The Menu This Month
Labor & hiring, renewed forecasts, the vaccination police and brand new openings!
While the focus remains on labor & hiring adaptation, the restaurant biz. seems to have become the de facto vaccination police (as dining out in some places requires proof of vaccination). We broach both of those subjects as well as analyse the impact of Covid on our industry 18 months later in this article. But that’s not all—there’s plenty of new openings to look forward to this Fall!
Let’s dig in…
LABOR & HIRING
The National Restaurant Association and affiliated Restaurants Act are always at the forefront of the biggest crises in our industry. With the labor and hiring issues that establishments across the country are faced with, it’s no different. To address the problem, as part of their many endeavours, they have compiled a handy guide to aid hiring managers who are vying for limited talent.
Here’s a brief look at what this well-researched report entails:
These labor market conditions won’t last forever. While you can be optimistic that several elements of the perfect storm are beginning to pass, it would be a mistake to let that optimism turn to denial. The pandemic has created permanent changes that employers in all industries will have to face going forward. You can adapt by considering the following:
1. Focus on recruiting. Employee referrals, website job boards, and social media posts are some of the most successful methods of recruiting for restaurants. Communicate openings to staff and post them online.
2. Recruiters need to create job descriptions that tout your culture and career paths. Show workers a job with your organization is more than just a job. Create and post job descriptions that showcase your culture and your business as a place where employees can grow.
3. Make applying easy. Blake Casper, a McDonald’s franchisee who was offering a $50 incentive just for candidates to show up for interviews, had better luck employing a mix of referral programs, signing bonuses and allowing candidates to text to apply. Consider adopting text-to-apply technology.
Read the full article, here.
In related news, the Association also announced the official launch of the ProStart Virtual Lounge powered by @CocaCola. The platform offers a timely chance for students and alumni to learn more about careers in the restaurant industry. The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation’s initiative includes student recipes and restaurant concepts, food photography, alumni success stories, inspiration from celebrity chefs and influencers, student-to-student chats and exclusive culinary demos.
Sign up here to learn, share, win prizes and have a whole lot of fun!
Back to the subject of labor issues and adaptation to various issues during the pandemic—Troy Guard, who’s culinary empire includes Guard and Grace (a steakhouse with locations in Denver and Houston), TAG Burger Bar, Big Wave Taco, a fast-casual concept called Bubu, a gastropub called FNG, a breakfast place called HashTAG and a Mexican concept, Los Chingones, with a lot more in the pipeline, spoke to Bret Thorn of Nation’s Restaurant News on these pressing concerns.
He discussed how he has coped with all the changes, how he keeps his staff excited, and what his plans are for the future. “Everyone loves to eat out but no one wants to work in [restaurants] anymore,” he said. “We’ve got to keep it fun and exciting.”
Listen to the full conversation, here:
IMPACT, RENEWED FORECASTS & VACCINATION POLICE
At the beginning of the month, the Association released a mid-year supplement to the 2021 State of the Restaurant Industry Report, which illustrates the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Highlights from the report, which includes insights on food sales, job creation and more, are as follows:
- 3 in 4 operators say recruitment and retention is their toughest challenge despite employment gains.
- Restaurant sales are on the rise.
- Wholesale food prices are trending sharply higher. A first in its 54-year history, the Bureau of Labor Statistics index registered gains above 2% in 3 consecutive months.
- Menu prices trended higher due to higher food, labor and fuel costs.
- Case rise of the COVID-19 delta variant is impacting restaurant visits.
Also included is an updated sales forecast for 2021.
Download the report, here.
QSR Magazine, with Black Box Intelligence™, also released a new report on the impact of Covid-19 on the industry 18 months down the line. Unsurprisingly, the limited-service industry has fared a lot better than sit-down restaurants so far, but the current state of the industry is hard to characterise.
The report also details the major crisis of the present moment — labor and hiring shortages. However, the positive that it highlights is that consumers still have a lot of discretionary income:
With restaurants, it allowed guests to continue ordering takeout more frequently than before while also ramping up on-premises visits as capacity restrictions dropped off.
As a result, the Association said, the 2021 forecast for restaurant sales is now projected to total $789 billion in 2021, a 19.7 percent increase from last year.
Read the complete report, replete with data, graphs and practical examples, here.
Finally, an intriguing report in The Wall Street Journal expounds how restaurants and their staff seem to have become a de facto vaccination police. Owing to the fact that some establishments in the country now require proof of vaccination for reservations and in-dining, the workers find themselves in a tough spot, often bearing the brunt of disgruntled customers’ complaints. Read the full piece by Heather Haddon, here.
NEW OPENINGS THIS FALL
Grub Street by New York Mag is the ideal repository for all things culture. 21 Fall Restaurant Openings You Need to Know About, A guide to where and what you’ll be eating next by Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld is a shining example of their prowess.
Here’s a look at two entries from their wonderfully detailed listicle:
Tortazo
1123 Broadway
Rick Bayless, Oklahoma-born student of Mexican gastronomy, has built his career in Chicago (and on TV). For his first foray into the New York restaurant scene, he has spun off a branch of the fast-casual sandwich shop he opened in a new retail development at the old Sears Tower. The menu centers on pork and chicken tortas, chip-strewn salads, and the variously topped tortillas called tlayudas. The churros are sourced locally, from La Newyorkina, and the full bar offers mezcal flights and a frozen agave-based riff on the Jungle Bird cocktail.
Emmett’s on Grove
39 Grove St.
Emmett Burke, native Chicagoan and chief proselytizer for that town’s pizza, both deep-dish and tavern-cut, expands on his Macdougal-Street-bar base with a bona fide restaurant in the West Village. It will still be a pizzeria, but the menu’s “Midwest tavern” theme extends to the classic American supper-club fare of Burke’s youth: steak, fish, pasta, and especially baby-back ribs, which Burke has entrusted to the capable hands of a chef who spent eight years at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que.
Please reach out to aman@dashin.in for any feedback or clarifications regarding the content of this article.
