Tuesday, August 8, 2017
Today's Specials:
BUSINESS: How to Protect Your Restaurant’s Reputation
It can be hard to get positive reviews when your potential customers encounter negative reviews every time they look for a new restaurant. So, how do you protect your online reputation?
SPORTS: English Premier League Offers Games Stream-Only
For the past several years, many of you have enjoyed a great value from the English Premier League Extra Time programming. NBC holds the contract and has decided to monetize the second tier games that did not make their national broadcast channels via a streaming-only approach.
DID YOU KNOWS…
IG Stories > Snap Stories
Social media platforms are known to play dirty. In a report from a top business management firm, brands were found to upload Instagram Stories more than twice as often as they are on Snapchat. During July, the firm tracked 89 brands with both an Instagram and Snapchat account and found that Instagram Stories were the clear brand posting winner.
Breaking the Unwritten Restaurant Rules
Working in restaurants we notice countless customers that just don’t get it. In an effort to make you say “I hate that too!” Thrillist counted down 19 unwritten restaurant rules that are often broken by naïve customers. And yes, showing up five minutes before closing is on the list.
Business Is Booming
Over the past few years, it seems like restaurants are going out of business left and right. However, federal job-growth data shows that the restaurant industry has added roughly 313,000 new jobs in the past year. For perspective, that’s over half the population of Wyoming.
THE DIRTY TRUTH BEHIND WEARING GLOVES
Why it matters to you: Bacteria can still spread to food even if your food handlers are wearing plastic gloves.
Food safety operations have been under scrutiny in multiple restaurants across the country. Most recently, Chipotle’s norovirus outbreak was discovered to be the result of a sick employee handling food, therefore, many managers have reevaluated their food preparation process by requiring food handlers to wear plastic gloves. However, wearing plastic gloves does not always prevent the spreading of pathogens. A 2004 study from Food Safety Magazine found that employees wearing gloves will fail to notices punctures or tears 50% of the time. Even more alarming, this means there’s a good chance that thousands of bacteria can get into whatever the food handler is touching, which most often, is food served in your restaurant.
Many food service workers reported in another study that they don't always wash their hands or change their gloves when they should, including after handling raw meat. The underlying problem with food safety operations is the misconception that gloves mean clean. The only ways to avoid contamination are to require food handlers to wash their hands religiously, even after wearing plastic gloves. Recent cases from Chipotle have shown that even if you feel your food safety operations are up to par, take an extra close look as to how staff handles food to prevent possible outbreaks.
TRUMP’S ‘RAISE’, DOES IT HURT OR HELP?
Why it matters to you: How many green card holders do you employ?
In an announcement last week, the President is touting new legislation that will dramatically change the landscape of legal immigration. The bill, co-sponsored by Republican Senator Tom Cotton(AR) and David Perdue(GA), will cut the issuance of Green Cards in half to just 500K per year and would require applicants to speak English and have a specific and verifiable skill before entering for work. This drop from 1,000,000 legal immigration approvals could prove problematic for some in our industry.
What makes things worse is the language and skills element of the RAISE legislation. Our industry counts on workers with language skills not being the same barrier they might be to other industries. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) says this new bill will be devastating to the economy in his home state. If you employ a lot of immigrants and count on folks with green cards for some of your entry level work, this will be a real problem for you.
