Pilot Project
The Smart Drinking project makes Leuven the first city in Flanders to commit to responsible drinking and pouring of alcoholic beverages as a crucial part of the safety strategy of the re-opening of the horeca industry. The interactive training take place in Health House a unique experience centre in Heverlee and has been developed by an extensive partnership of ten actors, with the financial support of the ABInBev Foundation, the city of Leuven and Horeca Forma.
SMART drinking
“The Leuven horeca staff are immersed during an interactive training on how, in a safe way, to deal with possible alcohol abuse in their business,” says Isabelle François, director of Health House where the training takes place. “They are presented with real-life situations via a high-tech experience course that they go through under the guidance of a trainer. The trainer not only gives explanations, but also gives tips and tricks on how to deal with drunk customers, how to intervene preventively, how to recognise the different types of drinking motives, how to ‘read’ the different stages of alcohol intoxication, etc.”. Attention is also paid to the importance of alternatives such as non-alcoholic beers or refreshing mocktails”.
SAFE drinking in times of Corona
A customer who has had a beer too much and starts talking loudly to the barmaid, leaning over the bar, and no longer respecting the one-and-a-half-meter rule. Another customer who has just looked a little too deeply into the glass, must go to the toilet too often and no longer complies with the hygiene measures. These are just a few examples of how drinking behaviour can nullify all the efforts of the hospitality industry to comply with the many corona measures.
By using new technologies, the trainers and participants get more information on how to make their bar/restaurant “coronaproof”. It will be an interactive workshop where the people from horeca Leuven can share their experiences with other bartenders and inspire each other on how to coop with the regulations.
“Health House, with all those innovative technologies, is very impressive. We are happy that the training for the horeca staff will take place here and grateful that we got the chance to deliver inputs and experiences from our point of view.” – Erik De Rop, chair of vzw Horeca Oude Markt
