more cautious, so this new, contactless design has absolute legitimacy in terms of hygiene and precaution,” Miklós Forrai, owner of the Alessio restaurant in Buda summarized his professional insights.

“Guest feedback is very positive: not only young people had started to use the online menu, but our senior guests also enjoy using it. We would like to get the traditional menu out of everyday use once and for all – although right now more people insist to read the paper menu, returning guests are no longer asking for it. It is very practical that for example, when we update our offer, we don't have to edit and reprint the menu, we just update the system. It also makes the work of the waiters easier, as it spares them the round when they bring the menu to the table and wait for the order,” Emese Győri, store manager of Old Negresco Restaurant said about their experiences.

When creating a contactless menu, HoReCa outlets can upload their food and beverage offerings as well as other useful information about their restaurant to the system through a user-friendly, fully customizable interface that can be spiced up with personalized images and logos. After that, all they have to do is display a QR code generated for the restaurant at each table. Guests can easily scan the code with the camera of any smartphone so they can browse the menu on their own phone. In addition to the application required to set up the contactless menu, Coca-Cola also provides promotional materials with a unique QR code, videos explaining how to use the system, and a “hot line” email support free of charge for HoReCa outlets.

“From the service provider's point of view, we are also very happy with this opportunity, because it is especially user-friendly and practical – we have also displayed the QR code on placemats, so the information reaches all newcomers. We can easily customize the menu, we can edit and update it for ourselves after the training,” Béla Neszményi said about the new opportunity, representing Bistro 17.

“During the reopening last year, we helped our HoReCa partners by drawing attention to restaurants and diners with unique posters. This year we were looking for ways to make the ordering process as safe as possible – thus we have started to develop a complex online interface that is easy for restaurants to manage, quickly update, and customize, while providing extra hygiene for their guests. This also serves a sustainability purpose, as this solution can result in less paper usage,” Gergely Kölcsei, marketing manager of Coca-Cola Hungary added.

From now on, if we visit a restaurant with a contactless menu, we should get our smartphone out when sitting down at the table, scan the QR code displayed and then we can immediately choose from the offer. In addition to the food and drink offering, we can also find the daily menu, Wi-Fi code, payment options and the service fee. The summer heat has arrived, the vacation has begun, and the catering hosts are waiting for their guests with delicious food and refreshing drinks, so they can relax on a pleasant evening and order the selected delicacies safely with the contactless menu.