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This week, hundreds of employees in the Oslo catering industry are laid off. Now the industry is asking for help in the event of a crisis.
Starting Tuesday, there will be a full bar stop in Oslo. Now the couple Ove Andre Jakobsen and Magdalena Rosenblad fear for the future of Le Benjamin restaurant. Photo: Siri Øverland Eriksen
– I think this will be the last opening day for us this year. It will be a kind of funeral beer, says Ove Andre Jakobsen. Together with his wife Magdalena Rosenblad, he runs the restaurant Le Benjamin on Grünerløkka.
At Le Benjamin, the refrigerator will be emptied and raw materials will be sold. Expensive wine bottles are already sold. On Monday night, the room will be filled with guests for the last time in a long time. On Tuesday it must be washed and locked.
On Friday the message of terror arrived. Councilmember Raymond Johansen announced the shutdown. Starting Tuesday, there is a full bar stop in the municipality of Oslo. This has important consequences for bars and restaurants in the capital.
It is allowed to stay open without serving alcohol. But in practice, the new measures mean that most of Oslo’s restaurants and nightclubs will keep their doors closed in the coming weeks. It doesn’t make much sense to keep it open now, several of the Aftenposten / E24 restaurant owners said on Friday.
The restaurant owner and chef Ove Andre Jakobsen prepares the kitchens. In a few hours, the other chefs will be coming to work for the last time in a long time. Photo: Siri Øverland Eriksen
– The next few months can be ugly
Ove Andre Jakobsen and Magdalena Rosenblad founded Le Benjamin almost ten years ago, the same year that their son Benjamin was born. The restaurant has been his life’s work, his son of the heart. In February next year, they expected a magnificent ten-year celebration.
Now they fear for the future. 21 employees have been laid off and almost the entire crisis account was emptied this spring. There is little to go on. 21 employees are entitled to full pay for ten days and rent must be paid. About. 60 bottles from the restaurant’s rich cellar have been sold to pay the bills.
Ove Andre Jakobsen and Magdalena Rosenblad founded Le Benjamin almost ten years ago, the same year that their son Benjamin was born. Photo: Siri Øverland Eriksen
– Current compensation schemes are not good enough to save the industry. This is life’s work for many and it doesn’t have big margins. The next few months can be ugly, says Rosenblad.
Le Benjamin is usually closed on Mondays. But this Monday they are open, with a reduced menu. Refrigerators must be emptied. The night is already complete. The couple believe this will be the last opening day in 2020. What the future holds is uncertain.
Lay off several hundred employees
Le Benjamin is not alone. The popular Oslo street food in Torggata already closed this weekend. Vippa did the same. It was no longer possible to stay open. The losses were too great.
Rodeløkka Invest AS, which operates Oslo restaurants such as Trattoria Popolare, Olympen, Tekehtopa, Nedre Foss and Arakataka, will close all of its locations from Tuesday. About. 250 employees are laid off.
The Fursetgruppen group must also say goodbye. They run 25 restaurants. All will be closed from Monday. That means several hundred employees on leave.
– Nobody goes to a restaurant to drink lutefisk soda, says Gjøran Sæther. He is the CEO of the company.
That’s how it was this summer outside of Oslo Street Food. For the next three weeks, the Torggata dining room will be closed. Photo: Vidar Ruud
– It’s going to be dramatic
Fursetgruppen owns restaurants such as Maaemo, Grand Cafe, Ekebergrestauranten and Lofoten Fiskerestaurant.
– Many employees have not yet fully returned. Now the uncertainty is even greater. It is very depressing. It’s an extreme shame for them, even if this only applies until November 30. But we don’t know if we will open on December 1.
– How much do you lose in income?
– We haven’t counted on that yet. It’s going to be dramatic. November is usually a good month. Now everything is gone. The drop will be absolutely huge, says Sæther.
Now ask for strong measures. Otherwise, you fear dramatic consequences.
– We must obtain tax and tariff relief. In addition, we must receive wage subsidies. You also have to do something about the obligation to pay layoffs for ten days. Otherwise, I think the industry will disappear.
Announces new measures on Tuesday
The Lava group closes Vega Snackbar, Hitchhiker and Sentralen restaurant.
However, they will try to keep Brutus, Katla, Hrimnir, Smalhans, Golden Chimp and Handwerk open in the Botanical Garden until further notice, both for in-room dining and takeout. They are now in the process of expanding their alcohol-free offering.
– It is important for us to keep employees and apprentices at work. But we hope for a support scheme that makes it easier for us to risk this in the future, says Even Ramsvik, general manager of the Lava group.
Even Ramsvik is the CEO of the Lava group. Photo: Paal Audestad
José’s taco and quesadilla bar at Vulkan is also one of those that takes the opportunity to stay open for the next several weeks, despite the bar stopping. They offer meals on site and to go. Whether it will be profitable remains to be seen. He takes one day at a time, but has a lot of faith that staying open is the right solution for them.
– For us, staying open has proven to be the best solution to keep morale high and employees active, says owner and CEO Torgeir Ambriz Standal.
However, Standal believes that it is time for the authorities to propose better and more specific packages of measures. This is also the opinion of Councilor Raymond Johansen (Labor Party). On Monday, he presented a series of proposed measures in a letter to Trade and Industry Minister Iselin Nybø (V).
In the letter, he emphasizes that the current measures are more serious than in March. Finance Minister Jan Tore Sanner (H) and Trade and Industry Minister Iselin Nybø (V) announced on Monday that they will present new economic measures on Tuesday at 12 noon.
