The COVID-19 pandemic has battered private businesses in Cuba. However, some have reinvented themselves to survive.

Long lines of people paint the scene at state-owned markets in Cuba when food supplies are limited for consumers, including businesses; this makes it difficult if not impossible for food businesses like restaurants to purchase the products they need to maintain their services amid current COVID-19 restrictions.

To sort out this reality, some businesses have reinvented themselves. One such business is a popular gastropub in capital Havana; owned by chef Enrique Suarez, it now offers food deliveries. 

But Suarez cooks meals, not from retail market commodities but from fresh and seasonal agricultural products he purchases at organic farms. This has been his practice even before the onset of COVID-19 in Cuba, which has worked out very well in times of coronavirus. 

"Home delivery has been the solution to not close the business, along with our practice of cooking what we can find around the city and serve our clients. So, we hope to keep working like this," Suarez told CGTN.

The chef and restaurant owner usually drives to organic farms near Havana, where he purchases condiments, meat and vegetables to prepare the meals of the day. 

Addressing the impact of the coronavirus on his business, Suarez said, "Obviously, we had to redesign our restaurant's operations – shifts and hours – but not a single worker has been laid off, and we serve as many clients as we had before the coronavirus appeared.”

Each day at lunch and dinner, Suarez happily delivers meals to keep his business running and his clients satisfied, looking forward to the improvement of the local situation.

(Cover photo: The popular gastropub owned by chef Enrique Suarez in Havana, Cuba. /CGTN)