SINGAPORE - Global demand for premium foods like wagyu beef, bluefin tuna and caviar has plunged with thousands of restaurants shuttered and many economies sliding into recession amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Jean-Marie Barillere, co-chairman of champagne producers' lobby CIVC in France, said he hoped people would celebrate the easing of lockdown with a bottle of champagne, but expected a difficult end to the year.Bookings data compiled by OpenTable, an online restaurant reservation service, showed a near 80% year-on-year decline in seated diners at restaurants in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Australia, Ireland and Mexico this year.
Russia's top sturgeon breeding company - Russian Caviar House - meanwhile was offering a 30% discount for Beluga hybrid caviar. Oyster and razor clam fishermen from Cape Cod and other top fishing grounds have also had to curb catches as lockdowns upended global eating habits.