Few people would argue that technology has had the greatest impact on the restaurant industry over the past 10 years. That’s because technology is a major part of everyone’s lives, food included. Technology helps put information at your fingertips quickly and facilitates fast transactions. As a result, instead of a restaurant visit being about the food and the experience, today it’s a picture and a post and just another evening out.

Menu evolution, specifically in the form of diversification and customization, means the front of the house will continue to send larger amounts of information back to the already bustling commercial kitchen. As a result it is becoming simultaneously more difficult and critical for foodservice operators across all segments to manage and analyze how staff members leverage the information to ensure customer hospitality and generate a profit.

Why do we, in the convenience store community, keep trying to “fix” the foodservice industry as we integrate their concepts into our retail developments? We often look to the foodservice industry as a panacea filled with high margins and happy customers. The reality is far from that. The foodservice industry, like every other, has its own unique recipe for success and its own set of hurdles to overcome on the road to profitability.

Foodservice operators and the industry face growing energy challenges that threaten sales, profitability and basic operation. Across the country, higher energy prices have hit operators hard, raising concern among them.