Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Today's Specials:
VIDEO: Be Merry with Mulled Wine [Under 60 Seconds]
The holidays are here, and what better way to celebrate than with mulled wine?! It's a long-standing and tasty tradition with many variations. Learn more about this tasty beverage in under sixty seconds.
GUIDE & VIDEO: Transforming the Guest Experience Through On-Demand Technology
Almost 75% of owners & operators agree that investing in technology boosts profits. Yet half of them admit they're lagging in tech adoption. Yikes! If you're not leveraging modern technology -- especially on-demand tech -- you're leaving heaps of cash on the table. Give your guests a better experience with on-demand tech. Download this free guide and video stream to get started.
DID YOU KNOWS…
Better Off?
The American Dream is closely connected to the plight of the American middle class. You can measure what the state of affairs is by calculating how many children are earning more than their parents had. And things are getting tougher. Check out the infographic here.
Yay or Neigh?
Unwanted Animal Kitchen in the Breda, Netherlands is a food truck looking to teach people about how humans shouldn’t consider animals disposable products. Their fix? Turn the “useless” animals into food. The star of the menu is the My Little Pony Burger (made with real horse meat) that goes for a whopping $18.
Cuisinart Recall
Cuisinart and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission are recalling about 8 million food processor blades in America after receiving reports from consumers of broken blade pieces in their processed food. See if you own one of their products here.
Purposeful Popup Has Two-Fold Benefit
Why it matters to you: Helping others can help you.
The biggest spot for brunch in Toronto isn’t what you’d expect. It’s actually a pop-up, the first of its kind staffed by Syrian refugees. It started when Len Senater, a restauranteur, realized that the growing refugee population in his city were living in hotels with nowhere to cook. He provided a space for women to prepare meals for themselves and their families, and then realized that the greater population of Toronto would love their food as well
Newcomer Kitchen has been selling out tickets to their brunches and has expanded to providing more meals. Women are in charge at Newcomer Kitchen and the greatest challenge? Inventory. The chefs of the establishment are used to eyeballing measurements, and while accurate, it makes Senater’s job of ordering supplies a bit more difficult without hard measurements. Despite its challenges, this endeavor is a huge success, one we hope that will inspire more like it.
THE *SECRET KNOCK* MENU
Why it matters to you: Are you thinking out of the box to generate more revenue?
A Baltimore restaurant is taking an underground route in spreading the word about their establishment and connecting with diners. Their strategy? Offering menu items that only a select bunch of customers know about. These secret dishes are only known by the employees with the idea that they will spread the word among friends in the restaurant industry, letting the secret slowly spread from the inside out. In turn, when customers ask for these secret menu items, others will notice and cause a ripple effect.
This is an interesting idea that has been seen in some restaurants before. The process of providing insider knowledge to guests causes people to feel more connected to the establishment because the information isn’t known by everyone else. Keep in mind this can take a dangerous turn, as in customers feeling excluded. If executed correctly, this method can really generate positive word of mouth. People love exclusivity and in this case, can be used as a marketing strategy to increase revenue.
CHIPOTLE 86’d AGAIN
Why it matters to you: Chipotle is an object lesson in how to destroy a good thing. Inventory issues are only their latest gaffe.
How many more times will Chipotle be forced to acknowledge how poorly they are running their business to investors? While there is no answer to that question, their latest revelation is, they are regularly running out of food at their locations. Any of you that are involved in managing food and beverage cost know how straight forward it is to stay ahead of your inventory needs. The notion that a large chain operator with training, technology and personnel resources can’t get this right is unthinkable. However, that hasn’t stopped Chipotle’s performance from making ‘running out’ of items their number two guest complaint.
The starting point to never running out of food is professionally managing your inventory. Inventory doesn’t need to be difficult, just consistent. By creating systems and staying disciplined about their implementation, you can execute a quick and painless inventory process that insures you never have this problem again. Maybe Chipotle should contact our friends at Orderly for some help. It’s clear they aren’t getting it done on their own, so maybe they could use an expert to help them get back on track.
OFFICE ANYWHERE
Why it matters to you: If you aren’t busy at lunch, you can re-task your dining room as a workspace
Increasingly people are working as independent contractors or remotely. You can verify this by visiting any coffee outlet and see all the laptop squatters taking up space and slowing down the wifi. With so many people in need of a place to sit and work, that want to leave the house, you would think someone would deliver a solution. Turns out they have. Enter Glass Hour’s in NYC. They are a full-service café, but they don’t charge by the cup, instead, by the hour. Ten cents a minute with a one-hour minimum gets you on their wifi and a cup of coffee. If your dining room isn’t full at lunch, why not consider this exact paradigm. If you are in a high foot traffic place, this could be the difference between losing money at lunch or creating simple revenue with super high profit. You pay rent for the full month, why not increase the revenue that rent can deliver by inviting people to sit and work at your empty tables. Worst case, it will make the place seem busier.
Banner image courtesy of Muchies.com
In today’s restaurant news: how to leverage social media influencer marketing, the restaurant industry collapses under COVID-19, how Congress has failed the restaurant industry, and more.