Tuesday, 31 October 2017
Monday, 30 October 2017
Restaurant Marketing Ideas for November (Infographic)
November is the beginning of the holiday shopping season and that means people will be out and about looking for dining options. Our friends and experts at FoodKonnekt have put together this infographic with numerous marketing opportunities for November.
Restaurant Marketing Ideas for November (Infographic) posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com
Tips for Moving Your Restaurant to a New Location
Whether you want more visibility or a larger space for your growing business, a new location can be just what will move your restaurant to a new level. Since this is a big step, you need to consider a range of different factors to ensure that this step leads you towards success. From choosing a new location to the move itself, quite an endeavour awaits you, so make sure to be prepared.
Choose the Right Location
A new location should provide you with all the benefits that the old one couldn’t, so you need to research different locations thoroughly and see which one will meet your needs. One of the most important factors to consider is the population base of the area where you’re planning to move. The new location should have high traffic so that you get enough customers. Don’t forget your current client base either. If you move to the other side of the city, you might lose a lot of regular clients, which is okay if you want to target a completely new market.
Accessibility and visibility are also important factors that can contribute to your success. If the new location is visible from main roadways and easily accessible, it comes to reason you’ll have more potential customers.
Finally, you should check whether your current providers and vendors cover the new area and notify them before you move. If not, you need to research your options and choose new providers.
Let Customers Know
Once you’ve picked a new location, you need to let your guests know you’re moving. You can print out flyers, use newsletters or even make a video announcing your move and the new location. You can also post pictures of the entire moving process on your social media profile which will keep your clients engaged and excited.
Change Online Information
Another simple way to keep your customers in the loop about your move is to change your online information. However, you shouldn’t change your social media profiles and website information weeks in advance because you’ll just bring about confusion. Instead, change the information right before the opening of your new location.
Give Incentives to Customers
If you’re moving a bit further away, you should motivate guests to visit you at your new location. Giving them incentives, such as discounts or freebies, will help you keep your regular clients and motivate them to go the extra mile to stop by your new restaurant. However, the incentives should be time-bound so they visit you soon.
Plan the Best Time for Move
You need to plan your move carefully and choose the right time to move in order to limit the impact on your sales. You shouldn’t disrupt your operation, so you should consider moving at the end of the workday, over the weekend or even a holiday. Before deciding on the day, you should consult with your contractors and figure out a way to move without closing your restaurant for too long.
Prep the New Location
To make the move as efficient as possible, you should prepare the new location before moving your entire restaurant. You should check whether everything is functioning properly and see whether there are any possible damages that need to be fixed. In addition, you should do some basic cleaning, but keep in mind that you’ll also have a lot of cleaning to do after the move.
Don’t Do it on Your Own
Moving your business needs to be done properly to avoid any possible damage and additional costs. You shouldn’t try to save money by doing everything yourself because you can easily make a mistake that will cost you more than hiring professionals. If you’re on a limited budget, you should consider choosing a reliable truck hire service to make sure that everything is moved safely. A professional company will even provide you with everything you need, such as boxes, ropes, trolleys, blankets, etc.
Host an Event for the Opening
You’ve finally moved to your new location that looks simply stunning, so why not share it with the world? You should host an opening event that will announce that you’re ready for business and attract new customers. You should print out flyers and send out e-vites to your old customers. When it comes to the type of event, you can host an elegant cocktail party, wine night, a holiday-themed event, etc. The most important thing is that the event appeals to your target audience.
By considering all the important factors when choosing your new location and planning your move carefully and thoroughly, you’ll be able to move your restaurant without any major disruptions and hiccups.
Tips for Moving Your Restaurant to a New Location posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com
Friday, 27 October 2017
Five Unbeatable Ideas to Stop Restaurant Customer Churn
There have already been many debates in the restaurant industry on how to make sales. But a less talked about, yet still very important (arguably even more important) topic is how to make sure that your guests remain your guests.
Your customer churn rate, also known as attrition rate, has a direct impact on the ability to grow your business. Building solid relationships with your clients and increasing their satisfaction can help. But what, as a restaurant owner, can you really do to fight off customer churn?
Let’s look at these five tactics to reduce churn rate and boost your customer lifetime value.
Provide Incentives
Clients are less likely to churn, if they have some reason to stay with you. If your customers feel they are just sale, they’ll leave you as soon as possible and choose another brand. Instead of simply aiming their wallets, brands need to offer some value, because it’s the only thing customers want from businesses. Providing some incentives is a great way to encourage your satisfied customers to come back to your restaurant. Launching a reward loyalty program can help brands strengthen the relationships with their existing clients and make them feel appreciated and valued.
Engage with Your Guests
When you engage your guests, you draw them closer to your brand. That’s why, successful brands aim their efforts at effective customer engaging. To make sure that people remember your brand and want to return to your restaurant, you need to make your business a part of your clients’ daily workflow. High engagement can be achieved through providing valuable content about the benefits of your brand and regular updates, such as special offers in your restaurant. This will help you build a strong emotional connection with your audience and earn their loyalty.
Collect Customer Feedback
Keeping your clients happy is the key goal of any business. Although every restaurant owner realizes it, not all of them are sure if they are getting it right. The only way to understand whether or not your customers are satisfied with your brand is to collect their feedback. By encouraging your guests to leave their reviews and comments you can not only measure their satisfaction, but also improve your service and get actionable insight to create a better customer experience.
Personalize Communication
To get value, you need to offer value first. According to Salesforce, 63 percent of Millennial consumers are eager to share personal data with businesses in exchange for more personalized marketing. Thanks to the new opportunities that modern technologies provide, brands can connect with their customers via an individual message. Restaurants can collect data about their audience to create more personalized offers, send custom birthday greetings, and provide incentives that are relevant to their guests. With greater context and control, you can communicate with your customers more effectively and meet their expectations, influencing their behavior and encouraging them to return again and again.
Keep Your Eyes Open for Trends
As a business owner, you need to keep up with the environmental changes. According to Flurry Analytics, the time spent in mobile apps had increased 69 percent year-over-year. The number of valid reasons small businesses can offer up for not following the mobile trend and not having a mobile app decrease each year. Smart restaurant brands are already embracing what modern technologies have to offer by implementing a mobile app in their digital marketing mix. With its mobile app-based loyalty program, KFC AmRest managed to achieve multiple business goals, including winning back lost customers. One of its automated campaigns that included receiving a Free Colonel Sanders sandwich for lapsed customers delivered significant results — 34 percent of guests clicked on the offer to learn about the details, while 14 percent of guests came back during two weeks. What’s more, on average, seven percent of incremental revenue comes from this kind of campaign.
“Instead of competing with your competitors for new clients, it’s worth focusing on retaining your existing ones that will help you grow your business. By implementing a cutting-edge mobile app solution restaurant owners can build true brand loyalty and supercharge their customer retention,” said Vas Diachenko, CEO of LoyaltyPlant.
An integrated mobile loyalty program includes several essential components that help restaurants reach goals mentioned above.
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Points-based reward program. This is the most popular loyalty program model, because it’s easy to use and intuitive: your guests earn points for every order and then can use them to buy free snacks. The program appeals to people’s emotions and appetite motivating them to visit your restaurant more often.
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Customer data collection. A mobile app solution is a powerful tool for collecting valuable customer data to get insights into their demographics, behavior, habits, and preferences. This information will help businesses make smarter decisions and send out special offers and updates to their clients’ smartphones that are likely to be read.
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Highly-targeted marketing campaigns. A mobile app allows to build unique, relevant content that addresses the needs of your target consumers. Using automated marketing campaigns restaurant brands can connect with their customers more effectively and plan smart promotional strategies. For example, you can send a personalized reward before lunch time, reminding about yourself. And geo targeting options enable restaurants to communicate with their guests more effectively based on their location.
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Quality control. By implementing a feature that enables users to rate your service and leave their comments, you can easily collect customer feedback. Your guests’ reviews will help you figure out what they like and what should be improved in your restaurant.
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Social media mechanics. A simple social media integration within an app provides an ability to share content on multiple social networks directly from your app. By giving your guests extra points you can encourage them to join your social media page and recommend your brand to their friends. This will help you successfully drive customer engagement.
Loyal customers are less likely to churn because they are more motivated and interested in communicating with your brand. Clients churn and that’s a fact. But with the well-planned strategy and innovative tools, you can improve your churn rate and increase customer loyalty.
Five Unbeatable Ideas to Stop Restaurant Customer Churn posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com
Thursday, 26 October 2017
Cutting Down on Labor Costs Without Sacrificing Safety or Food Quality
Q: How can a restaurant operator cut down on labor costs without sacrificing safety or food quality?
A: Food costs have finally stabilized (with some exceptions such as chicken wings), which has been a blessing for the restaurant industry; however, labor costs continue to be a thorn in the side of restaurant operators. New regulations and pressure to increase wages only means labor costs will continue to be a challenge. So, what is a restaurant operator to do?
Many restaurants do most of the preparation and processing of their menu items from the raw commodity. For example, a typical kitchen would have a team member take a chicken breast, trim the fat, cut the chicken into a specific size portions or strips, and marinate until needed for cooking.
Taking some of the labor out of the operation may involve leaning more on the suppliers. In the previous scenario, a chicken manufacturer could pre-trim, pre-cut, and pre-marinate the chicken to the restaurants specifications. All the restaurant needs to do then is open the package and throw it on the grill. Obviously, there is a higher cost per pound for this type of product vs. processing in-house; however, once you consider the yield and labor it’s likely a cost savings opportunity.
Outsourcing some of the processes does not mean food quality is being sacrificed. A restaurant can still have the finished product they want if the manufacturer is able to replicate the item they need prior to the cooking and/or assembly step. Manufacturers have advanced tremendously in their capabilities, technology, and efficiencies. They provide quality, yield, and consistency that can’t often be replicated at the unit level for a restaurant chain. The kitchen staff still puts “the love” and finishing touches on the product that is plated and served to the guest at the restaurant, keeping the brand integrity and the quality standards in place.
Another advantage of outsourcing some of the in-house processes is minimizing food safety risks. Manufacturers are mandated to follow very stringent food safety and HACCP (hazard analysis and critical control points) requirements, and are audited on a regular basis. Passing on the risks involved in processing raw food products to the manufacturer is a smart thing to do from a liability and risk management standpoint. Nothing can ruin a brand’s image faster than a food safety incident and I’m sure we all know several restaurant concepts that can support that statement.
An operation should not just focus on the “cost per case.” It’s only one piece of the cost formula. What matters is the “cost per serving”. What is the actual cost to get the finished product to the customer? Once yield, labor and food safety is considered, the cost paid per case means very little.
Cutting Down on Labor Costs Without Sacrificing Safety or Food Quality posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com
Wednesday, 25 October 2017
Oxford Orders Debuts and A Nice Pear on Tap
MRM’s Daily Bite has news about Oxford Orders, Fourth, ChowNow, Waitr and Genuine Pizza.
Send news items to Barbara Castiglia at bcastiglia@modernrestaurantmanagement.com.
Oxford Orders Launches
Oxford Orders, a city first food and retail ordering network, launched for the residents and businesses of Oxford. The online and mobile based platform is the first in a series of local marketplace solutions intended to promote regional industry by bringing restaurants and businesses together under a single e-commerce platform. Unlike aggregators that focus solely on food order and delivery (such as Deliveroo, UberEats, or Just Eat), Oxford Orders provides a platform for all businesses that can benefit from pre-ordering, for example local florists, bakeries or even, butchers.
Powered by Preoday and managed by ForPOS, the platform forms part of a wider campaign, based on the ‘locavore’ movement, which aims to give power back to local companies and help them forge closer relationships with their customers.
“We consumers are all hardwired to prefer local businesses,” said consumer psychology expert Patrick Fagan, an Associate Lecturer at Goldsmiths. “In psychology, this is known as the proximity principle – we like people (and by extension, businesses) which are physically close by. It’s why we tend to make friends with our dorm-mates at university. We prefer nearby businesses for three reasons: ease, familiarity and similarity. Humans crave convenience, local businesses are easier to get to, theoretically they deliver quicker, and because they are seen frequently, they remain front-of-mind. The reason we trust things we find familiar is because our brains process them more easily; one study found that western participants prefer Chinese ideographs they have seen before, even if they don’t remember having seen them. Finally, we can’t help being drawn to those similar to us, it’s why we are more likely to lend somebody change if they are dressed similarly. The people of Oxford will gravitate towards platform like Oxford Orders that give to local businesses because they perceive them to be in line with their own attitudes and values.”
We prefer nearby businesses for three reasons: ease, familiarity and similarity.
With over 400 restaurants in Oxford alone, alongside hundreds of other companies, the potential benefit for the local community is tremendous. The platform can be accessed via oxfordorders.co.uk and an accompanying mobile app is available from the Apple App store or Google Play. The app has a built-in GPS that can determine which businesses are near the user’s location.
“We want to provide a genuine alternative for local businesses to aggregators such as Just Eat,” said Andrew White, CEO of Preoday These national aggregators charge huge commission rates to the companies they partner with. These fees have the potential to push venues out of business, especially if commissions continue to rise. We are looking to connect local businesses with local residents, champion regional enterprise and help companies prosper. Oxford Orders will help local businesses take their first independent step with digital orders and, as they gain confidence, Preoday will be there to help them go even further. Although we are starting in Oxford, this local network concept is of great interest to other towns too.”
Roger Foran, owner of ForPOS added: “So many people order their food and goods online, but they don’t need an Amazon, Just Eat or Deliveroo to do this. Most people’s favourite restaurants and stores are only a few miles away from their home, so a national aggregator is redundant to them. By using Oxford Orders, they’ll be helping their favourite businesses retain the money they spend, so the companies can continue to serve them well into the future.”
1855 Wine Bar Bistro is one of the first venues to sign up to Oxford Orders. Steve Plast, General Manager, comments: “The Oxford Orders offering naturally appealed to our business. The potential return on investment outweighs any of the alternatives, how could we not sign up? Lack of commission fees aside, a venue like ours has to appeal to a wide range of customers, and we know that an increasing number of people are using digital, mobile technologies to navigate and simplify their lives. Being on Oxford Orders puts us at the centre of the trend; when that audience turns to their mobile to arrange afternoon drinks or an evening out, we will be there, able to meet their needs.”
Map Chalmers, Marketing Manager at The Old Tom also features on the platform: “A business like ours relies on local residents. With large chain restaurants cornering customer markets on a national scale, smaller, independent venues need to work extra hard to build the strong relationships that allow them to survive. Good customer service is essential, we know that if a person has a bad experience with a local venue, they won’t go back. Oxford Orders will provide a way to enhance customer service and appeal to those that want to order digitally, thereby solidifying our position in the community.”
Fourth Expands Sales Team
Fourth added Adam Sternberg as vice president for North American sales and Saverio Ferraro and Clint Dabelgott as U.S. sales directors. The new hires reflect a strategic expansion of Fourth’s U.S. sales force.
In their new roles, Sternberg, Ferraro and Dabelgott will support Fourth’s accelerated investment in its purchase-to-pay, inventory management, menu engineering, HR, labor productivity and payroll solutions for clients in the U.S. market.
“As we expand our company’s footprint into the U.S., we are making investments in strong talent with deep industry and market expertise, as well as a proven record in sales and client service,” said James England, SVP of Strategic Partnerships for Fourth. “Adam, Savvi and Clint are integral to this greater vision, and we look forward to their leadership in growing our U.S. presence and building relationships.”
Sternberg brings to Fourth more than 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry, most previously with MGM Resorts International and Avero. Sternberg will lead Fourth’s North American sales operations and report to England.
Ferraro, based in Chicago, joins Fourth from the NCR Corporation while Dallas-based Dabelgott previously managed key enterprise accounts for HotSchedules.
“We are extremely excited to work with such a talented and diverse group of sales leaders who bring with them exceptional field expertise as well as regional insights. This structure and talent in place provides further support for Fourth’s U.S. expansion, notably in the restaurant sector,” added England.
A Nice Pear
A new craft beer will soon arrive on tap with a name usually associated with food delivery. Waitr has partnered with Crying Eagle Brewing Company to create a new beer, A Nice Pear.
The new libation is a Saison brewed with organic pear juice and fermented with Northern French Saison yeast. The beer is then dry-hopped with Bramling Cross hops to add additional orchard-fruit notes. Considered an excellent choice for pairing with food, this style was chosen for the originality of having a food-related item in the beer, thereby tying in Waitr’s business. Pear was chosen because it has a floral sweetness and the color reflects the green found in the Waitr logo. The name is a play on words for a Nice Pair/Pear (of Companies/Fruit).
The collaboration was Bayou-born, as both companies were founded in Lake Charles, with the initial idea ironically taking shape over “a couple of beers” at an event where Eric Avery, President of Crying Eagle Brewing, and Chris Meaux, founder and CEO of Waitr, were in attendance.
“As we talked, we agreed it was a cool idea,” said Avery. “Rarely if ever has a brewery collaborated with a technology company to create a unique style for the market.”
“We’re really excited to see Waitr’s A Nice Pear in our partner restaurants,” said Meaux. “Waitr is committed to fueling the success of its restaurant partners and that means doing things that drive business into their restaurants. This is an example of creativity helping our local restaurant industry.”
Limited distribution for the beer is Louisiana in restaurants in Lake Charles, Baton Rouge and Lafayette. Among the participating restaurants are Walk-Ons Bistreaux & Bar, Pour, 121 Artisan Bistro, and Prime.
ChowNow Secures Funding
ChowNow secured a $20 million Series B led by growth equity firm Catalyst Investors. The company recently surpassed 8,000 restaurant clients using its software to serve partners’ takeout and delivery customers directly through their own websites and white-labeled, native mobile apps. With the investment, Catalyst partner Tyler Newton joined ChowNow’s Board of Directors.
“ChowNow empowers restaurants to own their customer relationships by offering access via their own websites or native mobile apps. ChowNow offers a high ROI to its customers, has a large greenfield market opportunity and is benefitting from the shift in consumer preference toward digital ordering,” said Newton. “We believe they provide a superior and more affordable solution for restaurants tired of paying ever-increasing commissions to online ordering marketplaces.”
ChowNow is on pace to help its restaurant clients process $400 million in orders from 3.8 million customers over the next year.
“Our goal is to provide restaurants with the tools to compete in an increasingly technical world. We help them get online quickly and easily so they can maintain direct relationships with their diners. Restaurateurs focus on the quality of their food and service, we arm them with the tools needed to compete,” said ChowNow co-founder and CEO Chris Webb. “We believe Catalyst Investors’ experience growing SaaS companies makes them the ideal partner to help us expand our customer base and services.”
The round brings ChowNow’s total investment to $40 million, and includes prior investment from Upfront Ventures.
Harry’s Pizzeria® Re-Brands as Genuine Pizza
Harry’s Holdings, LLC secured a $2.5MM investment from the Florida Opportunity Fund to support the expansion of the Genuine Pizza concept, James Beard Award winner Michael Schwartz’s casual pizzeria (formerly known as Harry’s Pizzeria). The company will unveil the evolved concept’s first location at the Aventura Mall in November, featuring new restaurant design, branding and signage, while maintaining the current menu. Existing Harry’s Pizzeria locations will stay as Harry’s, but will eventually transition to the new brand name and design.
“The new Genuine Pizza brand is not just a nod to Chef Schwartz’s flagship Michael’s Genuine Food and Drink, but also a much more appropriate articulation of our pizzeria’s mission and approach. Our use of the word Genuine is meant to portray a sincere and honest approach. Whether it is our ingredients, recipes and execution, flavor combinations or our hospitality, we strive to be Genuine in everything we do,” said Harry’s Holdings CEO Sunil Bhatt. “We are thrilled at the reception our new pizzerias in Miami’s Design District, Coconut Grove and Downtown Dadeland have received, and with the support of the Florida Opportunity Fund, we have a great opportunity to open many new Genuine Pizza locations over the next several years. For many of us, pizza is our favorite food and it is an honor and a privilege to share our interpretation more widely.”
The Florida Opportunity Fund investment will back Genuine Pizza’s rollout to 18 locations over the next few years, including Aventura (November), Atlanta (December), Cleveland and Miami Beach (2018), and Sunrise (2019).
“We are excited to work with a world-class management team to bring the Genuine Pizza experience to more people in Florida and around the country,” said Jennifer Dunham, a Partner with Florida First Partners, investment advisor to the Florida Opportunity Fund.
The new restaurant interior by Miami-based craft and construction firm McKenzie features light woods and simple accents like custom yellow and grey Cuban tile, orange chairs, and the yellow-tiled Marra Forni oven. The environment invites guests to experience the attention to detail first hand, at a pizza bar fronting the open kitchen and a glass-faced dough room at the entrance where the recipe is mixed, kneaded and proofed daily. The new logo design incorporates the word Genuine in script typeface with an ear of wheat at the end, to emphasize a main ingredient in the daily handmade dough.
Oxford Orders Debuts and A Nice Pear on Tap posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com
MRM News: Mighty Quinn’s BBQ–Marinating a Franchise
After attracting long lines at Brooklyn’s Smorgasburg in 2011, Mighty Quinn’s opened its first brick-and-mortar location the following year. Since then, the team behind the fast-casual barbecue concept – Pit Master Hugh Mangum, half-brother Micha Magid and Micha’s brother-in-law, Christos Gourmos – opened additional restaurants in Manhattan, New Jersey, Westchester County, Brooklyn and Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, and international licensing deals in Dubai, Taiwan and The Philippines.
In this MRM News clip, co-founders Gourmos and Magid discuss operational challenges and the challenges of working with family members.
MRM News: Mighty Quinn’s BBQ–Marinating a Franchise posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com
The Five Most Important Types of Insurance for Restaurants
Restaurant owners face specific risks that other types industries don’t have to worry about. And while dwelling on the worst-case scenario is rarely helpful, it is important to evaluate what some of these risks are.
Because the truth is many of them will be out of your control. You can’t control whether a guest spills a steaming hot cup of coffee on their lap and suffers third-degree burns. But you will have to deal with any legal and financial consequences.
It’s important to understand where your business is vulnerable, so you can buy the right insurance policies to protect your restaurant and yourself.
Here are five insurance policies you should consider for your restaurant:
Commercial General Liability Insurance
The National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI) estimates that over three million food service employees are injured yearly due to falls at work. But it’s not just employees who are at risk — over one million guests are injured due to restaurant slips and falls.
So it’s really a matter of when, not if, someone falls and injures themselves at your restaurant. This is why restaurant owners need commercial general liability insurance.
General liability insurance also includes coverage to protect the insured if a patron falls ill as a result of ingesting food from your establishment.
A fire, break-in, and water damage are just a few of the potential hazards that await you when you own commercial property. And if your restaurant is closed for business due to damages, you have no way to bring in revenue. Without insurance, that could be enough to put you out of business.
With commercial property insurance, your property and business assets are protected. Coverage will vary depending on the policy you purchase, and you should work with an experienced broker to ensure your policy covers the biggest risks your building faces based on your location.
Did you know that there were over 40,000 motor vehicle deaths in 2016 alone? Most of us don’t think about this, but driving a car is actually one of the riskiest things we do every day.
If your restaurant offers any sort of delivery or catering service, your business is at risk and you will need commercial auto insurance. This is not just for company vehicles; it may apply if your employees are using their own cars to make deliveries for you.
If you or one of your employees is involved in a car accident and found to be at fault, commercial auto insurance may cover any vehicle repairs if you buy physical damage coverage.
Workers’ Compensation Insurance
As a restaurant owner, you are responsible for prioritizing the health and safety of your employees. And even if your employees follow every workplace safety procedure they could still be injured on the job.
Workers’ compensation insurance is beneficial for both you and your employees. If one of your employees has an accident at work and has to go to the hospital, their medical expenses will be covered. It will also cover a portion of wages – based on a scale as a result of the accident.
It provides additional liability limits typically over your general liability, commercial auto, and employer’s liability on the worker’s compensation policy.
For instance, if you are involved in an ongoing lawsuit, the claims could exceed your general liability coverage at some point. Commercial umbrella insurance works as a safety net to cover the remaining expenses up to the limit.
There are more than one million restaurants located in the United States. And over 14 million people are employed in the restaurant industry. As a restaurant owner, you have a lot of opportunities available to you. But you also need to be smart about managing your risks.
Of course, every restaurant is different and your insurance needs will vary depending on the type of restaurant you run. Work with a qualified insurance broker to learn about the types of insurance your restaurant will need.
The Five Most Important Types of Insurance for Restaurants posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com
Tuesday, 24 October 2017
Menus Across America: The Cost of Mexican-Inspired Foods
Tacos and guac have been accepted into the mainstream of our US food lexicon.
So maybe it’s time to start thinking about how you can integrate Mexican-inspired foods onto your menu.
Menus Across America: The Cost of Mexican-Inspired Foods posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com
How Do Restaurants Benefit from Digital Signage?
Can you remember what the restaurant business was like before digital displays?
New menus had to be printed every time the management introduced a new dish or flavor. That process involved proofreading, test prints, waste of paper and money in printing the menus.
There was no information on nutritional value and calories per serving and other health-related information guests wanted to know.
The use of digital technology has changed the landscape in many ways.
Make Waiting Fun
While they won’t exactly decrease the wait time since they cannot speed up the cooking and service process, digital displays can decrease the perception of waiting time for patrons. Narrowcasting special channels, internal programs and promotional events keep the waiting customers entertained.
At restaurants, you can even provide information about their waiting time as well as information on the menu items and drink specials.
Get Them Talking on Social Media
Social media is a great way to build up your brand image. You can directly source your digital media content from your social networking and social media accounts. That makes sure you never run out of fresh content. In addition to that, you can share testimonials and honest reviews of your food and service along with images on your restaurant digital screen.
What’s the Latest Grub?
Digital signage can enable you to promote an offer on personal digital screens. This works well on out-of-home advertising screens that target daily commuters, college students and office goers. While waiting at their train stations and bus stops, they can easily catch a glimpse of the special offers. The best way to add a CTA and increase ROI is by adding a QR code to the ads.
Are you Worried About Running out of Content?
There is never a lack of content for narrowcasting.
- Include local news, weather information and time
- Include the local popular shows on food
- Include your own slideshows and videos on cooking
- Include the recipes to local favorites
Restaurants also have systems for their staff that can include:
- The details of the inventory; including check-ins, check-outs and expiry dates of raw materials.
- What the pantry urgently needs and what is overstocked for the oncoming days.
- Some restaurants also choose to display ticket numbers and personal targets for each chef digitally. This makes keeping a tab on the orders much easier compared to the traditional systems.
Digital signage is one tool that can help restaurants better target customers. The remote control of digital content, the inclusion of multiple POS and digital media player options makes narrowcasting an effective way to retain them.
How Do Restaurants Benefit from Digital Signage? posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com
Monday, 23 October 2017
Four Kitchen Organization Tools You Should Start Using Today
When the restaurant failure rate is over 26 percent, owners and managers need to take every step to keep their business efficient and organized.
Out of all the places in the restaurant, the kitchen is unquestionably the most chaotic. It’s also the most wasteful. Improper portioning, spillage, and poor food storage depletes inventory – directly eating into restaurants’ bottom lines.
Tools like inventory sheets, kitchen checklists, and recipe cards can help keep the kitchen organized but are useless unless the back of house team agrees to use them.
Below is a list of four crucial kitchen organization tools any restaurant will need in the back of house. Read on to see how they can benefit your operations and download these templates for free here.
Kitchen Opening Checklists
A kitchen opening checklist is a simple and effective tool for starting every day the same way.
Ask any veteran chef and they’ll probably admit once or twice even they have forgotten a rudimentary step in their daily procedures. Therefore, creating a checklist is not only easy, it’s almost essential.
Common kitchen opening tasks include the following:
- Emptying out last night’s dishwasher run.
- Handling morning deliveries.
- Removing food from walk-in freezers/fridges.
If your list gets too big, try breaking it up by section so employees can complete tasks systematically – such as food prep, cleaning/organizing, and general opening tasks.
Par Inventory Sheets
For restaurants without an inventory management software, par sheets are one of the best solutions for tracking food inventory.
Par inventory is a way of setting minimum on-hand inventory quantities for your bar or restaurant. Every time you place a supply order, run through your inventory using this par sheet and determine what is missing from your par level.
For example, let’s say you’re a sub shop and go through around 100 subs a day. Knowing you may get big orders and/or make some mistakes, maybe your par for bread rolls each day is 120 sub rolls.
In this scenario, let’s say you only went through 84 rolls in a given day – meaning if your inventory was up to par, you now have 36 rolls left (120 – 84 = 36). Also, let’s assume tomorrow is your busiest day. To prepare, you want an extra 24 rolls. Therefore, when you place your new inventory order to meet your par level, you’d order 108 more rolls (84 + 24 = 108).
Par inventory sheets also have columns for emergencies, events, peak days, and other instances where a higher par may be required. Using the par inventory sheet in the Restaurant Back of House Guide, the quantities will automatically update when you enter your daily inventory quantities.
Four Kitchen Organization Tools You Should Start Using Today posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com
Friday, 20 October 2017
MRM News: The Rita’s Lady–An American Franchise Success Story
Fourteen years ago, Hilda Colòn invested every penny she had in a Rita’s Italian Ice franchise in Woodbridge, NJ because she wanted her own piece of the American dream.
“If I’m working so hard, I might as well be working for myself,” explained Colòn. “Failing was not an option.”
In the first year, she practically lived in the store and learned how to run the business. Woodbridge has gone from being one of the worst performing stores to one of the top performing stores in New Jersey.
Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Colòn has been helping her family affected by the devastation of Hurricane Maria by giving back and donating sales from football games.
In this MRM News clip, Colòn discusses her perseverance and journey as a restaurant franchise owner.
MRM News: The Rita’s Lady–An American Franchise Success Story posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com
How a Global Restaurant Chain Leverages Marketing/IT Collaboration
In today’s highly dynamic restaurant industry, technology innovation is continually redefining the marketing function and presenting new opportunities and challenges. Marketing teams aim to partner with IT organizations to leverage the latest advances in data analytics, intelligent automation, social media and other tools to gain a competitive edge.
For a multi-national restaurant chain, a marketing strategy based on delivering a consistent guest experience is critical to building brand identity and driving repeat business. Consistency also enables more effective analysis and improvement of loyalty and promotional programs. At the same time, flexibility is essential to address national, regional, language and cultural differences across disparate global markets, as well as to engage a wide range of independent-minded franchise operators.
Technology is impacting the dining experience and enabling more personalized and relevant communication from the brand to the end user.
Finding the right blend of consistency and flexibility presents a major challenge. One obvious issue is maintaining some semblance of a uniform look, feel and brand identity across multiple languages. Menus and restaurant hours must be adjusted to accommodate national and regional food preferences and dining habits. Franchise operators, moreover, vary widely in terms of technology sophistication and resources, ranging from corporate owners with deep pockets and extensive expertise to mom-and-pop enterprises that manage one or two restaurants.
In this environment, marketing technology assets such as website templates, customer apps and social media campaigns must walk a fine line. They need to be sufficiently robust and sophisticated to appeal to franchises that embrace digital innovation, yet accessible enough to ensure utilization by operators with little time to become tool experts and limited ability to invest in new tools.
To deliver the right blend of standardization and flexibility, Brinker International, Inc. has adopted a hub-and-spoke model with a centralized repository of marketing assets that are utilized by franchise partners across the globe. Leveraging a digital platform developed by Softtek, the model is designed to allow for customization within defined parameters. This aligns with Brinker’s philosophy of brand guidelines, providing a “river” that franchisees can navigate freely from shore to shore, as long as they keep the boat in the water of basic standards.
By focusing on tutorials, user training and consulting, the platform aims to minimize the learning curve and enable rapid adoption of the full range of available capabilities across the diverse spectrum of global franchises. The centralized hub of the model, meanwhile, enables Brinker’s global team to capture and analyze data from myriad franchise operations; insights gained from this analysis are then used to define best practices to be shared with franchisees through the digital platform.
For Brinker guests, technology is impacting the dining experience and enabling more personalized and relevant communication from the brand to the end user. By deploying analytics tools and business rules, franchises have begun to deliver personalized outreach to guests. For example, guests with children receive “kids eat free” email promotions, with reward and incentive offers linked to past purchases and preferences.
Delivering the right blend of standardization and adaptability, ease of access and customization requires close collaboration between marketing and IT. One key to achieving this collaboration is mutual understanding. For example, marketing teams must understand the process application development teams follow when developing functionality, and be familiar with roles and responsibilities and specific actions involved in completing a development cycle. IT teams, for their part, should from the outset of a project be aware of the overall business strategy, as well as specific issues facing franchisees, particularly with regard to the guest experience. This understanding can provide context for business priorities and timelines.
Communication and transparency are imperative to achieving this mutual understanding. Regularly scheduled calls and meetings allow both sides to ask needed questions, gain insight into essential details and maintain alignment with the business vision. Lacking this structured and operationalized communication between marketing and IT, one side will inevitably make misguided assumptions about what is or isn’t important to the other.
Digital technology is transforming how restaurants engage and communicate with their guests. The opportunities to deliver a unique and tailored dining experience are enormous. The challenge of marketing for restaurants lies in successfully executing existing strategies, while at the same time staying abreast of new ideas and ensuring that tomorrow’s innovations are deployed to yield competitive advantage.
About the Authors
Jorge Pederzini is Director of Global Marketing (Chili’s® Grill & Bar) at Brinker International, Inc.
Camila Casale is Chief Marketing Officer for Softtek US and Canada.
How a Global Restaurant Chain Leverages Marketing/IT Collaboration posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com
Thursday, 19 October 2017
Dealing with Employees Who Struggle to Manage Their Time
Time is precious. Everybody gets just 168 hours in a week. Employees almost always want more free time and more control over their own schedules. Managers typically see employees’ time as a business resource to be optimized. Thus an incessant tug-of-war over time is always being played out.
What is to be done with employees who simply cannot live by a schedule? Tardiness, leaving early, and taking too many breaks. Why do these problems nag away at managers?
In some cases, managers are right to attribute these problems to an employee’s blasé attitude or a lack of care, consideration, or diligence. When that’s the source of the problem, there is no substitute for constant reminders in your regular one-on-ones. Just by focusing on it, you are likely to make it better, at least for a little while:
Manager: You’re late.
Employee: I know. I’m sorry. I overslept.
Manager: You are supposed to be on time.
Employee: I know. I’m sorry. There was bad traffic.
Manager: You need to be on time.
Employee: Yes. I’ll try to do better.
The employee is probably going to be on time the next day. Maybe they will be on time for a while. Until the next time they’re late. Do you have the same conversation again? How many times? You have to be the judge of when too much is too much. When somebody does actually get fired for coming late (or leaving early, or taking too many breaks), everybody else usually gets the message. At least for a little while.
Believe it or not, you’ll find that some people have never really mastered the fundamentals of living by a schedule. You may be the first person to hold them accountable for being on time. In the process, you might end up doing this person a huge favor.
Sometimes managers ask me, “Is it appropriate to help an employee plan out details for their after-work schedule? Or details as personal as what time they go to sleep and what time they get out of bed?” My answer: Only if the employee can’t figure that stuff out on their own, sufficient to get to work on time and not leave early.
Are some employees insulted or annoyed by the explicit focus on the petty details of living by a schedule? Perhaps they are. But almost always they start coming on time, staying all day, and taking fewer breaks, at least for a while. Many employees will be genuinely grateful for your helping them get better at managing their time.
What About Employees Who Sneak Out Early?
Sometimes they are just helping themselves to a little free time. Others may have obligations after work that leave them pressed for time. You may have to talk them through their after-work schedule so they make sure they push back on any obligations to a time that does not require them to leave work early. Talk through what it is going to take for that person to stay all the way until the end of their scheduled work obligations. Spell it out. Break it down. Follow up. One technique I’ve seen managers use is to schedule some very concrete to-do items for the employee during the last hour of their work time in order to help them stay focused up to the last minute.
What About Those Who Take Too Many Breaks?
The answer is the same. Talk about it, in no uncertain terms. Spell out what’s required: at work you are expected to be focused on getting work done very well, very efficiently, all day long. Everyone has time wasters, but nobody can afford them. Help people identify their big time wasters and eliminate them altogether.
Most employees have more to do at work than they can fit into their schedules and more they want to do outside of work in their limited free time. Many are chronically overtired and seriously overscheduled. If they are chronically late, leave early, or take too many breaks, there is a good chance they would benefit greatly from some coaching on time management.
Setting priorities is usually step one in most time-management programs and seminars. If you have limited time and too much to do, then you need to set priorities, so that you control what gets done first, second, third, and so on. It is obvious to most professionals that setting priorities is the key to time management. The hard part is teaching employees how to set their priorities.
When it comes to the big picture, help them set clear priorities; then communicate with them relentlessly about those priorities. Make sure your direct reports are devoting the lion’s share of their time to first and second priorities at work. Teach them how to set day-to-day priorities by setting them together. Over time, you hope they learn.
With some employees, that kind of intensive, granular, step-by-step coaching can make the difference between success and failure. Plus, once you’ve drilled down to that minute level of coaching, if the employee still doesn’t succeed, at least you know you’ve done everything you possibly can to help.
Dealing with Employees Who Struggle to Manage Their Time posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com
MRM @ the bar: The Parasol at Stage Left Steak and Catherine Lombardi Restaurant
Stage Left Steak and Catherine Lombardi have been leading the way in the cocktail revolution. The New Brunswick, NJ restaurants co-owned by Franchis Schott and Mark Pascal have established reputations as premier destinations for creative concoctions and stimulating spirits.
In this edition of MRM @ the bar, Schott prepares one signature cocktail, The Parasol.
The Parasol
2 oz. Aperol
½ oz. Pisco (Porton)
1 oz. Simple Syrup
½ oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
¼ oz. Fresh Lime Juice
1x Egg White
Combine ingredients in a mixing glass and dry-shake.
Add ice and shake; strain up to a chilled Coupe.
Garnish with swirled Angostura Bitters (2 dashes)
MRM @ the bar: The Parasol at Stage Left Steak and Catherine Lombardi Restaurant posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com
Wednesday, 18 October 2017
According to a Recent Study/Survey … Mid-October 2017 Edition
This edition of MRM’s popular “According to …” research roundup features exclusive LTO research from the experts at Sense360 as well as a slice of American’s pizza habits and the best cities for vegans and vegetarians.
LTO Strategy Spotlight: Krispy Kreme’s Solar Eclipse Chocolate Glazed Donut
A Sense360 report investigated the effects of a limited time offering on visitation by observing visit patterns both before and during the campaign and highlighting the differences between the two periods, specifically looking at Krispy Kreme’s Solar Eclipse Chocolate Glazed Donut. Krispy Kreme served special edition chocolate glazed doughnuts to coincide with the solar eclipse. The report looked at visit trends for that weekend (August 19-20,2017) and compared to the four previous weekends.
Some of the high-level takeaways that stood out:
- Very large share growth: 59 percent change from Benchmark period
- Dinner daypart saw the largest increase in traffic with a 129 percent increase
- Increase in visits from both New and Existing guests
- Krispy Kreme saw the largest increase in visits from the Light guest category – which signifies the LTO was bringing in customers who weren’t typically regular customers of Krispy Kreme.
Measuring a brand’s LTO strategy and tactics in real-time is critical in obtaining a genuine view of if the strategy is working, if it has sustained effects, and if the brand is optimizing their tactics for the future, according to Sense360. They recently saw that Krispy Kreme’s Solar Eclipse LTO was particularly successful because it had a significant lift with both new and existing customers. Successful industry LTOs usually have a big impact on one of the customer types, but typically not both.
Signs of Improvement Emerge for Restaurant Sales
At first glance, results suggest 2017 third quarter performance was very disappointing for restaurant sales. Same-store sales declined -2.2 percent, a 1.2 percentage point drop from the second quarter. Restaurant same-store traffic fell -4.1 percent. Furthermore, the third quarter posted the second worst sales and traffic growth rates in over five years. The latest slump reignites fears that restaurant woes may be more severe than initially thought. These insights come from TDn2K™ data through The Restaurant Industry Snapshot™, based on weekly sales from nearly 30,000 restaurant units, 155+ brands and representing $68+ billion dollars in annual revenue. A deeper analysis reveals these latest results, though troubling, may not be as worrisome as they appear.
“On one hand, the last three months were plagued by significant events that are external to the industry, but nevertheless had considerable negative impact on restaurant sales,” commented Victor Fernandez, Executive Director of Insights and Knowledge for TDn2K. “Hurricanes Harvey and Irma affected millions of people in two of the country’s largest economies during the quarter. On the other hand, there were some signs of improvement throughout the quarter, especially when removing the effect of Texas and Florida on the national sales results.”
Same-store sales growth for September was -1.9 percent, a small improvement from the -2.1 percent reported for August (which was also negatively impacted due to hurricane Harvey and the pay-per-view boxing match at the end of the month). However, September’s results also show a more significant jump from July’s -2.7 percent sales growth. The effect of the storms on restaurant sales was huge for the areas they hit. Texas reported same-store sales growth of -5.1 percent during August and Florida -6.2 percent during September. National same-store sales growth numbers would improve by about 0.2 percentage points for the third quarter if these two states are excluded from the sales growth calculations. Additionally, by excluding Texas and Florida the data reveals a bigger improvement in sales performance throughout the quarter. Same-store sales growth would go from -2.8 percent in July to -1.8 percent in August, and would improve to -1.4 percent by September. “Clearly, sales are still declining year-over-year,” said Fernandez, “but the rate at which they are falling has been decelerating. The trend is for improving results throughout the quarter once some of the external factors are isolated.”
All industry segments experienced negative same-store sales growth in September. This is the second consecutive month that all segments have reported declining sales. The fine dining segment, which had been posting positive sales for most of the year has seen a decline since August. This segment, which has been hit particularly hard in Texas and Florida after the storms hit their coasts, was the weakest performing based on sales growth for the month. The best performing segments during September were family dining and upscale casual.
“The economy was hit by massive hurricanes in August and September. The chaos created also translated into volatile economic data,” explained Joel Naroff, President of Naroff Economic Advisors and TDn2K Economist. “For example, vehicle sales surged in September, largely due to the replacement of damaged vehicles. Consumer spending likely picked up, but not for the reasons we would hope for.” “Going forward, rebuilding efforts will also temporarily add to economic activity. Thus, third and fourth quarter growth will likely be good, but we could pay for it in the first part of 2018. Separating out the weather effects from trend economic growth, it appears that conditions have firmed a bit. That should be enough to trigger somewhat faster wage gains and spending, but don’t expect significant improvement in discretionary consumer purchases such as restaurants.”
According to TDn2K’s Q3 People Report Workforce Index™, operators continue to worry about finding enough qualified employees to staff their restaurants. Their expectation is that recruiting difficulties will continue in upcoming months. After plateauing for the last few months, turnover rates for both restaurant management and hourly employees increased again during August, surely a factor behind the growing concerns regarding restaurant staffing. This is not surprising given that the competition for available employees keeps rising as the labor market continues to tighten. The national unemployment rate dropped to 4.2 percent in September and is the lowest it’s been in almost seventeen years. “The correlation between unemployment and restaurant turnover, especially for hourly employees, has been well documented by People Report™,” stated Fernandez. “But regional factors also come into play. For example, Kentucky and Mississippi, which are among the states with the highest restaurant hourly turnover rates in the country, both have unemployment rates around 5.3 percent, well above the national number.” The battle for market share is fought at the local level. Service, value and lower turnover rates are key differentiators in today’s market. Brands that consistently deliver on these attributes are better positioned to deliver above-market performance.
Best Cities for Vegans and Vegetarians
With Nov. 1 being World Vegan Day and research showing that skipping meat can save the average person at least $750 per year, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2017’s Best Cities for Vegans & Vegetarians.
To determine the best and cheapest places for following a plant-based diet, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 100 largest cities across 15 key indicators of vegan- and vegetarian-friendliness. The data set ranges from the share of restaurants serving meatless options to the cost of groceries for vegetarians to salad shops per capita.
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Top 20 Cities for Vegans and Vegetarians |
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1 |
New York, NY |
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11 |
Anaheim, CA |
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2 |
Portland, OR |
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12 |
Madison, WI |
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3 |
Orlando, FL |
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13 |
Austin, TX |
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4 |
San Francisco, CA |
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14 |
Las Vegas, NV |
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5 |
Los Angeles, CA |
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15 |
Tampa, FL |
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6 |
Seattle, WA |
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16 |
Buffalo, NY |
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7 |
Washington, DC |
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17 |
Houston, TX |
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8 |
Scottsdale, AZ |
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18 |
Chesapeake, VA |
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9 |
Miami, FL |
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19 |
Atlanta, GA |
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10 |
San Diego, CA |
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20 |
San Jose, CA |
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Best vs. Worst
- New York has the highest share of restaurants serving vegetarian options, 56.25 percent, which is 2.6 times higher than in Newark, New Jersey, the city with the lowest at 21.72 percent.
- Orlando, Florida, has the highest share of restaurants serving vegan options, 31.14 percent, which is 8.8 times higher than in Chicago, the city with the lowest at 3.52 percent.
- San Francisco has the most community-supported agriculture programs (per square root of population), 0.0139, which is 17.4 times more than in San Antonio, the city with the fewest at 0.0008.
- New York has the most salad shops (per square root of population), 0.2666, which is 33.7 times more than in Laredo, Texas, the city with the fewest at 0.0079.
To view the full report, click here.
Off-Premise Trend’s Rapid Growth
Off-premise ordering is gaining real traction as more restaurants start adopting off-site, take-out services. One off-premise-tech company’s numbers directly show the trend’s rapid growth. In less than 18 months, SYNQ3 Restaurant Solutions processed more than a billion dollars in take-out orders for several top chains, including Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Brews, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Noodles & Company, Famous Dave’s Barbeque, Portillo’s, McAlister’s Deli®, Hungry Howie’s Pizza and P.F. Chang’s China Bistro.
Using new technology and off-premise ordering specialists, SYNQ3 reached $2 billion in total restaurant sales processed, since their start in 2004, on August 28; and, they’re on track to service another half a billion by the end of the year. CEO Steve Bigari said it took 11 years for SYNQ3 to reach its first billion; they eclipsed the second billion in less than 18 months; and, with the current growth rate, they should reach the third billion by mid-2018.
When discussing their sudden spike in business, Bigari said: “Off-premise sales are the primary source of revenue growth in the restaurant industry today and will continue to be in the future. Nearly 13 years ago, we recognized this trend and started SYNQ3 to meet the need that would soon overwhelm many restaurants; and now, everyone is seeing it,” Bigari said. SYNQ3 currently facilitates off-premise orders for nearly 7,000 restaurant locations nationwide, and multiple other major restaurant chains are preparing to launch these services in 2018.
Global Foodservice to Grow
According to the latest market study released by Technavio, the global foodservice market is expected to grow at a CAGR of almost five percent during the predicted period.
This research report titled ‘Global Foodservice Market 2017-2021’ provides an in-depth analysis of the market in terms of revenue and emerging market trends. This market research report also includes up to date analysis and forecasts for various market segments and all geographical regions.
The global foodservice market is growing rapidly because of various factors, including innovations and customization in menus, rising demand for healthy and nutritious meals in menus, growing demand for gluten-free food, increasing marketing campaigns, and rising number of foodservice outlets. Consumers are looking for more customized food options.
Technavio’s analysts categorize the global foodservice market into four major segments by foodservice system:
- Conventional foodservice system
- Centralized food service system
- Ready-prepared foodservice system
- Assembly serve foodservice system
The top three segments of the global foodservice market are discussed below
Global foodservice market by conventional foodservice system
In the conventional foodservice system, the basic ingredients are assembled, and the food is prepared on the premises. Depending on the nature of the food, the food is maintained in a heated or chilled state and served to consumers. This is generally observed in restaurants, schools, and cafeterias because consumers prefer freshly prepared food.
According to Akash Pandey, a lead food service research analyst from Technavio, “The conventional foodservice system is expected to have steady growth during the forecast period. The growth can be attributed to the prevalence of this type of foodservice system worldwide. The conventional foodservice system is driven by the high quality of food because it is prepared on the premises.”
Global foodservice market by centralized foodservice system
In the centralized foodservice system, the food production is centralized, and food is transported to kitchens that serve the food to consumers. This system is primarily used by airline caterers, large city schools, and franchised organizations that provide food to various outlets. The prepared food is stored frozen, chilled, or held heated.
“It is the best option for mass food production because of its benefits, such as low labor and food costs and economies of scale. Therefore, non-commercial foodservice outlets are implementing the centralized foodservice system. Packaging and temperature are two key criteria considered in the centralized foodservice system,” says Akash.
Global foodservice market by ready-prepared foodservice system
In the ready-prepared foodservice system, food is prepared on site and is kept chilled or frozen. The food is reheated when required and served to customers on site. In this type of foodservice system, food preparation can be scheduled at any time and can be completed at once. This foodservice system is mainly used in hospitals.
The ready-prepared foodservice system is expected to grow at a moderate rate during the forecast period. As the food is prepared at once, the labor requirement is less. Therefore, many non-commercial foodservice operators prefer the ready-prepared foodservice system.
The top vendors highlighted by Technavio’s research analysts in this report are:
- Aramark
- Compass Group North America
- Domino’s
- McDonald’s
- Restaurant Brands International
- Sodexo
- Starbucks
- Yum!Brands
Pizza is America’s Favorite Food
If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? The top choice among Americans? Pizza.
A new nationwide survey conducted by Harris Poll®* on behalf of California Pizza Kitchen (CPK), celebrates National Pizza Month this October by revealing a ton of fun facts about the king of American food: PIZZA. The survey, conducted online among 2,296 U.S. adults ages 18 and older, revealed that if Americans could only eat one food for the rest of their lives, the number one food they would choose is pizza (20 percent). Additionally, a whopping 83 percent of Americans would be willing to give something up for a year to have free pizza whenever they want for a year; among them, the top four items are: taxi/ride sharing services (54 percent), bacon (36 percent), coffee (33 percent) and social media (31 percent). 
Additional highlights of the California Pizza Kitchen 2017 Pizza Survey include:
When it comes to sharing a slice with a celebrity, Americans are all about “The Rock.” People’s “Sexiest Man 2016,” Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, is America’s top choice of celebrities to share a slice of pizza with (15 percent)**
Touchdown! A majority of Americans (54 percent) say pizza would be their go-to meal when watching sports
The Many Ways to Celebrate with Pizza: About 7 in 10 Americans (69 percent) say pizza would be their go-to meal when getting together with friends or family on a Friday night and roughly one quarter say it would be their go-to meal when celebrating a major accomplishment (26 percent) or for date night (23 percent)
One of Millennials’ Go-To’s for Date Night: 33 percent of Millennials (ages 18-35) say pizza would be their go-to meal for date night
Monthly Pizza Run: Americans typically spend $47.50, on average, per month on pizza – that’s $570 a year!
For a full list of survey findings, click here.
Barriers to Healthy Living
SHS FoodThink’s latest white paper, “The Parent Trap: How Parental Time Constraints Prevent Healthy Lifestyles,” highlights the barriers and pressures to healthy living encountered by many parents. Key findings from SHS FoodThink’s paper offer further insight:
- 78 percent of parents agree it is important for the whole family to be together at mealtime.
- 57 percent of parents would eat healthier if it were more convenient.
- 52 percent of parents feel guilty when they don’t eat healthy.
- 37 percent of parents agree they are so busy that being active and eating healthy get put on the back burner.
“Many parents feel they have to choose between time spent eating healthier and time spent living their lives,” said Christy Niebaum, SHS FoodThink researcher. “This struggle is an opportunity for food marketers to provide healthy solutions that are easy to prepare, inspiring parents to balance family life and health.”
Interestingly, the research shows a lack of time isn’t the only obstacle many parents encounter – they also identify limited preparation knowledge and the taste of healthier foods as barriers to healthy eating. And while their desire for convenience often outweighs their commitment to health, fast fixes can prompt even more guilt – parents don’t want dinner to look or taste like they took the easy way out.
To download the white paper, including recommendations for retailers, restaurants and food manufacturers to better meet consumer needs, click here.
What Teens Want
Piper Jaffray Companies completed its 34rd semi-annual Taking Stock With Teens research survey, which highlights spending trends and brand preferences amongst 6,100 teens across 44 U.S. states.
Since the project began in 2001, Piper Jaffray has surveyed more than 155,000 teens and collected nearly 40 million data points on teen spending in fashion, beauty and personal care, digital media, food, gaming and entertainment.
“For the first time in years, we’ve seen Nike share moderate as a preferred brand. Offsetting this weakness, we’ve seen an unexpected rise in trends like streetwear with Vans and Supreme gaining momentum. In addition, other brands such as adidas, Puma and New Balance has been capturing more mindshare as teens gravitate towards that 1990s retro look,” said Erinn Murphy, Piper Jaffray senior research analyst.
Fall 2017 Key Findings
Overall Spending Behavior
Overall teen spending moved down 4.4 percent year-over-year, while parent contribution to teen spend is 67 percent just below the long-term average of 68 percent.
Wallet shifts in fall 2017 include slight downtick for video games, slight uptick for clothing, and moderate downtick for food.
Food ticked down from 24 percent in spring 2017 to 22 percent in fall 2017, but remains larger than clothing at 20 percent.
Apparel
Athletic apparel is moderating somewhat led by Nike, but there is no slowdown in athletic footwear. Apparel brand preference is shifting towards streetwear with brands like Vans and Supreme.
Nike, Ralph Lauren, Steve Madden, UGG (Deckers), Fossil and Michael Kors saw the largest declines among major brands.
Technology Spending and Behavior
Snapchat is the preferred social media platform for 47 percent of teens using the platform – up 12 percent year-over-year.
82 percent of teens expect their next phone to be an iPhone, which is up from 81 percent in spring 2017, and more importantly, the highest we have ever seen in our survey.
Teens who expect >50 percent of their future video games to be digitally downloaded increased to 50 percent from 45 percent in spring 2017 and 37 percent from two years ago.
Streaming continues to gain teen video share as preference for linear TV declined 2 percent since last fall.
Only 35 percent of teens listen to Pandora radio versus 49 percent last year as on-demand services such as Spotify, YouTube and Apple Music continue to gain share.
23 percent of teens prefer to shop specialty retailers, which is down 3 percent year-over-year, while pure-play e-com tied its spring 2017 peak at 17 percent – up 2 percent year-over-year.
Teens increasingly prefer Amazon as their favorite website at 49 percent share – up 9 percent year-over-year.
The Evolution of the Beer Industry
While certain segments of the beer category demonstrated strong gains in 2016, the overall category decreased by 0.3 percent to end the year with 2.83 billion 2.25-gallon cases, according to the Beverage Information Group’s 2017 Beer Handbook. Continued economic growth, employment gains, and evolving consumer preferences are contributing factors in the evolution of the beer industry.
The Imported beer segment enjoyed another year of strong volume performance, growing 6.7 percent to 454.4 million 2.25-gallon cases. This continued success helped push the import’s market share to 16 percent in 2016. The segment last peaked in 2007 when it reached 13.8 percent with 408.3 million 2.25-gallon cases before slipping each year until 2014, which began a string of years with positive sales gains.
The Craft beer segment grew 6.0 percent in 2016 to 300-million 2.25-gallon cases, the same growth rate as in the prior year. Remarkedly it surpassed the 10 percent market share for the first time, reaching 10.4 percent up from 9.8 percent in 2015. The craft explosion, however, is beginning to show signs that it’s losing steam. As the numbers of Millennials continues to grow so does their penchant for experimentation across brands and categories. On the upside for the craft segment is the growing number of regional and micro- breweries, topping 5,234 in 2016. With so many new offerings hitting the marketplace, Millennials may still find crafts appealing.
Flavored Malt Beverages (FMBs) leveled off in 2016 after experiencing growth of 7.5 percent, 8.2 percent and 21 percent the last three years, respectively. In 2016 FMBs accounted for 110 million 2.25-gallon cases, growing just 2.4 percent. The reason for this slow down begins at the top. Segment leader Bud Light Rita’s line had been growing at double and triple-digits since its introduction in 2012. In 2015 that momentum suddenly halted to just 0.5 percent growth, with growth in 2016 of only 0.1 percent. Still at 30.7 million 2.25-gallon cases, the brand is still a powerhouse and the segment leader.
The Super and Premium beer segments suffered in 2016 from the same problem as the Light beer segment: there’s a general malaise towards them for not being craft beer. Overall, the segment lost 13.3 million 2.25-gallon cases in 2016, shrinking to finish the year with 385.8 million 2.25-gallon cases. The super and premium segment commanded a 13.6 percent share of beer industry.
The Light beer segment is also under fire, slipping 2.6 percent in 2016, despite it being the largest segment in the industry with a whopping 44.5 percent market share. The light segment sold 1.26 billion 2.25-gallon case in 2016, 33 million fewer cases than in 2015. Among the 23 beers included in the 2017 Beer Handbook’s top light brands, only Michelob Ultra registered positive sales, finishing in 6th place with 70.8 million 2.25-gallon cases sold, an uptick of 18.4 percent over 2015.
The Popular beer segment continued its steady decline in recent years with only 6.5 percent of the overall beer market. The segment was down 1.7 percent to 185.6 million 2.25-gallon cases. The Malt Liquor and Ice segments were also down, roughly 4 percent verses 2015.
According to a Recent Study/Survey … Mid-October 2017 Edition posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com
MRM News: Cinnabon’s Tech and E-Commerce Solutions
In this MRM news clip, Cinnabon president Joe Guith discusses the brand’s technology platform as well as ways they are extending the reach of the bakery through e-commerce.
MRM News: Cinnabon’s Tech and E-Commerce Solutions posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com
Restaurant’s Secret Weapon in the Battle of the ‘Grocerant’
Declining restaurant sales have been making more than a few headlines of late. Reasons vary, but the growth in alternative options for meal service is often cited as a contributing factor. And, no, it’s not meal kit services like Blue Apron and HelloFresh that constitute the greatest threat. Believe it or not, grocery stores are responsible for the majority of these poached sales.
A new term “grocerants” has even been coined to define this trend of grocery chains implementing restaurant footprints either inside or adjacent to their stores. Generally, the term is restricted to the idea of a fully-embedded restaurant-style experience (i.e. an in-house Starbucks), but many grocery stores are also expanding and enhancing their prepared food sections as well.
The Threat
As restaurants prepare to counter the rise of the grocerant, convenience, cost, and quality are all major factors to consider. The one-stop-shop appeal of the grocerant is undeniable because what’s not to like about grabbing dinner while also picking up everything you need for breakfast tomorrow morning?
Restaurants can’t sit back and let competitors like grocery stores win the convenience battle.
When it comes to cost, restaurants have history to contend with. During the recent recession, many restaurants’ aimed to preserve profits by increasing prices.
Once food costs normalized, restaurants chose to keep their prices high. In fact, recent Black Box Intelligence™ research revealed prices have continued to increase on average between four and five percent over the last two years. In many cases, those price increases have allowed chains to bolster their bottom lines in the face of declining store traffic.
However, as markets have stabilized, grocery stores have been able to bring prices back down, making them a value alternative to restaurants. And grocery stores aren’t just putting out the same grab-and-go of yesteryear (no day-old saran wrapped sandwiches here), they’ve upped their game to include more options. That’s introduced another issue as recent research also shows that consumers, and particularly millennials, perceive the grab-and-go food offered by grocery stores as a healthier option than fast food.
Fighting Back
Restaurants can’t sit back and let competitors like grocery stores – and make no mistake they are competitors – win the convenience battle. So how can restaurant’s compete with and overcome the grocerant challenge? Put simply – technology.
In this tech battle for consumers there are three major fronts to consider: convenience, personalization, and engagement. Today’s consumers are more tech savvy than ever and expectations are very high. While the grocerant experience is typically low tech, if it’s better than your restaurant’s digital experience, you will lose.
Convenience
Anything (and everything) that saves consumers time – especially at the end-of-the-day rush – is valued. Other factors such as price and perceived healthiness are also part of the equation, but research shows that consumers are willing to compromise on the latter two for convenience. Recent research from Lux found that consumers are willing to pay 11 percent more for each convenience add whether that’s online grocery delivery or restaurant take-out.
Technologies like mobile order ahead that allow time-pressed consumers to quickly and easily order (and reorder) their favorite meal then swing by and scoop it up or have it meet them when they get home, trumps what the local grocery store can offer. The grocery store may cast a broader net with product offerings, but it has not yet made much of a play on the order ahead front or meal delivery. But that gap will likely close soon. So while restaurants currently have an advantage in this area, they need to capitalize on it now to win back convenience driven customers.
Personalization
Your customer values convenience, but they also value the ability to customize and personalize their meal and their ongoing experience with your brand. Again, this is where restaurants have the upperhand. Need that pizza to be half-pepperoni and half-Hawaiian? No problem. Want double meat on that sub? Sure. Need that burger on a gluten-free bun? We can do that, and we’ll remember it for the next time you order. The ability to customize a meal is particularly important to millennials who value the ability to make everything their own, and the added convenience of knowing what your customer likes makes it even more convenient. Restaurants have been at the forefront of this trend for decades and need to carry that through to digital ordering and delivery.
Many newer restaurant brands have built entire concepts around customizing orders, and even those who have not are still finding ways to meet customers’ needs in this area. In the battle against grocerants, personalization and the ability to easily process highly customized orders is critical. The tech exists to allow your mobile and online ordering to be just as customizeable as an in-store order. Again, while progressive grocerants are closing the gap, most still lack the ability for customers to customize their food offerings in any meaningful way.
Customer Engagement
Grocery stores pioneered the collection of customer data via “loyalty cards” back before they even possessed the computing capacity to process all the data they were collecting. Many of the larger grocery chains now have very sophisticated data gathering capabilities to analyze things like market basket data and replenishment cycles. But as powerful as this consumer knowledge is, grocery stores still lack the ability to act on these insights the way restaurants can, for example, through a branded mobile app.
Data is not engagement and having data does not by itself result in an increase in sales.
Simply put, data is not engagement and having data does not by itself result in an increase in sales. With an app on a consumer’s phone, the data generated by each interaction is insight into this customer’s preferences. This enables you to target relevant offers based on their interests and purchase behavior. The simply function of remembering that this customer ordered the chocolate cake last time allows you to upsell through the app. In fact, two-thirds of us are more likely to make a purchase from a merchant that sends us relevant and personalized promotions according to recent research from Accenture. Again, restaurants have the head start, but the grocerants are catching on and this gap will narrow over time.
The advent of grocerants has brought a new world of challenges for restaurants. And the changes will continue to come as disruptions like Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods promise to change the game again. As restaurants search for ways to compete for convenience with grocerants in an ever-changing landscape, technology can be a decisive weapon in this battle. The advantages in convenience, personalization and customer engagement puts technologically savvy establishments in an excellent position to overcome the grocerant challenge.
Restaurant’s Secret Weapon in the Battle of the ‘Grocerant’ posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com
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