newsletters
September 2011 Newsletter
Greetings!
This month, we take another look at the growing small-plates trend, courtesy of our associate Patricia Liu. Certainly, there are plenty of examples of restaurants that serve only small plates, but you don’t have to overhaul your menu completely to offer them. Simpler strategies, like increasing the proportion of appetizers to entrees, can help you meet increasing customer demand for small plate options, and there are a number of benefits, as our Culinary Project Manager points out. In addition, there’s an article about the reasoning behind the industry’s reliance on limited-time menu programs (LTOs) and some shame-on-you’s in the service department.
To your success,
Dean and Danny
Get in on the Small Plates Trend
By Patricia Liu, Culinary Project Manager
The tapas or small plates restaurant concept is not new, but the popularity of such establishments is prompting restaurants to adopt the menu model in their own ways to great success. Even mainstream restaurants, such as The Cheesecake Factory with its Small Plates and Snacks section, are getting on this trend by providing many more appetizer selections.
There are numerous advantages to adding more small plates selections to your menu:
• It provides additional dining options. With more variable serving size offerings, it is now possible to capture not only the customers who want to have a traditional dinner but also those who want to sample a variety of different things or those coming in as a large group to mainly socialize and drink.
• Appetizers are usually more profitable, so having more small plates provides additional profit opportunities.
• Increased small plate offerings lowers average price per plate, which has two main upsides. One is the restaurant is viewed as a more cost-effective dining option. Also, the restaurant’s cost category would be downgraded in reviews and write-ups, which can entice more cost-conscious diners to try the restaurant. On a side note, people often tend to order more small plates because of the perceived low cost, even though in the end, the costs add up.
• By categorizing the menu by plate size, it also gives more freedom to menu creation – you no longer need to provide a certain number of salads, soups, appetizers, and entrees, etc.; it is more by plate size.
• The small plates model of creates a more social atmosphere, which can result in higher beverage and alcohol sales.
There are different variations of the small plates concept. Some restaurants, especially wine bars and gastropubs, offer only small plates. Others are adopting the model by offering many more appetizers than entrees. Another variation: In addition to having appetizers and entrees, having mid-size offerings (i.e., between appetizer and entrée-size), or having bite-sized items similar to pintxos in Spanish restaurants. With so many different flavors of this concept, there is sure to be a model that fits your establishment.
Whichever variation you decide to implement, you will need to consider kitchen, operational, and equipment impacts, very similar to how you analyze any changes to a menu. For example, with more offerings, how will the load on your different stations shift? Will you need to purchase more plates, share plates, or utensils? How will your expediting and ticketing systems change?
Small plates options can be an exciting modification to your menu that can be relatively low cost and effort to implement. So, give it a try!
To find out how Synergy can help you adopt the small plates trend, contact us for a free consultation.
The Word on Service: Try Harder
By Joan Lang
A recent post in Eater brought up an extremely interesting point about service: As restaurant concepts become more casual, many people think that service has suffered. There’s even a movement afoot in many quarters to replace servers altogether, with iPads and other high-tech devices. But while this is a fun novelty at the moment—and very appropriate for tech-savvy Gen Y’ers and early adopters of any age, for whom texting has replaced telephoning and even the slower email—restaurants have always been a high-touch business. There’s a reason it’s also called the hospitality industry, after all.
Even in fast food or quick-casual outlets, where there’s no table service per se, attitude and the technical aspects of customer service are paramount. And that takes proper hiring, training and empowering. A shift in paradigm from formality to a more laidback style is no excuse for ineptitude, rudeness, or misguided notions of what “casual” means.
A few examples, by way of illustration.
• The owner of a new French bistro had hired a sommelier with a following from a previous job, but the gentlemen in question was too busy chatting up friends at the bar to attend to the tables. For some people, working in restaurants is fun, and very social, but there have to be lines drawn. Having a job in the hot new place doesn’t mean all your friends should come in and visit you. Never mind that the wine guy looked like an unmade bed, with his rumpled suit and uncombed-looking hair. He dropped off the wine list, then skedaddled back to hold sway at the bar, even though I was clearly waiting for a friend and could have used something to sip. No amount of pointed eye contact or finger-raising could get him back, and when I tried to order from a server, she said she’d send the wine steward over. End result: The house lost a glass sale—and neither of us ever went back.
The Moral: Staff has to be on the floor, not hanging out having fun. And it’s fine to have a following, but not at the expense of other customers’ experiences. People who deal with the public need to have a certain temperamental willingness to serve the public, and shouldn’t be hired otherwise. The server, meanwhile, should have been trained to take the order, even if there is a wine specialist.
• In a highly rated destination restaurant that had converted its bar area into a less expensive “small plates” concept, we were asked to order all our small plates at one time. I know why they did this: for the benefit of the kitchen, used to coursing standard orders that come in all at once. But that doesn’t cut it. Small plates are all about nibbling and noshing, building up the check gradually—and everyone knows that small-plate sales can really add up. We succeeded in getting a plate of warm olives with our initial round of drinks while we considered the rest of our order, but the bartender made it clear that he was making an exception because it was still early, and the main dining room hadn’t filled up yet. End result: We hadn’t actually decided whether we were going to have our entire meal there, and we didn’t—and neither of us ever went back.
The Moral: Don’t offer a menu service that you can’t support with customer service. Lacking the ability to reconfigure the kitchen or its staff, management could have taken a lesson from the ages-old tapas bar, and created a menu of small plates that the bartenders could have served: meats and cheeses, prepared items, bowls of marinated olives or mixed nuts. Or only offer the bar menu on traditionally slow nights.
• During a teeming rainstorm, a waiter setting up his tables wouldn’t open up the door for us ten minutes earlier than the designated noon start of lunch service. He pointed to his watch, and kept on polishing silverware. Yes, the dining room needs to be set up and the silverware spotless before opening, but that’s just a guideline. Maybe he didn’t have the key. Go and get it from the guy in the back office, no matter what it says on the door. Needless to say, we went elsewhere—and none of us ever went back.
The Moral: This one’s all about lack of training and empowerment, if not common sense. There are rules for a reason, and there are plenty of reasons to break them. Staff members should understand what the policies and procedures are, and one of the policies should always be that judgment must trump procedures when it comes to keeping the customer happy. The people with their feet on the ground—the service staff—need to trained to the priorities and empowered with the flexibility to meet them.
If need some help with your training policies and procedures, contact Synergy for a free consultation.
How Do You Spell Sales? L-T-O.
By Joan Lang
Many chain restaurants have long favored LTOs (limited time offers) as a way to create news, keep customers engaged, offer seasonal favorites (such as fish during Lent), and test possible new menu items. Generally speaking, LTOs are a more rigorous and codified version of the daily specials offered in independent restaurants.
Lately, however, thanks to the sagging economy and the advent of new technologies, the industry has been upping the ante on this time-honored practice, accelerating both the pace and the number of menu specials. Popeyes, for instance—long known for its creative special-menu programs—is making LTOs a priority this year.
There are a number of reasons to mount limited time offerings:
- Bolster business during a typically slow season – Whether it’s summer in Florida or the weeks surrounding tax time, virtually every kind of restaurant will have traditional slow-traffic periods where there is both a need and the capacity to boost business (you don’t necessarily want to increase sales when a location is already bursting at the seams)
- Take advantage of seasonal availability and pricing – Items like fresh produce can be less expensive during the growing season, not to mention more appealing to patrons. That’s a double whammy reason for offering something like more entrée salads during the warmer months
- Offer a different price point – With either premium items or discounts such as a Two for $20 promotion, companies can manipulate average checks or change consumer perception of the concept’s affordability
- Keep employees on their game – From the menu R&D and marketing departments to the line cooks on location, everybody gets to stretch their creativity, learn new things and alleviate job boredom with LTOs
- Create a consumer rallying point – From traditional media to the website landing page and social media vehicles like Facebook and Twitter, LTOs are one of the best promotional devices that exist, creating news and a sense of excitement
- Test new items for the menu – A focused long view of LTOs can be part of a disciplined approach to the evolution of the menu. For instance, if management has identified the need to offer more boldly flavored ethnic items to address changing consumer preference, a program of LTOs can be used to identify the kinds of items that are best suited to the organization’s particular concept and operations
- Tracking technology is much more sophisticated – POS systems and tracking programs that pinpoint everything from sales velocity per hour to the point at which the novelty of a given LTO wears off make the process much more meaningful and quantifiable
- Respond more effectively to the local market – LTOs that are offered on a market-by-market basis allow a large chain to be more a part of the local marketplace, trends and preferences
Want more tips on how to create and manage LTOs? Contact Synergy Restaurant Consultants.
Tip of the Month
If you’d like to track what other chains are doing in the LTO and promotions area, or how trends are developing in various segments, check out Datassential. In addition to providing custom research, the company has a variety of resources in its archives, including the Menu Trends e-newsletter tracking such trends as upscale barbecue and food trucks.
August 2011 Newsletter
Greetings!
You’ve heard the expression “Don’t sweat the small stuff,” but in this issue of our newsletter we’re asking you to do just exactly that. Small stuff, like the phone bill and the contract to restock your first aid kit, can add up to thousands of dollars a year in unnecessary costs, money that could instead be funneled to your bottom line. Sweating these little under-the-radar expenses—a process known as gap management—is the subject of Mark Ladisky’s post this month, and we think you’ll learn some valuable lessons from it. Identifying these hidden costs and negotiating alternatives is an exercise every operator should undertake as often as possible.
To your success,
Dean and Danny
Gap Management = Buried Treasure
Mark Ladisky, Senior Operations Associate
If I were to ask you your brand’s annual sales, you could probably rattle them off without a pause; the same goes for food and labor costs. But if I asked you the last time someone reviewed your communications expenses, or the fees associated with your website hosting, you probably wouldn’t answer so quickly. In fact, while you diligently bid out your food purchases to save $300 a month, there are untold riches lying undiscovered in your accounts payable and your detailed P&L.
The devil is in the details when it comes to seemingly minor expenses paid in a routine fashion every month, while you spend hours pacing over the cost of cheese. To back up a bit, I will start with the obvious and remind everyone that the bottom line doesn’t lie. Profit is profit, and nothing can change that. However, what happens in the middle of the P&L, specifically with expenses of less than 3%, is something of a blind spot for most operators.
According to Bill Taves, Synergy Restaurant Consultants’ finance and accounting guru, the three areas most overlooked when it comes to the gap between the actual profit a company is making and the potential profit they could earn are:
1. Communication costs. These are often considered necessary evils and paid without a second glance, but has anyone reviewed the service packages since you opened three more stores? Maybe you have long distance packages you don’t need or, worse, you may have staff using the unlocked long distance to rack up your bill calling Santa Claus.
2. Overtime. While it’s tempting to discuss overtime in a colorful way, such as “Overtime is paying premium dollars for tired people,” there is some truth to that. Overtime can be a huge contributor to your payroll expenses and in almost every instance is completely preventable. Yes, there are some occasions where overtime is unpreventable (call outs), but if you routinely see five hours of OT per associate per week and you have 30 staff on payroll, that is 150 OT hours, which costs as much as 225 hours at regular rate. You could hire two more full-time associates and gain 75 hours of productivity, or save $750 a week in payroll simply by reviewing a forecast and actual labor plan.
3. Fixed Price Contracts. Contracts often include a range of services that you routinely pay for and rarely review. These may cover hood cleaning services, trash pick-up, credit card processing fees, first aid kit restocking, knife sharpening, and a never-ending list of other services that are under the radar as individual expenses due to their small percentage of cost. Typically these service providers aren’t calling you to let you know how much leverage you have to renegotiate your pricing since you added more units or increased volume—so pick up the phone and shop it around.
Someone once advised in a productivity book that everyone should earn $100 per hour as often as possible. What that means is that we should spend one hour to find a way to save $100 either per day or per week or however often, but find a way to save that amount with a one-hour investment. If you were to assign your team that project, you might be surprised what they discover.
Take your daily or weekly linen service, for example. They come on-site however often, and routinely take the old and drop the new cloths, aprons, mats and the like. Every so often, your friendly linen company will likely attach some sort of recovery fee to your bill for lost or damaged pieces. That dollar amount may change from time to time or be a static number, but either way you are likely paying too much. While you’re at it, spot-check deliveries of linens at the unit level and validate quantities every so often.
How to properly negotiate a service contract is a subject better left to its own post, so we won’t go into that right now, but suffice to say if you purchase something often enough, you have leverage. How much you have exactly will depend on your purchase levels and your ability to exploit it during negotiations.
Other expenses are on your P&L but could be reduced just through the simple act of taking some initiative. For example, I know it’s convenient to have that first aid kit restocked automatically, but typically those services charge a ‘trip fee’ or ‘service charge’ in addition to the cost of the products stocked. They also have been known to add on ‘inspection fees’ of a couple of dollars here and there. These miscellaneous fees can add as much as 20% to a bill, and should be reviewed at the very least.
Regardless if you are in search of the most humble or most aggressive of profit margins, gap management needs to be on your radar.
As part of a basic operations review, Synergy will often discuss observed opportunities for savings with our clients, but a thorough review of this area is usually recommended. We’re happy to discuss Gap Management opportunities as part of our routine operations assessment or as a specific scope of work, so contact us today to find where your missing P&L treasures are buried.
One Item Wonders
By Joan Lang
Anyone who’s been paying attention at all recently knows how successful The Meatball Shop has been, packing in customers, inspiring countless press reports and flattery (read: imitators), and allowing for the opening of a second location in the uber-hip Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, across the river from the original.
We’ve been here before, of course, with the single-item specialists like Cinnabon and Auntie Anne’s pretzels, to say nothing of pizza, ice cream and fro yo shops. This is a little different, however, in the sense that the new breed of one-item-wonder concepts springing up goes beyond treats and other impulse purchases. And many of them, like The Meatball Shop, are helmed by serious chefs (TMS co-founder Daniel Holzman is CIA-trained, and he and partner Mike Chernow are equally serious about the quality of the ingredients they use). Not surprisingly, too, many of them are located in urban areas and/or near colleges that have the critical mass to support them.
Macaroni and Cheese
Not the first of the mac-and-cheese specialists, by any means, L.A.’s Mac&Cheeza serves a build-your-own version of the iconic comfort food, available in four different sizes with such mix-and-match toppings as collard greens, olives, jalapenos, BBQ Chicken and Chorizo. Meanwhile, Macbar in Manhattan has 12 different formulations, from The Classic, with elbows and American and cheddar cheeses to Mac Quack, made with duck confit, Fontina, caramelized onion, and fines herbes.
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Chedds, a grand old survivor in Austin, TX, from 2003, does gourmet grilled cheese. The house proposes more than two dozen combinations (e.g., the “Ultimate” with Gouda and Havarti on multigrain, or the Fish and Peppers with tuna, chipotle cheddar, banana peppers, jalapeno, mayo and relish on rye), or patrons can customize from a list of more than 30 cheeses, eight meats, a dozen veggies, condiments, dressings, and eight kinds of bread.
Rice Balls
Arancini Bros. in Bushwick, NY, specializes in the orange-shaped Sicilian rice balls as a cornerstone to a rotating menu that includes versions made with salmon, broccoli raab and sausage, and a la carbonara. Did they “borrow” the idea from a place with the same name in London? Does it matter?
Lobster Rolls
Three guesses what Maine lobsterman Luke Holden wanted to specialize in when he opened his first restaurant? There are also shrimp, crab and combo rolls, and crab claws, along with chowders. The first one caused a sensation in New York City, and now there are six, including a truck.
Savory Pies
Capitalizing on the Aussie love of pasties, sausage rolls and other savory hand pies, Pacific Pie Co. touts local and humanely raised meats and seasonal produce—this is Portland, OR, after all. Fillings like Beef & Stout, Thai Green Chicken Curry, Spinach, Feta & Tomato and more, plus dessert pies like Shaker Lemon, make this a real, er, upper crust experience.
Word to the wise, however: The New York outpost of Pop-Tarts World, which hawked such menu items as Pop-Tarts Sushi and peanut butter Pop-Tart sandwiches, is no longer in business. After all, how many Pop-Tarts can one person eat?
To find out if you hot new restaurant can work in the real world, contact Synergy.
Bread: The Staff of Life—and Menus
By Joan Lang
Read on for ideas that take day-old bread beyond the realm of croutons, crumbs and bread pudding:
Crostini and Bruschetta
Throw away the crackers: These grilled or toasted platforms are well-suited to a variety of toppings, and are uber-hot on menus of all kinds.
- The smaller crostini can be used with various composed toppings; served with dips, dunks, fondue, pates, soft cheeses and other spreads; added to a signature bread basket; or used as a garnish for cheese plates, soups, salads and more.
- Generally bigger in size, bruschetta are a well-loved peasant food throughout the Mediterranean (including Greece, where they’re called Dako and are often made with twice-baked rusks, and Spain, where bread is rubbed with olive oil, tomato and sometimes garlic oil to create Pa Amb Tomàquet). Offering a bruschetta or Crostini Trio of the day represents a great way to utilize seasonal ingredients and leftovers.
It goes without saying that you should feel free to experiment with all kinds of different breads: baguette, ciabatta, whole wheat…. And even a base seasoning as simple as olive oil and garlic adds a different dimension.
Panzanella and Other Bread Salads
Leave it to thrifty cooks to re-purpose stale bread in a way that has really caught on as a salad, starter and side dish that goes beyond traditional ethnic menus. In fact, it’s no coincidence that Tuscan bread is made without salt, so that it dries out perfectly, and it is the Tuscans, after all, that are associated with panzanella (bread salad) and bread-enriched soups like Ribollita (see below). The Italians aren’t the only ones who make bread salads with trendy currency, however: Fattoush is a Middle Eastern bread salad made with pita.
Although the better known bread salads depend upon perfect ripe tomatoes for their lusciousness, they’re actually a perfect vehicle all kinds of seasonal ingredients, like winter squash and grapes, or roasted vegetables. More substantial additions, such as cheese or grilled tuna, allow them to be menued as a main course.
Bread Soups
While the Italians are most associated with the idea of using leftover bread to add body and substance to soups (Ribollita, literally “reboiled,” traditionally recycles yesterday’s minestrone as well), bread is used to thicken or add heft to soups all over the world, from the floating cheese raft that makes onion soup en croute in France, to Spanish garlic soup, a simple, egg-enriched soup served over toasted day-old bread.
Take inspiration from the global language of bread soups, which also include the Italian Papa Al Pomodoro (tomato bread soup) and Crema di Zucca Fontina (a creamy squash soup from the Valle d’Aosta which utilizes stale rye bread), Polish Zupa Chlebowa (thick with kielbasa and pumpernickel), and German bread dumpling soup.
Specialty French Toast
As breakfast and brunch become more important sources of profit for operators, so does the popularity of signature morning foods. And given that most people still want something fairly traditional for the first meal of the day, it comes as no surprise that chefs would be riffing on ever-popular French toast. Some thoughts:
- Stuff it, placing a filling between two slices of bread and moving on from there. The filling itself can be sweet (fresh strawberries and chocolate drizzle) or savory (ham and Gruyere—which come to think of it sounds like the traditional Croque Monsieur).
- No longer just a repository for old bread, this indulgent morning specialty can be made with all kinds of different breadstuffs: challah, brioche, croissants, cinnamon raisin bread, There’s a reason folks call it Pain Perdu (“lost bread’), meaning that you can use practically any sort of bread that would be otherwise lost to the dumpster
So here’s a toast to bread and all its myriad uses—and contact Synergy if you want more ideas for your menu.
Tip of the Month
If we had only one food blog to read, it would be Serious Eats. Though it’s aimed at consumers and foodies, there’s lots to learn from this extensive, well-edited site, from recipes and food trends to information about wine and spirits, food science, travel, media, and more. It’s also the portal for two great microsites: A Burger Today and Slice, a paean to the world of pizza.
July 2011 Newsletter
Greetings!
With this month’s newsletter, we’re especially excited to share news of one of our latest and most interesting projects yet, LYFE Kitchen. Synergy Consultants was asked by the founders of this new healthy, socially conscious restaurant concept to build the organizational and operational infrastructure needed to roll out the “LYFEstyle brand.” This transformative concept marries great-tasting, better-for-you food with a variety of philanthropic and community initiatives, supporting the ultimate mission to “Eat Good. Feel Good. Do Good.” We attended the groundbreaking ceremony in June, which took the form of a “fork-lifting” and tasting. We can’t wait to share the future of LYFE Kitchen as it grows.
To your success,
Dean and Danny
Lyfe Begins in Palo Alto
By Joan Lang
Healthy, fresh, socially conscious. If that doesn’t sound like typical fast food, it’s not. LYFE Kitchen (the name stands for Love Your Food Everyday) broke ground in Palo Alto, CA, in mid-June, the first of what could be a 250-unit chain of fast-casual locations that promises to turn set ideas about both fast food and health food on its ear. The fact that LYFE is helmed by two mainstream industry heavyweights—CEO Mike Roberts, former global president and chief operating officer for McDonald’s, and Mike Donahue, former chief communications officer for McDonald’s USA—with the deep-pocket assist from Stephen Sidwell of boutique investment firm Devante Capital behind it, makes that ambitious expansion goal seem particularly promising.
But LYFE’s premise is anything but heavyweight, and in fact the concept was born when Sidwell lost 35 pounds with the help of a personal chef and reached out to Roberts with his idea. The mission: “To answer one of America’s greatest unmet consumer needs by providing great-tasting, affordable, good-for-you food while making a positive impact on all of the communities we serve.”
It’s a niche that was pioneered by Chipotle, explored by the likes of Panera and Le Pain Quotidien, and further defined by such concepts as Evos and Sweetgreen. What LYFE does is bring it all together as a “lifestyle” brand with an emphasis on ecological and social responsibility, as well as sustainable farm-based sourcing.
LYFE Kitchen also has some serious culinary cred behind it, including executive chef Art Smith (who first made his name cooking for Oprah) and consultant Tal Ronnen, a well-known vegan chef. Two physicians serve on the LYFE Health and Wellness Panel, and Olympic swimmer Janet Evans heads up LYFE’s “national mom advisory panel”
As for the made-to-order menu, the emphasis will be on healthy satisfaction—including desserts—rather than deprivation. It will sport a number of vegan and vegetarian items (Sweet Corn Chowder, Wild Mushroom Flatbread, Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries) along with Niman Ranch all-natural beef burgers with agave ketchup, Tal’s Ancient Grains Teriyaki Beef Bowl, and Smith’s justly famous Unfried Chicken. Entrée price point will be in the $8-$10 range. In addition, there will be:
• No butter or cream
• No fried food
• No high fructose corn syrup
• No single menu item over 600 calories
LYFE Kitchen has pledged to “awaken the customer’s Sixth Sense—the intrinsic desire to do good.” The nascent chain has partnered with the Global Animal Partnership to become the first restaurant to commit to that advocacy group’s 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating Standards. In addition, underlying core values include socially conscious purchasing decisions, product sourcing, environmental practices, building materials and a robust program of philanthropic and community-based activities.
Synergy Consultants was hand-picked by Mike Roberts and the team to help bring LYFE Kitchen to life by collaborating with celebrity chefs and principals to build the organizational and operational infrastructure needed to roll out the brand.
Says Roberts: “Synergy managing partners Dean Small and Danny Bendas played an integral role in developing operating strategies and creating best practices while the Synergy design team captured the vision by designing a look that supports LYFE’s transformative guest experience.”
Back-of-House Efficiencies Maximize Productivity—and Profits
By Mark Ladisky, Senior Operations Associate
There are many different options when addressing labor solutions, and one of them involves maximizing the productivity of your staff. In the course of performing operations assessments, Synergy often discovers ways the operator can have an impact on the cost of operating a kitchen without simply sending people home.
The first option is to hire right. It’s quick, simple, and often not practiced. One example would be in the area of wages. Let’s say candidate #1 wants $10/hr. and candidate #2 wants $12/hr. In the course of one 8-hour shift, candidate #1 could cost the business $80 vs. candidate #2 who would cost $96, so there’s a difference of $16 per day. As a result of that math, you could say that candidate #1 should be hired for reasons of economy, and you wouldn’t be alone in that decision—many operators are in your camp. But there’s a secondary screen that should be applied which involves productivity. Candidate #2 may be more experienced, and as a result is likely to be faster, more consistent, and careful, which can prevent waste, one of the secret food-cost killers. Now which candidate is cheaper in the long run?
Another consideration in BOH productivity involves the simple concept of systems. When I mention systems, I don’t mean to suggest something complicated. In fact, I would say that the use of a thorough line-check form, order guide, and production chart would improve productivity exponentially with little effort. Review your batch sizes and compare them to shelf lives and usage. If you make tomato sauce every day, and you make five gallons of it every day, consider making a 15-gallon batch every three days, thereby increasing productivity.
Line-check forms, and the actual practice of using one, can prevent the waste of time spent on producing batches or recipes that aren’t needed to satisfy predicted guest demand. Often operators have kitchens that are on autopilot and simply produce the same volume of product every day. On average, this practice can work—but on average you also don’t need to carry an umbrella every day either.
Solid and reliable recipes are another tool to improve productivity. If you have a recipe that is very complicated, consider revising it to include a labor-saving purchased product. Additionally, if the recipe proves so difficult that an associate spends half a shift producing it, review the entire dish and consider if it is really worth the cost when labor is considered. Maybe buying an already flattened chicken breast makes sense in one location because legacy wages have you paying more per hour for staff.
Another practice that can shave hours off the payroll is consolidation. If cook #1 has diced tomato on the prep list, and cook #2 has the same item, we often see the two associates preparing them individually. Revise your prep lists to consolidate like items; it’s all one kitchen, share and share alike.
Lastly, and this one may be obvious, but we highly suggest you refresh your menu at least once per year. How does that impact productivity you ask? We often see kitchen staff preparing maybe two or three components, often daily, to satisfy the prep for a menu item that they all know never sells. Because that item is on the menu, they are obligated to order and inventory product, waste product and time, all for low or no sales on one or two dishes. If you look at your product mix monthly—if not more often—then you will clearly see trends in your customer purchases. Address those trends and you will minimize wasting resources and menu real estate with items that don’t make sense.
If you feel that addressing any of these issues requires a second opinion or some helping hands to tackle, Synergy is always available. With offices in every time zone, we can provide everything from phone support to on-site management of these and many more issues.
The Call of Seasonal Menus
By Joan Lang
Summertime, and thoughts turn to sweet corn and barbecued chicken. It’s a siren call you should make every effort to answer on your menu. Properly sourced, seasonal ingredients such as produce and seafood are abundant and less expensive during their peak—not to mention more delicious. They also answer growing customer demand for seasonal and even local foods.
• Rotate in Lighter Menu Items – Grilled meats and fish, main course salads, chilled soups, and other lighter fare are particularly appealing as warm weather settles in, and should be a part of the specials lineup if not the core menu.
• Go Produce Intensive – Seasonal sides, vegetable based appetizers (heirloom tomatoes and mozzarella, anyone), sandwiches, and smoothies and juices—in addition to the entrée salads and fruit desserts mentioned elsewhere—are great vehicles for seasonal fruits and vegetables and go a long way toward positioning your menu as seasonally responsive
• Consider Buying from Local Farms. It’s not as difficult as you think, even on a large chain scale, especially thanks to new buying groups and distribution models. Bon Appetit Management , Eat’n Park, and Big Bowl have all pinned menuing efforts on seasonal and local buying strategies, and made names for themselves among consumers in the process
• Offer Fruit Desserts – Traditional summertime items like Strawberry Shortcake, Peach Ice Cream and Blueberry Pie take advantage of the season’s bounty, but warmer weather and the desire for lighter eating also point to such offerings as fruit plates and fresh berries, poached pears, lemon-based confections, and old-fashioned crisps, crumbles and buckles. Can you menu a changing Crisp of the Season, from spring’s rhubarb to fall’s first apples?
• Add Iced Coffee Selections – Iced tea has been a no-brainer in the industry for years, but now the appeal of iced coffee is building. Chains like Starbucks and Au Bon Pain have experienced unqualified success with refreshing season-appropriate items including the Mocha Coconut Frappuccino and Iced French Vanilla Coffee, respectively
• Don’t Forget Cocktails – Rum drinks, spiked lemonade, wine- and beer-based imbibes like sangria and micheladas, fruit punches, and other refreshing drinks can be prominently merchandised on the bar menu
For more advice on how to make your menu seasonally appropriate and profitable, contact Synergy Consultants.
Tip of the Month
Thinking of going Green? The buzz has certainly been building for “green” businesses of all kinds, but just exactly what does green mean for a restaurant business? The Green Restaurant Association has some answers, guidelines, and lots of resources. Going Greener is intended for the Chicago area, but is still a valuable source of information. And ConSERVE is the National Restaurant Association’s greener restaurant program.
June 2011 Newsletter
Greetings!
For many U.S. operators, June marks the start of a whole new season, not just from the point of view of food and the menu but also operationally. Perhaps you have a patio that’s opening and a lunch trade that’s starting to pick up, or your customer base is moving into a more casual, school-vacation mode. You may even be welcoming back part-time summer staff to help with the extra volume.
That makes this a great time of year to focus on team-building issues. Our Senior Operations Associate, Chuck Imerson, shares some communications strategies for getting everyone pulling in the same direction as you gear up for the warmer months ahead.
We also have some ideas for making your website work harder for you, and a look at one of the exciting new food trends we’re tracking, the Japanese-style izakaya pub.
To your success,
Dean and Danny
Don’t Let Silence Become Your Approval
By Chuck Imerson, Senior Operations Associate
We’ve all heard the adage “Silence is Approval.” If your team lacks performance, your silence could be why. A manager’s failure to communicate properly with the team produces a lack of employee motivation. It causes distrust among employees, and it will inevitably end in employees being disengaged. The absence of communication with your whole team will most certainly result in an overall lack of understanding of both your company’s philosophies, and of its procedures.
Ask yourself this: “When I witness a coachable moment, do I seize the opportunity to coach? Or do I simply kick the can down the road?” If in fact you do let the moment just pass by, your silence consequently conveys to your team members that you accept their behavior, and that the rules simply do not apply to them. Your approval is your silence! The question is, how do you make time for these coachable moments?
Managing in the hospitality business is always “live.” For much of the day, a manager works with the team in action-stations, helping them out-of-the-weeds, and therefore ensuring that the guests have a great dining experience. To ensure that team members don’t receive the “silent treatment,” managers must focus on the following:
• Take advantage of the “minute” with ongoing and constant communication. One-minute conversations will add up throughout the shift, and they will keep the staff motivated, informed, and focused.
• When you observe individual team members doing something exceptional, acknowledge them before their peers. When employees see and hear peer recognition, it becomes contagious. They immediately achieve the behavior that you, the manager, desire. Everyone likes praise, and employees always want more of it. Your actions will go a long way in improving employee morale.
• Take time to stop, look, and listen. By doing this, you identify coachable moments, and you can avoid handing out the silent treatment. You gain buy-in from your team members when you explain to them why a task is done this way, and when you demonstrate how to do it. This why and how is crucial for success
• Understand both the value of communication, and the consequence of the silent treatment on the team.
And finally, never pass on an opportunity to make your team better, because that will help make your operation stand out from all the competition. Remember always that for the continual success of any business, the manager must give back. The more you give, the more the employee gives. So, try to incorporate your give-back actions into your daily plan of action.
Contact Synergy Consultants if you’d like a free consultation to discuss your team-building programs.
Iza-whatta?
Izakaya. Think of it as the love child of a tapas bar and a neighborhood pub, by way of Japan—the logical next step after sushi madness and a bad economy. There’s probably one coming to your town soon.
Starting life as sake shops where workingmen could sit and imbibe (the name means “sitting in a sake shop”), with the eventual addition of small snacks, the traditional izakaya serves an essential role in Japanese social life, just like the pub in England and the tavern in the United States.
Restaurant Business pegged the izakaya (pronounced ee-ZAH-ka-ya) as one of the Next Generation Japanese concepts headed our way, and the wide acceptance of both sushi and small plates as a way of dining has led to a recent proliferation of izakayas here in the United States.
Then, too, there are only so many chef-driven gastropubs dispensing drinks and reasonably priced food-to-be-shared that any given market can take. Izakayas offer this eating-and-drinking model in spades, with the relative exoticism of another culture thrown into the bargain.
Rather than dispensing sushi, however, the izakaya specializes in grilled foods like yakimoni (skewered foods), fried chicken, dumplings, rice and noodle dishes, and other menu items that are great for both absorbing and spurring sales of sake, beer, shōchū (a traditional Japanese distilled beverage made from barley or rice), and cocktails.
Some examples of new stateside izakayas include:
• Ki, in San Francisco – This “eco-sensitive” izakaya featuring local ingredients and sustainable seafood also features a sake lounge and a sushi bar. Owned by Paul Hemming and helmed by Chef Brian Beach (an alumni of Aqua restaurant), Ki offers modern interpretation of traditional Japanese pub grub, including kurobuta pork dumplings, a variety of yakitori (chicken skewers) and curry pork sliders
Ki Grand Opening from Temple Nightclub on Vimeo.
• Kushi, in Washington, DC – One of the granddaddies of the izakaya trend in the U.S. specializes in a menu of wood-fired robata-grilled items like asparagus, mushrooms, squid legs, quail and duck, as well as cross-cultural kobachi (small plates) such as Japanese potato salad with Bayonne ham), steam edamame and a daily chawanmushi custard
• Tanuki Tavern, in New York City – Restaurant impresario Jeffrey Chodorow’s entry into the field is the new Tanuki Tavern in the Meatpacking District’s stylish Hotel Gansevoort. The small-plates-intensive menu touts everything from fish and chips with yuzu tartar sauce to miso braised beef marrow bone, and there are several dozen esoteric and artisanal sakes on the wine list
• Sasa, in Walnut Creek, CA – Chef-owner Philip Yang has transformed a 100-year-old brick building into a fusion-style izakaya featuring foods from local farmers’ and fish markets; edamame hummus, Delta asparagus tempura, pan-seared dayboat scallops with carrot-ginger puree, and chicken “lollipops” with sweet and spicy glaze. The cocktail list features a number of interesting cross-cultural libations (Suntory Manhattan, anyone?)
Want more on food trends? The team at Synergy are all experts on what’s hot and how to implement it for your menu.
Is Your Website Up to Snuff?
In this digital age, a good website can be the second most important ancillary marketing tool a restaurant has, after a well-designed menu.
Although today’s restaurant websites look and function a lot better than they used to, there are still plenty of substandard or just plain bad websites around: hard to use, ugly, complicated, lacking in a consistent message, or uninformative.
Like all marketing tools, your website and any associated social media—Twitter and Facebook feeds, a blog if you have one—should speak with your voice. Whether your operation is a small independent with limited resources, or a chain with a dedicated staff to produce it, your website is an extension of your mission, personality and marketing message.
Take a look at the site for Kitchenette , a “home-cooking” restaurant in Manhattan. Though the two locations are in high-density uber-urban areas, step inside the website and you’re in another place and time entirely, one where a meal is like dinner at Grandma’s house.
The design and graphics are charming, the voice and subject matter are authentic, and from a technical perspective the site makes sense and is easy to navigate and understand. There are recipes for items like chocolate cake and Nana’s Chicken Noodle Soup, and a new blog where you can read about Sunday suppers and vegetable gardening. Even if you’ve never been to Kitchenette, you feel like you understand the place and know the owners. It’s not a sophisticated blog, per se, but given the concept it shouldn’t be.
Meanwhile, Dunkin’ Donuts has recently redesigned its website to be more locally friendly. Inspired by Facebook feedback, the company added GPS functionality for smartphone users as well as a tool that allows customers to enter their zip code to access information about their nearest DD, its hours of operation, Wi-Fi availability and so on. You owe yourself to check it out.
Technical subjects like search engine optimization and analytics are a whole separate matter, but here are some common-sense tips to keep in mind when evaluating or redesigning your website (or, heaven forbid, launching your first one):
• Take it easy with bells and whistles – Three years ago, animation and other examples of technical wizardry were de rigueur. But keeping in mind that some 50% of Americans are using a mobile device like a smart phone, that’s no longer a smart strategy. Slow-loading screens, flash animation, complex slide shows and other bells and whistles will simply crash your customers’ browsers
• Be careful with the music – The right tunes may set a mood in the restaurant, but can be annoying on a website: The volume may come on too loud; the noise can be distracting; and it can be an embarrassment to the poor schlub who’s trying to make a dinner reservation from an office desk
• There must be a menu – Absolutely, positively, even if it’s a sample one. Including prices is extremely important (many chains deal with market-by-market differences by having a menu link for each location). You can offer a pdf but it shouldn’t be the only versions—remember than smart phone user? And of course it should be current
• Play up the basics – Contact information (address, phone number, email address) should be on every page; why force someone to go back to the home page or, even worse, a separate contact page after they’ve perused that menu? Hotlink the phone number. Days and hour of operation, reservations policies and other nuts-and-bolts information (credit cards taken, availability of parking) should also be prominently displayed. Don’t make customers hunt to give you their business
• No pages under construction – Yes, your web designer has put in a template for photos or a future blog. They have no business on an active site
• No bad food photography – Digital cameras are getting better, and you may be able to take photos yourself, but if you can’t afford professional photography that does your food justice, don’t use it
Finally, remember that like anything design-oriented, websites can look dated after just a few years. Like any marketing tool your site has a shelf life, and should be updated as necessary for content, appearance and functionality.
Synergy Consultants can help you design a better website. Just contact us today for a free estimate.
Tip of the Month
The USDA’s iconic Food Guide Pyramid, introduced in 1992 and much criticized in the past several years for becoming both irrelevant and overly detailed, has been replaced by the plate. For many foodservice professionals who grew up with the pyramid, this represents an interesting paradigm shift, although the message to enjoy your food but eat less of it overall will come as no surprise. For information, check out the new site, choosemyplate.gov.
May 2011 Newsletter
Greetings!
This month, We’ve got some news for you: If you think that it’s only other restaurants that are your competition, think again. Consumers can buy food that’s ready-to-eat—or nearly so—in all kinds of places these days, from supermarkets and c-stores to local farmers markets. That means you have to work extra hard to set yourself apart.
We’re also taking a look at the rise of the Southern food trend, which we see as an extension of the comfort food trend with a little regional American culinary tradition thrown in.And Karen A. Brennan, our Marketing & Branding Strategy specialist, shares a witty tale of the cobra, to illustrate how successful branding works in the age of social media.
To your success,
Dean and Danny
Competition: Look at the Big Picture
By Joan Lang
If you’ve never walked into a big Whole Foods, Byerly’s or other high-end grocery store—to say nothing of a specialty emporium like Mario Batali’s new megaplex Eataly , in New York City—you owe it yourself to do so right now, if only to get the message that competition is coming from every quarter in the food business.
Because it’s not just other restaurants in your segment, concept type or even price point that’s your competition: It’s also grocery stores, specialty food stops, food trucks, farmer’s markets, big box stores and even convenience stores that are vying for the consumer’s mealtime dollar.
Nowadays, it seems like everybody that can is offering fresh foods and prepared, grab-and-go meals. In fact, according to the recent Retailer Meal Solutions Consumer Trend Report from Technomic, respondents reported that they were sourcing prepared meals from a wider range of retail foodservice operations than they were just two years ago, with more than three out of four consumers (77%) purchasing prepared foods from retailers at least once a month. And you’d better believe that this was sometimes to the detriment of restaurants.
• 7-Eleven is ramping up its menu of “signature” food items, like pizza-by-the-slice and Angus beef got dogs, on the way to driving to driving foodservice sales that already exceed 17% of total volume
• Mobile catering—read: food trucks—is now a $5 billion industry; in cities like Portland, Ore., these rolling restaurants have become a real force for the brick-and-mortar industry to contend with
• Former Outback Steakhouse exec David Osterweil has started a company called Fitlife Foods , which provides fully prepared, heat-at-home meals with a better-for-you nutritional profile
• Whole Foods is testing a restaurant concept called Osteria and wine and craft beer bars, with no intention of cannibalizing its robust program of beautiful if pricey ready-to-eat foods for takeout
• So-called “business incubators” like North Market in Columbus are springing up all over the country, giving a leg up to specialty foods entrepreneurs who don’t have the means or the facilities to go it alone
In fact, it might seem that the only type of food business that doesn’t compete with you directly is the one that’s too far away. Oh, wait… there’s also mail order.
The South Rises Again
The automobile industry may still be troubled, but the fact that former autoworker-cum-caterer Jamawn Woods won “America’s Next Great Restaurant” with his Soul Daddy concept confirms that Southern regional cuisine is definitely having its moment.
What started as a relatively simple wings-and-waffles menu morphed over the course of the season into more of a healthy Southern comfort theme. Soul Daddy’s opening menu consists of classics like country style ribs, pulled pork, baked chicken and a vegetarian plate that allows customers to pick four side dishes from a list that includes cheese grits, collard greens, sweet potato salad and black-eyed pea salad.
The Southern food trend has been a while in the works, from a boomlet in shrimp and grits (once a rather obscure specialty of the Low Country in South Carolina) on menus to a slew of Southern-inspired restaurants in such Northern cities as New York, Boston, and Chicago. The fact of IHOP having put fried chicken and waffles up as an LTO earlier this year is yet another piece of evidence that Southern food is starting to follow Cajun and Southwestern out into the spotlight.
It’s not hard to see why. Southern food is great comfort food: It’s flavorful and fun, and it has a distinctive point of view. It’s also by its very nature low in food costs—pork, chicken, vegetables, starches like cornbread and grits and macaroni and cheese. (Even artisanal grits like those delicious fresh-milled varieties from Anson Mills are relatively inexpensive, not to mention inspiring for chefs who may be looking for an alternative to Italian polenta).
Think of the other delicious and iconic foods that define traditional Southern cuisine: pimento cheese spread; chicken fried steak and fried chicken; sausage gravy and ham; catfish; barbecued meats; fried green tomatoes; red velvet cake; banana pudding; bread pudding. The Southern, touting its “Kickass Bar & Comfort Food” in Chicago, features dozens of bourbons on its Whisk(e)y Menu. Hungry Mother in Cambridge, Massachusetts—which got a Best New Restaurant nod from the Beard Foundation in 2009—can scarcely keep the boiled Virginia peanuts on its menu in stock. And Seersucker , in the hyper-trendy borough of Brooklyn, serves the likes of the $15 Southern Snack Tray (a kind of latter-day relish plate with deviled eggs and pickled okra) and $10 Biscuit Boxes (four biscuits with seasonal jellies and preserves) to resolutely un-ironic hipsters.
Let’s just hope fried chicken livers don’t go the route of blackened redfish, right into virtual extinction.
What Can WE Learn from the Bronx Zoo Cobra?
By Karen A. Brennan
A 20-inch baby cobra escaped from the reptile house of the Bronx Zoo about a month ago and became an instant news story. OK, it was probably a slow news day, being that it preceded Donald Trump’s presidential aspirations and the capture of Bin Laden, but that only half explains why this event became such a widespread story.
The other half of the story is great branding. How did it happen, why did it happen, and what can we learn from it?
When a tongue-in-cheek Twitter feed emerged that gave the cobra a personality and a voice, the cobra became a brand and finally a cyber phenom. The cobra had 200,000 Twitter followers in less than a week. But I would argue that it was less about media and more about brand personality that drove the overnight sensation.
The @BronxZoosCobra feed was written in the voice of the Egyptian cobra—a young, sassy, fun-loving female cobra with a cosmopolitan flair that tweeted up-to-the minute updates that piqued our imaginations, allowing us to project our hopes and dreams on her and imagine what we might do if we were free to experience the “Big Apple.”
• “Holding very still in the snake exhibit at the Museum of Natural History,” she posted on Twitter. “This is gonna be hilarious!”
• “I should take in a Broadway show. Anyone heard anything about this ‘Spiderman’ musical?”
• “Leaving Wall Street. These guys make my skin crawl.”
Well, she was finally found…in the zoo: no adventures, no trip to the top the Empire State Building, no Broadway show, and that might have been the end of the story…except for what happened today. A peacock just escaped from the same Bronx Zoo, and, of course, is tweeting: “The cobra gave me some escape tips.” And so it continues. What ultimately creates resonance, connection and longevity is the power of the idea.
The idea was original, not copycat. The voice seems real, not contrived. The tweets are conversational in tone, not broadcast business messaging. And most importantly, the voice reflects a brand personality that connects on an emotional level.
Not long ago, I worked on a project to develop a personality and “voice” for my client’s social media program. It was smart of them to realize the need for a well-conceived approach to their social media voice by creating a brand personality that could translate to the “voice of the brand” as they engaged in a dialogue with their guests on line.
That’s the secret to successful branding strategy—articulating the brand personality and translating the brand personality to the “voice of the brand,” especially important in this age of social media. This voice connects with consumers in a personal and emotional way, and the connection is what allows the brand to transcend its rational attributes (the cobra was, after all, a venomous snake) and engender loyalty.
Many brands use celebrities to represent their brand personalities—Jeff Bridges for Duracell, Tim Allen for Campbell’s Soup, Queen Latifah for Pizza Hut. As consumers, our radar tells us if they are on-target or off-target. In 2007, Wanda Sykes was selected as the “voice” of Applebee’s, and although I thought she was hilarious, she didn’t quite fit the brand.
The lesson to be learned is the importance of creating a relevant emotional connection to your customers and the discipline of maintaining a consistent authentic voice that reflects the brand personality.
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Contact Synergy Consultants if you’d like a free consultation to discuss your branding strategy.
Tip of the Month
Interested in the idea of a business incubator (a.k.a.) business accelerator)? These programs, which are designed to accelerate the development of entrepreneurial companies through an array of business support resources and services, are sprouting up all over the country, and they’ve been a boon to small specialty food businesses of all types. Often taking the form of shared kitchens, they may also give hopefuls access to other resources such as marketing and administrative services. Here are a few websites to get you started.
- Culinary Incubator
- Rutgers Food Innovation Center
- Small Business Accelerator
- National Business Incubator Association
- Food Business Innovation Network (FoodBIN)
April 2011 Newsletter
Greetings!
Restaurant Business has just released “The Social Media 50,” an analysis of the foodservice operations that rank highest on Facebook and Twitter. To our knowledge, it’s the first time the press has taken these steps to evaluate chains on their social media activities and performance.
This project, and the associated article in the latest issue of the magazine, points up how important social media has become to the restaurant industry. Perhaps you’re already using social media to promote your restaurant business, or maybe you’re only thinking about it. In either case, we hope our tips for using these resources give you some fresh ideas.
We’re also sharing our perspective on trends in the increasingly important sandwich category, and our Senior Design Associate, Margee Drews, has written about why the recovering economy may mean that it’s time to give your operations a facelift.
To your success,
Dean and Danny
Go Freshen Up—For Your Customers’ Sake
The recessionary clouds are parting, and there’s a bright new feeling of optimism on the horizon. Consumer confidence is coming back and Americans are out spending money again. Thankfully, they’re also going back out to eat. Dining out, after all, is a relatively affordable luxury, and it’s a great way to get out and have some fun.
Don’t breathe a sigh of relief just yet, though. Over the last few years, new restaurant players have emerged and old standbys have reinvented themselves out of necessity. Many restaurateurs have taken the time during the economic downturn to make improvements: revamping their menus, upgrading service, adding new features or redesigning their facilities to make them more efficient and appealing.
That means that the consumer, already on the lookout for new experiences when dining out, has even more choices now than ever.
Does your décor concept speak to this new era?
Does it offer the right backdrop to your new, forward-thinking ways to stay relevant in these competitive times? It’s fun to talk about new experiences, and by freshening up your decor you can give your guests a new experience as well as a reason to “tell all their friends about it.” It can also keep you from becoming obsolete.
Freshening a restaurant need not be an expensive proposition, but it does need to make an obvious statement, to create a necessary impact that achieves your goals and makes your investment worthwhile. Careful thought needs to go into how you spend the capital so that the guest fully appreciates your efforts.
Your goal should be a new experience for your existing customers, as well as a means for attracting new ones.
Your guests begin to experience your restaurant every time they drive by it, and again as soon as they pull into your parking lot. That’s why a restaurant freshening should not just be limited to the interior design but to the facility as a whole.
Think about what the guest experiences initially:
• Is the parking lot safe and in good condition?
• Is the entry monument signage in excellent condition?
• Spring is in the air; does your establishment reflect that, with abundant flowers at the entry and well-cared-for landscaping outside?
New exterior paint may be the single biggest and best investment you can make in a new design package. Prospective guests driving or walking by may never even know you have something new and fabulous on the inside if they don’t see an enticing change on the outside. Lure them in! Then take a good look at what your guests see the very second the front door swings open and they step inside.
• Have you delivered the WOW of what your brand promises?
• Is your lobby or entryway your biggest and best statement?
• Do guests know where to go when they enter? If you have a hostess stand or a place to be met and greeted, is the location obvious?
Of course, attention must be paid to the dining room. Your guests may be spending an hour or more in your restaurant once they sit down. Are they comfortable? Is the interior well-lit and visually exciting? Sit in your dining room for a while so that you can understand what your customers experience. Will they want to linger and enjoy themselves? Will they want to come back?
Good restaurant design will do that for you.
While you’re at, make sure you pay attention to the details, like comfortable chairs, openings and thresholds that can be crossed safely, table lighting that is sufficient for reading a menu. And don’t forget the restrooms; they should also be an integral part of any new design improvements.
By looking at your design through your customers’ eyes and experience you can determine what needs to be done. Remember, this is one of your best chances to get your fair share of the recovery.
Contact Synergy Consultants for a free design consultation or other services to help you give your business a boost.
Sandwiches in the Crystal Ball
Eight years ago, we did a presentation on “hot new sandwiches to watch” for an industry conference on menu trends, and several of our predictions were right on target—even if it took a little while longer than we expected for some of the sandwiches we showcased to get on the mainstream radar.
Case in point: banh mi, the Vietnamese sandwich that everyone from Serious Eats to NRN and Saveur magazine has been singling out lately.
We were reminded of our prediction that this addictively tasty, exotic-yet-familiar sandwich (full of spicy flavors and fresh, crunchy textures) would hit the big-time when we read about the recent opening of Bun Mee in San Francisco.
Now, Bun Mee is the phonetic spelling of this iconic sandwich, which is being brought out of the “Asian quarter” by a New Orleans transplant and former Seattle attorney named Denise Tran. Her clever menu features classic as well as gourmet versions of banh mi, such as Vietnamese Caesar steak salad with mixed greens, grape tomatoes, orange and grapefruit, and tea egg. But we’ve seen banh mi sandwiches on menus in places like Bunk Sandwiches in Portland, Oregon, to a hipster bier café in Portland, Maine. They’re even being served in college cafeterias, thanks to Sodexo’s licensing agreement with celebrity chef Mai Pham.
We were also dead-on with our guess that the Cuban sandwich would achieve widespread popularity on mainstream menus. What these two delicious sandwiches have in common is the fact that they both feature ingredients that are fairly familiar—crusty bread, ham or roast pork, condiments (mayo in the case of the banh mi, and mustard in the Cubano)—with surprising textural and flavor combinations that their fans can’t get enough of.
And in fact their popularity represents an important lesson in how food trends move forward in restaurants in the United States, evolving from something ethnic (strange and slightly intimidating) to downright ubiquitous (like a taco). Sandwiches are a perfect vehicle for experimenting with ethnic flavors and ingredients precisely because the idea of a sandwich is so familiar and comforting to American diners: It’s a sandwich, after all, so how weird could it be?
Here’s the complete list of 10 sandwiches which we predicted great things for back in 2002, by the way. How close were we?
Thinking of making some menu changes? Contact Synergy Consultants to find out how our team can help you meet you goals.
Fresh Ideas for Facebook and Twitter
By Joan Lang
If you’re using social media to promote your business, congratulations. There are more than 500 million active Facebook users, and every month, more than 250 million people engage with Facebook on external websites . As for Twitter, current estimates project that 20.6 million U.S. adult internet users will use Twitter at least once a month in 2011, up 26.3% over 2010 .
Combined with other tools including foursquare (which has more than 7.5 million users), social media is booming. But are you getting the most out of it?
• Use QR (Quick Response) Codes on ads, flyers, takeout menus and other printed materials that will allow smartphone users to link to your Facebook page (and/or website)
• Take the long view with offers. A free beer may cost you 50 cents, but you’re getting people in the door and talking about your place; very few will drink the beer and run
• Tweet when you have reservations cancel or empty tables at the last minute
• Tweet nightly food or bar specials
• Enlist your staff (and trust them) to tweet their friends and followers and get them following your Facebook and Twitter activities
• Monitor week-over-week sales volumes and reservations; if they’re running behind, offer a special via Twitter and/or Facebook
• Include information about your Facebook page and Twitter on a card with every check, or use a card to solicit emails so you can send out texts and invitations
• Get your fans and followers involved in contests like naming new menu items, deciding what charity to get involved in, or selecting which beer to feature on tap
• Use Facebook Questions to solicit information; since it’s viral, you’ll end up getting a lot of feedback or attention from “friends of friends”
• Have your chef tweet about new menu items you’re developing, or create a photo feature of new items on your Facebook page to generate excitement for a new menu
• Consider putting your menus on Facebook, not just by providing a link to the restaurant’s website
• Post pictures, lots of pictures—of the food, scene, employees, etc. It’s a marketing maxim that will never go away that a picture is worth 1,000 words
• Consider using a tool like livebookings or OpenTable to enable reservations right from your Facebook page. Don’t forget to tweet when you have the service in place!
• Use Twitter to evaluate and address complaints, questions and comments about your operation; you should see patterns develop, and not only be able to respond to your customers, but also fix any systemic problems
Whatever you do with any or all of these ideas, don’t wear out your welcome. Peter Romeo, a restaurant industry blogger and the voice behind Restaurant Reality Check, suggests that two messages a day from your brand —via Facebook, Twitter or texting—are about what you should be aiming for.
And don’t neglect your website. You give up a lot of control to the community on Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites, so in addition to managing what people are saying about you there, make sure your website is the very best it can be: up-to-date, easy-to-use, and on your message.
Synergy Consultants offers a full range of marketing services. Contact us for a free consultation.
Tip of the Month
Like bar codes, QR (Quick Response) codes are most frequently used for retail applications, but the restaurant industry is getting on-board, too. These distinctive looking codes can be used in a variety of ways to bring users from printed materials like ads, takeout menus or your business card to additional information, such as nutritionals, or your website or Facebook page. They can also be used to scan in your address and phone number to a user’s contact list.
Check out this video for more information..
Synergy Execs to Share Business Intelligence at Chicago NRA Show
On Sunday May 22, during the National Restaurant Association show in Chicago, the co-founders of Synergy will meet with restaurateurs, aspiring and existing, to review any aspect(s) of their business and share their wisdom, gratis. Appointments are available to first 5 entrepreneurs only. For more info, contact michaelsynergyconsultants.com.
March 2011 Newsletter
Greetings!
This month, our hearts and prayers go out to the people of Japan and the trials they are continuing to endure. It’s hard not to imagine the devastation that would ensue if a catastrophe like that happened here on our shores.
As the industry has shown so many times before—most recently in the wake of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina—restaurants can play a major role in bringing people together, helping to feed disaster workers and raise money.
Read below for more information, and remember that at the end of the day all we really have is our family, friends and community to help us.
To your success,
Dean and Danny
The Rising Cost of Food and What to Do About It
Most restaurateurs are very aware of the cost increases for key food commodities over the past nine months and are reminded of it with every delivery received at the back door. As demand is clearly exceeding supply, unprecedented price increases for seafood, meat, poultry, grains, coffee, etc., are driving food inflation.
Seafood prices are being driven by the following:
- Conservation efforts
- Poor weather
- Ecological issues
- Economic recoveries, especially in Asia
- Farming issues, including rising feed prices and disease in the Chilean salmon industry
Beef and pork have seen rapid increases since mid-2010 which have been ignited by the volatile grain markets but primarily the corn market. The historic highs seen for live cattle futures on March 11, 2011, is a reminder that this market borders on being out of control. While the poor corn harvest acted as the catalyst, there is no shortage of additional contributing factors:
- Lowest U.S. cattle inventories in half a century
- Sharp increases in foreign demand for U.S. pork and beef spurred by recovering economic conditions in Asia• Improving domestic economy
- Increased federal mandatory corn allocation to ethanol production
- Market speculation
- Political change and unrest in the Middle East, driving oil and gas prices
As the severity of the devastation from the 9.0 earthquake off the coast of Japan evolves, it will likely play a significant role in U.S. exports to Japan—one of the largest importers of both beef and pork and an important trading partner in general. While the Japanese economy will take a large hit initially there will be significant economic activity required to restore Japan’s infrastructure and economy. What exactly will happen and when will evolve over time, but the priority now is for the Japanese people to deal with the humanitarian issues facing them daily.
According to Len Steiner of Steiner Consulting Group in Manchester NH, the balance of 2011 will offer more of the same in terms of higher meat prices especially for pork and beef. Steiner estimates prices increases for 2011 to be:
- 20% for live cattle
- 25% for hogs
- 10% for whole bird turkeys
- 3% for chicken/broilers
Steiner feels these markets may take some time to stabilize. For example, he does not see significant rebuilding of the U.S. cattle herd to begin any sooner than 2012. While the markets will be unable to sustain peak prices it is unlikely that we will return to pre-2008 price levels for beef and pork.
The market news for commodity foods is certainly not favorable or encouraging, but there are strategies and responses available to restaurateurs to limit the impact and neutralize in part the effects of these impending price increases.
- Menu price increases are always a part of the response to food inflation, but restaurateurs must remember they walk a fine line with their guests—ask any restaurateur how menu price increases impact customer traffic.
- There should be an ongoing relationship with your key suppliers. Make a clear effort to develop a healthy business partnership. You and your suppliers do have many common interests.
- Challenge all price increases from your suppliers.
- Remember and remind suppliers that commodity/raw ingredient cost increases in grains, livestock, coffee beans, etc., can make up as little as 20-35% of the final cost of the baked bread, steak, or ground coffee served in your restaurant. Don’t allow market price increases to increase the margins of your suppliers.
- If you are in a position to negotiate fixed price agreements you should explore this option.
- If your operation is unable to enter into direct food contracts, speak to your suppliers and ask them to cover you under their agreements. This can and should be a benefit of developing a strong business partnership.
- Monitor freight charges.
- Speak to your distributor and review your delivery frequency to see if you can reduce one delivery per week.
- Adjust portion sizes by reducing protein and increasing vegetables and grains where possible.
- Chicken will be far less impacted by cost increases compared to other meat and poultry products, so expand menu placement of it.
- Explore alternative beef and pork cuts.
- Revisit cost-control measures such as receiving practices, net weights, conservation and recycling measures, audit invoices, etc.
- Tap into your human resources and energize your employees by forming a “Kitchen” or “Culinary” task force. Business owners and employees do have many common interests, and success is clearly one of them.
Restaurants that have a heavy focus on pork, beef, and seafood will be most affected by recent and projected food inflation. There is, however, no escape: All restaurant types will feel the impact of food inflation to some degree over the balance of 2011. The restaurant industry is just beginning to emerge from the worst recession in 70 years and now is faced with the most volatile, rapid, and severe food inflation ever. But the industry battled and survived the worst of the recession and most will find ways to remain profitable and survive the “food inflationary wars” of 2011.
More Hot Concepts to Watch
Last month when we released our 2011 guide of what’s hot in the quick casual market, we promised a follow-up on some next-wave concepts that have attracted our attention—either because of proven success, an engaging idea or even a promising relaunch of an established or older company—but didn’t make it into the first round. We’ll also look at other new concepts in future issues of this newsletter.
If you want to see the original report, go to our Facebook page and “like” us.
Blue Bottle Coffee Co.
Year Founded: 2002
Number of Units: 7
http://www.bluebottlecoffee.net
Starting with a pushcart location dispensing espresso at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market, Blue Bottle Coffee has grown to become a powerhouse brand in the realm of organic coffee micro-roasters, specializing in superpremium-quality single-origin and espresso and brewed coffee blends, as well as proprietary house blends for such restaurants as Chez Panisse. A new production facility, opened in 2009, houses a coffee bar, roaster, cupping room and kitchen, which produces coffee-friendly baked goods and other “treats.” Known for selling beans within 48 hours of roasting and making each cup of coffee by hand, Blue Bottle is also ramping up its food menu with such interesting, market-specific offerings as Biscotti Pizzetta and Popeyes (grilled bread with a fried egg in the middle). The company is branching out in New York City soon, which should strengthen its position even more.
Cafe Mezze Grill
Year Founded: 2006
Number of Units: 3
Cava’s mix-and-match Mediterranean menu is superbly on-trend: fresh, healthy, flavorful and totally customizable, and a quick-casual variant of a full-service Greek restaurant also called Cava. Customers pick a platform (full-size or mini pita, rice bowl, or salad), add a protein and toppings of their choice (including falafel, pork, lamb, beef or chicken and any number of vegetables such as feta, cucumbers, and cabbage salad, then flavor it up with such condiment options as cool tzatziki, hummus or spicy harissa). Extras like lentil soup, dips and chips, and warm pita round out the selection. Bowing to the current zeitgeist, meats are hormone- and anti-biotic-free; dips and spreads are all-natural; and bowls ; cups, cutlery, drink cups and napkins are all compostable. The inviting storefront digs are both industrial-sleek and warm, with plenty of reclaimed wood and common seating. There are three units in operation in the DC market, with more on the way soon, and Nation’s Restaurant News has posited that Cava has what it takes to be “the next Chipotle.”
Fazoli’s
Year Founded: 1988
Number of Units: More than 220
This quick-casual Italian chain has been around for a while but has almost completely reinvented itself in the past few years. An ambitious “extreme makeover” program, launched in 2009, has resulted in a near-complete overhaul of the Italian menu—with dozens of new items and improved flavor for long-time favorites, including entrees and sandwiches that are now cooked fresh to order—as well as service upgrades (such as meals and unlimited breadsticks being delivered to the tables). There are also plans to revamp the majority of Fazoli’s existing units to an all-new, contemporary design that uses more vibrant colors and bold, fun photos and graphics to create a more high-energy, family-friendly dining environment. Traditional plates and silverware have replaced disposables. A trio of new, smaller-footprint prototypes will help franchisees achieve a better ROI, as well as entering such nontraditional settings as airports and colleges and university. Meanwhile, a new, full-menu location has recently opened in a Walmart store, the first of several planned.
Giving Back
By Joan Lang
The unfolding recent events in Japan have brought into focus the role that restaurants can play in their own communities and the world at large. Not only is it the right thing to do, but it’s also good for business: According to Driving Traffic research from Chain Leader, 73% of restaurant chains support charitable organizations in order to increase their own customer counts.
Whether you choose to donate to charities personally or use your establishment as a larger platform for giving back is an intensely personal decision, not to mention a pragmatic one. But here are some thoughts:
1. Pick a Charity that Appeals to Your Customer Base. The Flatbread Company, which touts its natural pizzas made from local, sustainable ingredients and a community-based spirit in each of its 10 locations, hosts many locally minded benefits that appeal to its young, socially conscious and family-oriented base. In Portland, Maine, for instance, a regular program of Tuesday night events raise awareness and donate a portion of the night’s proceeds to such organizations as the Westbrook Animal Refuge League and the Cape Farm Alliance.
2. “Adopt” a Signature Charity. Being known as a supporter of a particular charity is good for business, and helps management and staff focus its energies. For ConAgra Foods, for instance, its childhood hunger. Savor Pittsburgh relies upon an alliance of local restaurants to raise money for the American Respiratory Alliance of Western Pennsylvania. Chik-fil-A sponsors Core Essentials, a “values education program” designed for grades K-5.
3. Tap into the Power of an Existing Charitable Network. That’s the premise behind nationwide organizations such as Share Our Strength and The Great American Dine Out, which allow participating restaurants to tap into a huge bank of marketing, event expertise and other resources. The 118-unit Corner Bakery chain, responding to requests from its employees, became involved with The Great American Dine Out “no kid hungry” program in 2008, with a goal to raise $100,000 during the weeklong program in 2011. In addition, the bakery-café chain has introduced its own “Stay Local” program, encouraging guests to explore and rediscover summer fun in their own neighborhoods.
4. Remember that it doesn’t have to be Money. Many organizations incent their staffs to donate time, even giving employees extra time off to participate in charitable and community events. Daffodil Restaurant, in San Francisco, encourages its staff to support, participate in and attend community events that express our company’s philosophy and global outlook, offering employees the day off to support a cause that is beneficial to the restaurant. Customers can also be incented, via scrip or coupons for food or meals when they join staff or work on their own for a sponsored charity.
5. Promote Your Activities. Naturally you will want to let the local newspaper and other community calendar organizations know about your charitable events and activities, as well as posting them proudly on your website. But social media has made it easier than ever to get your customers talking you up, via Facebook, Twitter, Groupon, You Tube and other outlets. A number of high-profile chefs has using Twitter to ask their followers to donate to the Red Cross for earthquake and tsunami relief, and daily-deal phenomenon Groupon is actively involved in fundraising efforts. There are even mobile apps like CauseWorld which allow customers to use geo-positioning technology to earn “karma points” for visiting member restaurants, and then donate those points to charities.
Tip of the Month
Okay, so you want to get involved with a charity or host a benefit event. Local organizations like sports teams and animal shelters are always appropriate beneficiaries, and you can always poll employees and customers to find out what causes and charities are important to them. But if you want to go a little bigger and get involved with state, national or international charities, you’ll want to get more information and be able to vet them. Charity Navigator is a great resource, providing a searchable database with information on thousands of causes; efficacy and performance ratings (such as what percentage of the money raised actually gets to the cause); classifications by type of charity (i.e., environment of health); and other useful tools.
February 2011 Newsletter
Greetings!
It’s all about the food! Food trends seem to be constantly evolving but Synergy is at the forefront of it all and making sure you’re in-the-know. Please explore our February newsletter to get on top of what’s hot and what’s not!
To your success,
Dean and Danny
A Passage to India: Could a quick-casual Indian chain finally be the Next Big Thing?
The press has been predicting the mainstream arrival of Indian food for several years now, but a recent R&D trip to New York City has convinced us that Indian cuisine’s time in the light is finally here.
What’s different now? The collision of a growing interest in street food with the ever-increasing popularity of authentic ethnic cuisine, especially ones that are boldly flavorful and inherently healthy.
Indian food is exotic and delicious, full of mysterious spices and haunting flavors. Its heavy reliance on vegetables rather than meat puts it right in line with some of the most current thinking on healthy diets, and makes Indian food appealing to vegetarians and omnivores alike. And Indian chefs (or those who are obsessed with Indian cuisine) are starting to introduce more regional specialties from this vast subcontinent, from tropical Goan seafood to the elaborate lamb dishes of Kashmir. You could spend an entire lifetime learning about Indian food, in fact.
We went to several Manhattan restaurants where authentic Indian cuisine has been put together with such “Western” touches as wine and cocktail programs, surefooted service and other mainstream markers.
- Michelin-starred Devi is one of the grand dames of the upscale Indian trend, showcasing the inspired interpretations of American Masala star-chef Suvir Saran and tandoor master Hemant Mathur. A sophisticated wine and cocktail list and serene surrounds complement a menu touting items like Tandoor Grilled Halibut, Masala Fried Quail with Bengali mashed potatoes and paratha bread stuffed with spinach and goat cheese.
- Mint, located in the newly renovated SanCarlos Hotel, promises a “fresh taste of India” by introducing lesser-known North and South Indian specialties including Pakku (lamb with nutmeg and the fennel-like spice asafetida), Malai Kofta (vegetable and cheese dumplings) and Chicken Xacutti (cooked Goan style in coconut and aromatic spices).
- The culinary journey through India offered at Tamarind includes an unusual tea room menu highlighting the likes of Spinach Kofta Sandwiches and such exotic desserts as kulfi (traditional Indian ice cream) and gulab jamu (a pastry filled with dried milk and honey, as well as dozen of kinds of tea. There’s also a truly comprehensive a la carte menu exploring the assertively flavored specialties of Punjab, Hyderabad, Goa, Madras, Lucknow, and Calcutta.
Michelin stars? Hotel dining rooms? Sandwiches? That is indeed what it is coming to with Indian food.
But some of the most exciting New York City Indian concepts translate the beloved Indian tradition of street food—think savory snacks, or chaat, like pani puri, vada pav and dosa—which reaches its Nirvana in cities like Mumbai and Calcutta. These include The Kati Roll Company, Bombay Talkie, the Kosher vegetarian Bhojan, and Roti Roll Bombay Frankie (Hot Aloo Fries and Masala Calamari with cilantro mayo, anyone?). And any one of these could be the inspiration for the “Chipotle of Indian food.”
Food Trends: Found in Translation
Knowing that half the trendiest chefs are doing nose-to-tail cooking or Malaysian curry laksa is all well and good, but how can the rest of us leverage these cutting-edge developments—without blowing product cost sky-high or overwhelming a kitchen that’s not skilled enough?
It takes imagination, certainly, and perhaps a willingness to try on trendier items as specials before committing to them as menu staples. You also need to dumb it down a bit. We selected a few trends that are getting a lot of play in leading restaurants nowadays, and suggest ways to translate them for a more mainstream audience:
Cured Meats and Salumi
- Use domestic prosciutto or country ham instead of bacon as a garnish in salads or a flavor layer in sandwiches
- Offer a sausage sampler with grainy mustard as a small plate
- Create a “rillette” with smoked salmon or small shrimp (similar to potted shrimp)
Southern Regional Cuisine
- Discover pimiento cheese (a spicy mixture of cheddar, pimientos and mayo) and use it as a sandwich filling, burger topping or dip
- Desserts like cobbler, bread pudding and pecan pie are iconic Southern specialties
- Don’t forget beverages, from sweet tea and lemonade to Mint Juleps and Brandy Milk Punch
Bar Snacks
- Menu a devilled egg of the day
- Find a good frozen ready-to-bake soft pretzel and serve it with a spicy dipping sauce
- Remember that a “slider” no long has to be a burger (although it still can be): Can you do little grilled cheese or chicken salad sandwiches?
Our 2011 Guide Of Today’s Hot Quick Casual Concepts
We’re releasing our 2011 guide of what’s hot in the quick casual market to all of our Facebook fans on March 1st. This comprehensive report is a stimulating walk-through of some of the hottest quick casual concepts currently in the market, as well as some of our picks for up-and-coming new concepts. If you want to stay in the know, you need to head over to our Facebook page.
Tip of the Month!
Looking for ideas for promotions and special menus that go a bit outside the box?
Resources like Holiday Insights, Chase’s Calendar of Events and Gone-ta-Pott can clue you in on dates and spark some creative thinking on everything from National Hot Dog Day (July 21) and Ukrainian New Year’s to dates for upcoming lunar eclipses.
January 2011 Newsletter
Greetings!
Happy New Year! 2011 promises to be an exciting year of change in the restaurant industry. In this issue, we want to keep you current on the latest trends so you can be prepared!
We explore new technology, nutrition trends and issues in restaurant employment.
To your success,
Dean and Danny
Happy meals in the new age
In our last issue, we discussed the top food trends that you’ll likely see in 2011. Among the top 5 were healthy kids’ menus.
There has been a lot fervor and debate regarding the nutrition factor in children’s menus lately, particularly at fast food chains. Just late last year, San Francisco became the first city to ban toys that accompany not-so-healthy food from McDonald’s Happy Meals. Even McDonald’s had recognized the growing change in consumer tastes and the child obesity epidemic in America. This recognition lead McDonald’s to introduce apple slices as a substitute for fries in the Happy Meals and low-fat milk as a beverage choice in 2004.
It’s now 2011 – how have other restaurants faired in terms of kids’ meal nutrition? As more parents are becoming health conscious, what are their options? According to the National Restaurant Association, about two-thirds of America’s quick-service restaurants are offering more healthy kids’ meal options than they did just two years ago, an improvement that is truly reflective of consumers’ concerns regarding nutrition. Following in McDonald’s footsteps, Burger King, Subway, Wendy’s and Chick Fil-A all offer fruit as side substitutions – from apple fries with low-fat caramel dipping sauce at Burger King to Wendy’s mandarin orange offerings.
Changes to healthier choices will be even more prevalent when laws that require restaurants with 20 or more units to display calorie information come into effect.
It is clear that shifting attitudes in America from parents to the law makes a strong case for a nutritious change. So how do you go about changing your menu? It’s prudent to introduce new items slowly to make sure you know what’s working and what’s not.
Synergy Tips:
– Offer side menu substitutions like fresh fruit and vegetables with low-fat dipping sauces
– Bake items that are usually deep-fried, like French fries
– Offer Bake Sweet Potato Fries as a healthier, delicious alternative
– Offer wheat instead of white bread
– Substitue sugary sodas for low-fat milk and low-sugar fruit juice options
– Offer organic options where you can
Be sure to also keep value pricing in mind, especially in our current economic state.
Turning Up the Heat: Restaurants Must Fix I-9 Issues … Or Else
Recent high profile audits of employers in our industry should cause concern for every restaurant operator. A lack of prompt action by restaurant owners could have unwanted consequences.
The Immigration & Customs Enforcement unit of the Department of Homeland Security, known by its acronym ICE, has changed enforcement tactics. The agency is spending less time using employer immigration raids to find employees in the US illegally, preferring large-scale audits of employer paperwork that is intended to prove the employee is permitted to reside and work in the United States. When these audits disclose irregularities employers are being hit with significant fines in addition to the loss of employees. If more serious issues are disclosed employers are being arrested.
I-9 Audits Triple; Employers Arrested
The publicized firings in January of hundreds of employees in Minneapolis-area Chipolte’s restaurants were the result of an ICE audit that revealed numerous errors in the documents the employees had submitted to Chipotle when completing the Form I-9 required by Federal law. When confronted with the I-9 audit results the Minneapolis employer had no alternative but to require employees to submit new, lawful paperwork or face being fired. When the employees were fired some chained themselves together inside a Chipoltle restaurant and invited media presence.
In fact ICE tripled the number of employer audits it conducted in the agency’s Fiscal year 2010. Since 2008 the number of audits has increased 600%. ICE “pattern and practice” investigations have produced sometimes chilling results, with employers, including restaurant operators, arrested for violations of Federal law. The agency reports that such arrests rose 63% in 2010 while deportation of illegal aliens convicted of crimes as minor as traffic violations was up 52%.
The Immigration Reform & Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) mandates that employers must verify job applicants are lawfully permitted to work. The current mechanism for doing so is Form I-9, which lists which document(s) the job applicant has produced to verify his employment eligibility. Since IRCA’s passage widespread document forgery and the use of random Social Security numbers have put otherwise law-abiding employers in a no-win position; the law requires employers be reasonably satisfied that eligibility documents are valid, but if employers are wrong — the 2,900 I-9 audits ICE conducted found many who are they can be fined or even jailed. One restaurant operator convicted last November had his home and business property seized by the Federal government after admitting to a judge that he was guilty of “harboring and concealing” unlawful aliens.
Challenge to Employers
As ICE’s newfound I-9 audit strategy brings more bad publicity for employers restaurant owners must rethink recruitment, hiring and compliance practices in order to avoid significant disruptions to business as well as fines and possibly imprisonment. The best strategy may be a three-pronged approach: diversifying recruitment sources and concentrating on cutting turnover are two time-proven techniques. The third prong, compliance, requires employers to consider just how much they are willing to invest in ensuring a clean I-9 audit and zero risk of negative publicity such as the Chipotle’s case.
Synergy’s Human Capital Solutions offer a full range of restaurant employer services, including assistance with employment compliance programs. Contact us today for more information.
Technology: Building Sales Through Guest Friendly Order Kiosks
Waiting a long time for your order to be taken at a restaurant – this is an all-too-familiar scenario that is without question one of the worst customer experiences a diner can encounter. To combat this and to encourage fast service times, grill and salad bar chain Sizzler has been testing self-service kiosks at their El Segundo location. At these kiosks, customers can simply utilize the touch screen to make their food selections, get seated, and wait for their food to arrive.
Results from the test have been showing a lot of promise. Not only have service times improved, but even better, check averages have increased.
Michael Branigan, Vice President of Marketing at Sizzler USA, noticed a 15 to 20 percent average check lift. Further, ordering time was cut in half, which is crucial during peak meal periods. An added plus is that the kiosks are easy to use for any age consumer whether they are 18 or 70 years old. The general manager at the El Segundo location has stated that there has been much positive reaction to the new kiosks.
With the success at El Segundo, Sizzler plans to roll out these new kiosks to 5 more Sizzler locations in California.
The brand of kiosks being used is the EMN8 Inc. kiosks — they have an easy interface, attractive food images, videos and suggestive text which is all great for upselling.
Synergy’s team is available for a free consultation on the implementation of systems described above.
Tip of the Month!
Get sweet with Agave Nectar!
With significant lower glycemic index than refined sugars, agave provides sweetness but not the blood sugar spike of other sweeteners. This makes it a wise choice (when used in moderation) for diabetics.