With more people ordering food, rather than dining in, Burger King is redesigning its restaurants to accommodate how people will be consuming food for the foreseeable future, indicating a move away from in-store experiences to minimal-touch processes.

With restaurants closed due to lockdowns, many were missing their favourite dishes. One brand to acknowledge this early on was Wagamama, with the March 2020 debut of its Wok At Home series. Since then, the company has launched at-home meal kits so people can have katsu curry whenever they want.

The global restaurant industry has been drastically affected by the pandemic, with dine-in opportunities few and far between. In China, KFC has partnered with Neolix, an autonomous vehicle producer, to create contactless, socially distanced delivery vehicles in Shanghai.

Across the US a unique labor market situation is playing out with service industries desperate to find new staff. As many people rethink their career goals and the benefits they can come with, fast-food employers are being forced to get aggressive and flexible in their perks.