The corona pandemic has exposed one major weakness of the industry as a whole. In the public and political perception, it is often only the hotel industry and gastronomy that appear. But it is much more than that. It is the entire out-of-home market, it is the service providers, trade and industry as well as their suppliers in both the food and technology sectors. That is why the "Union of the Economy" was founded in 2020 as a think tank. This represents the interests of the entire industry and sees itself as a partner of politics. The HKI therefore joined the Union immediately after its foundation.