Restaurant and sweet shop sales on Friday recorded a 20 per cent increase compared to the rest of the weekdays after the lockdown was lifted, according to a sector representative.

Raed Hamada, the representative of the food sector in the Jordan Chamber of Commerce, indicated that the resumption of work on Fridays following the lifting of the lockdown helped boost demand for restaurants and sweets shops.

"Restaurants and sweets shops’ sales through home delivery services have also improved in the past recent days, and they continue to rise daily, stimulating business in the sector,” Hamada said in a statement sent to The Jordan Times on Monday.

Hamada pointed out that restaurant and sweets shops’ sales through home delivery accounted for nearly 15 per cent of total daily sales, suggesting that delivery services should be expanded to other sectors, too. 

"It would help boost the activity of other commercial sectors, especially supermarkets, bakeries, and bottled drinking water stores,” he continued.

Hamada emphasized that the commercial and service sectors’ activities are interconnected and intertwined, stressing that any disturbance in one sector affects other sectors and the national economy overall.

"All restaurants and sweets shops abide by the defence orders by avoiding crowds and enforcing the necessary health measures imposed by authorities such as wearing masks and physical distancing in the facility,” Hamada added.

The demand for restaurants and sweets shops, according to Hamada, will peak in the final days of Ramadan.

According to the Jordan Chamber of Commerce, there are approximately 18,000 restaurants and sweets shops in operation in Jordan, employing about 100,000 people.