Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Today's Specials:

INFOGRAPHIC: The Ultimate Guide to Restaurant Marketing

There are so many different restaurant marketing options for owners and operators that it can get a little hectic. Do you go traditional print route or concentrate on digital media? Keep it “free” and organic or delve into paid advertising? Go guerilla or traditional? Options are good. Too many options and where do you begin?

[WATCH] Avoid a Lawsuit: Restaurant Web Accessibility [Under 60 Seconds]

Did you know that the Americans with Disabilities Act extends to include websites? You could get hit with a nasty lawsuit if your restaurant's website is missing a few things. Find out what those are and how to prevent litigation in under 60 seconds...

DID YOU KNOWS…

21 Beer Salute!

Prohibition might be a thing of the past, but speakeasies are still in style. Here’s a cool gallery of 21 of the best secret bars from around the world. We’re packing our bags!

Goanna Girl

A waitress is getting her 15 minutes of fame after she dragged a 6’ goanna lizard out of her restaurant. The waitress first thought the lizard was a dog, she said. Leave it to Australia. Check the video of the encounter here.

Is Angelina Jolie Starting a New Food Craze?

We have no idea, but there’s video going around of her cooking and feeding bugs for her kids while in Cambodia. She partook in the buggy meal, too. “You start with crickets and a beer, and you then you kind of move up to tarantulas,” she said. Well, duh. Here’s the video!

"You want to share a spider?" - Angelina Jolie cooks bugs in Cambodia 🕷https://t.co/5mSi3VNErT pic.twitter.com/OZ12DjpyJD
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) February 20, 2017

INDUSTRY INVENTORY ACTUALLY LOW

Why it matters to you: Our market isn’t as saturated as we thought.

Over the past few months, we’ve published plenty of articles pointing at industry saturation as the reason for stagnant market growth. A new article from market watch, however, is actually pointing to lowered demand, not increased supply as the real reason restaurants aren’t making money and are shutting down. The number of restaurants per million people aka restaurant density is the lowest it’s been in ten years.

It looks like reports are pointing to the death of independent restaurants. The number of chain restaurants has grown. Fast-casual is growing as well, but quick-service and full-service are still on the decline. While fast-casual is still the fastest growing in our industry chain restaurants maintain the highest number of units. Is it the end of the line for servers? Only time will tell.

MY RESTAURANT MADE ME FAT

Why it matters to you: your staff shouldn’t have to sacrifice a healthy lifestyle for work.

There is a common stereotype that “great chefs are overweight.” While this may or may not be true, Munchies recently featured an article profiling an overweight chef that closed his restaurant because it was making him fat. After closing his restaurant, he soon began training for triathlons where he lost the weight gained from his culinary career. With improvements to his fitness routine, he was able to maintain hours in his ice cream shop while traveling the world for triathlon training.

A career as a chef can take a toll on one’s health both mentally and physically. Working long hours without much movement is considered normal in most kitchens. Most chefs work without benefits or paid time off, making it incredibly difficult to stay physically fit. Establishments are beginning a trend where the culinary staff is treated better, but for now, it is our job to take care of everyone, including the kitchen staff.

TRENDS THAT CHANGE

Why it matters to you: These trends aren’t slowing down

Over the past several months we have curated a variety of stories that focus on major trend shifts in our industry. In no particular order, we have the rise of the fast-casual restaurant, the importance of digital ordering/delivery and the resurgence of chicken theme restaurants. Nothing in the news seems to be contradicting those trend observations. For example, Whole Foods has announced they are co-locating a fast casual concept in their stores starting with an Atlanta sport this spring. The organic foods pioneer is opening a Brazilian churrascaria called Roast which will feature adult beverages, seating for 48 and even a pool table.

But these examples of continuing trends are limited to fast casual. Look at Bloomin’ Brands (Outback/Carrabba’s) efforts to test off-premise sales. They are expecting to add 115 restaurants to a delivery test by the end of the 1st quarter. This news followed closely by the announcement that the owners of Burger King have offered $1.8 billion to buy Popeye’s Chicken and the trifecta of trend-proof is complete. While it’s unlikely any of you will buy a competitor to get into the chicken segment there is still much you can learn from these developments. Rethinking how you provide your products, either via delivery or a fast-casual approach to your food is a trend you may be forced to emulate. You should at minimum be considering how you move forward from there.