The next nights should set the impact of the methanol poisoning crisis on the bars, restaurants and ballads sector in the city of São Paulo. Anxious, industry representatives and owners should closely monitor the flow of consumers in establishments.
Regions such as Vila Madalena, Pinheiros, Vila Olímpia and the surroundings of the city’s universities, where are some of the main youth’s leisure alternatives, should experience a reduction in the flow of consumers – or, at least, a relevant drop in consumption.
Who counts is the director of the Paulista Association of Bars, Restaurants, Events, Nightclubs, Similar and the like (Hurry), Denis Rezende. Owner of Bar Café Journal, he explains that the bars for the public under 30 years should be impacted “considerably” this weekend.
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“Bars who work with younger audiences at this time will be the most affected. Those who work with an audience of over 30 years can be less impacted because there is a migration of the consumption of the distillate to wine and beer,” Rezende said in an interview with Infomoney.
Drinks distilled such as gin, whiskey and vodka are at the center of investigations involving methanol poisoning in recent weeks. On the afternoon of last Thursday (2), Minister of Health, Alexandre Padilha ,.
Outside São Paulo, which brings together 53 of cases, there are five other notifications in Pernambuco and one in Brasilia. According to the executive president of the Brazilian Association of Bars and Restaurants (Abrasel), Paulo Solmucci, São Paulo is the only state in which a relevant reduction was recorded in the movement of bars in recent days, especially in the regions.
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“This weekend will be emblematic,” says Solmucci, for whom there was a “false alarm movement for society.” “Only one customer associated [o caso de intoxicação] With a bar and yet this case is not confirmed, ”he says. The fake alarm, according to Solmucci, took some of the panic.“ If we continue at this pace, we think the loss will be punctual, ”he says.
Entrepreneurs from the bars in Sao Paulo, however, wait for the weekend to understand how long the fear should last. “It will actually be a big thermometer,” says Fausto Salomão, partner of the Azim Group, owner of bars in the heart of Vila Madalena, in São Paulo.
The expectation is from a fearful audience in bars such as Omadá, Posto 6 and patriarch, at the intersection of Mourato Coelho and Aspicuelta streets. “We still have a lot of doubt how things will unfold from now on. We understand that at this first moment it is natural that they are more cautious and there is a retraction of consumption.”
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Denis Rezende, from the hurry and owner of Café Journal, says that the sale of cocktails based on his bar on Wednesday (1) was almost zero. According to him, bars from the hurry with corporate event schedule have already received requests for cancellation on the agendas for the coming weeks.
Among the measures to placate the fear of customers, the Azim Group have made public their beverage buying routines and the product acquisition area has become the company’s spokesman on social networks and in the press. Even an influencer should go to one of the houses this week to prove a caipirinha while explaining the criteria for selecting home suppliers on a social network.
In person, managers underwent training to answer any questions about the origin of the group’s beverages, bought from distributors approved by the distillations themselves, such as Diageo and Pernod Ricard. They are also armed with a letter from their supplier, FG7 Beverages, claiming to have been a health surveillance survey this week that it found no irregularity.
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At least six other main distributors of São Paulo bars and restaurants have undergone inspections of the same type in recent days, according to the Infomoney.
The Union of Clubs of the State of São Paulo (Sindi Clubs) announced earlier this week the suspension of the sale of drinks distilled on the premises of its institutions. “This decision aims to protect both consumers and the reputation of our clubs, showing care and responsibility,” said the entity.
The poisoning numbers involving methanol in recent days exceed the average in recent years of about 20 cases, the Ministry of Health points out. Last Thursday, Minister Alexandre Padilha recommended that the ingestion of distilled products “especially the colorless products, which you are not absolutely certain of the origin”.
Between bars owners are afraid of identifying counterfeit products. On Wednesday, Abrasel announced in the morning the holding of three times for a good practices course to recognize any illicit products. In a few hours, there were more than 10,000 registrations. Sources with whom the Infomoney He talked stated that they are unaware of any initiative of bars to stay closed over the weekend.
