We open or we die! The restaurant industry in Mexico pleads to be declared an essential activity

Restaurants are an essential part of the economy in Mexico, generating 5.6 million direct and indirect jobs and working hand in hand with an extensive network of Mexican suppliers, many of them coming from the fields. In 2020 alone, as a consequence of the health crisis, around half a million jobs were lost in Mexico; while in the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico, 13,500 establishments permanently closed. According to Canirac (National Chamber of the Restaurant Industry and Seasoned Foods), eight out of ten restaurants could close their doors as a consequence of this pandemic crisis.The economic impact of the restaurant closures in April 2020 was devastating for the industry. They managed to stay closed, only offering delivery service, for almost four months. Their efforts were titanic to retain their workforce and cover their operating expenses such as rent, contributions, taxes, and services, without government support.The long-awaited reopening and return to the new normal required controlled capacities (of 30 or 40%) and additional expenses to comply with the safety and prevention measures mandated by global institutions, such as physical barriers and protective items for workers, suppliers, and customers.Thus, long-standing restaurants across the country shut their doors and said goodbye forever. In Mexico City, to cite just a few examples, closed: Lampuga Condesa, which was about to celebrate 15 years; Trattoria Della Casa Nuova, after making diners in the south of the city happy for 40 years; Sir Winston Churchill's, with a history of almost 50 years; or La Vaquita, a cantina that had its doors open for 100 years in the Historic Center.Extinct restaurants and many more on the brink of extinction. For this reason, in Mexico City and the State of Mexico, a group of 516 restaurateurs issued a statement on January 7, 2021, with a cry for help: We open or we die! After the new closure that was instituted from December 18, 2020, to date due to the red light of both entities. “Just the announcement of closing our establishments for three weeks caused a 10% increase in job losses to those already recorded,” they declare.Unable to sustain themselves and without savings, they requested the declaration of the restaurant industry as an essential activity, as well as support for the formal economy and regulation of other activities. They pointed out that international studies have shown that restaurants, with the safety measures they took, are not a source of contagion. Their message is clear: “We open or we die!”Today (January 8), the Head of Government of Mexico City announced the maintenance of the red light with the closure of non-essential activities and the waiver of the Payroll Tax for restaurants.The reality is complex for the restaurants that have survived, also for the thousands of workers who make up their work teams and the value chain that works with them, such as greengrocers, bakeries, tortilla shops, butcher shops, and poultry shops, to name a few.We hope that 2021 does not condemn this Mexican industry to extinction.