Schechter's Perspective

With food cost increases a virtual certainty this year, even the most optimistic foodservice revenue and traffic forecasts can’t hide the fact that many operators’ profit margins are likely to be thin or nil. Burger joints, pizza shops and steak houses are all among the types of operations slated to be hit hardest by rises in beef, dairy and flour prices.

Many factors affect the success or failure of restaurants and foodservices. Location, design, menu type, operating costs, pricing, staff’s abilities and brand marketing are just some of the prime determinants. The selection and application of kitchen equipment, however, is perhaps the most important influence on the fate of any foodservice facility. Why?

With YouTube now acknowledged to be the second most popular search engine on the internet, behind only Google, it’s time for foodservice equipment industry marketers to take video seriously. Information can be communicated through many media – words, photographs, schematics and animation, for example – but video has a powerful ability both to inform and entertain.

One of the most difficult parts of educating a new associate – TSR welcomes our new publisher, Chris Meyer, formerly of McGraw-Hill and Lebhar-Friedman – is explaining the structure of the foodservice equipment and supplies distribution channel. While our industry is not especially high-tech or complex, the path products take from equipment manufacturers’ facilities to end-users kitchens is, to put it mildly, unusual.

One of the more interesting aspects of the article on new healthful dining practices in healthcare foodservices (originally reported in the Charlotte Observer) is the emphasis operators are giving to the price and positioning of their good-for-you menu items. In the past, operators in most market sectors typically passed on the higher costs of healthful meal items, such as turkey burgers, by pricing them above “standard” fare, such as beef burgers. Now, at least in the North Carolina hospital community, this practice is being reversed.

For all the high-tech advances that have recently entered our industry --computerized equipment controls, multiple cooking methodologies, internet-based menu information – we are also seeing an equally significant counter-trend, one that is taking restaurateuring and foodservice management back to its roots.

One of the hallmarks of any market-responsive business is the willingness and ability to evolve in accord with the interests of its customers. In our case, TSR readers have shown their approval of our two news blogs – Operator’s Perspective and Designer’s Perspective – by quickly making these regularly updated sections some of our most-often visited pages.

It’s easy to empathize with restaurant and foodservice operators these days. The economy is still in the doldrums, our political system is a study in gridlock, consumers continue to treat their disposable income like their life savings, and food and labor costs remain at margin-eating highs. Yet, despite all of these impediments, operators know they have to offer more – and better --menu choices and services to stand out in a still overcrowded market.