![]() The FDA recently announced its final rule for food traceability, which establishes new requirements for additional traceability records for certain foods. This is being done to facilitate the identification and removal of potentially contaminated food from the supply chain. The FDA will enforce compliance beginning January 20, 2026 but organizations throughout the food supply chain – including restaurants – will need to make operational changes leading up to that time to prepare to carefully track foods on the traceability list. It’s a change that will require adjustments in how labor is trained and allocated at the supplier level, how restaurants communicate with suppliers, and how restaurants store the data they must retain for two years as part of the rule. In a recent webinar from the National Restaurant Association, Laurie Williams, a consumer safety officer at the FDA, addressed broadly how the rule will impact restaurants and also pointed to several online tools that can help restaurant operators navigate the changes and prepare for compliance on a store-by-store basis. Google these two resources for more information: the Food Traceability Final Rule (Federal Register) and search for “restaurant" to zero in on aspects of the rule that apply to restaurants, and the FSMA Final Rule on Requirements for Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods. The latter resource is on a page of the FDA website that also includes frequently asked questions (you can submit your own queries too) and a tool that helps you determine if you have a restaurant location that is exempt from the rule. ![]() As the pandemic demonstrated, businesses gain strength from each other when they collaborate. Looking at your business, where are there opportunities for you to broaden your reach in the local community? As the warmer months approach and people are gathering over food at festivals, charity events and other occasions, think about how you can gain traction for your business through local partnerships. In addition to helping you strengthen word-of-mouth and online marketing of your business, your local partnerships can help staff morale and give them an opportunity to learn new skills and share ideas. Consider local wineries or breweries. Or businesses outside of the hospitality sector whose values complement those of your business or who offer experiences that can be enjoyed alongside the experience of enjoying your food. If you have a lot of local parents in your loyalty program, consider donating food or gift certificates to end-of-year school fundraising events. It isn’t always about stepping outside of your restaurant either. Consider offering apprenticeships to local high schools or colleges, partnering with your local chamber of commerce or with large employers in your neighborhood to offer meeting or event space, or setting up an ongoing food donation to support local people in need. You’re not just generating opportunities for your business – you’re also building a larger support system. ![]() At the time of this writing, grocery inflation was still outpacing menu prices, but it was in decline. Consumer Price Index data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in February indicated that food-at-home prices increased at an annual rate of 11.3 percent in January, down from 11.8 percent the previous month. Comparatively, prices for food away from home climbed 8.2 percent for the same time period. This pricing gap is, at the moment, giving consumers a nudge to buy restaurant meals. Restaurants may have an opportunity right now to entice guests with limited-time offers that stand out and even push beyond what guests expect from a brand. This can work especially well if you have a new item or service model you’re testing that needs to make a splash and generate some attention. Take Shake Shack, which recently unveiled its $20 Truffle Table experience, a limited-time offer designed around its new truffle-related menu items. It includes a table for two with a white tablecloth, fine china, wine, a milkshake of the guests’ choice, and a selection of truffle-themed menu items. It’s not what guests would expect from Shake Shack – with the possible exception of the milkshake – but it generates interest, feels like a novelty experience, and therefore elevates the offer into something more memorable and special than something prepared at home. ![]() The power of contests Want to supercharge your following on social media? Or expand the trove of guest data you have at your fingertips? Try hosting a contest or giveaway. According to a study from Tailwind, this one move can help you boost your following 70 percent faster in three months than if you hadn’t hosted a contest at all. A recent report from Entrepreneur suggests restaurant operators follow these rules for launching successful contests: Make it easy to run. Make it easy for guests to take part in it. Consider it not as an end goal but part of a larger strategy to support your marketing efforts (engagement or lead generation, for example). Finally, communicate the contest end point and result with guests upon the contest’s completion. Let what is happening in your restaurant guide your contests. Looking to change your lineup of wines by the glass? Challenge your guests to suggest their favorite wine to be added to the menu. Looking to test the popularity of a new shareable appetizer board? Invite guests to like your Instagram or Facebook page for a chance to win a free one to share with friends — then ask for their feedback about it. Toast suggests a contest idea that can help a small restaurant rapidly expand its social media engagement: If you have a signature item on your menu, challenge people to vote for the one they want to eat that weekend. (Toast mentioned a small breakfast restaurant that challenged guests to take part in a Waffle Off, for which guests submitted their favorite waffle variety and the person who suggested the option that received the most “likes” won a free waffle that weekend. Even if just a few people vote, their sharing of the contest on Facebook generates exponential attention for the promotion.) ![]() The past few years have marked an uptick in the presence of the “quiet quitter” — the employee who reports to work but isn’t engaged in their responsibilities, does the minimum required, and is simply waiting for the moment when they can move on. Gallup says quiet quitters comprise half of the U.S. workforce. According to a recent report from Fortune magazine, there is even a difficult subset of quiet quitters known for “resenteeism” — yet another signal of the times that refers to quiet quitters who resent having to remain in their role and then spread that low morale on to other team members. You likely have some quiet quitters on your staff, and while they can pose problems across sectors, they are dangerous to keep on a restaurant team because their behaviors can result in illness to staff and guests, injury, food contamination, or simply a surprise skeleton crew because they miss a shift without providing sufficient notice. But most employees don’t tend to start their jobs with this mindset, so there are steps you can take to minimize the chances of losing responsible staff in this way (and cultivating some valuable talent on staff in the process). Provide regular training that meshes with agreed-upon job responsibilities. Offer structure to the role, opportunities to learn on the job, and recognition and rewards for good performance. Communicate openly and give staff a sounding board for telling you how things are going. Have a non-punitive culture where staff feel they can ask questions openly and won’t be punished for making a mistake. You won’t be able to keep everyone, but you may improve your chances of turning a quiet quitter into a motivated employee. ![]() The limited-time offers you provide can help you tempt guests who want to take advantage of the scarcity of a meal item that won’t last for long, test new ideas that might deserve to be on your menu for the long term, and reward the guests who have been your most loyal supporters. According to Technomic research, the most craveable LTOs tend to be comforting, indulgent foods. However, if you build offers that deliver on the specific feedback your most loyal guests provide, your LTO lineup has the best chance of strengthening – and becoming an extension of – your relationships with these guests. Every time they place an order with you, consider it an opportunity to learn about their preferences. What are their favorite menu items? What doesn’t work for them? What do they wish you would offer? How can you make them feel like their feedback matters to you – and that they are part of an exclusive club? For example, could you invite them to vote for their preferred LTO, have them sample the contenders, or provide them with early access to the one you decide to promote? ![]() In recent years, restaurant operators have experimented with new service models and streams of income that they may not have considered before. Yet even though the Covid-19 pandemic is behind us – we can only hope – and your guests likely no longer think of you as a reliable source for paper towels and cases of beer, a lot of restaurant brands are finding resourceful ways to hang on to pandemic-era approaches to business and expand upon them. As a result, the definition of a restaurant has become more layered and diversified. Restaurant food can come to guests via a virtual kitchen, retail meal kit, an online video or the dining room itself, so take advantage of the business opportunities that may exist even several degrees of separation from your guests. Have a colorful chef or team? Consider creating a podcast, blog, or TikTok video series around them. Or perhaps you have a popular recipe or spice mix that guests rave about. Building that into a recipe subscription or making it part of a larger retail arm may help you stretch your reach to people far beyond your city – and result on some extra eyeballs on any additional content you’re creating too. This can help you transform the typical restaurant job too, creating some opportunity for people to build careers with you for the longer term. ![]() It wasn’t so long ago that ghost kitchens felt like a must-have tool in a restaurant operator’s portfolio, offering flexibility with menu offerings, greater control over overhead costs, and simply a means of getting restaurant-quality food to consumers during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, as people look to restaurants as gathering places and lean on grocery stores for more of their at-home dining needs amid high inflation, many ghost kitchens are facing headwinds. While some ghost kitchen brands are growing, particularly when they have backing from large restaurant conglomerates, there have been more closures of virtual brands in recent months – even for well-established restaurants including Chili’s and Wendy’s. Industry analysts say that consumer concerns about quality control and uneven familiarity with tech-driven and restaurant-driven ghost kitchen brands could be part of it. As a result, expect to see new hybrid ghost kitchen models emerge that may lack dining rooms but do have physical locations, staff and even event space that guests can visit to better connect with the brand. It’s another lesson for restaurant operators in how times and consumer habits can shift so quickly, calling for rapid adaptations. Having the tools, systems and menu flexibility that allow you to be nimble may be the best investment. It’s important to be able to scale different parts of your business up or down based on the insights you’re gaining from your data – and retain the power of your brand in the process. ![]() A majority of consumers – 55 percent – don’t use a restaurant loyalty program, according to a new study from William Blair. For restaurant operators, this represents a big opportunity for growth at a time when competition for restaurant spending is stiff and loyalty programs can cultivate stronger attachments to brands. As restaurants have stepped up their pursuit of guests in the past few years, these programs have evolved well past the punch-card system and even the digitized system of accumulating rewards points. Nation’s Restaurant News highlighted some of the newer offerings to come to these programs – and many of them focus on gamification, customization or otherwise elevating the experience around buying food from a certain restaurant. Jimmy John’s and Chipotle, for example, have introduced a competitive element to their programs: At Jimmy John’s, the “gauntlet” challenges guests to purchase all 25 sandwiches on the menu within a set time frame in order to win a Jimmy John’s beanbag chair, while at Chipotle, a sweepstakes-style program enhancement dangles the opportunity for 3,100 members to win free food for a year. Other brands are playing with the subscription model, offering tiered program options – some free and some paid – that unlock exclusive menu items, provide early access to events and products, or allow members to access different levels of giveaways and other perks. ![]() In these uncertain economic times, there has been a lot of talk about how restaurants must build value into the experience they offer guests. This isn’t simply about making guests feel they are getting a good deal, but about making the experience feel like it’s well worth the cost – or that it easily justifies the decision to choose your restaurant over the one across the street, or over preparing a meal kit at home. Delivering that level of experience increasingly requires restaurant operators to anticipate their guests’ needs before those guests even know what their needs are. Collecting and dissecting data to deliver ever-greater levels of customization and personalization can help. As a recent report from Modern Restaurant Management says, technology is enabling operators to capture details about guests at every point of their experience – so they can know that one guest is allergic to dairy, or that she likes eating at a certain table. This also means that a server is equipped with food and drink upsell suggestions based on a person’s previous order. So a server may not necessarily offer the same special to every table anymore but instead can make a targeted seafood suggestion that complements the wine that guests at one table have ordered the past three times they have visited your restaurant – then promote plant-based specials to the vegetarians at the next table. This deeper level of personalization extends to a restaurant’s communications with guests too, so you have a range of targeted promotions going out to subsets of your email or text distributions. This year, how can you make your in-person and electronic outreach to guests feel more personal and less one-size-fits-all? |
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