Bavet: successful reopening after Covid-19 sounds like music to the ears

Bavet has really taken off: since 2016, the number of locations at which it offers its unique and contemporary riffs on spaghetti bolognese has risen exponentially. Peter Van Praet is Bavet’s founder and Concept Guardian: "We were all set to open another batch of restaurants, but then the coronavirus crisis hit. By switching to a takeaway model early on, we managed to retain up to forty percent of our turnover figure over the past few moths, which is no mean feat! Of course, the ability to reopen again now the coronavirus peak has passed comes as even more of a relief. We intend to welcome our customers again without losing sight of the promising insights we gained during the lockdown."

Spaghetti and music to take away

To Peter Van Praet, music is a crucial element of the customer experience — and customer experience is exactly what sets Bavet apart from traditional pasta restaurants. “With help from Deliverect and our very own van, we started home deliveries almost straightaway. Thanks to the flexibility of our employees, we were able to successfully anticipate the moment we could reopen after the coronavirus crisis. To make sure our customer experience continued at the dining table, we invested in original packaging, with each diner getting their own bib — or ‘bavet’, as we call them in Flanders! That way, our brand experience seamlessly continues in people’s own homes.”

Target group analysis for smart reopening after coronavirus

Peter: “The coronavirus crisis caught everyone by surprise. It’s been a tricky time, but the past few months have also proven useful as an unintentional period of market research. By checking the postcodes of our online orders, we soon realised Mechelen offered loads of potential. As a result, we’ve started putting concrete plans into place for an extra restaurant there. At the same time, we discovered that our target audience is a little older than we thought — a fact that will prove very useful when we’re putting together new playlists. Talking of playlists: Tunify is proving as vital as ever now that we’re allowed to welcome back our customers. It’s been great getting the opportunity to explore its vast music catalogue again.”

Plans for successful reopening

The coronavirus discoveries triggered an outpouring of ideas among the Bavet team: “Customers are spontaneously posting enthusiastic reviews with their photos on social media. As a result, we decided to take our ‘home delivery packages’ to the next level via our Casper kitchen. Before we were allowed to reopen, we also organised a live gig by Portland, which we streamed online. This ‘lockdown gig’ proved to be a massive hit among our customers. To make live music a bigger part of our restaurant experience, we will be moving into larger premises in Leuven, with a large stage for trailblazing acts. On top of that, Mechelen won’t be our only new location: we will also be opening a new branch in Hasselt. We’re even going international in the near future with a restaurant in Maastricht.”

Reopening after coronavirus: the opportunities are there for the taking!

Peter absolutely understands the specific challenges faces by individual entrepreneurs: “However, now is the time to strengthen your team. Focusing on profit figures makes little sense in 2020. Redirecting your energy to your internal operations is the better option: by refining and strengthening those, you can build a rock-solid foundation for a better future. To us, that future holds (new) products that meet our customers’ expectations even better than before, served with an extra dose of customer experience. No wonder we can’t wait to see what a post-coronavirus future holds.”