The Daily Rail: If Top Restaurant CEOs are Threatened by Amazon, You Should Be Too

Thursday, September 28, 2017

 

Today's Specials: 

 

BUSINESS: Quit Eyeballing Your Supplier Pricing [Sponsored by Orderly]

No other business eyeballs its expenses, especially when it represents 30% of the overall budget. But this is a common practice in the restaurant business and a huge red flag. The Orderly app is the industry's first free guide to prices restaurants are paying for their supplies.

 

DID YOU KNOWS…

That’s Nacho Cheese

During Tuesday’s Cubs-Cardinals game, Chicago Cubs shortstop Addison Russell accidentally went crowd surfing into the St. Louis Cardinals’ stands. In the process, he kicked over a fans’ nachos and unexpectedly made up for the loss. These hilarious tweets capture the entire play-by-play, as well as Russell bringing out the fan a new plate of nachos.

Coke Costume Crime

Police are on the hunt for a man who robbed a Kentucky restaurant dressed as a Coca-Cola bottle. Armed with a handgun, the Coke bottle dude stole more than $500 and fled in a gray minivan. Even better, there’s surveillance video of the entire thing that you need to see.

The costumed gunman, cops say, stole more than $500 from a Kentucky restaurant.

NCAA Corruption

Ten people including four NCAA coaches and senior Adidas execs were recently arrested on federal corruption charges. The coaches from multiple colleges allegedly accepted bribes from sports agents in exchange for their college athletes to sign with their brand once they went pro. Adidas allegedly paid high schoolers to attend schools the company sponsored. Not good.

 

DOMINATING EVERY MARKET THEY ENTER

Why it matters to you: If Amazon is a concern for top restaurant CEOs, then it should be for you as well.

Amazon has had its sights set on the food industry for a while now and made a huge jump when they purchased Whole Foods. More importantly, their recent moves have caught the eyes of top restaurant CEOs for fears that fast food could be the next market for Amazon. In a Business Insider article, Sonic CEO Cliff Hudson discusses his concerns about Amazon’s potential to cut into fast food sales, and what that would mean for business. In response to the company’s domination of every market they enter, restaurants are going out of their way to remain relevant.

Hudson recommends that the answer for these threatened chains is in newer technology, which will help businesses easily increase their audiences. Sonic is currently working on a new mobile order-and-pay function for their drive-in restaurants, along with the countless other food chains. Businesses that don’t keep up will likely be affected by the vast competition all fighting for the same customer base. Restaurant operators should keep Amazon’s future business decisions on their radar as their business could be affected in the long term.     

 

IT SLICES, IT DICES, IT JULIENNES FRIES… AND OTHER BOLD CLAIMS

Why it matters to you: Be careful what your menu promises.

There is plenty of evidence to prove that consumers are expecting healthier options from restaurant operators. The rise of fast casual is certainly indicative of that push. How far can claims of healthy eating go from a restaurant before they border on “snake oil” sales? This post on Eater has some specific thoughts on health claims being made by restaurants and it’s pretty damning. Unless you can prove the veracity of your claims with evidence from academically reviewed studies, then you are likely running afoul of the FDA’s regulations.

It’s far better to focus on the provenance of your products than their health benefits. The average consumer is sufficiently tuned to their dietary choices that they aren’t coming to your restaurant for a tonic that will make them feel years younger. They are, however, clearly interested in choices that allow them to consider a healthy meal. If we have learned anything from the advent of the Millennial generation as a consumer group, they appreciate healthy and will pay more if they perceive their meal to be so.

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