Three for Thursday: A Trio of Newsworthy Items from the Foodservice Industry

There’s lots of news and notes sprouting up throughout the foodservice industry. Hopefully, these three news items will have the medicinal effects of eucalyptus oil, which can act as a stimulant, antiseptic or aromatic, for your foodservice business.

Restaurant Struggles Continue as Consumers Eat at Home
This USA Today headline, sent to me by Bill Byrne of the EDI Marketing Group, is not one that anybody associated with the foodservice industry wants to read. But based on the financial performance of many publicly traded chains, it seems as if that fact is becoming more of a reality than any foodservice professional had hoped. What’s interesting about this article is that it singles out three characteristics of chains that are really struggling.

Purchasing Tactics for Emerging Restaurant Chains
Sister publication, Chain Leader, came up with this contributed piece from guest columnist Judy Hollis, vice president of supply chain, research and development, and quality assurance at Fazoli’s System Management, a 260-restaurant, premium-Italian QSR based in Lexington, Ky. It’s a quick read that shows how smaller chains can remain competitive with larger multi-unit operators. There’s also a video component to this one.

How to Motivate Your Customers
Given the current business climate, most business managers are probably having a hard time keeping their people motivated and productive. One way to accomplish this, though, is through understanding what motivates your customers and working with your teams to turn that into sales and positive client experiences. This Harvard Review blog post sheds some light on how to accomplish this.