Blessed are the prognosticators as we enter the Holiday Season. It seems annually that everyone with a platform jumps into the pool so they can predict what 2023 will bring in their various industries.
Well, The Rail can’t just ignore the invitation to share our own insights about the upcoming year and have compiled four predictions for your edification and entertainment. We’ve already gone over our top restaurant stories of 2022, so let’s see what the crystal ball says for 2023.
Your Menu Will Never Be the Same
If the pandemic delivered one enduring change, it is the way menus are presented to, and engage by guests. From the reemergence of the QR code to fancy new ways to present menus, the seminal experience of reading a menu has inexorably changed.
Most certainly this was all driven by an urgent need for safety and sanitation. We’ve all delivered a menu that we weren’t sure was clean enough for anyone’s standards at some point in our careers. The QR code allowed guests to view your menu in a way that made them feel secure. Once reviled as a tech failure, now folks are asking for your QR code, so they don’t have to touch your menus.
However, that isn’t the only upcoming innovation that the world of menus can expect in 2023. Next generation menus will be delivered in an entirely new format powered by augmented reality (AR). If you aren’t familiar with what AR is, think Pokemon Go, but instead of monsters viewed in the real world via the lens of your phone, it will be your best food items.
The menu delivered via AR will also allow you to deliver unlimited data (nutrition, sourcing, reviews, etc.) about that item. Guests will see a clear 3D model of the item in the real world before ordering. This eliminates any unmet expectations as the food they see will look demonstrably like the food they ordered in the app.
While it may be beyond 2023 that full-service restaurants are able to access this technology, look for it at the fast casual restaurant nearest to you in the very near future.
Restaurant Labor Will Continue to Organize
Another long-term effect of the pandemic has been a virulent uptick in unionization across many of the largest food service operators. The most spectacular example of this has been brewing at Starbuck’s over the past 16 months. It started with one store in Buffalo and has now expanded to over 250 locations in that short period of time.
There has been plenty of analysis as to why Starbuck’s has been subject to such a rapid unionization push, but the core reason remains their teams feel they can extract better working conditions by collectively bargaining. While the profile of the typical Starbuck’s staffer is quite different than that of other fast casual operations, their failure at stemming the union tide should serve as a cautionary example to every operator in the country.
The aftereffects of The Great Resignation have created enough tension and solidarity between employees that this trend isn’t likely to slow anytime soon. However, there is one sure way to stop it dead in its tracks: treat your staff better.
Unfortunately, the people in charge of most chain operations are singularly focused on profit and short-term profits to boot. This means the likelihood they will see the benefit of increasing wages and reducing hours is extremely low. But they should take a good hard look at other retail operators who should also be ripe for organizing, like Costco, that have largely avoided it.
We aren’t saying that unionization of our industry is inevitable, but we are asserting that if we don’t reform the way we treat staff, we will be inviting it’s continued ascension. From better scheduling processes to realistic paid time off (PTO) policies, our industry needs to better understand the needs of our team members and respond to them, before they respond to our lack of interest in their well-being as an industry.
On-Premises Service Returns
This is less of a prediction and more of an admonition: Our industry needs to return to delivering aspirational service. Recent surveys have shown that guests are less than enamored of our service execution and it’s impacting their choice to visit full-service restaurants. Sure, staffing deficits, pandemic related restrictions, and the cloud of inflation haven’t helped, but consumers are telling us loudly, and clearly, they expect more.
Getting to better service is no easy task these days for the same reasons it has eroded. However, a good operator is willing to undertake measures they may have previously believed unthinkable to return to exemplary service. Whether it’s limiting your dining room size or updating the way you ask guests to wait for service, you can control the aspects of the service cycle that are most bogged by whatever challenges you are facing.
The single most important strategy is to employ real transparency when fielding guest concerns surrounding their dining experience. Don’t place blame; instead be patient and elicit empathy through thorough explanation. You’ll be surprised how understanding guests can be when they are included rather made victim by your service solutions.
The Supply Chain Will Remain in Chaos
The international supply chain crisis is one of the most complicated and nuanced challenges facing not only our industry, but the world. We have become so reliant on each other that if one spoke on the wheel is disrupted, it reverberates across the whole bicycle. As a result of the pandemic, EVERY spoke on the wheel has been upset and we won’t really reach any form of equilibrium until the issues causing it resolve.
But what are the issues causing the continued chaos?
As stated, this issue is complicated and nuanced, but that doesn’t mean it’s indecipherable. In the beginning of the pandemic the cause was clear and obvious. It was dangerous to go to work, so nation states told the bulk of their citizens to stay home.
This halted production of products across the world. This was especially true in Asia, where China locked down the most aggressively of any country in the world. Since they also manufacture more products than any other country, you can easily see the potency of that domino falling.
While some of those pressures on production have eased, we are still seeing elements of the chaos showing through as inflated prices. We can’t possibly hope to cover all the factors that have impacted inflation, but the supply chain is central to it.
Your best strategy to manage issues surrounding product availability is to be light on your feet. If a product is out of stock, be ready to amend your menu to reflect that change. Whether you move to an easily printable paper menu or offer your menu digitally so you can update on the fly, inoculate yourself from the problem by removing the product deficit from your menu.
Other than that, you’ll have to endure the disruption, until we do find that elusive equilibrium again.
The Year to Come
There you have it, our best predictions for next year’s business environment for restaurants. There are plenty of other elements you will see change in, from the pervasion of new labor-saving tech solutions to an easing of staffing pressure.
As you have for the past 33 months, you’ll pivot and post to ensure your restaurant stays ahead of the tidal wave we’ve been riding, as we know you’ll always do. Have a great year and as always, thank you for visiting our space and enjoying our content.
Happy New Year to you all!
