From now until Memorial Day, hardly a week will go by without a foodservice-related association hosting a conference for its members. Undoubtedly, these events will include some conversation about recruiting and retaining younger employees and, in the case of events hosted by members of the foodservice equipment and supplies community, there will be plenty of banter about what ails the supply chain.
As I write this, my beloved Chicago Cubs are enjoying an unprecedented renaissance under groovy manager Joe Maddon. As a lifelong Cubs fan, decades of shattered hopes remind me to enjoy the moment and not worry about what comes next. But what amazes me about this team is not so much that they are winning but how they are winning. And it strikes me that their success this summer contains a few lessons applicable to the foodservice industry.
When it comes to socializing, people love to discuss the latest restaurant they have tried. Just last week I was scrolling through one of my social media accounts and saw that a friend had posted the picture of a beer she was having with dinner that night. Being a hops and barley enthusiast myself, I stopped to take a quick look at what my friend was drinking, but it was where the consumption was taking place that really caught my attention. She was at a local supermarket — one with a pretty well established presence in the Chicago area.
It’s August and that means most companies are about to begin formulating their plans for the coming fiscal year, if they have not done so already. Corporate planning exercises can quickly become introverted experiences, meaning it is easy to focus only on the company when trying to move forward.
One of the most fundamental elements of the customer experience in our industry is often the most overlooked when it comes to investing in our restaurants: the tabletop budget. Let me set the stage with one example. At Kendall College, our School of Culinary Arts runs an open-to-the-public fine-dining restaurant to provide our students with real-life experience.
It is tempting to make the recipe for success more complicated than it needs to be. When that happens, businesses from all segments of the foodservice industry can lose focus on what truly drives success: creating great customer experiences.
For good reason, Chipotle has long been one of the standard bearers for fast-casual restaurants.
Celebrity chefs and celebrity chef wannabes have carved out a place for themselves in today’s pop culture scene. Yet one group of culinarians consistently overlooked are those individuals serving in the healthcare foodservice community, which has become one of the most sophisticated operator segments there is.
Chain restaurants will continue to push for better user interfaces that help maximize use of labor and ensure consistent production of menu items.
For years now, if you were to ask most any member of the foodservice supply chain about some of their biggest challenges, they would include attracting and retaining top young talent and coming to terms with price pressures brought on by their arch nemesis, the internet.
Unfortunately, while the quantity of information seems to be at an all-time high, the same can’t be said for the quality of information.
While the recipe for value continues to evolve, in today's foodservice industry two ingredients remain constant: being knowledgeable and flexible, writes FE&S' Editorial Director Joe Carbonara.
The foodservice industry seems stuck in a rut.
Nothing brings out the best in the foodservice equipment and supplies industry quite like The NAFEM Show. For three days it seems everyone is in the best possible mood while hobnobbing beneath NAFEM’s biennial big top. The burdens of business challenges seem to fade to the background as various new applications of stainless steel, melamine and even china have everyone forgetting the past, even for a moment — because, to paraphrase one-hit wonder Timbuk3: their future’s so bright they’ve gotta wear shades.
