Three British entrepreneurs have developed a contactless tableside ordering service to help UK restaurants maintain social distancing when they are allowed to reopen.
Creventa is the brainchild of sommelier-turned-wine bar owner, Jake Crimmin, Andrew Norton, founder of wine-focused Oxford restaurant The Jam Factory, and music mogul Luke Ireland. The web-based technology was developed in two weeks.
Crimmin describes Creventa as, “a simple, technology-based solution to the logistics of implementing social distancing in bars, pubs and restaurants, making them Covid-19 secure”.
Creventa enables customers to view menus, order and pay at their table with their phones, which will help venues to minimise cross-contamination due to the absence of printed menus and card machines.
Diners will be able to use the service by scanning a QR code or inputting a web address into their smart phones when the sit down at a restaurant, bar or pub.
They are then taken to an online menu where they can choose their food and drink. Once chosen, their order is sent to a computer behind the bar and the guest is charged via their credit/debit card or Apple Pay.
The table number is registered from the QR code/web address, so staff know where to send the order.
The system will help to cut labour costs and ensure speedy table turn times once UK restaurants are allowed to re-open in July.
“In a bid to support UK hospitality through these challenging times, we are waiving all setup costs and joining fees for the rest of 2021.
“The system will deduct 3% of all transactions it performs and will be capped at £99 per month. It won’t cost businesses any money if it isn’t used,” Crimmin said.
He has been in contact with the government to ask that it utilises the service in its newly formed taskforce for reopening the hospitality sector. Creventa is currently being beta tested and is looking to go live this week.
Having worked as a sommelier at Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen and head sommelier at Argentine steakhouse Gaucho, in 2016 Crimmin co-founded Barrique in Lytham, Lancashire, a hybrid venue that serves as a café and deli by day and wine bar by night.
