MARKETING: Get Back to Basics with the Easy f’real Simple Smoothie [Sponsored Recipe]
While we love eccentric frozen drinks, sometimes it’s nice to fall back on the classic smoothie flavors. See how simple smoothie beverages can boost your frozen drink program and make a base for some really creative frozen drinks this summer.
DID YOU KNOWS…
Salah's Transfer Value in Perspective
The CIES Football Observatory tracks the value of football (i.e. soccer) players' transfer value. Some players have seen their value skyrocket in recent years with Egypt and Liverpool's Mohamed Salah one of the most obvious examples. After a phenomenal season in England, his transfer value has risen to €171 million, a sum far higher than any of his international team mates. In fact, Salah's transfer value is 74 percent of Egypt's entire squad value. See other World Cup player values here (some a pretty insane).
For more World Cup infographics, visit here. And be sure to bookmark our 2018 International Soccer Central guideto download your free copy of the World Cup TV schedule and build some amazing World Cup promotions.
Alaska First For Per Capita Credit Card Debt
Big debt can hurt a person’s purchasing power and that’s gonna trickle down to businesses like restaurants and sports bars as eating out becomes a luxury. In the last quarter of 2017, the average Alaskan resident carried a credit card balance of $4,270. That's over $1,000 higher than the national average of $3,100. New Jersey is the second-worst state for credit card debt, averaging $3,910 per capita while Hawaii comes third with $3,860. The cloud of debt isn't as dark in the south and Mississippi is best off with debt of $2,020 per capita. The bottom-five is completed by West Virginia ($2,240), Kentucky ($2,280), Arkansas ($2,300) and Alabama ($2,370).
How Vodka Became the Spirit of Pride
June is Pride Month and vodka has become synonymous with Pride. Ever wonder why that is? VinePair digs into the long history between the LGBTQ community and the connection to vodka.
IHOb-ullsh*t
Why it matters to you: IHOP’s temporary name change has generated some interest and they might be regretting it.
IHOP has been teasing a name change from IHOP to IHOb on Twitter for a little while now. Naturally everyone thought it would be for “International House of Breakfast” as opposed to “International House of Pancakes” due to their large breakfast menu but we were all wrong. The “b”was for “burgers”and the Internet has gone bananas. Wendy’s, Hot Pockets, Chili’s, countless celebrities and other folks have been trolling IHOb to death regarding the marketing campaign. Do people even order non-breakfast items there? We can’t see this push working for them even if it turns out to be temporary.
This raises a pretty solid point for operators out there trying to do too much or overstep their expertise. Don’t do it. People do not need the option to get tacos, pizza, and coq au vin in the same establishment. We always like to think about one of Bourdain’s golden rules for choosing a place to eat whilst traveling and apply it to your business:
“My favorite restaurants are ones where they only do two or three things. A place that does three things and it looks like they’ve been doing those same three things for a very long time—that’s a really healthy sign. If they have a menu that’s all over the place, if they have a hamburger or Asian fusion and it’s not in Asia, these are all worrisome to me.”
Make your menu great again by keeping it simple and knocking a few dishes right out of the park instead of trying to do too much. Remember, nobody goes to an IHOP for a burger.
HIGHER WAGES IN MA
Why it matters to you: Groups in Massachusetts are demanding higher wages.
We’ve talked about the raising costs of labor in the restaurant industry a lot over the years, and this discussion simply is not going to go away. This week brings us to Massachusetts (our home state) and employees pushing to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. This makes perfect sense considering Boston is in the top 10 most expensive places to live in the US. How could anyone be expected to exist on less than $15 an hour in a state where median cost of a one bedroom is $2,310?
The labor group currently fighting this battle is for retailers, but the Massachusetts Restaurant Association is taking a sort-of wait and see attitude to the movement. They’ve mentioned that discussions have taken place and are letting the retailer’s association do their own thing without stepping in and muddying the waters. We will have to wait and see what happens here but best of luck to all involved. While higher wages might have operators squirming, it would be an even larger cost to replace a bunch of employees, so pick your poison. This could be a scenario where we see a no-tipping policy play out, so it should be truly interesting stuff.
