Do you know how to determine your inventory’s magic number? If you can find your optimal inventory level it will help you set your ideal food cost percentage, all while helping you minimize waste and decrease the frequency of selling out of your most profitable menu items. Upserve suggests operators use this formula to determine how much they should be spending on inventory each day: Average monthly food sales x food cost percentage / days in the month.
Fish fraud continues to ramp up, and regulations for the industry still lag behind other industries — Oceana reports that more than 90 percent of the seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported but less than 1 percent is inspected by the government specifically for fraud. In the meantime, researchers are identifying ways to ensure that a fish represented as wild-caught actually is, and that its species and source are presented accurately too. Marine ecologist John Bruno told QSR that red snapper and shrimp are among the biggest offenders when it comes to fraud (Oceana research found that red snapper is far and away the most commonly mislabeled fish) and generic white fish is also ripe for fraud because it can often pass without raising suspicions. Bruno teaches a course about seafood forensics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and leads a team that works with restaurant operators to extract DNA from fish tissue, sequence it and compare it to a database to determine if the vendor is trustworthy. The QSR report said operators who aren’t ready to fund such testing (Bruno’s team charges $20 to $30 per sample) can do well by asking suppliers for as much information about the fish’s origins as possible — suppliers of fraudulent fish often fall short in this area — and opting for suppliers that package and label their products thoroughly. Prioritizing strong relationships with local vendors helps too.
Delivery isn’t just for Friday-night dinner anymore. As restaurants accommodate consumer demand for off-premise dining options, they are experimenting with non-traditional day parts and occasions to boost the benefits of delivery to their bottom line. Three cases in point: Panera, Cinnabon and Applebee’s. Restaurant Business reports that Panera, one of the rare large brands that uses its own employees to deliver meals to customers, is expanding its small-delivery service to include breakfast (allowing it to better compete with McDonald’s and Starbucks, which offer delivery via third parties). Cinnabon and Applebee’s are venturing into occasion-based delivery, with Cinnabon adding gift boxes containing different-sized orders of its signature cinnamon rolls. Applebee’s, on the heels of Taco Bell offering delivery of its 12-taco party packs for the holiday party season, is offering delivery of catering packages and “Monday Night Football” food packages designed for groups. If single-meal delivery during your Friday dinner rush doesn’t make financial sense for you, what other delivery options might?
For a typical restaurant, 80 percent of food sales are generated by just 16 percent of menu items, according to Upserve. That leaves a lot of room for improvement. How does your restaurant measure up? If your menu needs a remodel, the sometimes-slow month of January could be prime time to refresh your offering and give guests a new reason to visit. First, identify the right mix of dishes. The Balance suggests you offer an assortment that includes the classic dishes that people look for when dining with you, along with some dishes that incorporate food trends. Next evaluate the food cost of those items so you’re in position to improve sales — now is the perfect time to tweak a dish that is popular but not profitable. Once you have your menu set, draft brief descriptions that clearly describe key ingredients and incorporate prices (as opposed to listing them in a column at the right). Your menu design should reflect the atmosphere and values of your restaurant, as well as steer guests to the items you’d most like to sell. Highlighting profitable items in boxes or placing them in among higher-priced items can help. If you are designing your menu yourself and need help, there are a number of templates (some free) that can assist. Upserve likes Canva’s library of stock images and layouts, Adobe Spark’s professional-looking results, and 99designs’ speed and ease of use — and also offers a free menu design builder that incorporates menu design psychology.
Quick-service and fast-casual restaurants are starting to look a lot different. As downloads of food delivery apps have skyrocketed (they’re up 380 percent from just three years ago, according to the data firm App Annie), restaurants are scaling back on their physical footprint. Skift Table reports that Dan Orkin, head of the U.S. restaurant division of CBRE, said many operators are adjusting to having fewer visitors and more delivery business by renegotiating leases and renovations. Many brands are looking to create separate entrances for delivery workers and pick-ups, scaling down their dining areas, or eliminating tables and chairs altogether for a kitchen-only space.
Data can unlock valuable information about your guests, of course. Now Uber Eats is demonstrating that data can also reveal demand for restaurants that don’t yet exist (but could, with a little help). Uber Eats is currently the fastest-growing food delivery app, serving 70 percent of the U.S. Much of that growth is due to the development of virtual restaurants — brick-and-mortar restaurants operating one or more restaurants that deliver food via Uber Eats and exist only on that platform. For example, Eater reports that the Dallas sushi chain SushiYaa, which operates five brick-and-mortar locations, houses about two dozen other virtual restaurants — all with their own separate menus that consumers can access on the Uber Eats platform. Uber Eats actually approached SushiYaa about the opportunity more than a year ago and suggested they start a virtual restaurant to meet rising consumer demand for poke. Uber Eats data indicated demand for the food was increasing and SushiYaa had the necessary ingredients for it already on hand. All that was required of the restaurant was a business name, menu and logo. Uber Eats then provided the tablet used for processing orders and sent a photographer to take photos of menu items. The process took less than two weeks to take fruition and has been a win for the restaurant, which can now use its existing space and labor force to serve a much larger volume of business.
Is meat, fish or poultry on your menu? Those items have likely taken a multi-step journey to get there. While you have to rely on others in your supply chain to uphold food safety practices along the route, you can find clues about it when inspecting shipments. Restaurant Owner & Manager suggests these red flags that a shipment should be rejected: cartons that aren’t intact, dirty wrappers, colored spots on the item (purple, white, brown or green), strange odors (including an ammonia smell to fish), flesh with a soft appearance or that leaves a finger imprint when you press on it, fish eyes with a sunken-in appearance, and open shells on fresh shellfish.
Any restaurant consultant will tell you to have a strong loyalty program. But within those programs, there is plenty of opportunity to differentiate your particular restaurant. Take McNellie’s Restaurants, an Oklahoma chain that is using different methods for generating traffic and valuable feedback via their loyalty program. For one, members of the program are invited to come to the restaurant on specific days and get 50 percent off their bill if they ask to meet with one of the restaurant’s managers and have a conversation about their experience. Another offer encourages members to bring a friend (and get a discount if that friend signs up for the loyalty program). The brand also has different levels of loyalty and associated benefits that members need to work to retain. For example, the restaurant gets a 90 percent conversion rate when they send an email to guests telling them they need to come to the restaurant at least once that month to retain their VIP status.
Second only to the retail industry, the restaurant industry is a top employer of Generation Z, the demographic defined as those aged 21 and younger. In 2018, 19 percent of Gen Z worked in restaurants, up from 15 percent in 2017, according to data shared at the recent Foodservice Technology Conference (FSTEC) in Orlando. If you are looking to hire a lot of staff in this demographic, are you doing what it takes to attract and retain them? First, just like your website needs to be optimized for mobile devices, your job postings should be too. Gen Z scours job boards, restaurant websites and social media for job leads, and most of that searching is done on their phones. They prefer to be able to apply for jobs that way too, so don’t insist on a written application. Once hired, your Gen Z staff are more likely to stay if you offer them opportunities for training, development and mentorship. According to the research, 60 percent of Gen Z say that the coaching and education they received on the job made them want to stay on and pursue longer-term opportunities there. When it comes to receiving workplace training, Gen Z has clear preferences too: The vast majority (88 percent) like one-on-one and on-the-job training, with online or mobile training modules or videos not far behind. When it doubt, swap out classroom-based or paper-based learning with highly visual platforms that deliver quick, easily digestible lessons.
Expecting a sales slowdown in the first weeks of the New Year? Use it as a time to set yourself up for success later in the year and to test out some new ideas. To bring in traffic despite the cold temperatures, OpenTable offers some suggestions: If you’re looking to launch or revamp your email newsletter or website, now is a good time to get the word out about special promotions, events and specials — and make sure all of the basic information on your website and other public-facing materials is up to date. You could also do something a little different with your menu: add some hot beverages to your offering, or if you have outdoor space, fully embrace the cold by turning your patio into a winter wonderland with string lights, make-your-own s’mores and warm blankets. If your city holds a Restaurant Week, join in to help attract dining-room traffic, but also focus on building your delivery business for customers less eager to brave the elements.
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