February 2012 Blog Posts (43)

Part 1



The Foodservice Chain Buyer's job is to minimize the risk associated with the fluctuating food processing and commodity markets.  The Fortune 500 foodservice chains buy on the cash market, use "futures" transactions and employ advanced buying techniques, which makes them  smarter than the average 5th grader!



Emerging chains and progressive owner / operators can move faster than the big chains, providing them…

There’s been a lot of buzz around Pinterest in the media lately. According to an article published this month in TechCrunch citing data collected by comScore, Pinterest hit 10 million unique visitors per month faster than any standalone website ever. Its rise to prominence can be demographically credited to 18-34 year old women from the…

At various times in my career I have worked in institutions which more or less depend on the steady flow of new business to insure their continued profitability.  Hmmm ... sounds a lot like a restaurant so far, doesn’t it?  Hold that thought -- there are some important differences, and at least the beginnings of some tools to minimize those differences.  Let’s play this idea out a…

I'm on a bit of a food+technology discovery tour to better understand the buzz on what is new for the foodservice industry; the why and the why now. As a start-up entrepreneur, I am fascinated by what drives someone to want to be an entrepreneur, or even a food and/or tech entrepreneur. One would think that will all the buzz around start-ups these days that the number of new companies being formed would also be up. But, not so fast.

According to a quarterly survey from…

Lately I've been reading many great articles about restaurant websites and why you should have a mobile enabled version of your website, for when visitors browse your restaurant on a smartphone.  The general consensus of these articles is that you should seriously consider having  a mobile version of your site.  I agree wholeheartedly with this.

While I may agree…

One of the primary arguments for providing calorie information at restaurants is that it will help people make better choices.  As Americans continue to expand at the waist, we're seeing that while knowledge might be power, it's not enough to alter decisions.

A new study from…

Is it an impulse or a compulsion that makes you want to eat that soft pretzel? Or is it simply the tangy mustard pumped onto it? Displayed food must look its best when laid out for speed and convenience, even for captive audiences at arenas, stadiums and outdoor entertainment venues.

No matter whether concession fare is pretzels, hot…

Tricks to make home-style cuisine appealing to the health conscious diner 

Unfortunately for the restaurant industry, diners trying to watch their waistlines typically avoid most barbecue fare.  Creamy coleslaw, buttery cornbread, cheesy macaroni, and generous slabs of meat are most often associated with this beloved culinary treasure.

Rather unfairly, barbecue has built up a bad reputation for expanding summer waistlines.  This is quite a shame,…

Google+ appears to be having a problem with connecting to the consumer audience out there - I want to know why.

Could it be that the brands that appeal to consumers, are not there yet enmass?  Could it be that the engagement options are limited?  Could it be that the 3rd party developer community that has made Facebook so useful is not yet invited to the party?

The answer is yes, yes, and yes - but I'm…

Ok so I am jumping on the "[Insert your interest here] Social Media Explained" train. If you haven't seen them there are a few that have been circulating the web using Donuts as a point of reference as well as using the bathroom to explain social media. 

Well here's my stab at restaurant social media…

“Is everyone alright?”- Robert Kennedy’s Final Words

I was sitting down to write a humorous piece on customer service, the restaurant industry and bus personnel in particular. As I hit the Google images icon the famous…

In the restaurant industry, being fully staffed — with top-quality employees — is Holy Grail of HR. It is constantly sought after, rarely achieved and rumored to be difficult to achieve. More often than not a restaurant has a decent team, with a few outstanding employees and the occasional bad apple. It’s not uncommon to find a manager or head chef stepping in to cover a “no-show” staff member.

Foodservice faces such high turnover rates that managers often jump to quickly…

Service First

By: Monica Constantino

Service is more important than food.  It defines the restaurant EXPERIENCE.  Food may define the restaurant, but we all know we can find great Korean BBQ in the tiniest food truck in Brooklyn, or the best fried chicken in the deepest neighborhood in Compton.  The experience is what the consumer is looking for today.  As the economy shifts upward, the competition…

As many restaurant owners have found, investing in an active Facebook page takes consistency, creativity, and time.

Creating a Facebook page and leaving it to sit dormant is like having customers sitting in your booths and no servers to take their order or fill up their glasses.  Customers get annoyed and your restaurant look like they don't care.

Running a contest on your restaurant's Facebook fan page is a great way to grow your…

Have you been trying to figure out how to integrate Social Media into the email communications you send out for your Restaurant? Fear not! It's actually far easier than you think.

Each, taken on their own, are effective. Put them together though and you will have something very powerful. Email marketing and social media go together perfectly,…

Reality Chef Programming:

I'll be the first to tell you I throw pillows at the flatscreen when young chef's banter with some of the most respected chefs in the country. "Alfred Portale just dosent understand my style of food" Jesus really? I need to throw bigger objects at my Television (my son is trying to put a parental lock on the food network, who's the parent I ask you ) Chef Portale was doing the most amazing cutting edge cuisine when most of these "Chefs" were in…

I recently published an article on mobile apps for restaurants that has generated a lot interest. In the last week my Twitter account added about 25 followers (most of which are web marketing companies) and I have been contacted by about a dozen providers of mobile apps. I am currently sorting through all of their offers and I need to confess that the overwhelming majority of them are very confusing. 

Restaurant owners that are considering mobile options have a ton of options and I…

There are two distinct, yet related, ideas in brand extensions which have been in the news recently.  I’m going to be following both with more than idle curiosity to see if they create added brand awareness, added traffic, or a negative backlash -- or all three.

First ... Friendly’s and Burger…

Non-stick pans are a gift that we all have been taking for granted. We all, myself included, have slowly been ruining our beloved non-stick pans. Yes, they are useful for almost everything, but it turns out, they aren’t as durable as you might think. Avoid the following and extend the life of your non-stick items!

1.    Let’s start with the heat you typically use with your pots and pans. Now I always thought that non-stick pans were the toughest of them all. This is not true. As it turns…