BUSINESS: How to Prep Your Restaurant for Flu Season
Winter is coming and with it flu season. Each year, 31.4 million Americans visit the doctor due to flu symptoms. And with bars and restaurants being a hub of human activity all-year round, there’s a good chance that someone will drag in some unwanted bugs into your location. The question is: What are you doing about it?
DID YOU KNOWS…
Price of Beer at NFL Stadiums
While buying a six pack at the local liquor store isn’t too bad, getting a pint at your local NFL stadium is an entirely different matter. The league average is $8.17, but you could be spending $10+ on a beer at eight different stadiums. Per ounce, the league averages about $0.52. Here’s the full infographic.
No Cheesesteak Burger for Philly
Philly takes its cheesesteak seriously. So seriously that a Philly Burger King won’t be serving BK’s new cheesesteak burger out of respect for the “traditional recipe.” BK says it’s updating the original cheesesteak because of a “fundamental flaw” and we can only imagine the riots that’ll happen in Philly over that phrase alone. Maybe Gritty will even show up for a talk. But for now, one Philly BK won’t serve the “upgrade” – unless the demand is high enough, of course.
Gen Z Has Little Interest in Sports TV
The NFL and MLB don’t seem to be drawing in the kids like they used to. According to a new poll released by Morning Consult, generation Z, the youngest cohort of adults who currently are between the ages of 18 and 21, are departing from their older peers when it comes to their taste in sports. While the NFL still stands as a favorite for adults generally and young adults specifically, there is now a 5-point difference between young adults and adults widely. That departure only widens when looking at other sports leagues. In fact, American Major League Soccer within spitting distance of MLB when it comes to the favorability of the different leagues by the youngest generation of Americans.
TIPPING MACHINE
Why it matters to you: No surprise here, tipping automation increases tips.
When confronted with a declared choice of tipping or saying “No, Thank You” on a POS screen, guests rarely opt-out of tipping. This is data that was surfaced by Skift, regarding the performance of POS provider Toast’s tipping screen for transaction completion. Other point of sale services like Square not similar increases in tipping. Oh and tips increased at restaurants that use tableside ordering/payment systems like Ziosk or Tablesafe for pay at the table solutions.
This is meaningful if it can give you an advantage with servers and bartenders. If you rely on tip credit to compensate your service team then utilizing pay at the table, with tip suggestions, will increase the wages of your tipped employees. This can be a huge advantage when searching for front of the house staff. By pointing to their increased earnings potential, you may convince a candidate that yours is the place they should apply and work. It fits so well with the demands of the current service staff generation that expects you to have the latest technology available to improve their work environment.
[Source: SkiftTable]
DELIVERING ON ITS PROMISE
Why it matters to you: Do you have room for a virtual delivery service in your operation?
There is so much conflicting news about our industry, it may be hard to determine how to respond to any trends. With traffic levels dropping almost universally for full-service restaurants, one trend you may want to pursue is delivery -- just maybe not in the way you might traditionally consider it. For example, UberEats, the meal delivery service offered by ride giant Uber, has nearly 1000 partner locations that are virtual restaurants. This is defined as a delivery-concept operating out of an existing restaurant, but using completely different branding/menuing out of the same space.
This doesn’t mean you can’t use your current restaurant operations to drive interest in your alternative delivery concept. It does mean, however, developing a delivery-friendly menu that you can fulfill without a major disruption to your current turnout operations. Given that most full-service dinner menus don’t travel well, this is a great alternative to offering your full menu for delivery. By preserving items that do travel well and adding other items to complete your offerings you can take the best of your current menu and seed your delivery. It’s a bit like catering, except no chafing dishes and you don’t have to add any equipment or additional staff. Certainly, delivery is worth exploring and then determining if it fits the needs of your business.
[Source: Eater]
