Gov. Phil Murphy Sends Back NJ Liquor License Reform Bill
With conditional veto. As the New Jersey Legislature gets back to work, Gov. Phil Murphy has sent a liquor license reform bill back for reconsideration. The bill, S3038, would give sale and event privileges to certain alcoholic beverage manufacturers by allowing craft breweries, wineries and others in the New Jersey craft alcohol industry to sell food, including things like chips, and non-alcoholic beverages. It would also allow for such vendors to partner with other local vendors to host 25 off-site events per year and host unlimited on-site events including private parties, trivia and quiz games, and live music. In a statement released after he sent the conditional veto to the Legislature, Murphy said the bill on its own “does not sufficiently enhance our antiquated liquor license laws” and that he has “called for a more modern approach to these Prohibition-era laws to reflect the current economy and to better support present and future business owners.” “One of my goals in calling for comprehensive liquor license reform was to ensure that our liquor laws are both modern and fair,” Murphy said. “Our craft alcohol industry continues to grow throughout the state, and our beer and wine manufacturers, distilleries and meaderies deserve our support to help them succeed.” Murphy also said more equitable access to liquor licenses would benefit small family-owned restaurants and called them the “heart and soul of many of our communities and downtowns.” The governor noted that he is committed to liquor license reform but would like to see the bill amended to include a fix for getting inactive “pocket” licenses back into the market, and to provide more opportunities for shopping mall-bound businesses to partake in alcohol sales.
How the New Hybrid Workforce Has Changed U.S. Restaurants
More than 40% of U.S. employees work at least part-time at home. Want to see what a “normal” workforce looks like? Check out your local cubicle farm. The percentage of Americans working from home has settled at just over 40% of the full-time workforce, five times where it was in 2019, thanks to “hybrid” office arrangements in which people split the week between the office and home. And this is where it’s expected to stay. “This is the new normal,” Nick Bloom, a Stanford professor of economics and expert on working from home, said at the Restaurant Finance and Development Conference earlier this month. “Airports are back to prepandemic levels, NFL games, concerts are back. Everything we see now is back to prepandemic levels,” he said. “But one part of the economy that has not returned to prepandemic levels is anything related to working from home.” The implications for restaurants, including where and how consumers are dining out, have been substantial. The new normal has had a major impact on the health of central cities and has changed the days and times people have been most likely to dine out. It has made winners of some chains and losers of others and has fueled the rise of an entire segment. Most of the people who work from home, 29.3%, do so in hybrid arrangements, in which they typically work two days a week at home and the rest in the office, according to Bloom. Another 12% work from home full-time. While that’s well below pandemic highs, the percentage of Americans working from home is up five-fold since 2019, Bloom said. He expects that percentage to increase over time, in fact, as younger, more work-from-home managers and executives take power at companies. The economic impacts of this have yet to be felt but could be substantial.
Bielat Santore & Company – Restaurant Industry Alert
OCEAN COUNTY, NJ “MARINA” FOR SALE
Photo shown to illustrate “Marina” only. Not actual representation.
Marina operation includes 60 in-water slips and 3 docks. The in-water slips are all on floating docks and are in good condition. The slips provide electrical service and water. Additionally, the marina features two restrooms, located within the rear of the building devoted to the marina operation as well as parking for the marina users and a gated facility. The property also includes 7,029 square feet of “fully leased” income producing office space.
“Confidential Offering” – Contact Richard Santore, 732.531.4200 to request Offering Memorandum.
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A Restaurant Owner’s Guide to Simplifying Food Cost
Food cost is something you can conquer. Food cost in your restaurant is controllable. While running a restaurant is a constant whirlwind of variables and challenges; your food cost is something that you can directly influence and manage and that is going to have a direct impact on the health of your restaurant. Too many times, operators over-complicate this straightforward process. You have a million things going on and trying to perfect your numbers down to the penny only adds to that stress. If your restaurant has enough cashflow to hire someone to work on this, go ahead, but if you’re busy running around operating your restaurant, I’m here to show you that this doesn’t need to take a lot of your time. Figuring out your food cost is a simple formula: Purchases divided by sales equal cost of goods sold. The real challenge comes when you try to apply this to individual plates. You’re trying to get the actual cost of each plate, juggling multiple recipes, dealing with fluctuating vendor prices, and compensating for inconsistent yields. You don’t need a complicated spreadsheet or software to do this. I used to do it on scratch paper in my own restaurants. Inside this free Toolkit, there is a spreadsheet that will do that quick calculation for you. An even simpler way is to calculate your entire restaurant’s food cost on a weekly and monthly basis. Apply the same formula to all food-related purchases and sales. If you’re in the green zone, you’re good to go. But if your costs are creeping up higher than you’d like, it’s time to dig deeper into why that’s happening. There are five things I have my clients look at in their restaurant when costs are higher than they’d like: waste or spoilage, purchasing, theft, design, and portioning.
Maximizing Supply Chain Management
In the restaurant industry. When it comes to running a restaurant there are challenges you will undoubtedly run into along the way. And while many restaurants have returned to a post-COVID normalcy, the impending inflation has now introduced rising food costs, ultimately impacting the restaurant supply chain as food costs rise. Despite those impending difficulties faced, there are steps that restaurants can take to ensure they are positioned in the best possible way heading into 2024 by following these simple, yet effective, tips. Restaurant groups want to ensure that all locations across the chain are prepared to run as smoothly and efficiently as possible. This means it is key to provide all open locations are distributed with the right supplies to run day-to-day operations. While making sure that all restaurants have the necessary supplies to operate, this will also keep the team aware of any impending shortages to allow that specific location to prepare accordingly. As the previous tip highlights, the importance of supply distribution amongst all restaurants to best steer clear of shortages, that is still completely unavoidable in the industry. This is where pre-approved substitution items can be available to keep guests satisfied during a visit. There will be times when shortages do happen or an item is unavailable, so finding alternative options can reduce the chances of running out of a single item to help keep the restaurant running smoothly and show customers that their experience is top of mind.
3 Ways Restaurants Can Drive Traffic
In 2024. Operators are reaching a price hike ceiling as diners worry about their spending, but deep discounts can hurt margins, making it tricky to offer value, said Deutsche Bank analyst Lauren Silberman. For the past three years, the restaurant industry’s aggressive price hikes have managed to offset the revenue impacts of negative traffic. But diners’ growing price sensitivity will likely erode that cushion in 2024, forcing operators to find new ways to draw in customers and grow comparable sales, said Deutsche Bank analyst Lauren Silberman. Restaurant prices have already risen over 20%, or an average of roughly 7% annually, since 2021, Silberman said during a presentation at the Restaurant Finance & Development Conference, citing Deutsche Bank research. By comparison, menu prices rose an average of 2.5% during the pandemic. In other words, “menu price [increases] over the last three years should have taken eight years,” marking an unsustainable boon to same-store sales. Traffic has yet to return to pre-COVID-19 levels, and Silberman expects menu price increases to moderate next year to accommodate diner demand — a trend made possible by growing labor market stability and normalization of commodities. “The winners of the restaurant industry will be those who can drive positive traffic,” Silberman said. But the answer to bigger customer crowds and greater frequency isn’t simply slashing prices, which can quickly erode margins, she said. Restaurants must accelerate traffic growth by making strategic investments in value offerings, operations improvements and emphasis on underutilized dayparts and occasions.
The Future of Restaurant Hiring
Fixing a broken system. Traditional hiring methods are broken for both candidates and companies, relying on outdated hiring decisions that are made almost exclusively from resumes. Focusing on what a person has done—not what they have the potential to do—creates blind spots and prevents businesses from hiring untapped talent. This type of “rearview recruiting” also frustrates candidates with a cold, manual, and opaque process that takes way too long, with little communication and no feedback. In the recent HireVue Hiring Experience Report 2023, respondents overwhelmingly expressed discontent with the current hiring landscape. Points of frustration include a lack of feedback (40 percent), the constraint of resumes rather than assessments based on potential and skills (30 percent), the need for more streamlined processes (37 percent), and the prevalence of inaccurate job descriptions (31 percent). Companies need to move beyond traditional practices and prioritize fairness and objectivity. By leveraging AI to evaluate candidates based on potential, skills, and interests, companies can replace guesswork with a nuanced understanding of each candidate. When it comes to hiring, speeding up the process is paramount, but it has to be done effectively. An efficient screening and assessment process is crucial to identify the most qualified candidates quickly. Here are a few tactics that hiring managers can employ to optimize this process:
Prioritizing Restaurant Maintenance
The recipe for long-term success . There are many factors that drive the bottom line for restaurants and properly managing maintenance is chief among them. Maintenance impacts multiple critical aspects of restaurant management and operations. Restaurant maintenance ensures technical difficulties don’t compromise food production and quality. Proper maintenance is also essential to customer satisfaction, retention, and word-of-mouth reputation building. Just ask the manager of the brunch spot who can’t serve pancakes because the griddle is broken — again. This article will provide insights into restaurant maintenance strategies, best practices to implement them, and tips and tricks to drive long-term success. Maintenance needs vary based on restaurant size, food variety, and cooking style, but all restaurant maintenance can be divided into two overarching categories: restaurant equipment maintenance and restaurant facilities maintenance. Equipment maintenance is essential to the core business model of any restaurant and includes maintaining equipment such as refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, commercial gas ranges, deep fryers, and industrial ovens. This type of maintenance is typically the responsibility of specially trained technicians. Maintenance tasks include inspections, cleaning, lubrication, servicing, parts replacement, and repairs. Facilities maintenance tasks include routine cleaning, disinfection, janitorial work, trash removal, plumbing, and HVAC maintenance. Since the COVID pandemic, restaurant patrons are more concerned than ever about basic restaurant cleanliness. This type of maintenance does not necessarily require specialized maintenance training, skills, or equipment to complete but it directly influences a customer’s first and lasting impression.
Did You Know?
Ten ways you can make your food and beverage business a great place to work. Have you ever noticed how great service in restaurants and cafes can make your day? It’s all thanks to the fantastic employees who enjoy their work. When bosses in food and beverage places make their workers excited about their jobs, it can lead to happier customers. Think of happy employees as the special ingredient that makes a food and beverage business successful. They work with a lot of energy and care, which makes customers love their meals and drinks even more. We’ve compiled a list of 10 ways to bring out the best in your employees. These recommendations are based on trends we’ve seen in the industry and the clients we support. While every business is different, these tips can help you bring out the best in your food and beverage company.
Employee Tip
How a chef’s victory led to a $1 million restaurant opportunity. n the early stages of the Own Your Own competition—an opportunity for 500 chefs to win $1 million and open a restaurant in Burgaw, North Carolina—grand prize winner Karoline Schwartz recalls being asked why she decided to enter. It was never about the money. It was about being part of a growing community like Burgaw, a municipality with fewer than 5,000 residents, according to the latest U.S. Census. She’s completely enamored with what small towns can provide, having lived in one herself for the past four years in Tabernash, Colorado, which has fewer than 500 people.