"Delivery options continue to be made available to other businesses such as online retail and supermarkets. Our industry has already proven it can operate a safe contactless service at level 3, so we see no reason these couldn't be extended to level 4," said Restaurant Association chief executive Marisa Bidois.
Around 67 per cent of the industry are able to offer takeaway at level 3.
"We're looking for options, if we were to head into level 4, to keep the industry somewhat ticking along," Bidois told the Herald.
A blanket ban was put in place for hospitality through alert level 4 in March, which meant 98 per cent of businesses had no way to generate revenue, Bidois said.
Although more than half of hospitality businesses surveyed supported allowing takeaways should there be a return to alert level 4, 14 per cent said they needed more support and a wage subsidy to make trading at level 4 viable.
Within the Restaurant Association membership, more than 1000 jobs have already been lost and 50 businesses have closed since the first round of lockdown. The association anticipates the actual number across the industry to be much higher - and more closures to follow as the wage subsidy comes to an end next month.
It has been calling for an extension and more fiscal support for the sector since March.
"When you look at the effects the first level 4 had on our sector - five weeks with no revenue coming in - it was devastating for the industry. There were thousands of jobs lost and we saw business closures.
"If we head into another level 4, those businesses that were able to hang on will certainly be facing a challenging time and I would question whether they would be able to remain viable," Bidois said.
The industry had "unmitigated success with contactless food delivery" after the creation and introduction of Alert Level 3 operation guidelines, she said.
"These guidelines set out how food and beverage businesses can implement safe contactless delivery programmes. It is our view that should we return to alert level 4, the Government removes the restriction on contactl