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In recent weeks, restaurants have spent a lot of time focusing on ways to keep their operations running during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many shifted to third-party delivery platforms, reduced staff, and scaled down menu offerings to help minimize labor and cost. It was the necessary steps needed for operations to survive in a world without dine-in services.

Recently, parts of the country have started transitioning to life post-pandemic and began allowing restaurants to once again open their doors to dine-in guests at a limited capacity. Eventually this will extend to all states across the country and we will see restaurants everywhere welcoming patrons back.

With this new dawn approaching, it’s time for restaurants to shift their focus back to dine-in operations to ensure they are prepared to re-open. A big part of this focus needs to be on health, cleaning, and sanitation. Understandably, patrons may feel skeptical returning to physical operations due to lingering concerns around COVID-19 and other potential illnesses. However, there are some key steps restaurants can follow to help alleviate that concern.

Anticipate Needs and Concerns from Guests

There is a lot of uncertainty around how guests will adapt to dining in at restaurants again. What’s clear is that the public will have a heightened focus on cleanliness and sanitation and will be looking for a sense of safety upon their return¹.

One way to directly address this is to be proactive in sanitation efforts. Guests are uncomfortable using menus touched by other patrons? Replace them with single-use paper menus or encourage them to use their phones as the menu. Social distancing is a top concern? Utilize floor markers throughout restaurants to help maintain proper spacing between guests.

As restaurants start to re-open, there will likely be a slower volume of patrons coming in than before the pandemic. Being able to proactively anticipate and address the concerns of patrons will help create a sense of trust and allow guests to know that the restaurant is a safe place to begin reconvening life¹.

Follow Proper Cleaning Procedures

When it comes to re-opening locations in current times, cleaning and sanitizing must be top of mind for all operators. Most importantly, operating procedures must include the cleaning and sanitization of all-contact surfaces in both front and back of house². While it sounds like a simple task, there are several steps that need to be followed to ensure the spread of COVID-19 and other diseases are prevented.

1. Clean: remove physical dirt, dust, and debris from surfaces. This step does not kill germs and bacteria but impairs environments that harbor them ¹
2. Sanitize: reduces the occurrences and growth of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and pathogens on surfaces ¹
3. Disinfect: kills or destroys microscopic organisms and pathogens on surfaces. While it does not clean dirt or germs off the surface, it does prevent infection or disease transmissions by killing the pathogens

It may seem like a daunting task to ensure all steps are followed properly when cleaning the surfaces throughout a restaurant, but there are several tools available for operators. Organizations like the CDC have provided ample information on hygiene and sanitation for the food service industry. Additionally, Consolidated Concepts and Buyers Edge Platform have created a Sanitation Best Practices guide for operators to follow. Manufacturers like Unilever and Georgia-Pacific have also created checklists that restaurants can reference to ensure they properly clean their establishments to meet OSHA guidelines.

Communication is Key

Nearly as important as properly cleaning restaurants is communicating to patrons that cleaning measures are happening. This is a key step in the re-opening process. Whether beneficial or not, guest perception will quickly become a restaurant’s reality. If a patron questions the quality of an operation’s sanitation, it may impact their likelihood of returning.

Communication efforts should be focused on educating the guests of what proactive measures are being taken to keep a restaurant clean and help keep guests safe¹. It’s important to use visual and psychological cues to let guests know you are diligently following safe and effective cleaning and sanitation protocols.  Posting guidelines for social distancing by the entrances¹, hanging easy-to-follow hand hygiene guides in restrooms, and clearly identifying separate areas for pick-up or delivery are some ways to help proactively communicate efforts to patrons.

Additionally, it’s important to reinforce proper hand hygiene³ and cleaning procedures for staff throughout restaurants so guests can visually see the sanitation practices taking place. There are a number of products available from manufactures like Essity and Georgia-Pacific to help make this easy.

Prepare Personnel

Reinforcing proper hand hygiene and sanitation is a benefit for staff and patrons. There are additional steps available help ensure personnel is prepared to re-open the restaurant.

A big thing to consider when re-opening a restaurant is staffing. Due to ongoing concerns around COVID-19, restaurants should anticipate a potential lag in staffing in the early stages of re-opening. As a result, it’s important to be prepared to hire and onboard new personnel if needed¹.

From there, it is important to ensure the health of staff before they return to work. Adding a temperature kiosk is an easy way to protect the safety of employees and guests by preventing entry from anyone with a temperature. It’s also important to encourage employees to stay home if they are not feeling well.

All staff will need to be trained on new cleaning and sanitation processes and encouraged to practice them regularly. Keep ample cleaning supplies and easy-to-reference protocols readily available to staff throughout the restaurant. Sanitation checklists from Consolidated Concepts, Georgia-Pacific, Tork, and Unilever can be a great tool here.

If restaurants are planning to re-open dine-in services soon, it’s important to think ahead and prepare accordingly for the re-open process. COVID-19 has left a big impact on the industry and heavily influenced the public’s mind as it relates to health and sanitation. Having the right plan in place to tackle sanitation concerns can ultimately help operations succeed in the re-open process and gain back the trust of patrons.

Consolidated Concepts is here to help. If you are interested in learning about sanitation and cleaning products available through our platform or other ways a GPO can help you in the re-opening process, contact us! We’d love to meet you.

 

References:
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About Kickfin: Restaurants use Kickfin to instantly deposit tips into employees’ bank accounts the second their shift ends, 24/7/365. We eliminate the hassle, hidden costs, and health hazards of cash tips outs, so your people stay safe while still receiving their tips in real time. 

Kickfin can help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus and ensure the financial security of your employees with contactless tip outs. Because of this, we feel we have an ethical responsibility to make Kickfin available to new and existing customers free of charge through the months of April and May. Contact us to learn more.

Unemployment is one of the most painful byproducts of this unstable, uncertain market. It’s impacting every industry, of course, but hospitality has taken one of the biggest hits.

Hundreds of thousands of jobs have been cut — in fact, restaurants and bars account for 60% of the losses. While some are (hopefully) temporary, other jobs have been permanently lost, as many restaurants have little hope of weathering this storm.

It’s a cruel twist of fate: for years, hospitality employers have battled against one another in a highly competitive labor market. Now, though, there’s willing, able and experienced talent everywhere you look. 

Who’s hiring at a time like this? 

You’d be surprised. With off-premise sales spiking, delivery restaurants and chains are in need of extra hands. Pizza Hut, for example, indicated they’re hiring for 30,000 permanent positions. Other restaurants who have pivoted in this market are hiring in anticipation of the virus striking their team and taking out part of their workforce. 

If you’re in the hiring boat, you might be wondering: How should my recruiting practices change in light of this burgeoning labor market? (And how should they stay the same?) 

We’ve got 3 tips for restaurateurs who are hiring during this crazy time.

Don’t lower your standards.

If you’re in a bind and in need of help ASAP, you may be tempted to make a hasty decision, setting aside your typical hiring process. 

That’s understandable: in the current environment, survival depends on your ability to be nimble and move fast. But when it comes to bringing new people on board, moving too fast could backfire.

Right now, restaurant patrons are anxious. People need to eat, of course, and many genuinely wish to support the restaurants they love — but they’re worried about their safety, and rightfully so. Plus: federal, state and local guidelines for essential businesses are constantly evolving, and in general, health hazards are high.

Taking all of that into account: seek out employees who are reliable, experienced, and have a can-do attitude. Before you make new hires, ask yourself: will they be considerate of and accommodating toward anxious patrons? Will they follow new, extensive sanitation and safety guidelines? And can they adapt to a role that may include changing responsibilities, as your business shifts to respond to the market?

Pro tip: Don’t skip references. Now more than ever, it’s important to require references for candidates — and don’t neglect to actually reach out to those references. Aside from confirming previous employment, questions you may want to ask include:

• What were the candidate’s key responsibilities?
• Where did the candidate excel? What were his/her key strengths?
• Did you ever experience any performance issues with the candidate?
• Is there anything else I should know?

Broaden your horizons.

If you’ve just pivoted to curbside or delivery service, you may need to look for a different kind of background than you’re used to hiring for. Seek out people with skills or experience that are directly applicable to the roles you need to fill.

That may seem obvious — but many restaurateurs are used to only hiring either front-of-house and back-of-house staff. Now, they’re suddenly looking for drivers. While you shouldn’t lower your standards (see above), you may need to shift required qualifications and experience.

A few key considerations if you’re hiring drivers:

• Do they have solid driving credentials?
• Will they be using a company car? If not, do they own or reliably have access to a vehicle?
• How will they be compensated? Will they make tips? Will they receive a stipend for gas and wear and tear on their car?
• Will they be an employee or an independent contractor? If it’s the latter, are you in compliance with state and federal labor laws?

Pro tip: If you’re hiring for a different kind of role than you’re used to, talk to other restaurateurs who have experience with this model to get an understanding of what kinds of qualities and qualifications you should focus on. 

Think long-term

We can all agree that this is a strange and difficult time. But good news: it’s not forever.

It may not be weeks or even months, but at some point, we’ll return to some semblance of normalcy. And while everyone in hospitality is trying to be nimble and pivot fast, savvy restaurateurs are making strategic shifts — not band-aid solutions. 

So wherever possible, think ahead: are the changes you’re making going to benefit your business now and in the long term? 

This is especially important when it comes to your people. Every employee you onboard right now is still going to require some level of ramp time, which means you should hire the right person for the role and the team, so you can ultimately minimize turnover. 

Pro tip: Don’t neglect your restaurant’s culture. Think about what new hires are going to bring to your team: how will they fit in? And will they want to stick around, even after things go back to a (new) normal?

Bottom line

If you’re hiring in hospitality right now, you’re in a fairly unique position. You have a wealth of talent at your fingertips that, just weeks ago, was next-to-impossible to find. And more importantly, you can help workers who have lost their livelihoods and are desperate for gainful employment. Remain committed to smart, strategic hiring practices, and your business, your employees and your new hires all stand to benefit.

Did you notice the fast pace with which food and beverage trends came and went in 2019? The rise and fall of consumer’s preferences and desires seemed to wane as quickly as a tropical afternoon rain shower that drenches an island one minute, only to bring intense sunshine the next. Blink, and you might miss it.

Avocado and kale may find some tough competition in the next decade with curious guests turning to unique and unusual produce. Let’s take a look at a few that are definitely not found at the corner grocery store.

Celtuce

Tyrant Farms describes celtuce as “the coolest veggie you’ve never heard of.” As the name implies, it’s a little like a celery-lettuce combo. The big, massive leaves, which are not it’s culinary prized possession, gives way to a thick, crunchy, juicy stem that Asians and others in the Mediterranean region have known about for over a thousand years.

The stem, after pealing the fibrous outer skin, is great raw or in stir fries, maintaining its crispy juiciness even after cooking!

According to the Forager Chef, Michel Bras, a world famous French chef, and his son, Sebastien, serve it at their 3-star Michelin restaurant, Bras. Of course, as their menu is an ongoing work of art, Celtuce may be a thing of yesteryear by the time you get to France and indulge in some of the region’s finest culinary creations. If you’re in search of this off-the-beaten path wonder, it’s best to look in your local Asian market. At least until we Americans catch on to its tasty offerings.

Komatsuna

This hardy green, also referred to as Japanese mustard spinach, is actually not a spinach but a member of the Brassica family, home to cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage as well as mustards. Asians use it for its tender leaves as well as the flowering stems. As the name implies, it is native to Japan where it is used in salads and stir-fries.

This health trend is high in vitamin C, calcium, beta carotene, and sulforaphane, a compound that has been shown to fight against cancer cells. Chef Tetsuo Takenaka, Kyoto’s leading specialist in the school of traditional Japanese kaiseki ryori, a cuisine that uses fresh ingredients distinctive to each season, recommends combining this green with fresh shitake mushrooms and dashi.

Mushrooms

I know, this edible wonder does not seem like it belongs on the up-and-coming list. But what is new for 2020 is the “superfood” aspect of mushrooms and that it fits in well with the plant-based alternative to meats. This nutrient dense, versatile meat-alternative can be found in main dishes as well as small plates in all its remarkable forms including Shitake, Maitake, and Chanterelle. The first two started out in Asia before finding their way to the U.S. They are high in several immune-boosting, anti-cancer compounds including polysaccharides and terpenoids.

Chanterelles are native to many parts of the world, including the forests of Wisconsin in the summer months. Bartolotta’s Lake Park Bistro, set in a park pavilion overlooking Lake Michigan, offers a Chanterelle Mushroom wine-pairing dinner that includes oysters in curry with chanterelles and slow-cooked American wagyu brisket with chanterelles and shallot. This mushroom, with a distinctive mild peppery flavor, is full of vitamins and minerals including a high concentration of B vitamins, a fair share of Vitamin D—a vitamin hard to find in food—and iron.

According to USA Today, searches for nutrient-packed mushrooms has increased by 46 percent on Pinterest, a social media site with more than 250 million users. But, wait, even more astonishing is that mushroom coffee has seen a 471 percent year-on-year spike in searches. Amazing. If you’re considering getting in on this dynamic trend, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with mushrooms such as chaga, lion’s mane, reishi, and cordyceps, medicinal mushrooms that have been used for thousands of years in traditional Chinese medicine.It looks like more and more health-conscious consumers will be trading in their morning latte for a mug of Lion’s Mane & Chaga.

Butterfly Pea Flower

Just when you thought edible flowers were entering the downside of their climb to fame, this beautiful, vibrant blue flower enters the scene. This, however, is not just any flower—it is the chameleon of the plant kingdom, changing colors when mixed with an acidic food. It is also rich in antioxidants, making it not only Instagram worthy, but a strong contender for those drawn to health-conscious cuisine. Butterfly pea flowers offer little in the way of taste but make up for it in their natural food and drink coloring properties. The tea has a mild woody taste, a little like green tea. Indigo tea, made from its petals, is a staple in Thailand.

Beans

Beans have been a staple around the world for thousands and thousands of years, an estimated 9.000 years, to be exact. So, what’s new about something so old? Knorr and World Wildlife Fund put together a report on the Future 50 Foods—foods that are healthier for both people and the planet.In addition to foods that fall into the algae and cacti categories, superfood beans made the list and include black turtle, bambara, and marama—a bean that, when roasted, is said to taste like cashews—Yum.

We definitely recommend checking out the Future 50 Foods report which offers a wealth of information about unique foods from around the world that are sure to be growing in popularity as the rise of the health conscious consumer continues to redefine the restaurant landscape.

Know Your Produce

Whether you opt for the curious and new or for the old-time favorites, it’s important to keep abreast of the market and what is happening to produce on a world scale.

Consolidated Concept’s Freshly Picked Market Report offers weekly reports that focus on updated pricing in the meat, poultry, beef, and seafood industries as well as produce, dairy, and grains. I was surprised to see in their Freshly Picked, December 19 report that pricing on chicken wings for the coming year may run below the elevated 2019 prices. Good news for those restaurants that are building their Superbowl menu!

This report is a great resource to have at your fingertips and one that will serve you well if followed on a weekly basis.

If you’re looking to redefine your menu in the coming year, Consolidated Concepts can also help you develop your menu and connect you with the local and national sources to help you succeed.

Consolidated Concepts & Georgia-Pacific have teamed up to help stop the flu this year. We’ve put together a special lineup of products for this winter season to ensure your operation survives this flu season completely germ free. Check out the video below to learn how to fight the flu this season.

Products Featured:

Georgia-Pacific SmartStock

Georgia-Pacific enMotion®

 

At the recent Restaurant Leadership Conference (RLC), leading industry experts discussed how they’ve increased their bottom line by adopting several cost-cutting techniques. One of these, in particular, stood out—dispatch delivery services.

Jason Morgan, CEO of two emerging fast casual concepts—Original Chop Shop and Bellagreen—shared what he saw as one of the greatest challenges facing restaurants—third-party delivery costs. In just the last two years, he’s seen third party delivery fees go up from 100 to 300 basis points.

It’s a service that is a growing in demand. In fact, digital ordering and delivery have grown 300 percent faster than dine-in traffic since 2014, with over 85 percent of restaurant customers using off-site delivery services on a monthly basis. By the end of 2020, it’s expected that the sales provided through third-party delivery providers will grow to about 9.7 percent of total restaurant sales.

Unfortunately, the restaurants using third-party delivery services often pay a hefty fee—up to 30 percent. In a survey conducted by Hospitality Tech, 82 percent of restaurant operators thought the fees for these services were too high and over 30 percent went so far as to say they weren’t worth it.

In order to combat these rising costs that were proving disadvantageous to the restaurant’s bottom line, Morgan began using dispatch programs, shifting their customers from the third-party delivery sites to the restaurant’s website or mobile app. Every order they get that comes through the restaurant instead of a delivery service such as GrubHub or DoorDash, saves the restaurant between 20 to 25 percent. In addition, they, instead of the service provider, now have the customers’ data.

What is a Dispatch Program?

Using a dispatch program may well be the answer to increasing customer delivery demands, particularly for those restaurants that do not want to develop an in-house program that requires the use of their own drivers. Going this route is especially challenging due to the continuing labor crunch. A delivery program allows customers to place a delivery order on a restaurant’s website or app. The order is sent to the restaurant and dispatched for delivery. In essence, orders are processed just like all other online orders, except a delivery courier makes the pickup instead of the customer. Customers, instead of restaurants, pay the delivery fee. Currently, Morgan is using Olo as their dispatch provider.

Olo

Olo, a digital ordering provider for restaurant brands, announced the addition of Dispatch in the fall of 2015. It offers a service that is fully integrated into a restaurant’s point-of-sale (POS) system. The service allows guests to track their delivery from the minute it’s ordered, to the pick-up by the courier, and the course the driver takes as they travel to the customer’s home—all from the restaurant’s digital ordering site or mobile app.

In order to accomplish this, Olo relies on a network of delivery service providers to obtain the best delivery fee. According to SmartBrief, they have also developed an index called the Delivery Search Score. This index counts the number of times an online search for a restaurant’s name plus the term “delivery” leads directly to a restaurant’s website. According to the data obtained, the top 300 restaurant brands are performing at less than 30 percent of their potential. In other words, 70 percent of the time these types of searches will take the customer to third-party sites instead of directly to a restaurant’s website.  

Noah Glass, CEO and founder of Olo, compared this to the rise of the third-party marketplace in the hospitality industry when sites such as Hotwire and Travelocity became the primary choices for customers looking to make reservations.

Olo is currently being used by brands such as Wingstop, Chipotle, and Five Guys.

Of course, not every restaurant is in a dispatch delivery zone. There are, however, some restauranteurs that are coming up with other creative solutions to this current pain point.

Food Trucks as Delivery Providers

Wayback Burgers is a growing fast-casual franchise concept that specializes in burgers and shakes. They currently have about 155 locations in the U.S. and several others around the world including Canada, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Morocco. The company plans to open another 275 restaurants in the U.S. within the next five years.

They are testing the use of mini food trucks, that run on electric and propane, as vehicles for delivering to-go orders placed via a proprietary app. The customer’s food is not cooked until the truck arrives at their home or business—say goodbye to soggy fries. They are hoping to license this idea to other brands as well—such as those that are having trouble with the high third-party delivery fees or the customer experience that is sometimes lacking in quality or timing. The branded truck also acts as a moving marketing billboard. While this mode of delivery is currently available to franchisees, it is not mandated.

With the demand for delivery expected to grow by over 50 percent by 2021, it’s clear that restaurants can no longer ignore this growing aspect of their business. According to Warren Solocheck, NPD Group’s senior vice president, “Delivery has become a need to have and no longer a nice to have in the restaurant industry…It has become a consumer expectation.” It’s also clear that restaurants are starting to look for alternatives to what was once considered an easy approach for integrating delivery services, third-party delivery companies. A dispatch program may very well hold some promise for those looking to develop or reorganize their existing delivery services.

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New Year’s Eve, 2018, saw restaurant sales increase by 5 percent when compared to average December sales minus holidays, according to Toast’s New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day Restaurant Trends. Not an astronomical jump, but worthy of some additional restaurant marketing strategies on one of the most celebrated holidays of the year.

Here’s another interesting statistic that will help your promoting strategy, peak hours for restaurant sales were 1pm, 7pm, and 8pm, and continued on a steady course until the ball dropped. Some more good news? The average check size increased by 12 percent!

So, just how do restauranteurs get their share of sales for the last night of the year? Here are a few tips:

1. Entertainment. If there was ever a night to consider adding some type of entertainment to your venue, this is it. Consider live music, a magician, or a wandering minstrel. Immerse your guests in a unique experience and transform your establishment for one evening of pure joie de vivre by hosting a costume/masquerade ball. Let your imagination be your guide.
2. Interaction. This is the night when people muse about the past and dream about the New Year about to unfold before them. It’s a time to celebrate, put on a party hat, and engage with others. To that end, many people will be looking for venues that provide this type of atmosphere. Consider a cocktail party—perfect for kitchens that are practiced in the art of creating unique and delectable tapas.

What are a few of the most successful restaurants in America doing for New Year’s Eve? Tao Las Vegas in the Venetian Hotel, with annual sales that reach over $43 million, is bringing in the New Year with Grammy Award-winning entertainment, three hours of decadent hors d’oeuvres, two hours to enjoy their premium open bar, and a Champagne toast at midnight.  

Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami Beach is offering a Special Limited Menu for the big night, which they’ve already posted on their Facebook page—one that had almost 32,000 likes three weeks before the big event.  Well done, Joe!

With some planning and social media strategizing, New Year’s Eve can be not only a night to remember, but a profitable end-of-the-year bash that brings in both old and new guests. The question is, now that the holidays are over, how do you keep these guests returning and more new guests heading through your doors?

Marketing for the New Year

One of the first rules of marketing is to define your target—who are you marketing to? As the New Year begins, it’s safe to assume that many people will be thinking about new beginnings and making this year better than their last. Exercise and healthy eating will be first and foremost on many of your guest’s lists of resolutions. To help them achieve their goals, consider putting together Limited Time Offers (LTO) that focus on healthier options.

Restaurant Business reported on Technomic’s Healthy Eating Consumer Trend Report which revealed the foods that the newer generations consider “health conscious” choices. These include food and drinks that are plant-forward, antioxidant-rich, immune boosting, high in protein, and gut-friendly. Ingredients that consumers look for include unique fruits and vegetables rich in antioxidants such as goji berries, acai, and chia seeds. Fermented foods high in gut-healthy probiotics are also popular and include sauerkraut, kefir, kimchi, miso, and kombucha.

Healthier options are as much about what you don’t choose to put into your mouth. To this end, many restaurant guests are searching for establishments that make it easy for them to avoid gluten, dairy, or fried foods by offering alternatives. And for those looking to cut their calories, consider offering “half portions” or a selection of tapas or small plates.

After you’ve developed appealing special offers for the New Year, be sure to shout them out on your social media platforms. Take pictures of those new healthy entrees and beverages and post them on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. And don’t forget to tweet about it! And then, remember to engage. According to Forbes, 71 percent of customers are more likely to recommend a company that quickly replies on their social media messages.

If you’re a hands-on, chef-entrepreneur, consider teaching your guests how you create those memorable, healthy meals by offering a cooking class that includes wine-pairing. Joy is shared, and you can be certain that your students will be talking about the meal they learned to create and the fun they had doing it at your increasingly popular restaurant.

Happy New Year!

 

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According to a recent Restaurant Success report, future food trends for 2020 will include local sourcing, fresh produce, healthy eating, and an emphasis on authentic items. Diners, it seems, are flocking to the comfort of kitchens that serve a variety of delicious food, so long as it doesn’t feel heavily processed. However, as Thrillist explains, “…the rise of the Golden Age “scratch kitchen” (in which everything is made in-house), long a point of pride for fine-dining kitchens, isn’t usually financially realistic in the more casual kitchens.” While many chefs may work to bake their own bread or cure their own meats in-house, the fact is scratch kitchens are expensive, labor intensive, and not often worth the financial expenditure.

At Consolidated Concepts, we focus on ensuring restauranteurs cost-savings opportunities that excite your front of house while saving you labor costs in your back of house. So how do you keep that scratch kitchen feeling without spending excess time on labor? Here are a few ways to keep the focus on the food and the money towards your bottom line.

1. Create versatile, convenient, and profitable appetizers

Potatoes have long been one of the more versatile items in any kitchen, but the time and labor cost to prepare them for your various dishes can be lengthy and expensive. From washing to peeling to baking to mashing and so on, potato preparation can be a costly process. Increase your margins by switching to this appetizer mix. With a product that is both fully customizeable and easy to prepare, you can improve your turnaround time and provide your customers with a product that tastes fresh and handmade, while adding your restaurants’ own signature ingredients to give the dish your own personal flair.

Click the link below to learn more about how Idahoan Tater Tumblers can increase your bottom line.

Learn more about Idahoan Tater Tumblers

2. Make your very own dipping sauce

Who doesn’t drool over a great aioli or house made dressing? From dips to sauces, many restaurants find customers clamoring back to have their one-of-a-kind house-made sauces. In reality, we know that a true scratch sauce comes with a lot of labor, kitchen space, and room for emulsification error.  Now, what if you could have the same great flavor and save yourself the stress and time consumption from behind the scenes? Save yourself the time, headache on labor and start with something great. Unilever mayo can do magic as your base- just add in your own signature spices give your own restaurants dipping flare!

Watch this video of how one of our clients recently utilized Hellmann’s mayo as the base for 8 inventive custom dressings.

Learn more about our Unilever Food Solutions program

3. Add your own spice

Nothing says delicious like a unique sauce or seasoning added into one of your signature dishes. With Knorr® Intense Flavors liquid seasoning, you can elevate any dish on your menu.   These products, that are foodservice exclusive, can save you time, labor, and ingredient costs by providing a ready-to-use bottle of flavor that will add a bold dimension to any meal.

Check out the link below to learn more and get a free sample on us.

Learn More Knorr Intense Flavors program

Whether your organization is growing from 1 to 2 locations, 10 to 20 locations or 50 to 500 locations, you are in transition and there are many factors involved in whether you will be successful with this growth. Many elements of your growth will create an emotional high of which there is nothing like it, but caution, there are many bumps in the road with growth of which some you will see, recognize and react to quickly and some that you will miss or not be prepared for.

The future of your organization depends on the pillars you have set up. The pillars may grow taller as you grow, but keeping them strong without crumbling is the challenge. Below are the five biggest growth challenges that you may face.

Capital and Financial Stability

In order to grow your brand, you have come up with one or many ways of raising the money you will need. This may include self-funding, independent investors, banks, private equity or a combination. You have big plans for your growth. Is this plan realistic and have you raised enough money to support it? In a perfect world, you would be dealing with a cookie cutter budget to work with. This would mean having AAA real estate with the exact same square footage costing you the same dollar per square foot with construction and other new store opening costs being the same for each location and all projections running on time. You would have no trouble hiring or training, your guests would line up from day one and your sales projections would be right where you had expected from the beginning and stayed that way forever. Unfortunately, projecting growth does not work like that and you have to plan for those twists and turns along the way. What you can’t be is under-capitalized as this will create pressures that affect the whole organization.

Financial stability of the company can’t be compromised by being under-capitalized with your growth. The restaurant locations that you have open must be able to be managed properly with no cutting of corners including vendors being paid on time. Your restaurants must continue to look sharp. One of the biggest growth issues is declining sales from existing locations simply because they are not being maintained properly and in general, because eyes are so much on the future that the present is not being focused on properly.

Real Estate/Site Selection

This appears obvious, but are you under pressure to grow at a pace that may not be realistic? This may cause you to choose locations that do not fit your standard for demographics, size prototype, dollar per square foot, landlord buildout support, construction costs (union vs non union), labor availability and cost of labor and so much more. You also have to factor in the added cost to your operations when you spread out to multiple markets.

One bad location will need four good ones to make up the needed bottom line.  It is critical to have a real estate specialist on staff or work with an external restaurant real estate company. In either case, they need to know the markets extremely well and be under the microscope to find you the standard that you have come up with. They need to have the connections with the landlords and development companies and understand all the parameters of what will provide you with successful restaurants. Every location will not be perfect. You will have some that exceed expectations and some that will fall a bit short, but the key is to avoid choosing the wrong markets and the wrong sites. Make sure you have a qualified real estate professional working on your behalf.

Infrastructure/Internal vs External Support

Growth requires the right people pushing the buttons. Along the way, no matter what the size of your company, there will be people wearing multiple hats. You need hybrids in every organization, but as you grow, you need specialists who have areas of expertise that will be critical to your success. As you grow, things become more complicated. You may have been a distributors dream in the original market that you started in and your buying power as a small regional chain may have been good. You may have been negotiating your own deals and developing the menu items that made you a success.

You may have picked your own real estate and was actively involved in each new store opening. Now you have to make some big decisions. Do you hire internally or do you bring in short term or long term specialists to make sure that you have the knowledge and expertise to make sure stay on the path to success. Typically it is best to do a combination of both. The crucial part of this is to be prepared. You need to continue to have a plan on the stages of when you need to add this support.

Systems and Consistency

Preparing for growth usually starts with the three areas above. You may have the money, locations and even the people to make it happen, but are you ready? Yes, you love your brand and you believe it is better than everyone else. You can’t wait to get it into different markets and confirm this, but are the systems in place to protect your brand? Without over the top detail, your brand will begin to look different from place to place. You have put your stamp on the design and layout of the locations. Now you have to do it from the restaurant set-up, training and operations. The team involved in the hiring and training of your restaurants staff will create the culture of your new restaurants. Yes, there needs to be clear training materials that are very visual in what the specifications of products are, how they should be prepped, how they should be served, how to store products and clean the restaurant, but you can’t put passion on a piece of paper. There are a lot of options for labor in today’s market.  Without good people who believe in your brand and who will execute your message, without you there, inconsistency will begin and your brand will slowly erode.

You need to put in checks and balances with continual corporate training and systems, but avoid cookie cutter openings when it comes to culture. You also must make it clear as to where there is no flexibility and where there is flexibility and what that means. Some things such as your proprietary products must be at every restaurant and your distributors must have them available even for your first location in a market, but it is not realistic to expect every ingredient to be the exact at every location. For instance, you may have a spec of a 14-18 ct Applewood smoked bacon from Smithfield for your locations, but in a new city where you are opening your first location, the distributor does not stock Smithfield for this item, but has two others with same spec. You should be cutting multiple products in advance and approving alternates. Once you build up volume, you can move to the original manufacturer.  Every location you open must feel like it is the only one. The focus needs to be on your standards so your guests can be wowed. By creating the systems and standards early, this can be accomplished.

Balancing Emotion in your decision making

From a company’s first location to their 500^th, restaurant brands all feel that their food, beverages, design, layout, menu and concept in general are the best and needs tweaking, but no real change. Restauranteurs have passion and are artists in their own way. Early success tells them that their critics (their customers) love them and will always love them. At the beginning, the founder and creator was in the restaurants a lot and spent time with their guests. They watched the quality of the food, they made sure the restaurants were clean and they could count on many relationships they created with vendors and their staff. As you grow, you begin to count on others to follow your lead and execute much of what you used to do. The food, service and cleanliness are assumed to be as great as ever and you assume that your customers will come to you forever. Is it possible that they love your burgers and come for that, but never liked your fries? Do you have fish n chips that are a big seller and you are using cod because you like cod, but your guest does not even know? You also will assume that your vendors and other outside relationships are the best and that your pricing on items is better than anyone else.

The first thing that should be clear is that your vendors and anyone else that you count on your business will always look out for themselves first and then you. There are things that you do not know that may not be as transparent as you think. If you feel a deal is too good to be true and so much better than others much larger than your organization, it is most likely not. As you grow, there are very important decisions that need to be made that allow you to keep your organization consistent, but growth may not allow you to do some of the things that you have always done in one region. Key initiatives such as local, organic, scratch, cut fresh must be maintained but not on everything. You need to be concerned about availability, labor, food safety, guest credit and so much more. Do you really need to make fresh guacamole in a restaurant that is primarily Italian? Do you really need beautiful hot house tomatoes for chopping and placing in your salsa? Does your guest really need for your burgers to be ground in each location and do they notice the difference? There are so many questions like this to be pondered as you grow. Ask lots of questions and stand by certain things and create alternate plans where you can. Make the decisions at your convenience as opposed to when you are forced to…..

There is nothing better than taking a brand and growing it. Understanding the challenges early in the process and doing the heavy lifting at the right time will make the chances of your success far greater.

Restaurants are known for their razor-thin profit margins. That notion holds particularly true among affordable fast-casual and quick-service concepts. Add on pressures like rising real estate costs, unpredictable food prices, and minimum-wage hikes across the country, and operators are left with even less of a financial safety net.

In this climate, every penny counts. One often overlooked factor into your monthly costs comes from your utility bill. While something like a utility bill may seem like a fixed, somewhat inelastic cost, there are changes and improvements to your restaurant that can save you money and increase your bottom line. To help, we’ve asked an expert at SIB Fixed Cost Reduction to identify ways restaurants can lower their utility bill and save themselves money in the long run.

Cut Costs on Your Utility Bill

Make Sure You’re Using the Right Light Bulbs

If you are still using incandescent bulbs in one or more of your restaurants, it’s time to make the switch to LED. This is the fastest way to lower the electricity bill. Switching to LED bulbs can lower your costs by 50-75% per fixture.

The transition will require some upfront costs that take time to show results, but in the long run the ROI for a switch to LED will pay off.

For example, let’s say you have lights in your parking lot, and you replace one of the heads on those lights from incandescent to LED.

The initial cost may be around $300, but you save 10% per head per month, so in 3 years the project will pay for itself.

In addition, a cleaner and more well-lit parking lot attracts more customers to your business, which will help to accelarate the the break-even cost of switching the heads in the first place.

Upgrade Your Old HVAC System

This can be a drastic change, and a fairly large financial undertaking in the short term, but upgrading old and inefficient HVAC systems can do wonders towards energy efficiency, and ultimately, your savings on monthly utility costs.

These are savings you will begin to notice immediately following the upgrade. To ensure that your HVAC system is running at it’s most optimal, consult with a trusted contractor about what’s the best fit for your location.

Protect your investment by establishing a sound maintenance program.

This includes regular cleaning and inspection of your HVAC equipment by a qualified professional.

Add Tints to Exterior Windows

Adding tints to exterior windows is an effective way to save on heating and cooling your business, especially in the summer season.

The window tint acts as a barrier between the sun and your business, blocking out ultraviolet light and keeping the interior of your business cooler.

This will allow you to save on running the air conditioning, cutting down on the electric bill.

In the winter month’s the window tint can help to keep heat in. In addition to lowering your energy costs, this addition will also save wear and tear on your HVAC system, keeping your business at a more steady temperature.

Know Your Electricity Market

In the U.S, there are 2 types of electricity markets: regulated and deregulated.

In a regulated market, the utility company owns all of the infrastructure around electricity. These companies then sell directly to the consumers at fixed rates. The rates are set by a state’s public utility commissions. In regulated market there are different tiers, so it is important to ensure that your restaurant is being charged the correct rate. There are different industries rate structures.

For example, a restaurant’s rate structure may be different than that of a hotel or shopfront.

On the bill there is a code that says whatever rate structure you’re on.

You will have to call the regulated utility provider and tell them you’re doing an audit or confirm online that you are on the correct rate. 68% (34 states) are in a regulated electricity market.

In a deregulated market, private competitors buy and sell electricity by investing in power plants and transmission lines. Generators sell the wholesale electricity to retail suppliers, who then sell to consumers. In a deregulated market, the retail suppliers set the prices for consumers.

Areas with deregulated markets are: California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Texas.

If you operate in one of these areas, comparing bids from multiple brokers to ensure that you are getting the best price is an effective strategy to cut down your utility bill and save your business money.

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