This Week in Foodservice: Consumers’ changing expectations for wait times. Chipotle opens an all-digital restaurant. Restaurants dealing with rising COVID-19 cases – again. 

Celebrity chef Guy Fieri was named the 2021 Thad and Alice Eure Ambassador of Hospitality by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. The Ambassador of Hospitality is the NRAEF’s most prestigious honor presented to an outstanding leader, advocate and role model for today’s and tomorrow’s restaurant workers.

The NRAEF chose Fieri for his “tireless” support for restaurant workers and operators during the pandemic. In 2020, he championed the NRAEF’s Restaurant Employee Relief Fund (RERF), which raised more than $21.5 million in financial aid for more than 43,000 unemployed restaurant workers. Fieri also executive produced and co-directed Restaurant Hustle 2020: All on The Line, a Food Network documentary about four chefs trying to stay in business at the start of the pandemic. The Guy Fieri Foundation has served more than 120,000 meals from its “Rescue Trailer,” a mobile kitchen that served meals to firefighters, rescue and relief workers during the California wildfires as well as hospital workers throughout the state. Fieri is also committed to supporting military service members and veterans and has entertained and cooked for troops in the Persian Gulf.

Established in 1987, the NRAEF Ambassador of Hospitality award is named for Thad and Alice Eure, industry icons and founders of the Angus Barn in Raleigh, N.C.

Economic News

• Sales at U.S. retail and foodservice establishments totaled $639.8 billion in November, per data from the U.S. Census Bureau. This represents an increase of 0.3% from October and 18.2% compared to November 2020. Total sales for September 2021 through November 2021 period increased 16.2% from the same period one year ago. Looking specifically at foodservice, sales increased 1% from October and 37.4% from November 2020. Retail sales overall modest growth was disappointing to some economists and many interpret this as an indication of consumers’ struggling to keep up with inflation and the drag supply chain challenges continue to have on retail performance, per several published reports.
• Initial jobless claims totaled 206,000, for the week ending Dec. 11, 2021, per the U.S. Department of Labor. This represents an increase of 18,000 claims from the previous week. The 4-week moving average was 203,750, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week. This is the lowest level for this average since Nov. 15, 1969, when it was 202,750. The drop in unemployment claims remains a key indicator of how tight the labor market is.
• Building permits issued for privately‐owned housing units came in at 1.7 million in November, per data from the U.S. Census Bureau. This is 3.6% greater than October and 2% more than November 2020. Single-family units came in at 1.1 million or 2.7% greater than October.
• Privately‐owned housing starts totaled 1.68 million in November, per data from the U.S. Census Bureau. This is 11.8% more than October and 8.3% greater than November 2020. November single‐family housing starts totaled 1.173 million, which is 11.3% more than October. These numbers beat most economists’ forecasts. Many saw this positive news as a sign the construction industry is starting to solve some of its supply chain issues.
• Industrial production increased 0.5% in November, per the U.S. Federal Reserve. The indexes for both manufacturing and mining increased 0.7%, while the index for utilities decreased 0.8%. At 102.3%t of its 2017 average, total industrial production in November was 5.3% more than its year-earlier level and at its highest reading since September 2019. Capacity utilization for the industrial sector increased 0.3% to 76.8%; even so, it was 2.8% less than its long-run (1972–2020) average.

Foodservice News This Week

• As digital orders continue to increase, consumers’ patience may be wearing thin. One study indicates increases in off-premises business at restaurants continues to affect customer expectations for speed of service. More than 20% of restaurant customers are annoyed after waiting 2 minutes to order at the drive-thru window, which jumps to 70% of customers if the wait grows to 5 minutes to order. In addition, 47% of respondents feel as if delivery and takeout orders have resulted in longer waits when they order in person, while 38% of consumers believe dine-in business is less of a priority than digital orders.
• Guests ordering from a new Chipotle location in Ohio must do so ahead of time via the fast-casual chain’s app or website. While this location features Chipotlanes, the company’s riff on drive-thrus, it does not have one element common to so many restaurants: a dining room. Chipotle has been saying for a while now that digital orders and drive-thrus would be front and center in the chain’s future and this Cuyahoga Falls location is proof positive of that.
• Rising COVID-19 cases are forcing restaurants to temporarily close again. Although, the closures look different this time around, as Crain’s Chicago Business reported. For example, early in the pandemic, an employee testing positive would mean a restaurant had to close for two weeks. Now, it may only be a matter of days before the restaurant can safely reopen. Indeed, this should serve as a reminder that while the industry continues to make progress, COVID-19 remains an absolute factor in restaurants' ability to safely serve customers.
• To help offset some of its labor woes, Taco Bell has enhanced its employee recruitment and retention strategies. The quick-service restaurant chain will increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour across company-owned restaurants. The chain will also unveil a new management training program dubbed the Entrepreneur with the goal of developing general managers with earning potential of up to $100,000.
• After a Starbucks location in Buffalo, N.Y., voted to unionize, it was only natural to wonder what comes next. Well, it did not take long to find out. Baristas at two Boston Starbucks locations filed for union elections last week. Boston represents the third Starbucks market to request a vote on unionizing. In addition to Boston and Buffalo, employees at a Mesa, Ariz., café are exploring their options. The unions have faced staunch opposition from Starbucks, per several published reports.
• McDonald’s settled its lawsuit against former CEO Steve Easterbrook, reclaiming his severance payment valued at $105 million. The burger giant first brought a suit against Easterbrook in August 2020, claiming that he lied during the company’s internal probe into his behavior before his firing. Easterbrook apologized for his conduct in a statement, per published reports. It was a busy week for McDonald’s from a legal perspective. McDonald’s also settled a $33.5 million discrimination lawsuit with franchisee and former Major League Baseball Player Herb Washington. McD’s will buy out all 13 of Washington’s franchises in northeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania for $33.5 million, according to a statement from McDonald’s. Washington agrees to drop his suit and exit the McDonald’s system as part of the agreement.
• Growth Chains: Breakfast and brunch chain Another Broken Egg Cafe opened a location in Port Orange, Fla., its seventh restaurant in the Sunshine State. Black Rifle Coffee Co. opened a location in Harker Heights, Texas, and another in Sevierville, Tenn. Chick’nCone plans to open 10 restaurants in St. Louis over the next 10 years. Pizza Inn plans to open six buffet restaurants across Tennessee and North Carolina. The first unit remains on schedule to open in Elizabethton, Tenn., by the end of the year. Fast-casual chain Roll-Em-Up Taquitos plans to bring five units to Las Vegas, with the first restaurant set to open in mid-2022. Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux opened its second location in Hoover, Ala.