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Running a restaurant today is a challenging undertaking. Some challenges, like crowded and highly competitive markets and shifting consumer demands, have always been relevant to restaurant owners. Now, as restaurants embrace new technologies, there’s another threat to consider: cybercrime. Cybercriminals are a growing threat to virtually every industry.
With profit margins ranging on average from three to nine percent , restaurants are continually looking to keep costs down. How do restaurant operators find efficiencies to minimize costs without degrading quality or service? The industry has since entered recovery mode , but returning to pre-pandemic levels won’t be easy. Consumers have shown interest in returning to restaurants, but it’s a slow march, not a cavalcade.
The rise in popularity of contactless payments can mean leaner operations, happier staff, and – most importantly – happier customers. Contactless ordering and pay-at-the-table systems had already started gaining a slow-but-steady foothold over the past three years. Then the COVID-19 pandemic happened. That, in turn, forced the acceleration of adoption of contactless ordering and payment options from both the consumer and the restaurant sides of the business.
With the new year just around the corner, many restaurants are deciding how they can enhance their operations going forward. While there is plenty of technology out there to optimize your establishment, one food service trend is becoming a mainstay: Internet of Things. Internet of Things, or IoT for short, lets one digital device communicate with multiple devices over an internet connection without human intervention.
Driven by a diverse and exciting ecosystem of passionate, ambitious, and often young entrepreneurs, the Food & Beverage (F&B) sector is a highly competitive environment full of immense challenges and exciting opportunities. Expert Market’s 2024 industry report, sponsored by Toast, is informed by a survey of 522 U.S. food and beverage professionals, from restaurant owners to food service managers, providing insights into the real-time challenges and opportunities within the industry.
After the rollercoaster of the last year and a half, the restaurant industry is moving forward with making upgrades they put off because of the disruption COVID-19 created. The trends the industry had in 2019 toward improved tech stacks, better reporting, and streamlined operations can’t wait any longer, and restaurants are finding the budget to put toward technology again.
Throughout her career, Ellen Linardi has been driven by the passion to build products that help small businesses hold their own against big companies.That desire fueled the Global Head of Product for Clover and her team to help restaurant owners struggling during the pandemic pivot operations and compete in the now digital-first world. In just three weeks, they created a native solution that allowed Clover restaurant merchants to enable online ordering for delivery or curbside pickup.
Restaurant technology adoption has accelerated throughout the pandemic, shifting digital tools from futuristic nice-to-haves into critical components of day-to-day operations. Adopting in-house technologies became necessary for restaurants to stay open throughout the pandemic, restart operations after temporary closures, and pivot services to maintain revenue while still following enhanced health and safety protocols.
Restaurant technology adoption has accelerated throughout the pandemic, shifting digital tools from futuristic nice-to-haves into critical components of day-to-day operations. Adopting in-house technologies became necessary for restaurants to stay open throughout the pandemic, restart operations after temporary closures, and pivot services to maintain revenue while still following enhanced health and safety protocols.
As we continue to move past the fallout from the pandemic there will be a growing reliance on technology within every aspect of the operation and companies can be ready to take advantage, but they must start now or be left behind. Outside of adapting new technologies to tackle ordering and delivery, one area that is evolving and showing great promise is in the war for talent.
The food and beverage industry is on a hiring frenzy. With pandemic-related restrictions being eased and dine-in being allowed again, restaurant owners are in need of a lot of staff. The April 2021 Job Openings and Labor Turnover summary issued by The Department of Labor showed that restaurants added almost 350,000 new job openings since March, bringing the sector’s total number of job openings as of April to 1.34 million.
Food service suppliers have been scrambling to keep pace with fluctuating demand in a supply chain that has been anything but predictable since 2020. Total restaurant industry sales in the U.S. hit an all-time low of $30 billion in April 2020. Since then, sales have fluctuated in response to surges of COVID-19 cases, climbing up to $72 billion in August 2021.
This edition of MRM's "Ask the Expert” features advice from Buyers Edge Platform. Please send questions to Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine Executive Editor Barbara Castiglia at bcastiglia@modernrestaurantmanagement.com. Q: How Can I Prevent Contract Overlaps and Overpricing? A : Contract overlaps and pricing have a lot of impact on restaurant operators and their business, especially for those without supply chain personnel or who are simply too busy to check or double c
The nature of restaurant management is a pendulum; each year operators swing back and forth to prepare for challenges and take advantage of new opportunities. While 2022 may bring new problems, at its heart, it still follows the same cycle of preparation and prevention. Reviewing the market landscape is a great way to get ahead of the competition. Read on for our key predictions to help operators get a leg up.
Each year, food waste in the restaurant industry reaches losses that are in the billions. And, while there are multiple points of waste throughout the food supply chain, imagine if it were possible to limit losses due to power outages. What would it mean for a restaurant’s bottom line to keep refrigerators, freezers, ice machines and display coolers running during power outages?
Finding a restaurant today is typically accomplished by typing in search terms like “Italian restaurant near me.” From there, the majority of people look at only the top three to six results served up by Google and other search engines to select their restaurant of choice. Understandably, the top six search results are the most coveted rankings for any business and are commonly referred to as the Google Six Pack.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought endless changes to the restaurant industry, but perhaps the most significant has been the rise of the contactless dining experience. The pandemic forced restaurants to adapt to not only a new, leaner business model but also to new consumer behavior. With customers opting for alternatives to dine-in, restaurants adapted to build solutions to offer takeout, delivery and curbside pickup options.
Amid all the unknowns COVID-19 has served up over the past year and a half, a few certainties have emerged. Within the hospitality industry, there is universal agreement that restaurants have been through the ringer. And it doesn’t appear the ups and downs of this pandemic will end anytime soon. With delta variant cases surging and a second pandemic winter looming, restaurants are desperately trying to sustain and fuel their recoveries.
While your restaurant may feature a diverse menu, delicious food, a great ambiance, and excellent customer service, you will still struggle to build a customer base without promoting it. The fact is that running a successful restaurant is more than just offering good food and good service. Providing top-quality food and service should remain your restaurant’s foremost priority, but you also need to get the word out and attract new customers.
Restaurants across the country are returning to pre-pandemic operations. Dining rooms are open, and tables are at 100 percent capacity in most states. However, based on the spread of the delta variant, shifting mask guidance from the CDC, differing local government regulations (such as Los Angeles County’s current indoor mask requirement regardless of vaccination status) and low vaccination rates in various states , restaurant operations are still far from normal.
The pandemic has ravaged many businesses in the country and few industries were hit as hard as the restaurant industry. Thousands upon thousands of restaurants were forced to close for safety reasons, some permanently. Now more than ever, restaurant owners need to improve the way dining places are run to survive these uncertain times. Consumers and customers have changed their behavior due to the events of the previous year.
According to The Enterprises Project , digital transformation can be defined as the integration of digital technology into all areas of a business, fundamentally changing how you operate and deliver value to customers. It’s also a cultural change that requires organizations to continually challenge the status quo, experiment, and get comfortable with failure.
The last year has had a profound impact on both restaurant operations and customer preferences, resulting in permanent changes. The impact of the global pandemic has fast-tracked the restaurant industry's need for digital ordering, particularly for off-premises dining options. Research company eMarketer forecasts that by the end of 2021, there will be 44.1 million users of food delivery apps in the U.S., and up to 53.9 million by the end of 2023.
Every industry felt the impact of the labor crunch during the pandemic and now, as recovery efforts are underway, businesses are struggling to recover employees quickly enough to meet the rise in demand. Particularly impacted by the staffing shortage, restaurants are struggling to beat the labor crisis, with staffing shortages felt in both back-of-house and front-of-house staff.
The landmark Americans with Disability Act (ADA) requires restaurants to ensure that their premises are accessible for people with disabilities. While the law marks one of the most important victories for the rights of those with disabilities, much more can be done to accommodate this community with its ever-evolving needs, including utilizing advanced technology.
The trends around restaurant ownership change with time, but the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated consumer and investor trends alike. Consumer expectations have been permanently altered, and there are some key features to look for when seeking to invest in a franchise that will keep up with those expectations. Concepts to Invest in. Investors have continued to invest in brands that have experienced slower growth or even struggled to grow in recent years.
This year, 42 percent of restaurant brands plan to invest in customer loyalty programs. This is no surprise given that mobile has now become the restaurant industry standard, especially as the pandemic accelerated the need for digital ordering technologies. In 2020, Starbucks reported that nearly a quarter of all its orders in the U.S. were placed from a phone.
Everyone wants their company to thrive and beat the competition. Understanding the business of PR is paramount for success. Journalists need valuable content, pitches, unique soundbites, and trending topics. Companies must be responsive and be familiar with news cycles and trending topics. Yet, often, companies are busy working IN their business rather than ON their business.
With many restaurants closed for in-person dining on and off throughout the pandemic, the food service industry shifted to delivery and takeout as a business imperative. According to SEC filings, food delivery apps experienced tremendous growth in 2020 earning a combined $5.5 billion in revenue from April through September of 2020—compared with $2.5 billion from the same period in 2019.
As COVID-19 continues to impact the country, it is obvious that few industries are exempt from the impact of the pandemic. In March, businesses were forced to take a step back and look at their business model to ensure that they were addressing their customer’s health, hygiene and safety concerns. On top of that, brands were also forced to address the other issues brought on by COVID-19 like supply chain, workforce etc.
For people considering operating a restaurant, besides a great menu, the aesthetics of the restaurant must also be tackled. One key reason why many restaurants fail despite having great food is failing to consider the restaurant design. Restaurant interior design is the key to attracting customers. It should be like a magnet for guests, promising them both an exceptional culinary and sensory experience.
While staffing has always topped the list of restaurant owner/manager pain points, it now seems to be at crisis proportions. And the situation isn’t likely to improve soon as more competition in the battle for talent is anticipated. According to the latest Yelp Economic Average (YEA) report, there were more new businesses openings than at any other period over the last 12 months and business reopenings are at the highest level since the second quarter of 2020.
Valentine’s Day is coming up – one of the busiest holidays of the year for restaurants. According to SlickText’s “2021 Share the Love Survey,” 34 percent of respondents said their biggest Valentine’s Day spend will be at restaurants and 46 percent are prioritizing spending money at local businesses. Even with COVID-19 causing unexpected changes to your usual Valentine's Day plans, there are plenty of creative ways your restaurant can celebrate a day of lov
After a rough 12 months for the restaurant industry, the pending eligibility of workers to get the COVID-19 vaccination shines a brightening light toward the end of the tunnel. Under the CDC’s Phased Allocation of COVID-19 Vaccines plan, foodservice workers would be included in round 1C of the vaccination distribution rollout, along with workers in the transportation, construction, finance, IT and communications, energy, legal, public safety and media industries.
The National Retail Federation estimates that 41 percent of consumers will celebrate Valentine’s day with a special dinner or celebration at home. Valentine’s Day is often a busy time for restaurants, but many are now dealing with various challenges amid the pandemic, like no indoor dining or limited capacity as well as more customers opting for carry out.
In the last few months, restaurants across the country from San Francisco to Cape Cod have announced closures to give staff a much-needed mental health break. Most restaurant owners would be loath to shutter their doors, especially as customer demand has jumped compared to 2020. But more demanding, less patient customers, combined with a mass exodus of restaurant workers, are leaving those employees who choose to remain in the industry strained to the limit.
The last time I was in Madrid, a friend and I perused English menus at a popular tapas joint. I requested the Spanish menu, too. As a food translator, I know that seeing the original is often the best way to decipher what’s on offer. As I salivated over old favorites, my non-Spanish-speaking friend asked, “What’s this world-famous potato dish with eggs?
There’s no denying consumer behavior has fundamentally shifted over the last couple of years, and it’s transformed the landscape of the restaurant industry along with it. Indeed, we’ve entered a new era of customer habits –– much of it catalyzed by the pandemic, but some of which was already beginning to take shape even prior.
With today’s food trends moving toward the direction of fresh, healthy, local, and sustainable, the term “plant-based” continues to enter the conversation on every playing field. Plant-based food businesses, events, and pop-ups are frequently entering the market and it has become exceedingly clear that this is not just a fad. Often associated with the term “Vegan”, plant-based foods have evolved and now target all types of eaters: vegans, vegetarians, flexitarians,
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