According to a Recent Study/Survey … End-of-June 2018 Edition

Supreme Court Approves Obtaining Class Action Waivers Through Arbitration Agreements – What Now?

The Supreme Court recently ruled in a 5-4 decision that an employer may require an employee, as a condition of employment, to enter into an arbitration agreement in which the employee agrees to waive the right to bring a class or collective action. This ruling is significant for the restaurant industry in which employers have been subjected to a multitude of class and collective actions, particularly focused on wage and hour issues, such as whether the employer unlawfully took a tip credit against the minimum wage paid to its employees and/or improperly administered a tip pool.

History of Collective Action Waiver Legal Dispute

Since 2012, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has held that class and collective action waivers in arbitration agreements violate Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) (hereinafter “Section 7”). Section 7 guarantees employees the right to engage in “concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection” or what is commonly referred to as “protected concerted activity” regarding the terms and conditions of the employees’ work.

The Fifth Circuit rejected the NRLB’s position in National Labor Relations Board v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc.,finding that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), which promotes the enforcement of private arbitration agreements, trumped any argument by the NLRB under Section 7. However, the Seventh and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals held that the Section 7 assurance that employees may engage in “protected concerted activity” fits within the “savings clause” of the FAA. See Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewisand Ernst & Young LLP v. Morris. The FAA “savings clause” permits the avoidance of the enforcement of an arbitration agreement if there are grounds that exist “at law or in equity for the revocation of any contract.”

May 2018 Supreme Court Decision

The Supreme Court considered each of the foregoing decisions and determined that class action waivers within arbitration agreements must be enforced absent some future amendment by Congress to the FAA. The majority of the Court:

• Held that the FAA (passed in 1925) clearly requires enforcement of private arbitration agreements according to their terms.
• Rejected the argument that Section 7 rights under the NLRA (passed in 1935) trump enforcement of an arbitration agreement by means of the savings clause of the FAA.
• Held that one Act of Congress will displace another only upon a showing of a “clear and manifest” congressional intention to do so and that “implicit” repeal of one statute by another is strongly disfavored.

According to the majority, the language of Section 7 does not even suggest that it was intended to grant employees the right to file class or collective actions much less carry a “clear and manifest” intention to displace the FAA’s direction to enforce arbitration agreements according to their terms.  The Court further held that the “savings clause” of the FAA was only intended to permit the avoidance of enforcement of arbitration agreements based upon grounds generally available for the avoidance of the enforcement of any contract (fraud, duress, etc.) as opposed to defenses uniquely targeting the enforcement of arbitration agreements such as the argument being made under Section 7.

What it Means for Employment Agreements in Restaurant Industry

Employers have generally given mixed reviews regarding their experiences with arbitration agreements. Initially, employers believed that litigation expenses might be contained in the arbitration context, but that has generally proven not to be true. Furthermore, employers have found that arbitrators seem less reluctant to grant summary judgment (dismissing the case without need for the actual arbitration proceeding (the “trial”)) than federal court judges where many employment-related cases are adjudicated.  Anecdotal evidence even suggests that arbitrators are prone to “split the baby” when ruling in arbitration disputes and that arbitrators can be just as unpredictable as juries. But, when faced with a class or collective action case, many employers have been relieved that their arbitration agreements include a class action waiver. (Although some employers have then had to face the unwelcome reality of facing hundreds of individual arbitration proceedings.)  

Note that the enforcement of arbitration agreements remains a hot topic as a result of the #MeToo movement. Some have argued that arbitration agreements permit employers to cover up the harassment of their employees by litigating such issues privately rather than in open court. Congress and some state legislatures have passed or are now considering laws prohibiting mandatory arbitration of sexual harassment claims. How such laws will be impacted by the Court’s ruling discussed above has yet to be determined. So while employers may be considering initiating the use of arbitration agreements with class and collective action waivers at the workplace in light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision, employers should continue to monitor these developments.

Supreme Court Approves Obtaining Class Action Waivers Through Arbitration Agreements – What Now? posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

Easily Overlooked Restaurant Supplies and Equipment

“Oops, I knew I’d forgotten something!”

Starting a new restaurant is hard work, and there’s a lot to remember before the doors swing open for the first time. Sometimes, it seems like there’s too muchto remember. And in fact, many restaurants open to the public without purchasing all the necessary equipment and supplies for operation. It’s no wonder—when you’re planning your menu, determining your target market, choosing a location, and designing the interior, it’s easy to let some things drop off your list (if they made it to the list in the first place). To avoid a last-minute rush to purchase equipment from the restaurant supply store, here are a few commonly forgotten items you should budget for.

Make Sure You Have Ample Shelving

A restaurant can never have enough storage, but the amount of shelving you need—especially movable racks, which are especially useful in the back-of-house operation—can be easy to underestimate. A good rule of thumb is to invest in more shelving than you think you’ll need.

Speaking of those movable shelves, it’s common for restaurant owners and outfitters to forget that they’ll need casters to easily roll them away for cleaning underneath and behind—so make sure that all equipment you’ll need to move can be moved easily for cleanup. Pay close attention to the type of shelving you do invest in.

Chrome wire shelves might be attractive, but won’t weather a damp environment as well as epoxy-coated shelving. If you’re planning on storing heavier objects, heavy-duty dunnage shelves might be your best choice.

Take Care of Your Employees’ Needs

Often left off of a restaurant’s opening-day budget are the necessaries that keep employees safe and comfortable.

Have you invested in employee-only parking signs?

Where will your employees keep their personal items during their work shift? A locker area for employees can keep valuables safe and offer your employees personal space for items like cellular phones (which they should probably keep locked away during a shift anyway).

Safety and sanitary equipment like first aid kits, hand sanitizer, and personal gloves are last-minute items that can easily be forgotten in the rush to open the doors.

Give Guests the Amenities They Need

Overspending on the back of the house to create a state-of-the-art kitchen space might mean neglecting some of the areas where the paying customer spends their time. For example, are the bathrooms well-stocked? Public restrooms go through supplies much more quickly than you might expect, and a clean, well-appointed restroom will help ensure happy customers.

If you’re a family-friendly business, it’s important to think of the children. Having enough booster seats and activities for kids so they don’t get bored waiting (think creative kids’ menus and coloring utensils, for instance) can help make your restaurant the choice destination for parents looking for an accommodating environment.

Finally, your customers might want to take some of their food home with them, so don’t forget take-out containers—and make sure you offer a couple different size options!

Outfit the Back-of-House

The area around your commercial dishwasher is easily overlooked when you’re focusing on more prominent items your establishment needs. Ensure that your landing area and dish table are well-stocked with cleaning supplies like detergent, waterproof dishwashing aprons, gloves, and drying racks so that your dishwashers are able to do their jobs. Another easily missed item in this area is adequate waste management solutions.

Make sure there are plenty appropriately sized wastebaskets available in the back-of-house operation for your employees to dispose of waste, and double-check your waste storage solutions outside of the facility.

Don’t reach your first day of business without everything you need for a smooth operation! By paying attention to the less-visible items you’ll need, you’ll save the time, effort, and money you could waste rushing to purchase equipment before the grand opening.

Easily Overlooked Restaurant Supplies and Equipment posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

Dining Etiquette: A Restaurant Guide to Setting Informal and Formal Tables

Dining events have long been parts of society, however, how we eat has transformed over the centuries. Changes in dining trends are expected, but what do these adaptations mean for how we should dress the tables in our restaurants to create the ideal atmosphere at all — formal and informal — dinner parties?

Read on for the differences between formal and casual dining, as well as offers you tips for ensuring that each of your tables at your eating establishment sets the ideal ambience for your customers.

What Is an Informal Table Setting?

If you own a more laid-back restaurant, you may be looking for ways to dress your tables to reflect a casual atmosphere. No need to use fine china and silverware, but your tables should still look attractive. If you’re going for a modern vibe, why not put a contemporary twist on the traditional centrepiece by placing an LED vase in the middle of each table?

Informal tables feature only basic cutlery and flatware — avoid being ostentatious. If you have a casual restaurant rather than an establishment that is reservation-only, your customers will likely drop in for one or maybe two courses. So, keep your menu focused on offering strictly starters, mains and desserts — it’s great to be creative with your food, but avoid anything that sounds pretentious.

What Is a Formal Table Setting?

Fine dining is still a much-loved experience for Brits. When you’re dressing a formal table, concentrate on incorporating antique silver pieces, fine cloth napkins, premium glassware, a high-quality tablecloth, and (potentially) an elaborate centrepiece — don’t forget silver ewers and attractive dinging ware, such as candelabras.

When your staff are serving formal dining guests, if you wish to offer a very traditional experience, they should ensure that each guest is presented with an empty plate for each course. They will then bring in each full course and offer it to each guest in turn, as opposed to plating up a meal in the kitchen and bringing it as it is. However, this method is considered quite old-fashioned, so perhaps reserve it for if your restaurant is hosting a special event. Up to six courses is generally accepted as the standard when it comes to a formal meal. This will include a starter, fish course, meat course, dessert, and finally, a cheese course.

How To Set an Informal Dinner Party Table

Laid-back restaurants and dining settings are generally more creative when it comes to decoration and table setting.

If you haven’t already, establish a restaurant or nightly theme to set a casual, inviting tone. This could be a shade or even something like the coast or cinema. Purchase tablecloths and ornaments that match your theme — handmade crafts can also be a quirky touch. There’s also the option to amend an established formal dining trend and make it more casual. Make your own menu holder or place tealights around each table and do away with candles.

As for your menu, interactive food is less formal and perfect for a fun and welcoming restaurant — try nachos, fajitas and make-your-own burgers.

How To Set a Formal Dinner Party Table

The placement of your cutlery is essential to setting the perfect formal dining table correctly. Start with the dinner plate — this goes in the centre of each table in your restaurant with all forks to the left, and knives and spoons to the right.

As for the dessert spoon and fork, these sit above the plate (the spoon above the fork). The fork should also point right and the spoon should point left. Afterwards, make sure you and your staff put the side plates to the left of each guest’s dinner plate, then, finish by placing the napkin on top of the side plate.

Essentially, these rules must be considered when creating a formal dining experience:

• Starting from the outside, cutlery is placed in the order the guest will use it.

• Knife blades face the plate.

• All salad dishes should arrive at the table on a salad plate and placed by the server on top of the dinner plate.

• Red wine has its own glass and so does white wine throughout the entire meal.

• Wine glasses are placed above the table knife (which sits on the right).

Your guests should not have to request anything during their meals — everything should be available on the table and make sure the server clears every dish after each course.

With just a few tweaks of your processes, menu and décor; you can create the perfect atmosphere at your restaurant for your guests.

Sources:

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/many-kinds-table-settings-there-104524.html

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/difference-between-formal-informal-table-setting-103497.html http://www.idealhome.co.uk/dining-room/ideas-dining-room/table-setting-ideas-menu-favours-50716

https://www.viners.co.uk/how-to-set-a-table

http://www.idealhome.co.uk/news/5-table-settings-to-impress-at-your-next-dinner-party-20708

Dining Etiquette: A Restaurant Guide to Setting Informal and Formal Tables posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

How Much Food Do UK Restaurants Waste?

There’s a national drive in the UK to adopt greener practices and become eco-friendlier businesses — and that goes for companies within the food and drink sector, too.

Of course, putting these greener methods into practice can be difficult — so how much are UK restaurants and cafes truly wasting and is it a cause for concern?

Waste Created by Restaurants

Did you know that food firms lose 97p from each meal they serve? Essentially, this is because of food waste that is entirely avoidable. Each year, food waste costs restaurants £682 million and overall, restaurants produce 915,400 tonnes of waste — which includes 199,100 tonnes of foodwaste.

Almost a £1 loss on every meal can significantly impact on your total profits. Take a pub restaurant for example; according to data from How To Run A Pub, the average spend on a three-course pub meal is £14.48. Six percent of this amount (97p) is immediately stripped from this total to account for avoidable food waste, before overheads like wages, utilities and maintenance are removed.

One positive with regard to being eco-friendly in the food industry is that restaurants typically have excellent recycling rates. 51 percent of all waste from restaurants is recycled, with 65 percent of packaging and other wastes also recycled. Clearly, restaurants need to implement efficiencies in order to minimise waste and boost profits. But is this easier said than done?

Consumer Consensus

The first step to creating a workable process for minimising waste is knowing your customer. One survey found that more than a quarter of diners (27 percent) left food on their plate when dining out. Generally, it seems that diners are comfortable with this, as three fifths said doing so was not concerning. Chips were the most common food left on plates, with 32 percent of diners leaving some uneaten, while vegetables took second place (18 percent).

If you know that, typically, your customers leave a certain food uneaten, you can do something about it. Overwhelmingly, 41 percent said that they did so because the portions were too big. Other factors can also have an influence. The number of courses ordered can influence how much food is left; diners may, for example, leave more of their main course if they have ordered a dessert. Who we dine with can also influence how much we eat. If we are comfortable with our company, we will usually eat more than if we were in a professional situation.

Ways of Minimizing Leftover Food

Many consumers won’t think twice about leaving a small portion of food on their plates, so it’s the responsibility of the eatery owner to endeavour to minimise food waste. But, it can be difficult to know where to start, so here are a few tips:

• Flexible menus: if you don’t already, make sure your menu offers the guest to tweak parts of their meal — like sides. Letting customers have dishes they definitely like will help bring down waste levels. Remember; increased food waste may lead to greater costs.

• Offering takeaways:almost three quarters of people say that they don’t might being offered a carton to take leftovers home. Train your staff to ask customers, who have a lot of food left on their plate, whether they want to take it home with them.

• Creating meals that suit different levels of hunger:sometimes, people just want to pop out for a small meal or even a snack — are you catering for this customer? Include lighter options on your menu, which will help you naturally reduce the cost of waste.

Even using recyclable materials, such as paper tablecloths, can help make your company greener. The small savings made through greater attention to restaurant food waste may seem insignificant but in a competitive industry with rising costs, any threat to profits needs to be dealt with today.

Sources

http://www.wrap.org.uk/sites/files/wrap/Restaurants.pdf

https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/food-waste-eating-out-restaurants

http://howtorunapub.co.uk/pub-food-pricing-points/

How Much Food Do UK Restaurants Waste? posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

Must-Have POS Software Features for Pizza Restaurants

Should You Become A Child-Free Restaurant?

Nothing kills the mood quite like a screaming child.

A lot of effort goes into crafting a truly memorable dining experience for restaurant-goers. From the ambiance to the dishes served, when a restaurant’s many moving parts are humming along in harmony, it’s nothing short of magic.

That can all come to a shrieking halt (no pun intended) with the unpleasant addition of a toddler sized tantrum.

The average American spends $36 on dinner at a restaurant; for adults who want to enjoy their meal and get their money’s worth and restaurateurs who want to ensure their guests are satisfied with their spend, it’s annoying to have their otherwise peaceful dining experience ruined by unruly kids and their nonchalant parents.

As a result, child-free restaurants have become a popular solution for both restaurant owners and restaurant goers. Before you decide if becoming a child-free restaurant is a good idea for your business – whether that means banning children under a certain age or all children out right – there are many pro’s and con’s to consider.

First things first: what is a child free restaurant? A child-free restaurant is a place where, as the name suggests, small children are not allowed to dine. Some business owners are making it clear that their establishment is an adult-only zone, while others are adopting less-stringent rules and only permit children over a certain age or before a certain hour.

While pro-child-free restaurant owners and goers may be in favor of the rule change, child-free restaurant policies have elicited strong reactions from some patrons who say making a restaurant child-free is discriminatory and unfair to people with children.

If you’ve consistently received complaints from irritated guests who say children are ruining their dining experience, consider the pros and cons of becoming a child-free restaurant. This policy isn’t for everyone, but it’s worth considering if it will make your customers happy and help your business thrive.

The Benefits of Becoming A Child-Free Restaurant

1) Ambience

Let’s face it – savoring the experience of a night out is hard to do when an energetic small children is bouncing on the booth attached to yours, or running by your table while you’re trying to eat.

As a restaurant owner, it can be equally as frustrating to see the ambiance you painstakingly created for guests’ enjoyment ruined. Addressing noise complaints and other issues with the child’s parents can also be difficult, as parents may defensive when you give negative feedback about their child or not proactively try to fix their child’s behavior since it’s their night out (read: off) as well.

By becoming a child-free restaurant, you can sidestep children unknowingly disrupting your restaurant’s ambiance. Guests will be able to enjoy their meal in peace without being disturbed by loud or rambunctious kids.

In addition, you might be able to play different music, hang artwork, purchase higher quality linens and tableware, and fine tune other aspects of your guests dining experience to be more upscale — changes that can’t easily be justified when children are frequently in-house and within arm’s reach of expensive bells and whistles.

2) Attracting New Customers

Just as you could alienate customers by making your restaurant child-free, you could also attract new guests looking for a mature, fine-dining establishment. People who don’t want to be troubled by other people’s children might view your child-free policy as a plus and could choose your establishment over one that welcomes young kids.

For example, Caruso’s, a North Carolina restaurant, saw an increase in reservations after announcing that children under the age of five couldn’t dine at their establishment. Flynn’s Restaurant, located in Australia, instituted a similar child-free restaurant policy and announced their most successful weekend in the restaurant’s history post switch.

By becoming a child-free restaurant, you appeal to guests wanting to avoid the drama small children might introduce to the dining experience simply by establishing an age limit for your restaurant.

3) No Additional Children’s Menu

Creating a list of kid-friendly options can be a pain for chefs, who have carefully curated your restaurant’s menu to reflect their passion for food.

As a child-free restaurant, you have no need for an additional kids menu; this will likely please your chef and help you cut costs. For example, if your children’s menu features dishes that use ingredients not used on your primary menu — think chicken fingers and french fries — by becoming a child-free restaurant, you won’t need to order these ingredients or allot them a budget.

4) Fewer Accidents And Child-Sized Damage

Kids are messy.

Sticky little hands can really do some damage in a short amount of time — it’s kind of impressive. Unfortunately, someone’s going to have to clean up that mess, and it’s likely going to be your restaurant staff.

The time your staff will spend scrubbing their section to look how it did before the toddler tornado passed through is time better spent delighting guests and creating memorable dining experiences. Messes can also be costly, especially if furniture, silverware, or tableware gets damaged.

While most children have been taught the proper way to behave when visiting a restaurant, not all have. Bad behavior is unfortunately not always addressed by these children’s parents as they’re trying to enjoy their night out and may let little discretions slide in the name of having a good time.

As a result, your restaurant staff may find themselves unwillingly taking on the role of “babysitter” for the evening, whether that be trying to keep the kids quiet, waiting on their every beck and call, or trying to stop them from jumping on booths and running around. Although we encourage that you make providing high quality customer service a priority, being a babysitter shouldn’t be amongst your staff’s responsibilities.

Is your restaurant staff tired of cleaning up children’s spilled food? Or, are they constantly worried about little kids running around while they are carrying trays of hot food? If so, making your restaurant child-free might be the right decision. Running a restaurant carries enough risk, and you should reduce it whenever possible.

The Downside of Running a Child-Free Restaurant

1) Losing Families’ Business

By banning children from eating at your restaurant, you will likely lose customers. could lose future sales.

Child care is expensive; absorbing 20 percent of the average American parents household income annually. If parents can’t afford or find a quality babysitter, they won’t be able to spend money at your establishment, whether that means coming in for a meal or ordering online.

Even if they can find someone to watch their child, they may not want to give you their patronage if they’re offended by your age restrictions.

Prior to announcing that your restaurant is child-free, dive into your restaurant reporting and assess whether families make up a significant chunk of your business. If your restaurant is in a family-friendly area or you see the demographic breakdown of your customers to skew toward parents and families, it might not be worth it to implement a no-child policy.

2) Backlash For Excluding Kids

As we all learned in kindergarten, excluding people isn’t cool, especially little kids.  

If you decide to become a child-free restaurant, you should be prepared for possible backlash.

Some restaurants who have decided to go child-free have received criticism in the press, on their social media pages, and on review sites like Yelp and Foursquare. Although some customers may appreciate or tolerate the rule, the shift to becoming child-free may alienate or offend others.

If you anticipate heavy backlash for becoming a child-free restaurant, or are worried about the implications negative attention for advertising a no-children-allowed policy could affect your brand and public image, it may be best to shutter the idea.

3) Diminished Customer Loyalty

If you forbid children from eating at your establishment, you could alienate your existing customers and undo all the hard work, energy, and investments you made in customer retention.  

Consider the family of five that has visited your restaurant for years who have well-behaved, polite children. You’ll lose their business by creating a ban, and likely others like them, though their children were not a part of the problem.

Before announcing this rule, think of your loyal customers. Are many of them families? If so, becoming a child-free restaurant could be a bad move.

Is Becoming Child-Free Restaurant The Right Move For Your Business?

Like people, every restaurant is different and unique. Becoming a child free restaurant is a big decision, so weighing out the potential positives against the potential negatives is imperative to making the right choice for your business.

If you’d like to get your toes wet without becoming fully child free, try having ‘adult only’ evenings, where children aren’t allowed in past a certain hour or on a certain day of the week. This is pretty popular with many restaurant/bars that are popular nightlife destinations, but offer regular meal service to all during the day.

Should You Become A Child-Free Restaurant? posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

Crafting the Perfect Wine List

Searching for the secret ingredient to make a restaurant thrive? Look no further than a glass of red.

A wine list can make the difference between a restaurant being forgettable or standing out, and it can be instrumental in improving your restaurant’s bottom line. Wine provides outstanding potential for markup–an average of 500 to 600 percent, according to Consolidated Food Service. And those guests who order wine are also more likely to order dessert and appetizers, tacking on even more profit to the tab.

However, maximizing those profits requires a strategy. Data shows that the average guest spends about 109 seconds looking at a restaurant menu, giving you less than two minutes to attract your customers. Needless to say, having a strategy around planning and designing your wine list is essential. The more accessible you can make your wine options the happier you (and your bottom line) will be.

Read on for seven tips for building and designing the perfect wine list for your restaurant.

Selecting Your Wine

Versatility is Key

When building your wine list, recognize the importance of variety. Beyond just offering a few options of reds, whites, and rosés, your wine selection should be as complex and diverse as the diners walking in your door. The best wine lists offer an option for every diner’s taste buds, whether they’re looking for something full-bodied, oaky, light, fruity, or effervescent. With thousands of grape varietals to choose from, hone in on those that aim to satisfy a melange of cravings and price points. Fine dining restaurants should consider the young couple looking to enjoy a night out without breaking the bank, as well as the well-heeled clientele looking for something from the top shelf.

But a Focus is Essential

A diverse selection is a strong starting point, but a true sommelier will tell you that, at the end of the day, wine should complement your chef’s food. Your restaurant is one cohesive brand. Just as music should work with the decor, the wine list should be in harmony with the dining menu, and everything should contribute to the restaurant’s overall mission and vibe. If your restaurant leans eclectic, consider drawing from vineyards around the world. If local ingredients are a focus, seek out wines that are made nearby. And once you’ve assembled the list, make sure to host a staff food and wine tasting so everyone will have an answer to the inevitable question: “What do you recommend?”

Keep Seasons in Mind

With summer approaching, have fun with your definition of wine. Consider a wine spritzer or two, or adding sangria into the mix. A wine menu should shift seasonally since different seasons call for the quenching of different thirsts. In autumn, diners crave a crisper edge to their wines like that found in a Chilean Pinot Noir or a white Bordeaux. Come winter, add a few deep-bodied reds with a spice to pair with the heavy and rich foods guests crave.  

Don’t Forget the Holidays

Holiday-specific wine lists are another way to add variety to your vino. Let your diners take a load off on Labor Day, by offering a selection of spring rosés and spritzers.

Menu Design

Don’t List by Price

Having the right bottles in stock is only half the battle. Be sure to design your menu so it guides diners’ eyes to a selection with the highest profit margins. While it can be tempting to list wines in order from least to most expensive, this approach actually directs the eye to the lowest priced items. On the flip side, however, listing the most expensive options first can give customers a high bar to compare against. Still, if you want them to explore and appreciate your wine selection, organize the list into categories, whether it’s as simple as reds, whites, and bubblies, or more specifically by region, varietal, or tasting notes.

Be Particular about Punctuation

Did you know that attaching a dollar sign to the price of an item actually increases the customer’s attention to the fact that they’re spending money? The same applies to both using punctuation, like a series of periods or dashes, to connect the name of the wine to the price, and listing all of the prices in one column. Instead, keep the design simple and include the number directly after the name of the wine. It’s also strategic to end prices with a .95 instead of a .00, as it gives the customer the impression that they’re spending less.

Make the Wine List User-Friendly

With many restaurants discovering that the average diner can be intimidated by a large book of bottle options, digital wine lists are on the rise. This high-tech option can help your guests from feeling inferior, allowing them to explore the list in their own way by searching by flavor, ideal pairings, or grape varietal. Even better, you can include descriptions of each wine without needing to print out page upon page of options every time your menu changes.

Building a wine list can seem overwhelming, but if you pair your wines with your food and brand, while considering seasonality and menu design, it can be a manageable, and even enjoyable, process. Don’t forget to have a few sips yourself. It’s all in the name of research, after all.

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Perfect Pairings: How to Build a Wine List (Infographic)

Building a wine list for your restaurant is a great way to attract new customers and enhance your current menu. Suggested meal pairings are a great way to encourage wine sales! It’s not necessary to have every kind of wine when first building a wine list, but choosing a few of the most versatile, common types of red and white wines will be a great addition to your establishment.

Serving Tips

Red wines are often bold in flavor, great for pairing with savory chicken and beef dishes. It tastes the best when served at room temperature (59 to 64 degrees Fahrenheit), making it easy to serve in a stylish decanter or carafe. Types of red wine to consider include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Pinot Noir.

White wines are available in an array of sweet and dry varieties, often being delicious counterparts to herbs, fruits, and cheeses. White wine is served chilled below 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Some “white” wines, such as white merlot or white zinfandel, may also be classified as rosé wines due to their pink color. Types of white wine to consider include Chardonnay, Moscato, and Pinot Grigio.

A wine bucket is an attractive, convenient way to keep white wines at proper temperature while at tables. Directly putting ice into white wine is not advisable, as it can quickly dilute the flavor and color.

Flavor Profiles

The flavor and mouthfeel of wine can vary based on acidity, sugar content, and tannin level. Higher sugar content results in wine with a sweeter flavor, whereas high tannin levels make a wine feel more dry or bitter in the mouth.

Tannins are naturally occurring polyphenol compounds that are found in parts of plants like seeds, bark, wood, leaves, and fruit skins. They are found in many foods including tea leaves, walnuts and almonds, and dark chocolate. When wine is made, some tannins are extracted from the fruit or from the wooden barrels in which the wine is aged. Most wines with higher tannin levels are red wines, though white wines may have tannins if they are aged in wooden barrels.

Wines with higher tannin levels include Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot while wines with lower tannin levels include such widely recognized wines as Zinfandel, Pinot Noir and Merlot. Offering a selection of sweet and dry wines is key to a successful wine list – not only do certain varieties pair better with select dishes, but some wine drinkers avoid wines high in tannins due to allergies or simply personal preference.

Common Types of Wine

There are countless varietals and blends of wine in the world, all with unique features, but choosing a few popular types of red and white wines from our guide below will get your restaurant’s wine list off to a great start.

Perfect Pairings: How to Build a Wine List (Infographic) posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

Brexit: An Insider’s View of its Effect on Restaurant Chains

Brexit is not the cause of restaurant chain struggles in 2018. In research, carried out by digital ordering technology provider, Preoday, 69 percent of professionals working for pubs, bars and restaurants said Brexit was ‘more of an excuse than a reason’ for chain struggles. Just 18 percent of a consumer panel, also questioned, think it’s the main cause of industry difficulties. 

Asked what professionals do see as the main reason for the general struggles of chain brands, more than a third (38 percent) said the biggest problem was too much competition. Other reasons scored lower. In second place were not having an understanding of customers (nine percent) and increasing rent (nine percent). Poor property decisions received just three percent of the vote.

Technologies, such and digital ordering platforms, can help in the gathering and analysis of customer data and businesses should use them to build stronger customer relationships.

While competition is seen as the major problem of the industry as a whole, the respondents’ answers changed when asked to reflect upon their own businesses. Voicing their concerns for the coming year, the cost of labour rose to the top, with 58 percent expecting to be troubled by this in the coming year. Industry competition was cited by 56 percent of respondents, while consumer confidence was selected by 35 percent.

The results suggest that not all businesses associate theirbiggest issues with the rest of the market. Just 5 percent identified the cost of labour as the number one reason for struggles in the wider industry, yet it was the most popular response when considering their own business. The increased living wage cannot be avoided or controlled, businesses need to find a way of recouping the costs through customer spend and to do this they really need to get under the skin of what consumers want from a meal out.”

What do consumers want?

Preoday’s research further investigated how well the industry understands the needs and wants of its customers. Asking a panel of consumers to identify what they look for in food venue, it found that a great menu (91 percent) came out on top; the menu was followed by the quality of the food (85 percent). When asked what it is about the menu that most appeals, 57 percent of consumers said it was the variety, while 44 percent referred to the descriptions used and 26 percent were drawn in by the format and appearance.

The professionals recognised the importance of the menu, though they put the importance of food quality (69 percent) in front of the menu itself (63 percent).

Also at odds with consumer opinion was the importance of great staff – while, at 66 percent this was the third most important feature for consumers, less than half (46 percent) of the professionals identified the staff as a key need for customers.

There seem to be two big issues at play. Number one is an increase in costs within the industry – and number two is a divergence between what food service businesses think customers want, and what they actually want. Data must be the key. There are technologies, such and digital ordering platforms, that can help in the gathering and analysis of customer data and businesses should use them to build stronger customer relationships. It’s the simplest and fastest way to gain a deeper understanding of a specific audience.

Brexit: An Insider’s View of its Effect on Restaurant Chains posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

Bitcoin Blockade: The Game-Changing Effect of Emerging Cryptocurrency POS Tech

Almost a decade in the making since the inception of Bitcoin and with a current market-cap hovering around half a trillion dollars USD, Bitcoin, cryptocurrency and blockchain have become common to the tech savvy.  While most people don’t understand how they work, Bitcoin and cryptocurrency are not only hot topic buzzwords, but they’ve created thousands of multi-millionaires.  Even so, the vast majority of people in the mainstream have no interest or intent to embrace Bitcoin and, as such, it still has veritably no bearing on everyday life as one still can’t even pay for a cup of coffee with any cryptocurrency.

There are four ways cryptocurrency transaction tech is resolving the primary problems preventing Bitcoin from going mainstream.

In the last year alone, the cryptocurrency market cap has grown over ten-fold, and even taking into consideration “bubble-effects” of hype speculation, the fact remains that, since the inception of Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency market cap is following an exponential growth curve. Today this amounts today to over $150Bn, and various expert opinions estimate its future growth in the next 5-10 years to be in the trillions of dollars. With these kinds of numbers, it begs the question: With over $150 billon of cryptocurrency already in circulation, why can’t we yet pay for coffee or a slice pizza with crypto?

Not only this, but why is cryptocurrency languishing in a tech world of its own, far removed from adoption by the regular consumer or average business? And why does it exist only in a digital space, largely accessible only to the tech-wise cryptocurrency investors? Perhaps the most fundamental question that everyone is asking—from economic pundits to families around the kitchen table—is will crypto will ever become common currency to be used by the average person to pay for their groceries, bills or the hair dresser?  Or are Bitcoin and Altcoins just a fad, doomed to remain ensconced in a cult-like tech realm? 

While it’s clear that the only way for cryptocurrency to avoid falling into oblivion is by enabling its widespread adoption and acceptance as a “real” payment method, the reality is that the infrastructure and protocols have not been in place to foster this. In fact, there have been seemingly insurmountable obstacles faced by merchants across the board preventing them from accepting cryptocurrency as a viable form of payment.  Here are four of those key reasons.

High Volatility Promotes Fiscal Vulnerability

Businesses are not cryptocurrency investors and, as such, they cannot be expected to accept risky payments that may lead to serious financial losses. Every business operates with supply costs, margins, etc.  Therefore it would make little business sense to take on a risk of such magnitude by accepting crypto as payment for their goods and services.  What if the local mechanic accepted Bitcoin for several large jobs and then Bitcoin value dropped 20%?  This leaves these sort of business owners, whom have fixed overhead costs, in a vulnerable space where they take payments that fluctuate. 

Technical Know-How

Generally speaking, retail operators and cashiers cannot be expected to possess the technical expertise needed in order to safely process a cryptocurrency transaction. This is clearly one of the largest problems preventing mainstream adoption, since dealing with cryptocurrency transactions does require a determined level of technical expertise for which it would be absurd to expect a critical mass of front-line service staff to possess. The fact is that any new person coming across even a simple Bitcoin address can be overwhelmed by its perceived complexity.

Brand Confusion

The very word “crypto” suggests cryptic.  Mix that in with all of the other various terms that are used including virtual currency, digital currency, alt coins, and Bitcoin, and it all creates confusion.  It will be paramount for industry insiders to adopt consistent language to be consistently utilized in the mass market. 

Uncertain Regulatory Environment

Regulations regarding cryptocurrencies are still not even close to being set in stone. As concerning, these same regulations actually discourage the use of such currencies in a B2C environment, regarding them as an “unnecessary risk” that may lead to legal problems for any business down the road.

Collectively, these four points above paint an ominous picture for the future of cryptocurrency. Not only relating to its progress and adoption, but also for its very survival in a very real scenario where an innovative payment technology fails to fulfil its potential.  In fact, this isn’t the first technology to be introduced with the aim of creating a major cultural shift.  Twenty-five years ago, fax communication was far more common and even preferred over email messages.

The Innovation Life Cycle Must Ensue

In all forms of innovation, there is always a lag between the advent of the actual innovation and the time that the average intended user starts to adopt and employ the technology. As the “technology adoption life cycle” has well established, in order for people to adopt and use a new innovation, technological abstraction layers are needed to hide all of the complexity of the core product and make it unequivocally user friendly. Of course, this takes time and innovation of its own until all the layers have been developed and refined around the core product, which is the main reason why there is always a lag between innovation and mass adoption.

The Game Changer: Crypto-to-Fiat POS Solution

The tremendous amount of complexity associated with using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in the real world financial marketplace, as exemplified by the four problems detailed above, has ushered in a new breed of leading-edge technology aimed at wholly solving the glut of mass market limitations. Emerging Point-of-Sale (POS) applications are finally permitting cryptocurrencies to be transacted as easy as a credit card payment, allowing small and large businesses alike to accept and instantly translate crypto into U.S. dollars, thus eradicating any risk and uncertainty.  With this advancement, technical or crypto-specific know-how on the part of the consumer or the merchant is rendered unnecessary and businesses can readily convert crypto to real cash. Not only will this Point-of-Sale development quickly shift brand perceptions, but the regulatory environment will also eventually temper given the reduced volatility this POS technology proffers.

Once this business-friendly solution is adopted as a viable transaction method, enabling consumers to very easily spend their cryptocurrency and retailers to charge and settle crypto payments in the business’ preferred currency—whether dollars, euros or other, technical proficiency will no longer be barrier and volatility will subside since businesses will continue to deal strictly in Fiat currency (government-issued legal tender), resolving any possible crypto-specific regulatory issues that are rendered a non-concern.

Given its extrapolated impact, a POS innovation of this nature would be poised to unlock the full potential of the cryptocurrency industry and its utility in the real-world.  A Crypto-to-Fiat business tailored POS solution will effectively allow for cryptocurrencies to penetrate the consumer market and truly disrupt day-to-day payments as we know them. The first business with a minimum viable product (MVP) will be to cryptocurrency transactions what AOL was to email.

Retailers today are accustomed to using Point-of-Sale terminals for processing credit card payments, and are increasingly adopting new solutions in the space such as Square’s retail POS smartphone app, replacing bulky hardware with Android and iOS devices.  In order for merchants to accept and adopt a Crypto-to-Fiat POS solution, it must be tailored in a manner that seamlessly accommodates the retailers current understanding and knowledge base, with a near zero effort or learning curve required to adopt the new solution. At the same time, the innovation must demonstrate its ability to drive new value, new customers and, ultimately, new profits by expanding its ability to process transactions—and at a fraction of standard costs.

Such an end-to-end solution can truly catalyze cryptocurrency adoption, finally bringing Bitcoins and Altcoins to “Main Street” and crossing that crucial milestone for blockchain technology—and technology as a whole—to usher cryptocurrency into the modern world is a genuine, viable and enduring way.

Bitcoin Blockade: The Game-Changing Effect of Emerging Cryptocurrency POS Tech posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

Facing Your Biggest Fear: Restaurant Failure

Every new business owner faces the same dilemma: what if it doesn’t work out?

Well, it’s not as bad as you think. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, 75 percent of new businesses survive their first year. But the challenge continues as 69 percent survive the second year and only 50 percent make it to five years.

But just because the data says so, doesn’t mean you will just let chance dictate your fate. By learning about the most common mistakes many restaurant owners make, you increase your chance of surpassing the challenges and succeeding in your business.

What are some reasons why restaurants fail?

Lack of Experience

It takes a great deal of experience with your craft to start a business and make it work. Just because you know how to cook and you cook well doesn’t mean you’re all set to succeed at owning and operating a restaurant.

There are many things you should learn about before you launch your restaurant business. That includes managing people and resources, budgeting and marketing. At first you might find yourself doing everything from preparing the dishes to cleaning the tables, making the inventory, shopping for supplies, and even promoting your business on social media. As you gain experience, you will learn how to delegate tasks, manage people, and give your restaurant an edge over the competition. Consider undergoing restaurant management training to gain knowledge and experience.

Poor Knowledge About Competition

The restaurant business remains to be profitable, but the competition is fierce. And according to research, it’s the number of new restaurants opening each year that drive industry growth. Approximately 60,000 new restos are launched each year and 50,000 close, resulting to 10,000 restaurants added to the list. Because of the tough competition, you have to be continually innovative with your services and marketing approach. From your interiors to your menu, food presentation, and promotions, you’ve got to be creative. And you must study your competition to learn how to better operate your business.

Wrong Location

Location is one of the biggest factors that determine your success in the restaurant business. Poor location could mean:

• There’s not enough traffic
• Your neighborhood (target market) is not interested in your offerings
• You are not visible from the street, or
• Your neighboring competitors serve the same menu, but at a cheaper price.

Conducting a feasibility study is essential before opening up a restaurant. You have to study your business concept and find the best location that’s a fit.

Low Start-Up Capital

There’s no telling that the most important things you need to start a restaurant is capital. You need around $450,000 to $525,000 for a small restaurant. These costs include rent, location improvements, miscellaneous opening expenses, marketing and advertising. These days with the availability of many financing options like personal loans or business loans, putting up a business even if you don’t have enough in your bank account is possible. It is also important to keep your expenses as low as possible until you’ve built out your product and you start seeing returns.

Poor Restaurant Promotion

No matter how great your menu is or how cool your business concept is, if people don’t know about it, you’re setting yourself up to failure. Marketing is in the heart of every kind of business. It is easier and much cheaper to promote a brand these days because of the internet. By using social media, you can reach out to thousands of people on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter without spending much. Don’t neglect all opporutunities for community outreach. People like to see a face to  connect to the business.

Inconsistency

Consistency is the key. A simple mistake that ruins your dish can cost. People  search for top-value services and are less likely to tolerate inconsistencies. Americans have changed their spending habits for the better. The hesitant customer, for example, is not only less likely to order a favorite dish again when it comes to their table poorly seasoned. Worse, they are less likely to return to that restaurant. Bad word of mouth can cost even more. Quality control is the key to maintaining consistency.

Bad Service

Customers are the foundation of any business. If they are not treated right, the impact is huge and could even lead to the downfall of your business. So make sure everyone on your staff is trained to provide quality service all the time. And lead by example. 

Bad Partnerships 

If you have partners, the lower the risk will be in operating a business. But then, this does come with disadvantages too. Choose your business partners properly. You should share the same vision and mission and make decisions as a team.

Bad Managerial Skills

Managing a restaurant is not easy. It takes skills and experience to do it properly. While as the owner you can be the manager, it is a great idea to hire an experienced manager to make sure there is oversight and you don’t overextend yourself. 

Facing Your Biggest Fear: Restaurant Failure posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

Five Keys to Building a Strong Loyalty Program

In the world of small and medium businesses, a one-time customer is a lost opportunity. New customers are expensive to acquire and don’t spend as much per visit. Returning customers not only provide consistent revenue, they can also pay off in a big way by becoming advocates for a brand or business. Word-of-mouth advertising is a powerful marketing asset and doesn’t cost you a dime. So, how do you keep your customers coming back for more, while also convincing them to spread the word?  A loyalty or rewards program can sway purchasing decisions, drive customer engagement and give a business the momentum it needs. Below you’ll find a few hallmarks of strong loyalty programs that can make a difference to your bottom line.

#1: Know Your Audience

Create rewards that are attractive to your customers and will prompt them to return. Use current sales data to see what’s popular—customers will respond to what’s hot. Test a few different offers and see which ones spike interest. Or, simply chat with your customers.  Get to know them and ask what is meaningful to them and what they value about your business. This helps you build relationships and get a direct line to feedback.

#2: Keep the Program Simple

Don’t create a program that requires too many steps or one that makes your customers jump through too many hoops. Your loyalty program should be easy to join, easy to understand and easy to redeem.  Rewards should be clear and uncomplicated, without too much time between purchase and reward.

#3: Make the Rewards Worthwhile

Customers assign value to loyalty rewards, so they should be meaningful and worthy of their time. Offer different levels of rewards, so that once a customer reaches a certain level, they receive more benefits or better awards. For example, rewards can range from a free coffee to a free entree. This way customers who prefer instant gratification can achieve it quickly, while “savers” can have a goal.  It’s also a good idea to reward new customers for signing up and to say, “Happy Birthday.”

#4 Train your Employees

Your employees are on the front line and the most important promoters of any rewards or marketing program. If they don’t talk about it and try to sign up every customer, your program won’t work.  It should be standard practice to add every customer to your rewards program. Make sure they understand and can explain, clearly, what types of rewards are available, how they are earned and redeemed.  Have frequent updates to train new staff, so that your program doesn’t suffer because of employee turnover.

#5: Market the Program

Your employees should not carry the full burden of marketing a rewards program.  Publicize it throughout the customer journey. Capture email addresses as part of the sign-up process so that you can send messages to introduce the program, reinforce the benefits and to notify customers of special deals just for loyalty members. Consider putting signage in the store to encourage sign-up. It’s always a good practice to share details about the program on social media, especially if you are introducing new rewards.

Loyalty programs are easy to implement, but success depends on the execution. When you have a program that is customer-centric, simple to understand and easy to communicate, customers are more willing to participate. As a result, a loyal customer base can help you grow your business faster than any other form of marketing.

 

Five Keys to Building a Strong Loyalty Program posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

According to a Recent Study/Survey … Mid-June 2018 Edition

Re-Energizing a Brand with Mass Consumer Appeal: How Franchisees Can Evolve with Consumers and Remain Relevant

Often times we become comfortable as operators in familiar practices and systems with which we choose to run our businesses. We set ourselves into a routine in terms of the staff, marketing and even services that our businesses offer. As a franchisee, it is important to push past the norm to look for new, innovative ways that a brand can change in order to remain effective and engaging in consumers’ lives.

Being open to transformation as a business is key in staying current with evolving trends and transitioning alongside consumers. Franchisees have the opportunity to appeal to an even greater audience while being strategic in their actions to re-energize their businesses and physical locations.

Begin with Culture

Every business begins with culture regardless, of industry. Building a strong business as part of your franchise locations foundationally starts with finding the best people to have in the store, at the location or involved in your business on the ground level. Hiring individuals at a basic level that have a deep-rooted understanding of hospitality and attention to detail is extremely important for most service- and product-based franchises. You want people that are ready to go above and beyond to get feet in the door, as well as retain frequency and maintain a solid customer experience.

Culture doesn’t happen overnight. It is a process that takes time and energy from the individuals on staff in the location daily and from the franchisee, who plays a constant role in externally driving people. Creating culture with local businesses and forming partnerships is an excellent way to keep foot traffic heavy as a franchise.

Prepare for Challenges

For even experienced multi-unit operators, bringing past knowledge of dealing with challenges is an important skill when gearing up for energizing a brand. Before a franchisee attempts to refresh or re-energize their franchise footprint, they should ensure the infrastructure is in place with well-tested, effective processes and systems to stay on track and ahead of the game. Organization in billing and maintaining the books provides a sense of security to operators, giving them a safety net when challenges strike.

Have the Right Leaders

In an effort to re-energize, a franchisee must have the right leaders in place. Having someone that is good at tasks and management is important, but they must be good with people. Leaders have the responsibility to reinforce the culture and strength of character to set the tone of the business, as well as those around them. Franchisees should be hiring like-minded people who are ready to have the same amount of passion and dedication to the business as themselves. Even in a growth phase where extra help and hands are needed, operators must be patient in finding the right people – quality over quantity. The right leaders in a business have the power to cater to guests that come in the door, while sharing a similar mindset with others. With a team of the right individuals, an operator has the chance to provide consumers with an incredibly special experience.

Focus on Hospitality

Hospitality is often the common missing link in concepts that look to change without strategy in place, and it’s the most important concept to master before undertaking any significant transformation. Franchisees must create a system or write guidelines on how they hope to push hospitality through their concept. Putting effort into appealing to consumers and treating it as a top priority has huge return when consumers are provided with a positive experience that keeps them coming back. Businesses with a standard for hospitality have the opportunity to build on a strong foundation to grow and refresh a franchise, well as have a positive impact on the consumer experience.

Re-Energizing a Brand with Mass Consumer Appeal: How Franchisees Can Evolve with Consumers and Remain Relevant posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

An Homage to Deli, FoodTrekking and Tao Chicago

Don’t Be ‘Had at Hello:’ How to Price Catering to Be Profitable

You have such an advantage over the chains when it comes to off-site catering. Why? It’s simple. As an independent restaurant owner, you do not have to follow what the corporate office dictates. You can go beyond the “same old same old” and make decisions based on what your customers want.

Take advantage of this and make your catering rock, but do it so that you can be profitable. 

I have owned a catering company for more than 20 years, and I have made the mistake of catering events with large gross sales dollars but low-to-no net profits. I had to learn the hard way that profits start with the pricing of the menu. If the menu is priced wrong, you lose money before you deposit the event-booking fee in the bank.  

Pricing a menu profitably starts with taking the wholesale cost of the food for the menu and multiplying by three times or more. Many caterers stop at that step. All of the rest of the “costs” for the event such as labor, guest utensils and plates, ice, etc., they absorb in the multiple that they have made on the wholesale cost of the food.

This is wrong!

Here’s another big error restaurateurs make. A happy restaurant client approaches you after they have just eaten your signature beef kabobs. They ask how much would it cost to have you cater a party for 100 friends at their home and serve those fabulous beef kabobs. You are flattered and hand them your restaurant menu. You tell them it would cost the same as the price on your menu. When you hand them your menu, you lose any and all profits for that event. In other words, you were “had at hello!”         

Let’s take that home party for 100 and learn how to make money, not lose it. Let’s assume that the price of the beef kabobs on your restaurant menu is $18.

Event Stats:

• 100 guests
• Poolside, casual setting
• Stations for serving
• Quality plasticware
• Start time: 7 p.m.
• End time: 10:30 p.m.
• Client providing alcohol
• Caterer providing soft drinks, tea, water
• Caterer providing two food tables with cloths, bar and bar back table with cloths

Costing Facts:

• Soft drinks, tea, water charged at $2.25 per person (pp) = $225
• Plasticware at $2.95 pp (2 plates, 3 cups, 3 napkins, 2 forks pp needed for the entire event)
• Staff: $765
  • Two kitchen staff at $20/hour from 5 – 11:30 p.m. = $390
  • Twohours for staff to pick up and bring back food = $60 paid to staff. Charge client $85
  • One bartender from 5:30 – 11:30 p.m. = $180
• Ice delivered for $75. Charge client $90. (If you bag your own, charge at least the same as the local ice company.)
• Table, bar and cloths rentals = $251 from rental company. (If you provide them, charge at least $200.)

Total so far is $1,626 and you haven’t charged a penny for food. If you charge the client only $1,800 ($18 x 100 guests) for the entire event because the beef kabobs are $18 per person on your menu, then you are definitely going to lose money on this event. In fact, you are paying themto have a party in their own backyard. 

It’s very easy to explain these costs to your client. Just list them as line items on a summary, and they understand the costs easily. The biggest pushback might be for the plastic plates, cups, forks and napkins. They might ask why those items are not included in the food costs. If the client asks that question, my answer is, “Oh, sorry, I wanted to make this easy for you by providing those items. I would be more than happy to take them off the proposal for you. Just have two plates, three cups, napkins, two forks per person available for us when we arrive so we can set them out for your guests.”

Ninety-nine percent of the time the client will then understand that you are providing a service to them and will totally let you bring the “guestware” and charge them for it.

Simply stated, food that leaves your restaurant for a catered event costs more than when served in your restaurant because of all the added costs and travel. You must charge for these items to be profitable.

Don’t Be ‘Had at Hello:’ How to Price Catering to Be Profitable posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

Five Common Questions on the New Menu Labeling Requirements

Case Study: How a Menu Matrix Turned an Underperformer into a Top Seller at PRESS Bistro

PRESS Bistro, a full-service restaurant serving up locally-sourced American fusion fare, is thriving and playing a part in reviving the struggling economy of downtown Johnstown, Pennsylvania, an area hit hard by the closure of steel mills.  Owner Jeremy Shearer has attracted loyal guests, but he struggled to find the right restaurant POS that would make it easier to manage, help grow margins and remain reliable during the busiest shifts.

CHALLENGE: PRESS Bistro needed a restaurant POS system that would help Shearer better manage restaurant operations and enable him to spend less time tethered to the kitchen.  

SOLUTION: Breadcrumb POS by Upserve and Upserve HQ helped PRESS Bistro work more efficiently, resulting in a 30 percent increase in revenue, and a 10 percent decrease in time to table, allowing Shearer to spend less time at the restaurant and more time focusing on new projects that further foster economic development in the community.   

The management team has access to enhanced reporting and analytics at their fingertips, enabling them to address operational issues, make decisions in real-time, and spend less time in the kitchen.

Add to that all the restaurant analytics Upserve delivered with his point of sale software that Jeremy now takes on the go. Using the Upserve Live app, he’s able to make strategic decisions even when away from restaurant. That’s given him the freedom to explore new restaurant concepts locally, empowering him to play an even bigger role in bolstering his hometown economy.

No one enjoys waiting. Shearer knew reducing customer wait times, especially at the bar, would go a long way in improving guest satisfaction. The flexibility and modern approach he saw in the Breadcrumb POS lined right up with his goals.

“Because we switched over to Breadcrumb POS and the handheld iPad mini’s, servers could actually put the order in right away without going back to a stationary terminal. Now instead of a customer potentially waiting 20 minutes to get a drink on a busy night, they’re getting it in under 10, which is the benchmark we’re going for. For a table of 10, that’s an extra $100 in beverage sales that would have been lost if the drinks were slowly paced throughout the meal, because now we’re seeing that we can get a third drink onto the table.”

This ease of use stood out as he evaluated multiple restaurant POS systems.

“I’ve been using POS systems forever. I’ve used TouchBistro. I’ve used Square. I’ve used and looked at all the other names out there. Breadcrumb just stood out every time I looked at it. It stood out as the easiest, most complete system for what I needed as a full-service restaurant.”

Upserve HQ’s menu matrix insights helped PRESS take a new menu item from underperformer to a top seller that accounts for close to 40 percent of dinner sales most nights.

• Real Time Reporting: Having access to sales and other crucial data in real-time gives Shearer to make adjustments on the fly that have a measurable impact on business.
• Menu Matrix: Receiving intel on menu items that aren’t performing well has prompted menu changes that have ultimately helped shape the restaurant’s best-selling dishes.
• Access to Partners: The team is further streamlining operational efficiencies by capitalizing on Upserve’s partnerships, tying their software in with systems like Bev Spot for bar management.

Case Study: How a Menu Matrix Turned an Underperformer into a Top Seller at PRESS Bistro posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

The Benefits of an Energy Management Plan in Restaurants

When you own or manage a restaurant, you know that cost savings are critical to ensuring your restaurant is able to run smoothly.

In many cases, you may resort to extreme measures in order to cut costs where you can.

Clearly, this is about more than just the dreaded thermostat wars that can take place in any working environment. For these owners, keeping the restaurant set at a specific temperature is one of the methods used to keep energy costs low.

If your goal is to save energy costs throughout your restaurant, an energy management plan is one of the best approaches to reducing energy use and lowering your monthly energy bill.

You see, by utilizing an energy management plan, you’ll discover a number of key benefits–like being able to stop obsessing over the temperature on the thermostat and enjoy running your restaurant.

So here are a few ways to develop an energy management plan for your restaurant.

Conduct an Energy Audit

The first step of your energy management plan is understanding where your energy is actually being used. Throughout your restaurant, there are plenty of devices that use electricity.

An audit will help you discover how you can use them as efficiently as possible. You can conduct an energy audit yourself or hire a restaurant energy consultant in order to get the most effective results possible.

Either way, your energy audit will identify potential energy vampires that are using energy even when you think the device is turned off.

It will also keep an eye on the biggest energy uses throughout your restaurant and help uncover new ways to improve your energy use.

Invest Effectively

You’re ready to invest in energy-efficient devices throughout your restaurant, but where do you start?

Will a smart thermostat, which will reduce energy use when no one is in the building, be a reasonable investment? Or should you start by investing in more efficient ovens?

By working with a restaurant energy consultant, you won’t have to guess what step you should take next. Instead, you’ll have it clearly laid out so you can make the best possible decisions for your restaurant each time you’re ready to make an investment.

Check Your Data

Your energy management plan should include regular review of your energy use data.

How much energy are you using each month? Is it in keeping with your budget and expectations for energy use, or is there something draining more energy than anticipated?

By keeping a close eye on your data, you can identify potential problems before they wreck your budget and drag down your restaurant.

Train Your Employees

Knowing all the most effective ways to save energy for your restaurant is a good start. However, if they aren’t put into practice by the employees who are there every day, you’ll never see the results in your bill.

Your energy management plan includes training employees to understand how to be proactive in saving energy throughout their everyday job tasks.

This also includes the energy-saving measures you want to implement across your restaurant.

Whether that means understanding where the thermostat really needs to be set or developing a better system for using your appliances during the busiest parts of your day, your employees will emerge from training better prepared to take the appropriate measures to keep your energy bill low.

Develop a Working Energy Management Plan 

Your energy use is a critical part of managing your restaurant. If you’re ready to implement a strong energy management plan for your restaurant, perhaps contacting an Energy Management Consultant would be beneficial. Outside consultants have the ability to work with you on identifying potential problems, shape your energy investments, train your employees, and monitor energy use to ensure your restaurant is efficient.  

So, don’t rely on a message on your thermostat! Instead, discover more about how you can transform your restaurant’s energy use once and for all.

 

The Benefits of an Energy Management Plan in Restaurants posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

Four Strategic Reasons For Restaurants To Use Consumer Location Data, Beyond Advertising

When you think of consumer location data, you probably think of proximity ads, like coupons and special offers that get pushed to people nearby. While location data does enable a variety of advertising and marketing initiatives, what’s often overlooked is its broader, strategic business power.

Location informed insights — generated from opt-in data that is thoroughly cleansed and, most importantly, aggregated and anonymized — can provide restaurants with a rich source of information about their current and prospective customers, telling the stories of where they go and what they do there. Armed with these insights, restaurants can better understand the markets in which they operate, the behaviors and motivations of their patrons (and future patrons), the foot traffic patterns in the neighborhoods they serve, and gain the ability to understand the same information about their competition.

From real estate to menu development — here are four ways that you can get started with consumer location data.

Research

How well do you really know your customers’ palates? What opportunities are there for new food or drink items that you’ve not yet explored or marketed? Insights from location data can shed light on these blind spots and reveal untapped opportunities.

For example: if you’re considering adding wine pairings, wouldn’t it be great to know which local wineries or wine festivals your patrons also visit? Understanding that your patrons attend vegan cooking classes or visit specialty chocolate shops might just inspire a profitable new menu item. Location-based behavioral data helps you to both understand your customers on a deeper level, and discover the menu items, events and services that will appeal to them.

Competitive Intelligence

Want to know how frequently your customers (and prospects) eat at your competitors’ locations? How far do they travel, and where do they go en route to and after leaving a restaurant? Which restaurant categories and types of cuisine are trending in popularity?

These insights can be invaluable in helping inform restaurant decisions — everything from pricing, to the timing of special events, event when to run free dessert promotions — to better reach your guests in unique and successful ways.

Expansion

Location data should most definitely be part of your arsenal when considering opening an additional location. What can you learn about the people that frequent or live in that neighborhood? Evaluate the foot traffic patterns in and around your prospective location and consider what it might reveal. Layer on top of that behavioral insights about your target customers and you’ll see whether the location makes business sense, before you sign any contracts.

For example: if you’re the owner of a coffee shop and plan on promoting baked goods, it’d be wise to know first if the folks spending the most time in your area are fitness fanatics.

Operations

Location data can also help you understand where to hone and optimize operations so that your restaurant(s) and events run smoothly, and the experience your patrons receive is flawless. Retail store visits, movie premieres and local sports events can all impact restaurant traffic, and understanding these patterns can make the difference between record-setting revenues and being hopelessly understaffed.

Location informed insights can reveal when and where there are lines or underutilized spaces, helping you determine where, when and if you need to add or displace staff or amenities, and also identify opportunities for promotions, signage and even co-marketing partnerships. 

With a strategic approach, anonymized location data can help restaurant owners — regardless of business size or cuisine — continue to enhance their offerings, address potential competitive challenges, plan for the busy season and, ultimately, impact the bottom line.

Four Strategic Reasons For Restaurants To Use Consumer Location Data, Beyond Advertising posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

Debunking Event Management Myths (Infographic)

Did you know that 20-30 percent of a restaurant’s revenue can come from private events? Restaurants who don’t have an events business – or aren’t investing much in it – are missing out on a significant revenue stream. It may seem like a lot to take on – creating estimates, staying on top of menu changes, organizing staff for a party – on top of all the day-to-day responsibilities of a restaurant, but new event management software, like Gather, can actually save about 90 percent of an event manager’s time.

 

There are a lot of myths surrounding the restaurant event industry, but very few are true. At Gather, we surveyed some of our customers to debunk these myths about event management software and how it’s helped them grow their events business.

Debunking Event Management Myths (Infographic) posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

#ForAnthony: Restaurant Industry Remembers Bourdain

Pricing It Right on Your Restaurant Menu

The right price is the one that guests are willing to pay, ensuring maximum profit for the restaurant. It doesn’t matter how many restaurant management and menu engineering books you read, you will never find clear rules for setting the prices of menu items. Experts advise taking how much you spend on purchasing produce and multiplying this amount by three. However, the best teacher is experience. Despite the fact that there is no precise formula for fixing the right prices, I’ll try to shed light on this question and help you figure out how to price your menu.

Before Setting Prices

The Golden Rule of the restaurant business teaches us that menu creation always comes first. Don’t make any decisions on equipment and interior design until the restaurant menu is ready. At the very least, decide on the cuisine and the concept of your venue.

The process of calculating prices lies somewhere between a science, an art and intuition.

Many factors influence how menu prices should be set. I suggest you take note of them before fixing new prices or updating existing ones.

Unstable food prices: Ingredient prices may rise when you least expect them to. You could be prudent, setting higher prices for products which may go up in price. Thus, you won’t suffer losses, even if you spend a little more on these products.

Restaurant concept: Menu prices in a luxury restaurant will obviously differ from prices in restaurants with a lower level of service. Ensure your prices meet the quality of service you provide to customers. For example, there is no way a fine dining menu would include fast food items. And fresh, delicious food is not the only thing a good restaurant has to offer; there are also the interior design, pleasant atmosphere, and quality service. All of this directly affects how the menu should be priced.

Determine the price range: Every restaurant is individual, and its menu prices depend on location, labor costs, food supply, and demand. First of all, decide on the minimum price that you can offer your customers while achieving the desired profits. Then set the maximum price which customers would be willing to pay for your services. Gather information about the demographics of your state and average salaries.

Raise menu prices discreetly: Small price increases will be less noticed by customers and will simultaneously bring you substantial profits. In addition, prices ending in odd numbers, for example, $5.35 or $5.95, are also less noticed by customers than whole numbers.

How to Price Menu Items

The process of calculating prices lies somewhere between a science, an art, and intuition. Unfortunately, such an important part of a restaurant’s marketing plan has no accurate and reliable way of being calculated. In the end, when you get right down to it, you are faced with the questions of how this is done and where to start. To figure this out, I recommend following these five steps.

Step One:Determine the cost price of each menu item. Take into account all the expenses on food, beverages, waste (from boiling, frying, baking, etc.) and other direct and indirect costs. Most novice restaurateurs avoid these calculations, leading to inconsistencies in their budgets. Be smart in running your business rather than fall into this trap: Remember, those who know all the numbers will never make fatal mistakes. A responsible business owner will keep all documentation and reports in order and have the expenses and income of his restaurant under control. And the days are over when accountants and managers buried themselves in tons of paperwork. Now it’s possible to store your information in the cloud and use a reliable POS system for your accounts. Most point of sale software calculates the cost not only of the ingredients individually but the dishes in general. So, if you want to make your life a lot easier, then do your research and choose a system which works best for your business.

Step Two: When you figure out the cost of the ingredients and dishes, it’s time to move on to the next stage—the extra charge. Multiply the cost of each menu item by a factor from 3 to 7. Depending on your restaurant type and target audience, choose a ratio appropriate to your business. Taking into account all the costs arising (public service, taxes, rent, marketing, unexpected price increases, etc.), it will be impossible to achieve the desired profit at a low margin.

If you’re still not sure whether you need to increase the prices of existing menu items, and if the chosen pricing policy is appropriate to your target audience, you need to view this from a different perspective. To keep prices stable, you could find ways to reduce costs (for example, make purchases and production more economical), change a few expensive ingredients in certain dishes to cheaper substitutes, or try to slightly reduce the size of portions.

Step Three: Compare your prices to your competitors. It is also important to consider what overheads they have and, again, compare expenses. For example, if restaurant X has its own real estate and doesn’t pay rent, this is definitely an advantage. This may be the reason why X offers lower prices to its customers.

After comparing the prices on the menu, pay attention to the attractiveness and quality of the dishes. Even if you are sure that your restaurant is more attractive to potential guests, avoid the temptation to increase prices by too much, unless you have a specific and unique dish that attracts people.

If you set unreasonably high prices, guests will be disappointed. Don’t make it happen! If guests feel cheated, they will never come back to you, and moreover, they will share their doubts with other people. This can lead to the loss of regular guests and the reputation of the restaurant.

Step Four: Have you ever heard of menu engineering? This method helps you find the weak spots on your menu and improve them. Conduct a technical analysis of the menu not later than a month after the restaurant opens, and then repeat it monthly or quarterly. This is a very important part of restaurant management and deserves special attention. If you don’t know how well each menu item works and how much money it brings in, it will be hard to achieve the hoped-for constant profit.

Step Five: This step will help your menu work even better after you have set the prices. Highlight your most profitable dishes. Many dishes just take up space on your menu without bringing in much profit. Do everything possible to draw the attention of customers to the most cost-effective meals on your menu.

Menu development requires a lot of effort but if you do everything properly, the benefits will just be a matter of time.

Pricing It Right on Your Restaurant Menu posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com