LEADERSHIP: Restaurant Operators, You're Rock Stars
A recent survey listed restaurant gigs as some of the least prestigious jobs in America. Horseshit. What you do matters, restaurant world. Here’s why.
DID YOU KNOWS…
Mind of a Chef Goes Facebook
After five years on PBS, Mind of a Chef has moved to Facebook Watch. The show focuses on chefs and their restaurants. Meanwhile, Facebook is looking to create its own social version of Hulu & Netflix, creating different and interesting content, so sounds like it could be a good match. It definitely makes accessing the show much easier and widespread.
28 Pie Charts That Show Female Representation in Food
Women make up more than half of restaurant’s staff but are pretty lacking in representation when it comes to chef work. Eater compiled 28 infographics that show just how little love women are getting in food.
Ratings Dip for NASCAR
As NASCAR’s viewership gets older, the number of people watching is declining, which isn’t a good sign for the sport and any sports bar that hangs it’s hat on car racing. Since 2005, NASCAR’s TV viewership is down 45%! Insane.
LOCALLY YOURS
Why it matters to you: Is Facebook Local a help or hindrance?
Does our industry need another local search platform to make us worried about? Well, Facebook seems to think so. They recently announced their new app called Facebook Local. The idea behind is to take the recommendations of people you know that have visited a spot rather than full crowd sourced reviewers like Yelp.
If you subscribe to the concept of influencers then you will likely think this is a great addition. The good news is that if you have already curated your Facebook presence, you won’t have to do any additional work to get set up, but it does mean one more place you will need to monitor people’s responses to your restaurant.
As we discussed in recent Daily Rail, the influencer is a powerful target for restaurant marketers as they amplify your marketing efforts through any postings they do on your behalf. Facebook Local essentially organizes the recommendations of friends and influencers in an easy to access format that will suggest spots that have your contacts approval.
To be honest, we suggest you take a wait and see approach with Facebook Local only to be sure it’ll be around in the long run. Facebook has launched a ton of apps that come and go, so we can’t be sure what the future of this one looks like. However, it can’t hurt to make sure you are putting your best foot forward on this new platform, just in case.
SUCCESS SECRETS REVEALED
Why it matters to you: What do Panera employees know about their business that we can all learn?
If you want to understand how a fast-casual operator like Panera has sustained their growth and business reputation, you need look no further than this blog post that described 30 secrets about their business from their staff. There are some gems about guest service that make total sense, but are systematized in their operations to ensure they don’t get missed. Whether it’s the revelation that closing staff get to take home leftover perishables for their effort or that guest preference drives their soup choices, you can see a company that understands their constituency.
Success is not an accident in most restaurant operations and Panera has brought that success to new levels in their genre. They give away the unsold bread to local shelters, but they aren’t afraid to raise their prices when commodities of service expenses rise. This balance between high quality and guest satisfaction is why they aren’t punished by the consumer when their prices rise. Also their treatment of staff is admirable from deep discounts on food to generous health benefits. We often discuss following industry leaders and Panera seems to be one we can all learn from these days.
