ByDUDU LEVY REICH

 Eyal Lugasi

Catering Ready Meals at Weekends

“I served for 27 years as a non-commissioned officer in the army, as the senior NCO of a huge kitchen. Over the years, I participated in courses and professional training and became a chef. I always had my eye on the events’ sector, before finally, three years ago, I took early retirement and opened a venue together with my partner, Dudu Alon. We took two event halls in the center of Dimona, one with space for 700-800 revelers and the other with space for 350-400, and invested millions of Shekels. The renovation also included new menus and a new culinary approach that I introduced. For the first two years, things were running smoothly—we managed to establish a reputation for ourselves throughout southern Israel. Then COVID-19 struck, and the momentum was lost.
“The first lockdown reduced us to zero events at a stroke. Of our 50 employees, we retained the six full-time ones and furloughed the rest. It took us time to realize that we would not be reopening for the rest of the year and that we had to think outside the box. So we set up a catering service with a wide range of ready meals for the Sabbath and for holidays. At the same time, we continued to provide services for small weddings in open spaces, in accordance with the regulations, if only to keep the system ticking over and to ensure we did not lose our workers. We also launched a delivery service with a driver of our own, but at the end of the day most of the customers preferred to come to us, to see the food in the pots and trays and to choose for themselves.

“At the end of the third lockdown we worked for two weeks—then we had to close down again because of the of the Omer, a period in the Jewish calendar where celebrations are forbidden. Now we are getting ready for events booked. In August we are expanding, after investing a huge amount of money into a new boutique wedding venue in Yeruham, by the lake, to meet the needs of all the towns and villages in the area. The past year and the pandemic have given me a sense of proportion regarding the things that truly matter in life—that if you have work, you should seize it, and not sit at home waiting for grants and compensation.”

The writer is the co-owner of “Adora – Event Space” venues. 6 Jabotinsky Square, Dimona. Tel: 08-6554305
Gadi Caspi

A Year Later, the Diary is Filling Up

“I’ve been in the events’ sector for 30 years, and 17 years ago I opened the Kala venue on the outskirts of Kiryat Haim, which stretches over three acres of land. Later on, I brought in a partner, and today there are two large and opulent venues there, each of which has a garden and a pool with the chuppah on the water. Before last March, we employed 170-200 staff in total—waiters, cooks, bar staff, cleaning staff and more—and then COVID-19 caught us by surprise, and we had to shut down the venue overnight. Most of the staff were furloughed at the start of the first lockdown, apart from a few who we continued to employ in maintenance, gardening and security.

“After the first lockdown, in mid-June, we opened up for two weeks—and since then we have held zero events. It is not easy to reopen a large venue like ours, so with hindsight, had we known that that would be the situation, we would not have bothered reopening at all. Throughout the year, we did almost nothing beyond maintenance and upkeep and dealing with 200 couples who had to change their dates time and again. Eventually, we realized it was unlikely to end any time soon, so we decided it would be better to wait for the vaccines and to delay the reopening.

“At the end of the third lockdown, in March, we started with two weeks of events that were already in our diaries, and then we had another enforced break due to the Omer. At the moment I am struggling with workers who do not want to come back from furlough, and when we reopened for two weeks in March, I had to rely on an external subcontractor to provide me with a workforce. On the other hand, some of the full-time staff have been here for many years, and they understand that in order to hold on to their jobs, they have to come back from furlough. Now  we have  events   bookings for May. So the diary is filling up again, progress looks good, and we have to hope that it stays that way.”

The writer is the co-owner of “Kala” event halls and gardens. 3, Yulius Simon St, Haifa Bay. Tel: 04-8725588
Nir Shapir

Offering Daytime Events to Institutional Clients

“We are reemerging from the COVID-19 lockdowns, and event venues are once more filling up with revelers. Now, the owners are having to reinvent themselves and think of additional income streams to cover the losses brought on by the lack of business over the past year.

As each venue is only able to host one event at any one time, my recommendation to owners of these venues is to transition toward a ‘blue ocean’ strategy: seeking new target audiences for events at different times of the day.

For example, consider suggesting to factory owners and large institutions in the area to host events for their workers, including lunch, as part of a “returning to regular life” campaign. Another idea would be to open the kitchens and offer meals and set menus for home deliveries or small events. That is the present need, at a time when everyone is being asked to think outside the box and be especially creative.”

The writer is a business and management consultant
Zehorit Batito

Retaining the Creative Business Spirit

“The pandemic hit the entire economy hard, and perhaps no sector was impacted more than event venues, who found themselves facing a wave of cancellations with no timetable for a return to normal. While many businesses reopened their doors in accordance with the ‘purple badge’ guidelines, for a long time, event venues were left without any clear pathway back to normality. The creativity and blue-sky thinking of venue owners enabled some of them to identify alternative income streams, including catering and delivery services for small events and selling food for the Sabbath and for holidays.

“Combining the solutions offered by the State, such as grants, state-backed funds and furlough pay for workers, with banking solutions such as adjusting the credit structure to the new circumstances, and deferring and restructuring loan repayments while taking into account the cash flow to ensure it meets the clients’ needs, enabled many event venues to overcome this challenging period. As we return to almost complete normality, it is vital for venue owners to continue to reinforce and retain that creative business spirit—and those unique and hybrid solutions—for future periods of uncertainty and changes in workflow.”

The writer is the manager of the business banking department at the Dimona branch of Bank Hapoalim