Lovin' Catering, Bakeries, Commissaries, Food Catalogue (MailOrder)

In North America we've been really good at taking uniqueness and enthusiasm and scaling it over a large number of units. Starbucks has done this really well, and any QSR chain that's a household word has excelled at it too. It's always difficult to bring about original brand value over a large number of units. It's not just a matter of economies of scale. It's also a matter of driving entrepreneurial spirit and brand value.

To start with, there has to be something of special value in the brand… Continue

Delivering on scarcity is one key to business success. If people are thirsty, open a drink stand. If healthy options are in demand, but aren't being delivered, add them to the menu. We all know this.

We sell software, but we're closing our booth at the Western FoodService and Hospitality Expo in San Diego, conspicuous because we delivered 13 cases of bananas to prospects and onlookers.

In the center of a very busy tradeshow where people are borderline burnt out on information and road fatigue,… Continue

A deal is a deal. 'Fair' is the deal point in a consensual arrangement. When it is violated - and we've all had this happen - something must be done. Or not.

Sometimes, the customer unilaterally changes a deal you worked hard on. This is almost always unnerving, and usually feels like a violation. It can come in many forms - in a restaurant, the customer for no good reason refuses to pay a tab, or just pays part of it. Or dines and dashes. Does the manager leave the busy restaurant and try to c… Continue

We’re in a great industry: no matter what, people have a great love for food. And their love for food is like the air in a balloon – you can crush it on one end, but it comes up somewhere else. Which can be good news.

People are dining out less in many restaurant segments; in others, the growth has slowed to a crawl.

No use whining about it. The love of food is showing up in other areas, and… Continue

If you have competing sales channels in your restaurant space, building a commissary can yield many benefits:

• It can better handle volume


• It’s not hardwired to being designed to deliver plate service, and


• It can be designed from the ground up to have more efficient workflows.

When I morphed my deli/restaurant business to handle business-to-business catering, my restaurant kitchen just wasn’t built service that capacity, especially the high volume catering i… Continue