Insurance Remains a Challenging Area for Restaurants
Emerging-concept operators share approaches at risk mitigation idea exchange. Insurance remains a challenging area for emerging restaurant concepts, according to participants in a recent Risk Mitigation Idea Exchange hosted by Nation’s Restaurant News. Leaders of six emerging restaurant concepts on the Idea Exchange, which was sponsored by Three by Berkshire Hathaway, said they rely on the expertise of and recommendations from brokers to handle their insurance and risk mitigation tasks, the six operator participants said. “It’s specialized enough that it’s hard for somebody who’s running a business to dedicate enough mental capacity and to get smart enough to make good decisions,” said Catey Mark Meyers, president of the 10-unit New York-based Beatnic, formerly By Chloe, which relies on a broker for recommendations. “l wouldn’t trust my opinion solely. I can ask questions, but I wouldn’t trust my opinion to put together a package for us.” Meyers said Beatnic’s team will assess risks and match insurance levels from options provided by a broker. “Because our policy is more granular, and there’s certain coverage for different types of incidents, it allows us to say, ‘OK, well we think the likelihood of this is really low, so we’re willing to either self-insure or take a higher deductible on this particular policy,’” Meyers said. That allows for “souped-up coverage” in areas where risks are high.
Restaurant Sales Continue 15-Month Growth Streak
Overall restaurant service improved in April. The good news for the restaurant industry is that sales growth continued to be positive in April. The industry experienced a 15-month streak of improving sales year-over-year. The last time industry sales growth was negative was February 2021, when restaurants were coming off a new high in the number of COVID cases at the end of 2020. But the unwelcome news is that the growth rate has been slowing considerably, with April’s 5.3% sales growth the weakest during that same period. Further weakening is expected in the months ahead, as the industry continues lapping over increasingly harder sales hurdles. The more concerning news for restaurants comes in the form of the persistently eroding guest counts experienced in recent months. Traffic growth was down 2.7% in April, which represented a softening of 1 percentage point compared with March’s growth rate and was the second consecutive month in which traffic growth has been negative year-over-year. In April, restaurants were able to provide a strong service experience to their guests. Service net sentiment* improved by a healthy 7 percentage points year-over-year during the month. In fact, this month sported the highest service net sentiment since the beginning of 2021. This is welcome news for an industry that has been heavily challenged by staffing difficulties, which have hindered execution since last spring.
65% of Consumers Prefer Local Restaurants Over Chains
Survey says. More consumers are opting to dine in-person amid fewer COVID-19 restrictions, while 29% plan to decrease their delivery app usage in the coming months, according to a survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers from Next Insurance emailed to Restaurant Dive. In the past 90 days, 71% of consumers went out to eat and sat inside a restaurant, while 32% said they ate at a restaurant but sat outside. Local, non-chain restaurants may be experiencing a boost from this shift. In the past three months, 27% of consumers have dined at a local restaurant. Seventy-two percent of respondents have spent money on local restaurants, and 65% say they feel better about buying from a local restaurant than from a chain. Next Insurance’s survey indicates consumers are intentionally choosing mom-and-pop restaurants after a tumultuous two years, in which nearly 80,000 establishments shut down for good. More than half of respondents (54%) had a favorite restaurant close during the pandemic, but 94% plan to try new local restaurants in their communities. This support is driven in part by pent-up demand as COVID-19 restrictions disproportionately affected full-service restaurants. As of 2019, over 60% of independent restaurants were full-service, according to CHD Expert.
Environmental Group Wants to Help Restaurants Find More Sustainable Packaging
Environmental defense fund offers a free tool to assess options. With fears of lawsuits looming and regulations coming into play, restaurant operators face growing pressure to find foodservice packaging that is free of toxins that can leach into food. As off-premises dining grows, so has the world of to-go packaging, with many suppliers and manufacturers making claims about the sustainability of their products. Often the more healthful options are also more expensive. How can restaurant operators know what’s the best choice for protecting human health and the planet? The Environmental Defense Fund, a New York-based nonprofit that seeks solutions to environmental problems, has launched a new free web tool that can help. The website offers information about common food containers — including everything from paperboard to plastic clamshells and metal cans — and “chemicals of concern,” based on the environmental group’s findings.
How To Use Images in Your Restaurant Email Marketing Campaigns
A great way to reach your current audience and expand as well. Using images in restaurant email marketing is a great way to reach your current audience and expand as well. But how can I use images in my restaurant email marketing campaigns? Well, keep reading this article to find out exactly how to incorporate images into your promotional emails. There are seven tips in total, but the most basic tips are very simple to implement and are very cost-effective. It doesn’t matter how good the food is at your restaurant, if your customers can’t see the quality through high-quality images, the email marketing won’t work. So, make sure you either hire a professional photographer or use a high-quality in-house photographer to take pictures of your dishes. The professional photography should feature the dishes you want to push and any dishes that are included in deals or discounts. The images need to showcase the dishes and make the best features shine. Here’s an example of a high-quality picture of a dish. The image is clear, appetizing, and showcases all the toppings on the pizza. You get a feel from the image of how the food will taste and what the atmosphere of the restaurant might be like. Bad photography can make good food look awful, so make sure you hire the right photographer to get the best results.
Burgers and Beverages
Top Restaurant Chefs share favorite pairings. Chefs salute National Hamburger Month of May by sharing their restaurant’s most popular burgers and beverage pairings. Although Americans consume nearly 50 billion hamburgers a year, the origin of country’s favorite national food is debatable. Were they conceived in Hamburg, Germany, or does the Lone Star State of Texas get the credit for inventing the juicy combo of ground beef sandwiched between cushiony buns? While the birthplace remains a mystery, something everyone can agree on is the fact that hamburgers are a delicious staple of the American diet and they come in all sorts of varieties. In honor of National Hamburger Month of May and National Hamburger Day on May 28th, you’re invited to peruse a group of best-selling burgers prepared at some of the most popular restaurants across the country; the list includes beverage pairings as a bonus to delight the palate. Feast your eyes on these exceptional burgers and drinks from a wide array of talented chefs.
How to Spot an Employee Considering a Deadly Mass Attack
Here are some flags. The murder of 19 grade-school children and two of their teachers in Uvalde, Texas, may hold a particular chill for restaurateurs. The 18-year-old shooter, after all, was no stranger to the business. News reports indicate he had worked five-hour shift five days a week at a Wendy’s in the area for about the last year. One story said the killer told crewmates he was saving his pay to buy guns—the very weapons he took with him to Robb Elementary. According to that account, Salvador Ramos quit about two weeks ago because he had the needed cash in hand—about $4,000. Co-workers described a quiet youngster who occasionally lost his temper, sometimes spoke or texted inappropriately with female teammates, and had a conflict now and again with a particular shift mate. The same observations could be raised about co-workers in restaurants across the country. But there are warning signs that can flag an employee as a potential lethal threat. “Employees typically do not just ‘snap,’ but display indicators of potentially violent behavior over time,” the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) explains in its guide to how businesses should handle an active shooter. “If these behaviors are recognized, they can often be managed and treated.” DHS advises employers to watch for any of these signs:
Cruise Lines Are Canceling Sailings, Closing Onboard Restaurants
Allowing fewer guests onboard amid hiring difficulties. The cruise industry could be in rocky waters again: Difficulties with hiring crew members has hindered several cruise lines’ operations, leaving some would-be cruise-goers with fewer onboard dining options or canceled trips. Like on-land hospitality companies, cruise lines haven’t been immune to worker shortages” amid the Great Resignation. And now, a lack of available cruise workers has begun affecting itineraries and onboard amenities. This staffing problem is one of the reasons Holland America has decided to “pace its restart over the year,” a spokesperson told Insider in a statement. While Royal Caribbean’s spokesperson acknowledged similar difficulties in hiring up, the cruise line doesn’t expect it’ll be canceling any future itineraries. Not all cruise companies have been as fortunate as Holland America or Royal Caribbean. Guests sailing with Carnival will also be spared from itinerary changes. But this doesn’t mean it’ll be smooth sailing for the cruise line. Carnival will temporarily close two restaurants across all of its ships, Fran Golden reported for Bloomberg.
Did You Know?
New & secret menus from these iconic Miami restaurants. Nothing feels more exclusive and delightful than enjoying delicious food and drinks from a secret menu or a new and updated menu at some of Miami’s most iconic restaurants. Often, these items are made so exquisitely for guests to indulge in a unique experience that otherwise they could not get at all times. This is an excellent example of how the following staples use their master skills to improve and innovate but to offer fun and excitement to guests at the same time. Below you will find a list of some of Miami’s best restaurants that have updated their menus or are offering secret menu items for everyone to enjoy.
Employee Tip
Three ways to make your employees feel valued. The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t only change how we work – it changed what we want in a work environment. Millions of employees are quitting their jobs in search of deeper job satisfaction, better work-life balance, and exceptional company culture. This “Great Resignation” has been especially tough on the restaurant world. In fact, studies show that the “quit rate” among hospitality workers is more than double than that in other industries. This labor shortage puts pressure on restaurant owners to go the extra mile to retain employees as team members. The upshot to this is the new opportunity for restaurant owners to stand out from the crowd by offering a great employee experience that lets your entire team feel valued. We came up with a few helpful tips to improve your employee retention while building a happier, healthier business.
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