Recap of Friday August 11, 2023: Obama’s Tribute Their Chef, Restaurant Employment Levels, Major Craft Beer Acquisitions
Welcome to Restaurant News Roundup presented by LiveFlow, your go-to source for the latest updates and happenings in the restaurant industry.
In this special recap article we roundup stories on Bojangles sexual harassment settlement, Alaska’s sockeye salmon practices, Taco Bell’s new delivery friendly stores, Texas laws impacting restaurants, Saturday brunch numbers, Chicago diners blacklist spots with service fees, and more breaking news.
Our mission is to bring you a rapid-fire of the 10 top stories covered in under 10 minutes. We strive to keep restaurant professionals informed of the current affairs of the industry.
To watch the Videocast of this installment of Restaurant News Roundup, click here
Sweetwater Parent Company Acquires Eight Beer Beverage Brands from Anheuser-Busch by Tristan Chan - Porchdrinking.com
Canadian-based Tilray Brands, a leading global canna-lifestyle and consumer packaged goods company, has gone from owning four craft breweries to ten in this deal acquiring brands including Shock Top, Breckenridge Brewery, and Widmer Brothers. Tilray is now the 5th largest craft brewery in the US.
What I am paying attention to: A canna company getting heavy into craft beer, production and distribution opens the door for cross-over products and more mainstream access to alternative adult beverages.
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Saturday Brunch Now Restaurants Busiest Daypart by Joe Guszkowski - Restaurant Business Online
More than 10% of all dining dollars are spent from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays, which has replaced Friday lunch as the industry’s peak period, according to new data from Square in its analysis of data from about 800,000 restaurants.
Snooze’s total sales rose 38% last year, while First Watch’s increased 22%, according to Technomic data. Eggs Up Grill, another competitor in that segment, grew sales 31.6% in 2022.
Whatcha think?: Restaurants have long had a love-hate relationship with brunch. With these new numbers, a post-pandemic push for more group activities and spirits sales eclipsing beer, will it lead to more brunch concepts and/or more restaurants adding brunch?
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CQ Foods Partners with Alaska Seafood Industry to Boost Salmon Quality by Fishermensnews.com
Bristol Bay sockeye salmon harvesters and processors are utilizing Certified Quality Foods CQR 3.0 device, which takes bioelectrical impedance analysis to instantly measure meat qualify, calculating the breakdown of internal cells of the fish.
The data can identify boats that deliver warm fish, neglect proper bleeding practices, or produce low-quality fish. Corrective measures can be implemented to improve handling practices at different stages, such as on fishing boats, tenders, docks or inside processing facilities.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists are projecting landings of over 36 million sockeye salmon this season, which will run through mid-August, which accounts for over half of the world’s supply.
Why should you care: This Technology and the standards being set here will impact the quality, pricing and availability of the entire seafood market. What will that mean for your business?
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Restaurant Employment Levels Inch Back in July by Alicia Kelso - Restaurant-Hospitality
After losing jobs in June for the first time in nearly two and a half years, the restaurant and bar sector gained over 13,000 positions in July.
The restaurant workforce remains below pre-pandemic levels by about 64,000 jobs, or 0.5%.
On the wage side, average hourly earnings for all employees on private, nonfarm payrolls rose 0.4% in July. Throughout the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 4.4% and wages are now rising at a faster rate than inflation
Roll Call: What restaurants are fully staffed vs short staffed? What are you attributing your employment level to?
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Bojangles to pay $20K in sexual harassment, retaliation suit by Caroline Colvin - Restaurant Dive
A Greensboro, North Carolina, operator of fast food restaurant Bojangles will pay $20,000 in a sexual harassment and retaliation suit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after an employee alleged facing inappropriate touching and remarks from a manager.
Bojangles will enter into a two-year consent decree requiring the company to train all workers in specific restaurants on sexual harassment.
What I am paying attention to: The move (from companies like Arrow Up) beyond half-assed, antiquated “sexual harassment” and interpersonal communications training in restaurants to actually create safe work environments.
Article Link: Read More
Peeved Chicago Diners Create Spreadsheet Tracking Restaurant Service Fees by Ashok Selvam - Eater Chicago
A group of angry restaurant customers has organized via Reddit to create a Google Sheet of Chicago restaurants that utilize service fees. An LA based version has already sprung up as well.
Already 100 Chicago restaurants with tallying fees between 2.5 percent and 25 percent have been listed.
Diners are vocally wondering about where the money is going and if it’s legal to tack these fees on at the end of receipts.
Why should you care: If you have fees, are thinking about adding fees or even using the same old tipping model, clarity and transparency will be the expectation of consumers so be prepared to put that info out early and often.
Article Link: Read More
New Texas Laws Coming in September Set to Impact Restaurant Industry by Nolan Hoffman - KETV - Tyler, Texas
Laws affecting everything from the permitting process to property taxes are affecting restaurants in Texas and across the country. The hospitality industry is the number one employer in the state. Legislators are getting mixed reviews on their handling of bills impacting the industry.
“As those that legislate, they don’t mean to do no harm to industries that they don’t know much about but inevitably nothing is impossible for those that don’t have to do it,” said Bob Westbrook with the East Texas chapter of Texas Restaurant Association.
What I am paying attention to: Even if you’re not in Tyler, Texas or Iowa or California, the local, country and state laws being passed that affect restaurants will start to have a systemic impact and start to influence lawmakers at the federal level. I’m watching what’s happening at all levels closely, you should as well.
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Yoshinoya America Elevates the Guest Experience with Tattle by RestaurantNews.com
The Ai-driven survey platform provides the restaurants with actionable, data-driven insights into guest sentiment.
“We were looking for a way of using customer feedback to quantify the impact of the changes we were making, such as upgrades to our menu items, and level set where our guests think we do well,” said Damon Thomas, VP of Operations at Yoshinoya America.
Why should you care: Guest feedback and first-party customer data have been a hot-button topic as on the one hand it allows a restaurant to learn about and improve their guest experience; on the other, when are these practices invasive and manipulative? Do you understand how these companies are handling the gathering and use of your customer feedback?
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Taco Bell Updates Go Mobile Design for Digital Orders, Delivery, Drive-Thru by Aneurin Clyne - Restaurant Dive
The 1,600-square-foot design features a walk-up window for digital and delivery orders and no dining room in a bid to ease late-night operational challenges and trim development costs.
Growing volumes of delivery orders at night, when Taco Bell closes its dining rooms for safety reasons, shunted delivery drivers into the drive-thru lane, creating delays for drivers and headaches for workers
What I am paying attention to: Delivery and carry out are not going away. They have been cemented into our dining culture. How we manage the real estate, design, offerings, workers, delivery drivers and the guest experience will need to adapt. Brands like Taco Bell can do some of the heavy lifting for independent operators to learn from.
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Obama Family Chef Tafari Campbell Found Drowned by Khyati Dand - Food Republic
Tafari Campbell, the chef who cooked for the Obama family for eight years, has died. He was 46. Campbell drowned while paddle boarding off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, near an Obama’s residence.
The Obama family has praised his passion for cooking since his days as a Sous-Chef at the White House and subsequent works as their private Chef. There are still questions and concerns about Chef Campbell’s death that we will be monitoring.
This was a personal story for me, as I first heard of Tafari from Sam Kass, former Chef at the White House when they brewed the White House Honey Brown Ale, in 2012. A brewer and Certified Cicerone myself, the story of chefs brewing beer captured my attention and I’ve stayed connected and followed his path ever since. Too many in our industry die too young. Most go unrecognized and unmentioned. This is also for all those we have lost, they deserve to be remembered.
Article Link: Read More
Thanks for joining us for this week's recap from Restaurant News Roundup presented by LiveFlow.
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We hope these summaries keep you informed about the latest industry updates. Remember to follow along with our fast-paced show every week, where we deliver ten stories in under ten minutes. Fridays at 8am EST on Best Served Podcast Facebook and YouTube pages.
