Tork Helps Restaurants Meet Guests’ Hygiene Expectations

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, six out of ten people have higher expectations of the hygiene standard in restaurants and cafés, according to the recent Essentials Initiative Survey 2020-2021 from global hygiene company Essity, the maker of the professional hygiene brand, Tork. According to the same survey, in addition to having greater hygiene expectations, 42 percent of consumers are worried about visiting restaurants and cafés due to COVID-19. With hygiene being top of mind for consumers, it is important for restaurant and café managers to be equipped with tools and resources that help their guests feel safer.

Generally, many Quick Service Food and Drink (QSF&D) restaurants have kept their napkins in open baskets. Beyond leading to unnecessary waste, as guests take more napkins than they need, open baskets and traditional dispensers result in more possible touchpoints and a greater risk of contamination. In fact, in a recent survey, nearly eight out of ten consumers stated that they feel most safe using fully enclosed napkin dispensers as compared to standard napkin dispensers.¹

The fully enclosed Tork Xpressnap® napkin dispenser system allows QSF&D chains and independent restaurants to:

• Promote hygiene practices, as fully covered, one-at-a-time napkin dispensers protect napkins from dirt, spills and unnecessary contact.
• Enhance back-of-house efficiency, as the dispenser system needs to be refilled less often than traditional napkin dispensers making it possible for operators to serve twice as many guests between refills.*
• Reduce wastethrough cutting the number of napkins taken from open baskets, but are ultimately unused and discarded by more than 50 percent.*
• Digitize menusthrough the Tork Xpressnap® AD-a-Glance® feature, which allows operators to insert QR codes into the dispenser’s advertising panel, eliminating the need for paper menus.

“Our data points to the importance of addressing the public’s concern for enhanced hygiene standards”, said Alex Tovar, Product Management Director of Napkins & Tabletop at Essity. “Restaurants cannot neglect any detail in the pursuit of attracting guests, whether they choose to dine in, take-out or use the drive-thru”.

As awareness of hygiene practices increases, so too does consumers’ interest in takeout and drive-thru dining, rather than eating on-premise. Data shows that 40 percent of U.S. consumers are likely to go to a drive-thru, get takeout, or use delivery even when dine-in is allowed.² Research indicates that this new consumer behavior is here to stay.

To cater to the growing needs of a wide variety of QSF&D restaurants, Tork Xpressnap Fit® was added to the Tork Xpressnap system in 2020. The Tork Xpressnap Fit system was created as a game-changing solution for independent restaurants and small chains, thanks to its proven time-saving benefits and compact design that maximizes resources and space. The fully enclosed tabletop and countertop design, with one-at-a-time napkin dispensing, makes the napkin dispensers easy to clean and ensures guests only touch what they take, creating a hygienic guest experience.

Tork is also bringing the benefits of the enclosed napkin dispenser to drive-thru and carry-out areas through its latest innovation, the Tork Xpressnap Electronic Drive Thru Napkin Dispenser. The counter and wall mounted dispensers will allow QSF&D chains to enhance their back of house efficiency by dispensing the right number of napkins automatically and quickly for every order, eliminating the need to count napkins while providing both accuracy and speed. As part of the Tork Xpressnap system, the new dispenser uses Tork Xpressnap napkin refills that are compatible with the Tork Xpressnap self-serve tabletop and central location dispensers, reducing complexity and offering additional efficiency benefits.

To learn more about how Tork is supporting businesses in securing the new hygiene standard and to download free materials that promote hygiene in restaurants,visit: https://www.torkusa.com/torkcampaigns/corona-virus/napkins

For more information about Tork Xpressnap, visit: https://www.torkusa.com/brand/xpressnap-napkin-dispenser

[box type=”info” align=”alignleft” class=”” width=””]1Survey conducted by Technomic in July 2020, with 1000 respondents in the US. 2Survey conducted by Technomic in May 2020 with 700 respondents in the US. *1-ply napkin in Tabletop dispenser compared to Tall fold (Tork Dispenser: 1TBS and Tork Refill: D3052B).[/box]