Resources
>
BLOG

October 2011 Newsletter

Oct 20, 2011

Synergy

Greetings!

Can you feel it? The holiday season is in the air. The period from Halloween straight through to the New Year can be a boom or a bust, depending on your attitude and how well you plan for it. Profitable and energizing, or stressful and poorly organized—the choice is up to you.

We also offer some thoughts about why some older chains fail (like Friendly’s, which recently went bankrupt), while others (can you say In-N-Out Burger?) become icons, as well as an update on where the whole sustainability thing is going.

To your success,

Dean and Danny

Sign up for our Email Newsletter


Lessons from the Chains: What Becomes an Icon?

Friendly’s declares bankruptcy, while other heritage-brand chains barrel on—and the dance of who makes it and who doesn’t twirls on. One chain is viewed as being behind the times, the other is all about them.

By all rights, Friendly’s (which was founded in 1935) could be a cult classic. The Friendly’s menu, after all—with its burgers, SuperMelt sandwiches and over-the-top ice cream sundaes —is comfort food central, and we all know how popular comfort food is right now. Why isn’t Friendly’s an icon, instead of a struggling old-timer?

Look at the popularity of In-N-Out Burger, which has been around since 1948—not such a big age difference when it seems that both are now part of a long-ago past. And if it seems unfair to compare a full-service, family-inclusive restaurant with a drive-thru concept that has all of four items on the menu—three of which are burgers—how to explain the fervor with which some people regard Cracker Barrel? The 42-year old Southern-themed chain made it handily to the top 10 in a recently released survey by Market Forces of consumers’ favorite casual dining restaurants. I have hipster Gen Y nieces and nephews who like nothing better than to go Cracker Barrel and chow down on hashbrown casseroles and sausage gravy—the same ones that revere Dairy Queen over the latest high-tone gelato palace.

This brings up the whole interesting point about why some older chains achieve a kind of retro-classic status, while others simply start withering away and dying. Denny’s declares itself “open, honest and friendly since 1953,” and in fact the chain has embraced its own Eisenhower-era, dawn-of-the-Baby Boom, everything-was-possible-back-then roots.

You see it in the menu, with such over-the-top new hits as the Mac ‘n Cheese Big Daddy Patty Melt, and with post-Millennial touches like sophisticated use of social media, hip ads, and webisodes featuring comedians like Jason Bateman, Sarah Silverman, and Will Arnett. Even the way Denny’s pushes its open-all-night status appeals to college students and the young guard, helping to ensure the chain’s continued popularity. This “America’s Diner” positioning that started it all is still brilliant as we head into 2012.

Or take White Castle, which set the stage for creating America’s first hamburger chain with its debut in 1921. Like Denny’s, White Castle also pushes its all-American heritage —not just with a website timeline that intersperses opening dates with events like the repeal of Prohibition, but more importantly by sticking by its iconic sliders, even as it adds breakfast and jalapeno cheeseburgers. The fact that just about everyone else in the world has adopted and adapted the mini-burger trend is rampant proof of the Castle’s influence.

Want help making your restaurant company will stay around long enough to become an icon? Contact Synergy Consultants for a free consultation.


What Sustainable Means Today

New hear this: sustainability is moving out into the mainstream. A new report by Forum for the Future declares that businesses of all kinds should be offering more sustainable goods and services by 2020, no matter what the economy does, or risk being seriously out of step with reality.

In fact, what seemed like a fringe movement just a few years ago has moved out into the mainstream to become a distinct marketing advantage. But what does sustainability mean in the context of today’s restaurant operations? Is it local sourcing? Green design? Recycling? Corporate social responsibility (aka CSR)? “Cleaner,” less-processed food? Offering gluten-free or vegan options?

It’s all that and more. And it’s not just high-end chefs at haute-cuisine restaurants that are leading the charge. Efforts range from initiatives to implement more energy-efficient operational systems, to full-scale farm-to-fork programs, and encompass operations at every conceivable price point. For example:

Riverpark Farm, Tom Colicchio’s newest project in New York City, aims to become the city’s “most urban farm”—using a site where building development is stalled due to the economy. The 15,000-sq.-ft. plot, which will be moved to the rooftop when the tower is eventually built, provides vegetables, herbs and flowers for the adjacent farm-to-table restaurant.

• Bon Appetit Management, already a leader in the sustainable sourcing arena, has just instituted the industry’s first “fish-to-fork” program, with clear guidelines for sourcing and utilizing wild, farm-raised and underutilized species.

• A KFC unit in Indianapolis has been awarded the state’s first LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council, reflecting the highest rating for energy efficiency, environmental friendliness and productivity.

Dunkin’ Donuts has engaged in a pilot program to evaluate the energy efficiency of its coffee brewing system

• Over the past two years, the Souplantation chain has implemented a number of different programs to reduce waste and decrease energy use, including serving food on reusable dishes, installing low-flow water systems, and boosting recycling, in addition to offering more vegetarian items

All this, despite the fact that many consumers are still confused about the meaning and import of certain sustainability tenets—they may understand “eco-friendly,” but “fair-trade” is another matter. No wonder there’s a movement afoot to implement One Green Score, a universal sustainability rating.

Having taken a lead in the adoption of sustainability practices, the industry also needs to help educate consumers about what they’re doing, as two McDonald’s franchise groups are doing with interactive multimedia and other efforts that explain what makes them green.

And make no mistake: Employees need to get on-board as well. Companies that have instituted clear sustainability policies and practices—and share them with all team members—tend to benefit from more employee engagement and buy-in.

MORE READING
Forbes, “Sustainability from the CEO Perspective”

Where food comes from: The Food Dialogues


Tip of the Month

To learn more about how restaurant operators can join the sustainable food movement, download the report “Responsible Restaurants: How Operators Can Leverage True Sustainability to Their Advantage” here.