On Foodable Weekly: Recent Episodes
Foodable TV
On Foodable Weekly is the Foodable WebTV Network’s mothership show, a catch-all, industry insider's WebTV show for the restaurant and hospitality industry. What makes the hospitality business work from the inside-out? To answer this question is our aim. This show features topics ranging from industry executive interviews to new policies affecting the restaurant industry, local event coverage, and much more.
Will they? In short, yes. Pizza is not going anywhere. It is still one of America's favorite foods for get-togethers, events, movie night, or cheap food on the fly. But, like many other sectors in the foodservice arena, we see a shift. Foodable Labs tracks over 6 million influences and over 100 pizza chains. Our data shows that pizza delivery over the last year is down, 12.8% to be exact, among 18-34-year-olds. What is causing the slip? Watch the video for more.
The delivery game is changing and on this episode of On Foodable Weekly: Industry Pulse, we’re looking at what you need to do to take advantage of this growing market.
More than sixty-eight percent of consumers have ordered online delivery in the past 6 months. Meanwhile, nearly thirty-five percent of millennials have reduced their restaurant visits in the past year. With online delivery orders nearly quintupling (yes, that's FIVE) in just the past year, restaurants need to recognize that while this could be a threat, it could also be an opportunity.
Did you know that 71.2% of top foodie influencers cause others to visit restaurants and bars? Ever wonder which restaurants and cities foodies love the most? Foodable labs analyzed a data set of 7.3 million food influencers to figure out which foodie cities are the happiest. Of those 7.3 million influencers, Foodable Labs looked at those who dine out at least eight times a month and search exclusively for “happy terms.”
Here’s what we found!
- San Diego - 91.56
- Scottsdale, AZ 91.31
- Austin, TX 91.08
- Kansas City, KS 90.76
- Palo Alto, CA 90.55
- Sarasota, FL 90.37
- Columbus, OH 89.37
- Boulder, CO 89.11
- Thousand Oaks, CA 88.62
- Portland, ME 88.51
See which restaurants ranked the highest across America at www.foodabletv.com/top-restaurants
Mooove over beef, pork is hogging up the top spot as consumers’ most loved protein. With a sentiment score of 89.5 (out of 100,) consumers now prefer pork over any other protein. Beef has dropped to the number 5 spot below chicken, seafood, and lamb. Millennial demand for fresh seafood is up 49.5% and consumer mentions of pork menu dishes are up 23.6% from last year. That's more growth than both chicken and beef combined!
Aside from beef no longer being the most loved protein, top foodie influencers are slowly moving away from animal proteins altogether, showing a 309% increase in mentions of vegan menus since just last year.
The healthy halo category of restaurants is now one of the fastest growing segments in both restaurants and menu items. Chefs and operators are increasing their involvement in vegan menu development to meet this new consumer demand with healthy halo concepts increasing vegan menu offerings 211% over this time last year.
Watch the episode above to learn more about the latest protein trends!
The craft beer sector has shown a steady growth despite many small and independent breweries being acquired by beer giants.
According to the Brewers Association (BA), “in 2016, craft brewers produced 24.6 million barrels, and saw a 6 percent rise in volume on a comparable base and a 10 percent increase in retail dollar value...By adding 1.4 million barrels, craft brewer growth outpaced the 1.2 million barrels lost from the craft segment, based on purchases by large brewing companies. Microbreweries and brewpubs delivered 90 percent of the craft brewer growth.”
In an effort to continue nurturing that growth, the BA decided to create an Independent Craft Brewer Seal with the reasoning that the logo would serve as a tool for craft-beer enthusiasts to distinguish if their favorite beer was made by an independent brewer or not. In order to carry the stamp, a brewery has to meet the “craft brewer definition” determined by BA.
Craft Brewer Defined by Brewers Association * Annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less (approximately 3 percent of U.S. annual sales) * Less than 25 percent of the craft brewery is owned or controlled (or equivalent economic interest) by an alcohol industry member that is not itself a craft brewer. * A brewer that has a majority of its total beverage alcohol volume in beers whose flavor derives from traditional or innovative brewing ingredients and their fermentation.
Foodable has been following the growth of craft beer in the U.S. since its inception and has reported on the origins of "Beervana," what the craft beer market expectations and challenges are, and the network has also provided a behind-the-scenes look into some craft beer companies through its show Beer Artisan.
Most recently, though, the debate on what it truly means to be a craft brewer and consumer sentiments towards independent brewers who have been acquired by non-craft beer businesses have sparked Foodable’s curiosity.
Enter Foodable Labs, our sister data company, which has helped us compare the overall sentiment scores for three beer brands (Four Peaks Brewing, Cigar City Brewery, and Lagunitas Brewing) before and after their acquisitions.
Each beer brand was acquired by a company with more resources with goals of amplifying the beer production, as well as, the reach of the craft beer’s brand.
With more than 100,000 Floridians still without power, the state is working feverishly to return to normalcy. All the while, the Category 5 Hurricane Maria looms nearby. Though Maria is not expected to hit Florida, residents are still cautious and have not fully recovered from Irma’s destruction yet.
But restaurants in Florida have stepped up in the wake of Hurricane Irma, offering discounts, ice, and even power to those without. Though many restaurants are recovering themselves, they have come out in droves to support their communities.
Hospitality businesses across the state are doing their part by offering free water and ice to anyone in need. Many have had specials for first responders or have simply offered outlets to victims for them to charge their phones while soaking up some a/c.
Some, like Tijuana Flats, have dedicated percentages of their sales to hurricane relief efforts.
According to previous reporting by Foodable, 13,000 stores of publicly-traded restaurant chains in the U.S. were in areas hit by Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma. According the Credit Suisse’s Jason West, this is 15% of total units, meaning these chains are definitely going to see more of a summer slump.
Watch the episode above to learn more about how restaurants are responding to Hurricane Irma.
On this episode of On Foodable Weekly, host Paul Barron talks to Tom Holt of Urbane Cafe about why he decided to take on a full made-from-scratch menu in Ventura, California 12 years ago.
In 2003, Holt was a professional motocross racer and couldn’t find a healthy fast casual in Ventura. He took that as inspiration to create his own. And thus, Urbane Cafe was born. Everything at Urbane is made from scratch from the bread and the sauces to the dressings. The ingredients they use are as fresh and local as possible.
Barron asks Holt about his thoughts on how the fast casual sector is starting to get crowded. Of course, some concepts are going to succeed and other are going to fail, but being a “winner” isn’t the end goal for Holt. For him, there is a greater purpose to his menu.
“I don’t want to see any losers. I want to make sure that we’re able to really feed the general population with good healthy food,” he says.
Find out more about Urbane Cafe and their mission by watching the episode!
Foodable met up with some of the great minds in hospitality at this year’s HUB conference in Southern California. On this episode of On Foodable Weekly we hear how CEO Sam Polk started Everytable and how the company stays profitable.
Everytable creates healthy grab-and-go meals and sells them for cheaper than the price of local fast food. The goal is that everyone, even those in food deserts, can afford to feed their families nourishing meals.
Everytable is able to offer these meals at such low prices due to their small stores. Each store is about 700 square feet and only requires 2 employees working at a time. Their food is prepared at a nearby commissary kitchen in bulk and delivered to the stores daily, minimizing labor costs.
Find out more about how this company is improving local communities by watching this episode of On Foodable Weekly.
Eureka! is one of those brands that comes across as a one-off, independent restaurant concept. The brand even has 22 separate social media accounts on both Instagram and Facebook for each of its locations— the latest opening last month in San Diego, Ca.
“I've done that consciously,” said Justin Nedelman, CEO and co-founder of Eureka!, a multi-unit gastropub that was born soon after the economic recession of 2008 began.
“At that time, in the recession, I think people with money were trading down, but they still wanted service; and folks that had limited income and still wanted a great experience, they were really discerning and weren't going to spend that money on a big chain restaurant.”
On this episode of On Foodable Weekly, our host, Paul Barron, gets to talk to Erik Oberholtzer of Tender Greens and Chef Stephen Giunta of Cargill about how plates are getting greener.
As the guys explain, we are seeing that while alternative proteins like cricket and plant based proteins are on the rise, traditional proteins are not going away anytime soon.
Chef Guinta explains, “The plant based proteins are becoming part of dishes. They're not replacing traditional proteins- You’re not going to replace a pork chop with quinoa, for example, but they’re additions and more of a balanced approach.”
Oberholtzer adds that while we are seeing interesting food technology coming out like the Impossible Burger or soy proteins from Beyond Meat, he prefers to stick to whole ingredients. “What we’re seeing at least out of the fine dining world is that a lot of chefs are really leading with plants, they’re making plants the star. Plants are taking up more of the plate but proteins don’t go away.”
Learn more about the future of protein by watching the episode above!
As consumers continue to demand more transparency, more customization, and more healthy options, what is the future of foodservice? Okay, so this conversation has been on the table for at least a decade. But, today, something is fundamentally changing in our industry.
In this episode of On Foodable Weekly, we sit with Scott Davis, President of CoreLife and Steve Schulze, Co-founder of Nekter Juice Bar to talk about how the consumer is enforcing their values with their dollar and the industry is reacting. The customer has created a whole new segment that we call, "future brands." These restaurants are more focused on lifestyle and offer more than just a meal.
For example, CoreLife is focused on providing fitness classes like yoga, and lifestyle content. Neckter Juice Bar also offers a cleanse to renew and revitalize your body. Lifestyle brands seem to operate the way that consumers want to experience food today, fitting in with their needs and preferences - convenience is key.
So, what happens when your lunch spot becomes your gym and health spa? Watch the episode for more.
Amazon.com Inc. slashed prices at Whole Foods Market stores Monday, with some items seeing cuts up to 43 percent. Items like organic Fuji apples and organic rotisserie chicken were accompanied by orange signs showing the old price, the new price, and text reading “More to come...”. In total, over 400 items have seen price cuts.
According to Bloomberg, prices on whole trade organic bananas fell 30 percent, responsibly farmed tilapia — 33 percent, and organic Fuji apples — 43 percent.
Since Amazon won antitrust approval by the FTC last week, the e-commerce giant has made some big announcements about the companies’ futures. Soon, Whole Foods’ healthy and high-quality private label products will be available through Amazon.com, AmazonFresh, Prime Pantry, and Prime Now. Amazon Lockers will be available in select Whole Foods Market stores where customers will be able to pick up products shipped from Amazon.com as well as return items.
In addition, Amazon Prime is becoming Whole Foods Market’s customer rewards program, meaning Prime members can expect special savings and other in-store benefits.
Stay tuned to Foodable for more on this and other industry news.
In this episode of On Foodable Weekly, Foodable Network's CEO and Host, Paul Barron, sits with restaurant owner and bar expert, Vaughan Dugan, to discuss the ever shifting beverage segment.
Craft beer, craft soda, and craft cocktails have all become hot topics in the beverage business.
"It's really kind of exploded over the last several years; bar owners obviously see the opportunity to kind of elevate and enhance their business model," says Dugan.
Craft means transparency and higher quality to most people. Beverage programs are now held to a higher standard, much like food service.
Whisky from Japan!
Non-U.S. spirit brands in high demand in U.S. cocktail rooms, may not be a new trend, but it is certainly going strong. We have seen Japanese whiskey become the talk of the town. Why?
According to Dugan, "As more of the consumers learn more and more about this resurgence of booze, in general, they're getting more intelligent... When you hear about a Japanese whiskey basically beating out all the born and bred in the good ol’ USA, it opens up everybody’s eyes..."
Watch the episode to hear more on topics like margins and staffing best practices in the beverage business.
On this episode of On Foodable Weekly, Paul sits down with Nicole Aylward, the director of Marketing at Rockit Ranch to talk about how restaurants are using technology to improve their their digital presence. Rockit Ranch is a restaurant group with a number of different restaurants, based in Chicago.
Aylward begins with social media and the importance of having the brand's voice match up on different platforms. Facebook and Instagram are a massive part of modern marketing strategies. At Rockit Ranch, pushing out the brands message is not the job of one marketing manager. Aylward explains that operators, chefs and other staff are all trained to talk about the brand in a way consistent with its personality.
“So each one of them have a personality whether it’s female or male, what they might wear, what they might do and eat and see and experience.”
On this episode of On Foodable Weekly, culinary trends are taking the stage. Just a few years ago, many diners hadn’t heard of exotic dishes and ingredients like kimchi or ostrich steaks.
In an effort to keep their art interesting, chefs are constantly innovating to provide their customers with experiences that WOW diners. However, today's customers are more educated and more adventurous than ever. This is pushing chefs to continue experimenting and is certainly keeping chefs on their toes!
Mark Garcia of Avocados From Mexico says the new consumers’ well-traveled palates are pushing guests to ask for more from their dining experiences.
Watch the episode above to learn about even more culinary trends we’ll be seeing this year.
This episode of On Foodable Weekly: Industry Pulse is chock-full of great beverage insights from coffee makers to bartenders and spirit distillers. Host Chelsea Keenan hears from beverage experts about consumer trends they are seeing and trends they are pushing for in the next few years.
The founder of Intelligentsia Coffee, Geoff Watts, and Sourcing Director Michael Sheridan take us to the root of coffee, or more specifically— the cherry. Coffee is grown on trees in the form of cherries. These are then picked off the trees and from there the seeds can go through a variety of different processes at different stages, all creating different flavors from the same coffee bean. Watts outlines the process for honey coffee, a very popular process with today’s consumers.
Be sure to watch the episode for other great insights from our experts on this episode of On Foodable Weekly: Industry Pulse.
Charcuterie and cheese boards have long been staples for wine lovers looking for a tasty, complimentary snack, but when lung doctor Nick Proia started thinking about the different effects these snacks were having on his arteries, it didn’t make sense to him.
Watch the episode to learn more about chocolate specially formulated for wine!
On this episode of On Foodable Weekly, our host, Paul Barron, sits down with City Winery’s National Wine Director, Rachel Speckan and Maple & Ash’s Head Sommelier and Director of Wine Imports, Daniel Pilkey. They discuss wine sale trends, consumer attitudes towards different types of wine from various regions, wine selection tips for wine directors and small restaurant concepts and other topics.
On this episode of On Foodable Weekly: Industry Pulse, we uncover another Artisan Food Find from the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York. As we have begun to see in recent months, condiments are slowly starting to take center stage. Items like vegan mayonnaise and unique pickles are just a couple condiments rising up in the ranks. An England-based company, The Foraging Fox, has gotten a head start with their 100% natural beetroot ketchup which they started creating three years ago.
The Foraging Fox was founded by Frankie Fox after having an abundance of apples and beetroot from her family’s crop. Shortly after, she enlisted friend and former colleague Desiree Parker to come on as co-founder. With a dedication to new ingredients and fresh thinking, the team spent the last three years perfecting their ketchup.
Aside from being natural, vegan-friendly, allergen-free, gluten-free, non-GMO, and free from high-fructose corn syrup, the beetroot ketchup is naturally nutrient packed. Beetroot is a superfood associated with an array of health benefits such as lowering blood pressure. Watch the episode above to learn more and stay tuned to the Artisan Food Finds series for more artisanal products!
On this episode of On Foodable Weekly: Industry Pulse, we see how long-standing brand, Cacique, is adapting in response to the millennial consumer, while still staying true to their identity.
Cacique has been at the forefront of authentic Mexican cuisine for over 40 years. Their traditional products like queso fresco and crema are staples of the brand.
Watch the episode above to learn more about the innovations Cacique is making in response to the millennial consumer!
On this episode of On Foodable Weekly, our host, Paul Barron, sits down with Brad Spickert, VP of National Foodservice & On-Premise Marketing for The Coca-Cola Company, to discuss beverage insights pertaining to the soda giant, and in a broader sense, the beverage industry as a whole.
They aim to achieve this not only through portfolio and category expansion, but through reformulation of existing products for reduced sugar. In fact, The Coca-Cola Company, along with other leaders in the beverage industry, is committed to reducing calories from sugar at 20% by 2025.
Watch the episode to learn more about The Coca-Cola Company and the innovations they are spearheading with their Coca-Cola Freestyle mobile app, craft beverages and new revenue-generating product offerings for restaurant operators!
On this episode of On Foodable Weekly, we talk to Chef Bill Kim of bellyQ, an Asian barbeque restaurant in Chicago that takes guests on a flavorful journey. Flavor always comes first for Chef Kim. When discussing flavor trends he’s seeing, Chef Kim mentions that trendy doesn't always mean new.
“I love Kimchi,” Chef Kim says. “And it’s not top secret, I think the secrets out, but I think it’s going to go beyond that. The thing that people talk about is Kimchi is only spicy and it doesn't need to be.” Chef Kim also talks about Gochujang, a savory, sweet and spicy red chili paste that Kim calls “essence of Korea in a bottle.”
But flavor is not the only goal at bellyQ. Chef Kim places high importance on using the finest seasonal and local ingredients. As he’s aged, he’s placed higher importance on his health and that focus is mirrored the food he serves at his restaurant as well. “If we could either braised it or marinate it overnight, that really imparts flavor and keeps things a little bit healthier. We cut out dairy in our restaurant so we replace it with coconut milk or we like to use, instead of using cream cheese, we use tofu cream cheese.”
In addition to his dedication to flavor, Chef Kim is dedicated to giving back. In the past Kim worked with the great Charlie Trotter and mentions Trotter as a major influence on his charity work. His involvement with the Trotter Project helps provide scholarship funds to kids in under-served neighborhoods who want to get into cooking.
Today, digital systems have become an operator’s best friend. Gone are the days of the chunky cash register that were permanently stuck in designated areas of the restaurant. Now point-of-sale (POS) tablets and handheld devices are becoming wildly popular at restaurants.
These POS systems have morphed into state-of-the-art tools that offer much more than just a solution to collect customer transactions. Packed with features, these solutions enhance a restaurant’s day-to-day operations, while also helping the operator understand their customers better.
But since operators have so many POS providers to choose from today, it can be a challenge to find the right software for their restaurant.
On this episode of On Foodable Weekly, we take a closer look at one of the most innovative systems out there, the Oracle Simphony POS software.
In this episode of On Foodable Weekly, our host Paul Barron sits down with the founders and CEOs of three of the 12 fast-casual brands thriving in the industry. These brands have been able to sustain themselves through a significant downturn (5.4%) for the category. So we find out what they are doing differently to remain successful.
Randy Dewitt from Velvet Taco, Nedal Ahmad from Pincho Factory and Michael Lastoria from &pizza, stopped by our remote set in Chicago to speak candidly about their brands.
In this episode of On Foodable Weekly, our host, Paul Barron, discusses emerging brands and how to be successful in the fast casual space. To shed light on this topic, Chris Schultz, Senior Vice President of MOD Pizza, and Eric Cacciatore, founder and host of the podcast: Restaurant Unstoppable, stopped by our remote set in Chicago to share their experience and knowledge.
It’s almost impossible to avoid technology in your restaurant these days, but why would you want to? On this episode of On Foodable Weekly, we get to talk to some brands who are taking advantage of the latest in tech to improve customer experience, while also ramping up their customer loyalty.
Nicole Abraham of Luna Grill and Frank Klein of Asian Box both present some of interesting steps they’ve taken and introduce us to some of the cool technologies that they have used to grow your business.
First up? Apps.
Watch the full episode for even more insights into the powers of technology and where we can expect to see it growing in the next few years!
There has been a shift in consumer demand for hand-made, artisan foods in the last few years. It’s no longer just our industry recognizing the art and dedication behind these products. We decided to sit down with Specialty Food Association President Phil Kafarakis to talk about this shift and how it’s impacting the specialty food sector.
The Specialty Food Association (SFA) has been around for 65 years, so this segment is not new to the industry. Previously known as the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT), the Specialty Food Association is best known for its bi-annual Fancy Food Show. It has been sold out every year for more than 10 years, proving that specialty food products are growing in popularity.
Artisan food manufacturers have built up the community after a shift in consumer behavior. Consumers are asking questions they didn’t used to ask like, ‘Where does this come from?’, ‘Who makes this?’, ‘What’s its story?’ and this community is finally getting a chance to shine.
Restaurants operators have helped to foster thus growth. “They’ve got phenomenal cheese cases from around the world, they’ve got charcuterie bars, these folks represent the industry at large. And what we're finding is that no longer does it serve the membership to be buyer specific to the retail channel," said Kafarakis. So now, by opening up their doors to a wider range of consumers, we are seeing that the foodservice industry is not the only sector infatuated with fancy food.
Kafarakis also notes that there are special challenges associated with opening up to the market at large. Being specialty food, some artisan manufacturers might not be prepared to provide large quantities of product as the larger, non-specialty food companies. The SFA’s job is to prepare them and help them be successful– while retaining the authenticity and integrity of their products. With more than 35,000 manufacturers ranging from startups to mature companies, the specialty food sector is now a 127 billion dollar industry.
For years now, the National Restaurant Association has been showcasing the top technologies for the foodservice industry at their annual NRA Show in Chicago.
There is an entire pavilion dedicated to introducing show-goers to the newest and most innovative technology hardware and software for the industry.
Bill Bender, Foodable’s resident operations expert and show host, scoured the aisles to find some tech companies that are really changing the game. Watch the video above to learn about them!
As the Oscars are for the film industry and as the James Beard Awards are for culinary, the Gold & Silver Plate Awards are the academy awards of foodservice. The celebration, which honors the nation's most prestigious operator talent, is hosted by the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association (IFMA) every year in Chicago.
The 63rd Annual Gold & Silver Plate Awards night was held on May 20th at Revel Fulton Market and highlighted eight Silver Plate Award winners, all from different foodservice categories. All of which were chosen through a painstaking, thorough jury process of the most innovative foodservice icons of the industry. From that elite group, one winner is honored with the Gold Plate Award.
Operators around the world are facing supply chain issues such as inventory placement, manufacturing costs, and transportation and distribution costs.
In order to improve efficiency and increase profitability across the industry, the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association (IFMA) created the Supply Chain Optimization Committee (SCO).
Stemming from best practices developed by IFMA, the Supply Chain Optimization Committee is a way for chain operators, manufacturers, and distributors to collaborate and share the challenges they are facing, the solutions they have come up with– as well as data they have analyzed. The group also addresses the critical issues of stakeholders.
The SCO committee is made up of a couple different sectors. The Development board consists of chain operators, manufacturers and distributors. Other companies like Datassential and Havi (and of course IFMA) offer assistance behind the scenes with data analytics and supply chain services.
On this episode of On Foodable Weekly, we talk to some of the instrumental players in creating IFMA’s Consumer Planning Program. The Consumer Planning Program, or CPP, was a collaboration between IFMA and Datassential to dive deeper into the consumer mindset and find out why consumers pick a food-service venue, how those decisions are made and what manufacturers (and operators) can do to influence those decisions.
CPP began in 2012 when IFMA realized they were not as in touch with the consumer as they wanted to be and so the association dedicated resources to really building that understanding and relationship. This began their research into consumer needs and purchase motivations.
With an industry that is constantly evolving, it’s important to anticipate the needs of business owners. Many companies serving the industry have already begun to do so. Trends like off-premise food service and extracting consumer data have influenced tech companies to leap into the business of providing solutions. Foodable spoke to some of these companies at the 2017 NRA show to see how they’re improving customer service.
With labor costs increasing due to things like minimum wage discussions and new legislation, many companies are turning to automation to offset costs. While economists often cite job losses as a negative effect of automation, proponents defend the movement arguing they enhance the day-to-day operations of workers, while improving customer service and restaurants’ bottom lines. Foodable went on a hunt at National Restaurant Association Show to find some of these technologies and look at how they fit into the industry.
The seven-year journey to menu labeling is once again hitting another hurdle. Initially proposed in 2010 along with the Affordable Care Act, this federal mandate, which would enforce that all food establishments of 20 locations or more would be required to list calorie information on menu boards and menus, was supposed to take effect this Friday.
However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has postponed it again — for the third time. Original deadlines for 2015 and 2016 were pushed off the plate, but the new deadline for food businesses to be transparent with calorie information is May 7, 2018.
Prior to the delay announcement earlier this Monday, the National Restaurant Association encouraged the successful implementation of this law, seeing the federal requirement as the final say among a mix of conflicting regional rules and as a protection to small businesses.
After last week’s announcement that investment company JAB Holdings would buy Panera Bread for $7.5 billion, rumors have been going around that Warren Buffett backed 3G Capital might be interested in placing a rival bid. First reported to the New York Post by "sources close to the deal," the news has still not been confirmed by 3G nor Panera.
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Since Bloomberg first reported the rumors that JAB Holdings might be buying the fast-casual giant, Panera’s stocks have spiked. Now that the bid from JAB has been formally announced, the deal is the second-largest restaurant deal ever made in North America according to the Associated Press. It is second only to the buyout of Tim Horton's by the parent company of Burger King in 2014.
In the Form 8-K filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, should Panera decide to take a higher bid from another part, JAB Holdings will receive a $215 million termination fee.
This latest purchase for JAB adds to their already strong portfolio including Krispy Kreme and Green Mountain Coffee.
Stay tuned to Foodable for the latest on this story and other industry news!
Thousands of prep, cooking, storage, and table service products are on display for operators, dealers and consultants every other year at the National Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers' Equipment and Supply Show. This year's show, held in Orlando, Fla., entertained attendees with new products, interactive demonstrations, and lots of delicious bites!
Chefs, looking to heat things up in the kitchen? Here were the hottest finds we found for you after walking up and down every aisle.
On this episode of "On Foodable Weekly: Industry Pulse," we continue last month's conversation around the NAFEM 2017 show. The National Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers holds its Equipment and Supply show every other year for members to showcase their newest products to thousands of buyers in the foodservice industry. On the last Industry Pulse, we looked at some of the best chef products showcased at NAFEM 2017. This week, we're taking a closer look at the coolest products we saw available to operators. You won’t want to miss these!
“Twenty-three percent of 14 million restaurant workers are immigrants and so this industry depends on them. At this time, it feels more important than ever to stand with diverse communities and pledge to protect their liberties, dignities, and freedom[s],” says Della Heiman, who put up a sign at her Wynwood restaurant, Della Test Kitchen, that reads: "Sanctuary Restaurant: A place at the table for everyone."
“...We wanted to be a part of this legally compliant movement to support the safety and diversity of our employees. Some of the core values of Della Test Kitchen and The Wynwood Yard are community and diversity. The Wynwood Yard is a hub where we feel that many of Miami’s different communities overlap and come together,” explained Heiman.
The Bocuse d’Or began as a culinary competition that first took place at the 1987 SIRHA Culinary Sector Exhibition and Trade Show to highlight the most promising chefs. Named after famed French chef Paul Bocuse, the 2017 Bocuse d’Or once again brought together the world's best chefs to square off in an intense two-day culinary competition.
The prestigious Bocuse d'Or competition in Lyon, France, is heated as 24 chefs from around the globe come to test their chops. They have five hours and 35 minutes on the dot to conceptualize their best dishes and bring something new to the table with the ingredients given to the teams the day of the competition. A jury made up of the greatest culinary minds judges what the competitors have cooked up.
In his first 14 days in office, President Trump has signed seven executive orders, many of which have come under fire like the "7-Nation Ban." Despite the continued protests have continued, Trump seems to be following the platform he set during his campaign.
On Friday afternoon, President Donald Trump was sworn into office as the 45th President of the United States. On this episode of "On Foodable Weekly: Washington Report," we discuss the political dissent that has blanketed the country since election day, and how some policies may affect those in foodservice.
As this new administration settles in, we will continue to keep you up to date on legislation affecting your business, here with On Foodable Weekly’s Washington Report. Be sure to watch and share!
The new year is upon us and Foodable is beyond excited to see which trends will reign in 2017!
Luckily for you, a few of Foodable’s foodservice industry experts have come to aid you in this arduous task of identifying key trends and making solid predictions. Our experts, who work as restaurant consultants themselves, are in tune with the pulse of the industry and the changing consumers attitudes in foodservice.
Lets see what our experts have to say!
November showed small growth in social restaurant visits since October. On this episode of "On Foodable Weekly," Host Paul Barron dissects the numbers and predicts which brands may have strong sales in 2017.
According to Foodable Labs, Facebook and Twitter conversations surrounding the top 500 restaurant brands are up this month, as are social restaurant visits. What are SRVs? Foodable Labs measures SRVs by looking at social media conversations and analyzing users’ intent to visit a restaurant, their return or referral to a restaurant, and direct actions such as Facebook Check-ins or Instagram posts about their trip to a restaurant.
This week marks one month since Donald Trump was voted as the next President of the United States. On this week’s "On Foodable Weekly: Washington Report," we discuss how restaurants are responding to the incoming administration, as well as what they can expect from some of the new legislation that passed.
Since November 8, we have seen high-profile recount requests from opposing candidates, and controversial cabinet picks from the president-elect. We have also seen job-saving business deals, such as the agreement made between Trump and Carrier and the DOW has surged to new heights. We took to the streets of Washington, D.C., to talk to restaurant operators about their reaction to the election and what they expect in the coming years.
Keep up with the Washington Report for updates on policies affecting the restaurant industry.
On this episode of “On Foodable Weekly,” host Paul Barron highlights the restaurants that have grown the most in the past month and what that means for the industry as a whole. We will also look at Del Taco’s brand performance and its biggest competitor: Moe’s Southwest Grill.
According to Foodable Labs, the restaurant industry continues to show an increase in growth. This growth is illustrated through the analysis of real-time data signaling a brand’s visibility across social media platforms. One of the big indicators of restaurant industry health is SRV or Social Restaurant Visits. A social restaurant visit is an action a consumer takes, whether it is a mention, photo share, or “check in” on a social media platform, referencing a restaurant’s location either in a post or within the post’s geo-metadata.
Watch the full episode to learn more!
Foodable Weekly is LIVE and talking #RestaurantTech with Jack Abraham, CEO of Zenreach.
Foodable Labs Data shows that Consumer-Facing Technology Adoption is up by 87% over 2015 while Restaurant Native Mobile Apps are down 31% percent. Abraham notes the reason for this gap is that sometimes, consumers don’t want to download an another app to their phone.
On this episode of "On Foodable Weekly," Paul Barron meets up with industry leaders Dawn Sweeney and Larry Oberkfell at the IFMA Presidents Conference. The Presidents Conference provides cutting-edge research to operators, manufacturers, and distributors within the industry. With sessions discussing consumer trends, category management, and regulation impacts of the recent election, attendees packed the lecture halls. Much of the research presented was in reaction to questions asked by attendees. Today, we look at trends facing the industry as well as changes we can expect to see in the near future.
One such trend is the rise of the new-age consumer. Millennials are now the largest and most influential generation since the baby boomers, and as such, have been a major focus in the industry. However, Larry Oberkfell, president and CEO of IFMA, discusses how age is not the most important factor, nor is demographics.
The restaurant industry makes up a big part of the economy. After Tuesday’s election, it seems Donald Trump’s focus on jobs and the economy has resonated with organizations like the National Restaurant Association (NRA). Cicely Simpson, executive vice president of Government Affairs and Policy at the NRA, tells us how the organization engaged with President-Elect Trump and his campaign team to advocate for the industry.
Be sure to watch for more “On Foodable Weekly: Washington Reports” to keep up-to-date on industry issues and legislation.
In an effort to keep you up-to-date on industry issues, Foodable has created the Washington Report, an "On Foodable Weekly" edition dedicated to discussing legislation facing restaurant owners and operators. This week, we talk about at the Affordable Care Act, the New Joint Employer Standard, and the Department of Labor’s recently updated overtime regulations. Guests Fred LeFranc and Larry Reinstein give us insights on what is being seen inside restaurants in reaction to these issues.
In this week’s episode of "On Foodable Weekly," host Paul Barron holds a round-table discussion of the latest restaurant industry news. Joined by The Restaurant Coach, Donald Burns, and speaker and consultant at Customer Service is the Bottom Line, Andrew Carlson, Paul talks about the widening grocery-restaurant price gap, the increasing popularity of meal kits, and growth shown by American-Mexican chain Del Taco.
Watch the episode to learn more!
And don't forget to check out all the information on Foodable.io, the can't-miss event of 2017.
On this episode of “On Foodable Weekly,” host Paul Barron, discusses the current state of the restaurant industry. We discuss the restaurants that have grown the most in the past month and what that means for the industry as a whole. We will also look at Jersey Mike’s brand performance and its biggest competitor: Arby’s.
According to Foodable Labs, the restaurant industry is showing continued growth. This growth is illustrated through the analysis of real-time data pulled from social media platforms. One of the big indicators of restaurant industry health is SRV or Social Restaurant visits. This could be when a customer mentions, takes a picture, or performs a "check in" on social media referencing a restaurant’s location either in the post or it's recorded in the geo-metadata. Foodable Labs has added another measurement known as Facebook and Twitter Combined Industry Visibility.
Watch the full episode to learn more!
According to Foodable Labs, an industry-wide restaurant recession is not currently taking place. This conclusion is based on a close analysis of the total Social Restaurant Visits (SRVs) recorded and compared so far for the year of 2016.
It appears that the restaurant industry experienced a five-month consistent decline in SRVs from March 2016 to July 2016. In February, total SRVs were at an all-time high at just under 126 million, but by July, SRVs declined by almost 16 million. However, by August, the figures normalized, jumping back to just over 122 million SRVs, which even surpassed the figure for the month of March, where we first noticed a small decline.
Watch the full episode to learn more!
Content marketing is perhaps the buzziest of buzzwords when it comes to marketing and advertising strategies today — but ironically, with this buzz also comes buzzing confusion. Last year, research showed that 55 percent of B2B marketers said that their organization’s content marketing program is not defined and that it was unclear if their organization’s program was effective or successful.
As more and more brands are attempting to adopt these practices of integrated storytelling, while also trying to keep up with the shifts that happen within marketing almost every day, what is content marketing and what does it actually entail?
The Content Marketing Institute defines content marketing as “a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action."
In short, consumers don’t want to be sold. They want to be told a story.
As brands navigate the ever-changing mural of how to market to their audience, companies are popping up to help brands of all shapes and sizes tell their story and find the audience that resonates with their messages.
In this episode of “On Foodable Weekly,” Paul Barron takes us inside Content Marketing World 2016 and identifies a few companies that are innovating and helping brands and marketers find that sweet spot of strategy and creativity to reach their customers.
Paul also dishes out three tips to help marketers tackle the content marketing conundrum.
For an operator, it can be very overwhelming to think about seizing opportunities to grow a business from single unit to multi-unit operations, all while maintaining or improving their brand identity. You may ask yourself: How can I focus on business development while keeping up with my day-to-day responsibilities to my current customers and employees?
On a previous episode of “On Foodable Weekly,” we spoke to restaurateur Sam Fox, from Fox Restaurant Concepts in Phoenix, about the hurdles to conquer when it comes to restaurant expansion. In today’s episode, we traveled to Nashville, Tenn., to chat with Matthew Bodnar, a partner at Fresh Hospitality, a company that helps scale chef-driven concepts into multi-unit businesses with self-sustainable and profitable business models. We sat down with Bodnar at Cochon Butcher, a concept in its early stages of scaling by Fresh Hospitality.
Bodnar explains Fresh’s mission is to help entrepreneurs grow.
Want to learn more on how Fresh Hospitality is offering a fresh perspective to fast casual? Watch the full episode now!
Wahlburgers, a better burger concept that opened its doors back in 2011 in Hingham, Mass., has rapidly differentiated itself from the pack not only by providing a split-service model to its customers, but also by quickly rising to the No. 24 spot in the 2016 Most Loved Brands Report by Foodable Labs after just under five years of its launch.
In this episode of "On Foodable Weekly," we are joined by the CFO of Wahlburgers, Patrick Reena, who discusses why he thinks the brand has ranked so high despite the adversities they face.
Watch the full episode to learn more!
Tales of the Cocktail is committed to the growth of the cocktail industry through providing a week of seminars, tastings, networking events, and more, and is specifically designed for bartenders, mixologists, distillers, and other spirits professionals around the globe. This annual meeting place to share new techniques, products, and ideas seems like a huge endeavor — but how did it first stir up? In this episode of "On Foodable Weekly," we get the inside sip with co-founders Ann and Paul Tuennerman.
The concept began in 2002, but was originally a walking tour where a small gathering of cocktail lovers explored bars and restaurants across New Orleans.
Watch the full episode to learn more!
As the Oscars are for the film industry and as the James Beard Awards are for culinary, the Gold & Silver Plate Awards are the academy awards of foodservice. The celebration, which honors the nation's most prestigious operator talent, is hosted by the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association (IFMA) every year in Chicago.
The 62nd Annual Gold & Silver Plate Awards night was held on May 21 at Revel Fulton Market and highlighted nine Silver Plate Award winners, all from different foodservice categories and chosen through a painstaking, thorough jury process of the most innovative and history-making icons of the industry. From that elite group, one winner is honored with the Gold Plate Award.
This year highlighted winners from nine different categories, all nominated by industry leading companies. From those candidates, the Gold Plate Winner was voted on through a secret ballot by previous Silver Plate Award winners, national trade press editors, and foodservice experts.
In this On Foodable Insight Series episode, we catch up with Mariano’s Amanda Puck, director of strategic brand development, and Gary Zickel, manager of foodservice operations, to find out how Mariano’s keeps up with consumer demand for a restaurant experience at the grocery store.
Part of the restaurant experience provided by Mariano’s is the Café, where customers can sit down to enjoy coffee, bakery, and an array of prepared foods; the Grill Station where meats and seafoods picked up in store can be prepared on site at no charge; a wine bar; an onsite dietician available for nutrition consulting and education for the more health conscious consumer; and pick up and/or delivery service of groceries for customers looking for convenience.
The groceraunt experience — the restaurant experience in the grocery store — is all front of the house so the associates have to be personable, be able to communicate, know what it is they are serving, and be pleasant, Zickel says. “Those are our ambassadors in the kitchen who are going to bring the customers back to us.”
To accomplish this, Puck says they work with an amazing team of chefs, lifestyle and fitness experts, among others, who love to shop in Mariano’s stores. These Mariano’s Tastemakers are also featured in ad campaigns and events showcasing the brands they love.
Over the last few years, mobile technology has moved the industry to new heights. What was arguably a rather analog or traditional industry is now seeking to catch up, and even get ahead, of the latest devices to meet consumer needs more efficiently. With new options flooding the space, how do operators sift through and determine which technological advancements best suit their needs? And how are brands integrating technology with their day-to-day processes?
Taking that big data and making it actionable — whether making it mobile-app based to making sure your store has the bandwidth to handle more tech — is a challenge when digitizing your operation, but technology is no longer a "you can," but a "you must."
One way restaurant can use technology is to determine ROI. The practice blurs the line between true data science and predictive analytics, connecting consumer behavior and purchasing tracking and overlaying it with various data points depending on the sentiment information brands are seeking.
Aside from predictive analytics, brands are now incorporating technology into employee training. How does tech facilitate this process? Through providing consistent and clear communication.
No one knows this better than Director of Training and Development at The Habit Burger, Michele Lange, as two years ago, the Habit Burger created a proprietary training system and moved away from paper-based to tablet-based training.
Dive deeper into the restaurant tech trends of 2016 by watching the full episode.
Fast casual has already made its mark on the industry as a game-changing segment — and the fastest-growing one the industry has ever seen — as the all-in-one answer to the consumer need for speed and better-for-you ingredients. In a previous episode of "On Foodable Insight Series," Foodable discussed the innovation of fast casual phenoms, but how does fast casual continue to evolve? Is it becoming higher class? Moving from a simple step above quick-service restaurants to upscale fast casuals, to now chef-inspired fast casuals, there's no denying that this segment continues to defy the odds.
Paul Barron sits down with Oath Craft Pizza President and COO Rick Wolf, and co-founders of Mendocino Farms, company CEO Mario Del Pero and company President Ellen Chen, to see how their own philosophy of connecting the best farmers and artisan food to their industry is something that is being seen across all of fast casual. How does the consumer psyche play a role into this?
Want to learn how these premium fast casual players are opening up the discussion of sustainability, craft pizza, craft beverage, and more in the industry? Watch the full episode.
Curious about the state of the beverage industry? Craving more insights on trends? Quench your thirst for knowledge in this "On Foodable Insight Series" episode. Joining host Bill Bender are Nick Fosberg, senior manager for Program Compliance at the National Restaurant Association, and Rachel Speckan, the national wine director of City Winery.
Fosberg is known as one of the highest-paid marketing and promotional consultants in the bar and restaurant industry, unintentionally becoming a marketing junkie while he was simply discovering new ways to advertise his own bar and get customers through the doors.
Speckan has traveled extensively and possesses a global understanding of various wine flavor profiles. From drinking wine around the world and eating at local specialities, why does she believe alcohol is important in the restaurant industry?
Watch the full episode now!
Urban Farm & Eatery, the world's first fully sustainable restaurant that can grow all of its food — farmed, brewed, crafted, or baked within the premises — is aiming to open this year and has a goal to serve with a minimal ecological footprint. At the forefront of this movement is chef and entrepreneur Jaime Guerrero, a multi-talented chef who focuses on the need for wholesome food and sustainable farming practices.
Guerrero is also the co-founder of the Schurz Food Science Lab, a one-of-a-kind food science program in Chicago's Schurz High School that makes it a mission to raise the next generation of the country's farmers by translating science, nutrition, and environmental awareness into real-life skills.
Whether seeking vegetarian or completely vegan trends, consumers are demanding for more plant-based menu items. Superfoods, such as microgreens, are moving on to be more than just garnishes but key ingredients to a dish. Guerrero urges chefs to be conscious of and support the movement.
Watch the full episode of "On Foodable Insight Series" to learn more.
There's more to restaurant success than the ingredients behind a menu. Marketing is the voice of a brand and content marketing, brand development, digital trends, social media strategies, public relations, and local store marketing are all a part of the perfect marketing recipe. Need a little help cooking up some great ideas?
In this "On Foodable Insight Series" episode, join Foodable's Director of Marketing, Chelsea Keenan, as she sits down with two marketing mavens: Chief Marketing Officer of Cici's Pizza, Sarah McAloon, who also formerly served as CMO for Sbarro and Media Director for Pizza Hut, and Tijuana Flats Senior Marketing Manager, Brandy Blackwell.
With the digital landscape still being relatively new and vast in comparison to traditional advertising, one of the biggest dilemmas brands face is determining whether to build an in-house social media team or outsource services. In the case of Tijuana Flats, the social media team is in-house to put more control in the brand's hands.
McAloon joined the CiCi's team in 2014 and wanted to ensure that the brand had a clear marketing strategy. So, what approach did she and her team come up with? "Now, Wow, Who and How."
Watch the full episode to learn more about marketing through rebranding and developing audience involvement.
The last few years have brought revolutionary technological advancements. From LDC monitor signage and location-based beacons, to tablet-based POS systems and inventory control systems that update as soon as a chef takes ingredients from the stock, to mobile apps to new, energy-saving equipment, foodservice is delving deeper into the digital landscape. Irvine has even seen brands in Canada that pay their servers through credit card, putting their tip amounts into those card accounts, and while making it possible for the government to track those expenses, also allows servers the ability to spend that money immediately.
Although electronic payments provide efficiency, and while he believes the technology is ready for it, he doesn't think consumers are. Understandable, considering the idea of hackers having access to money and personal information makes the population wary, but the future is near, as long as cybersecurity continues to improve. Want to learn more? Check out this "On Foodable Insight Series" episode!
Fast casual is undisputedly the poster child of growth within the restaurant industry. Five years ago, the segment had barely begun to thrive, with only a handful of concepts making their names, but now more fast casual champions are entering the playing field. In fact, just two years ago, fast casual sales were reported to have skyrocketed 600 percent since 1999. With this rapid expansion and with the influx of concepts, why have consumers embraced this segment and how do operators stand out?
In this "On Foodable Insight Series" episode, industry experts explore that while the segment was initially known to be dominated by better-burger ideas and craft pizza, there is a hatching success for concepts focused on the chicken sector. The consumer eats two times as much chicken as any other protein and has a reputation of being the healthier alternative after fish. It's no surprise that is a growing arena for fast casuals in order to meet the consumer demand.
Sean Kennedy, president and CEO of Cowboy Chicken, said his brand sets itself apart because they do not fry their products. Their chicken is artisan, cooked naturally over a hickory wood-burning fire, and their service target time is four minutes from point-of-sale to delivery. Astonishing, but how much headroom improvement is left in the fast casual space?
Restaurants are known as a starting ground for people in their career paths. The industry has evolutionized to a more welcoming and empowering arena. How do we meet the huge employment needs in the future? How can we ensure that the proper research, training, resources, and talent add to the growth and prosperity of the industry? In this “On Foodable Weekly” NRA Special Report, we are joined by National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation EVP of Strategic Operations and Philanthropy, Rob Gifford.
What are some of the most recurring issues restaurants face when it comes to food safety? In this NRA Special Report edition of “On Foodable Weekly,” we are joined by three food safety champions: Hal King, president and CEO of Public Health Innovations LLC; Mick Miklos, senior manager for program compliance at the National Restaurant Association; and Dave Crownover, product manager at ServSafe®.
We are sharing more than just words across cyberspace — we're exchanging money, as our society is moving from cash to mobile payment. How can restaurateurs do their part to keep paying customers' information safe, especially in the time where data breaches are a huge risk? What security measures, tools and resources are available?
Find out in this NRA Special Report edition of "On Foodable Weekly," where we are joined by the National Restaurant Association's Director of Commerce & Entrepreneurship Laura Knapp Chadwick and EVP and General Counsel David Matthews.
Restaurants nationwide already have strong partnerships with charities and others already provide workforce opportunity and training for their teams, but what is the best way those in the industry can make an impact? In this NRA Special Report, as part of “On Foodable Weekly” and Foodable’s exclusive coverage of the 2016 National Restaurant Association Show - NRA Show, meet the National Restaurant Association Director of Political Advocacy and Grassroots, Jon Simons.
South Beach became pig paradise on April 3, when more than 200 porc lovers gathered at The Ritz-Carlton for the eighth year of the Cochon555 Tour. With each city stop, five chefs — all individually assigned a different heritage breed pig — go head-to-head in a downright delicious cookout. Miami was no different, and in this episode of "On Foodable Weekly," we step away from the studio to meet founder Brady Lowe and discuss the origins and the future of the event, as well as chat with the five Miami chefs competing this year and pick their minds on their menus.
Five chefs, five heritage breed pigs, five winemakers, over 36 dishes, and a whole 'lotta hungry mouths to feed. It seems like this event comes with a lot of work on its plate, but Lowe believes it's worth it.
Dwight Furrow is a philosophy professor and author (check out his book “American Foodie”) who writes on the aesthetics of food and wine. We got a chance to speak with him on this episode of “On Foodable Weekly.”
There’s no denying that we live in a “foodie” generation. But what does this term even mean? And perhaps more importantly, how did we, as a nation, become so obsessed with food? From a philosophical standpoint, Furrow says it starts with our hectic lifestyles; values of the workplace have seeped into every other dimension of our lives, including at home. With food, he says, we get a different set of values. “In food, we put pleasure before production and care before commerce. It’s a way of introducing more creativity in our lives because we don’t necessarily find that in the workplace any longer,” he says. “It gives us a chance to slow down and savor the moment, to sort of get outside that hectic workplace dimension.”
While not all foodies flock to social media, a surge of them are — to show off what they’re eating, to engage in conversations about food-related topics, and to position themselves as social influencers (which, stereotypically, wouldn’t be complete without trending hashtags like #foodporn and #nomz). Furrow says the appeal of social media comes from users’ ability to create their own content how and when they’d like without having to go through a gatekeeper or editor to get noticed.
Watch the full episode to hear Furrow’s analyses on the craft movement, Millennial diners, sustainability, and what operators and chefs should keep in mind for the future of food.
In this episode of “On Foodable Weekly,” we’re talking restaurant trends with Restaurants Canada. But though we’re talking Canadian culinary trends, this segment is chock-full of tips for operators of all kinds, in any location, on three main areas: sustainability, interior design, and bar technology. Watch the full episode as we connect with experts in these three realms at the Restaurants Canada Show.
Most restaurant concepts fail early on. The challenges of keeping afloat in an industry driven on passion over profit are aplenty, and one of them is expansion. Even if you’ve learned how to successfully run a one-unit, independent concept, scaling operations is a huge hurdle to conquer. Those who have seen great success with multi-unit concepts — and, even more, multi-brand businesses — are admirable, and we were fortunate enough to sit down with one of them on this episode of “On Foodable Weekly.” Sam Fox, the man behind Phoenix-based restaurant group Fox Restaurant Concepts, joins us to talk expansion pitfalls, how he has overcome them, and more.
In regards to the rise of chefs in the fast-casual space, Fox is a supporter but wonders if they’ll be financially successful, “because it’s really, really hard. It’s based on a lot of volume and really understanding your pennies. Every single penny in the fast-casual business, you really need to know where everything is going because you don’t have that full-service check, where there’s alcohol and there’s a higher check average, where you’re able to sort of make up some of those mistakes. In the fast-casual environment, everyone is sensitive to the price, everyone’s sensitive to the experience, and so that’s gonna be a whole different thing where we see if all these great chef ideas are able to really translate into a business model.”
In late 2015, Foodable Network branched into the Canadian market and began to cover industry news and trends in major culinary destinations like Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. This quarter, we officially kick off our expansion of original Canada-based content, including a Top 25 Restaurants ranking and a ton of original video content. In sync with this rollout, we are also excited to announce a new media partnership between Foodable and Restaurants Canada and the annual Restaurants Canada Show, a three-day event that recently gathered about 15,000 attendees this year.
In this “On Foodable Weekly” episode, host Paul Barron sits down with Donna Dooher, the president and CEO of Restaurants Canada, at the 2016 Restaurants Canada Show in Toronto, which featured more than 600 exhibitors this year.
Watch the full episode to learn more!
Business partnerships can be a strategic way to combine strengths by those with aligned objectives. In this “On Foodable Weekly” episode, host Paul Barron addresses the labor market as well as the recent partnership between PeopleMatter and HotSchedules. Joining us are Jay Nathan, vice president of customer success at PeopleMatter, a 7-year-old talent management platform company for the foodservice industry, and Anthony Lye, president and CEO at HotSchedules, a company that provides tech solutions for the industry including scheduling, inventory, shift management, and analytics.
For the past several years, the fast-casual segment has given the quick-service industry a run for its money, quite literally. Fast food operators have undoubtedly realized that their quick-serve restaurants (QSRs) would need to improve on quality and value from both a culinary and operational standpoint in order to stand up to the competition. And thus, a new, hybrid category — QSR-Plus — was born.
“What we’re seeing now with QSR-Plus and this elevation of quick-serve restaurant menus is clearly shifting the landscape,” says Paul Barron, founder and CEO at Foodable. “Over the past 18 months, we’ve seen a small but subtle shift in a key few brands that have started to explode.”
In this “On Foodable Weekly” episode, Barron is joined by a representative from one of those key QSR-Plus brands: Amanda Norris, senior director of menu development at Chick-fil-A, a brand that has been ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in Foodable Labs’ “National Top 25 Restaurant Brands” since Q1 2015.
In this episode of “On Foodable Weekly,” host Paul Barron is joined by tech journalist Mike Elgan, founder of food and technology podcast The FATcast, to discuss tech trends and how technology is impacting the future of foodservice.
Though the restaurant industry itself is rooted in slow technology adoption, it has certainly accelerated more quickly in the past five years. “What’s driving that,” says Barron, “is everything from the on-demand economy logistics, with companies like Uber; mobile and smartphones, which have kind of transcended the whole POS industry; obviously the tablet business is really exploding; and we’re seeing wearables in social media really have an impact on restaurants that are making an amazing jump into the future.”
Food and technology. The two are more similar than you might think. “What I’ve found in talking to tech people is that technology-oriented people tend to also be foodies,” says Elgan. “And I think the reason for that is, a nerd — a technologist — is somebody who doesn’t accept things the way they are. They think there’s a better way to do things. And so those same kinds of people also tend to be of a similar mind when it comes to food — they don’t just accept the food that’s around them. They don’t just do the same things over and over in the kitchen or in restaurants, and so on. They try new things.”
So, what does the future hold for restaurant technology?
Once the darling of fast casual for its efficient format and Food With Integrity branding, Chipotle Mexican Grill has been in quite the firestorm as of late.
“Chipotle, of course, is taking some of the biggest hits they’ve taken in their history as a brand,” says Paul Barron, Foodable founder, CEO and author of “The Chipotle Effect.”
In this “On Foodable Weekly” episode, Barron is joined by Hunter Frederick, president at Frederick & Associates, a crisis management and public relations firm whose clients include non-profits, celebrities, and entertainment companies.
This year, we saw the words “female” and “women” in a lot of descriptors: “female chefs,” “women CEOs” — you get the idea. And while it does mark a great achievement in equalizing the business playing field, we still have a long way to go. Perhaps then, those two words won’t need to be specified.
Helping to close this gap is Hattie Hill, president and CEO at the Women’s Foodservice Forum (WFF), the largest women’s leadership development organization serving the foodservice industry. The WFF has been helping women achieve leadership roles in the industry — management positions and above — for nearly 30 years now, primarily through learning and development.
In this “On Foodable Weekly” episode, brought to you by the Foodable WebTV Network, Hill tells us more about the organization, its structure, and how it operates, and how it’s grown from 14 women. Also learn how WFF’s goals for the near future aim to catapult female leadership to the frontline, and why men have become an instrumental part in getting us to this point.
From apps to agriculture, the rise of new business in the food space has grown at a rapid pace within the past five years. According to CB Insights data, in 2013 alone, a total of $1.38 billion was invested in the U.S. for food & beverage funding. Vehicles supporting these early-stage food startups are typically found in food incubators, like Manhattan-based FOOD-X, reportedly the first international business accelerator program “focused on launching food-related ventures with a $250 million multi-stage fund.”
In this episode of “On Foodable Weekly,” brought to you by the Foodable WebTV Network, host Paul Barron is joined by FOOD-X Founder Shen Tong, whose business helps take new initiatives to market and brings out food entrepreneurs’ best potential. Watch the full episode to learn more about what types of startups FOOD-X represents, what criteria is required to join the highly acclaimed accelerator, and what trends Shen is seeing for our future food system.
An increase in awareness when it comes to sustainable practices has sped up the pace of the farm-to-table movement. Once an innovative concept, chefs all around the world — from fine-dine and independents to fast-casual concepts — have adopted this route, and it’s obvious that consumers demand nothing less. Farmers could very well become the new rockstars, and today, we’re diving in deeper to discuss vertical farming.
In this episode of “On Foodable Weekly,” brought to you by the Foodable WebTV Network, we are joined by Dr. Dickson Despommier, microbiologist and ecologist, who has been advocating for vertical farming for the past 10 years. Aside from the obvious, what are some lesser known advantages to indoor versus outdoor farming? What’s the biggest challenge — from a statistical standpoint — that we, as a planet, will face in the next 10-20 years? Will vertical farming catch on enough to become a new “norm” for restaurants? And will the rise of indoor vertical farms affect the flavor, not to mention nutritional value, of these crops?
Watch the full episode above as Dr. Despommier paints the realistic (and alarming) picture of the state of food production, and the steps we can take to prevent shortage.
Between an industry gap in the shortage of cooks and unequal pay in the back of house, the topic of labor has been one of concern in the restaurant industry. In this episode of “On Foodable Weekly,” brought to you by the Foodable WebTV Network, host Paul Barron is joined by Hudson Riehle, VP of NRA Research & Knowledge Group, to talk about labor topics.
Watch the full episode to learn how sentiment around workforce in the restaurant industry has changed in the past quarter, upcoming labor challenges for multi-unit operators, and outliers that could impact the industry in the future.
On-demand delivery has become a major focus point in today’s restaurant industry. Consumers don’t just want something — they want it now. While there are a few major players in this market specifically catering to food delivery, other companies, like Uber, are hopping on board to help drive the movement forward.
In this episode of “On Foodable Weekly,” brought to you by the Foodable WebTV Network, we bring you in-the-field coverage from New York City as we test out UberEats firsthand. We also flip sides and dig into how restaurants are using UberEats. The UberEats model boasts a limited menu that changes daily and is only offered to users within the location range of the geocode in cities that offer this feature (Atlanta, Austin, Barcelona, Chicago, Los Angeles, NYC, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto & Washington, D.C.). In standard Uber fashion, there is a flat delivery fee and no tipping.
Watch the full episode as host Paul Barron puts the UberEats model to the test in terms of speed, quality (how well does the product travel or hold in transit?), presentation (how well the food arrives), and app operability (user-friendliness and app usability). We also bring viewers into Alidoro, an UberEats early adopter restaurant, to find out how restaurants are preparing for this added route, why Alidoro decided to move forward with the opportunity, and whether UberEats is a profitable channel.
Franchising is a scalable route that many chains take to grow a brand. Firehouse Subs, a fast-casual, made-to-order sandwich concept that Foodable has worked with extensively, is one of them. Recently, Firehouse Subs made an international move to Canada, with the first unit launching last week. So naturally, we sent a film team to get a close-up of the inner-workings of their unique route to expansion.
In this “On Foodable Weekly” episode, brought to you by the Foodable WebTV Network, we introduce you to Greg Delks, VP of franchise development for Firehouse Subs. Why did the brand decide to build presence in Canada? How does an American brand merge into a foreign market? What local resources has Firehouse Subs tapped into to scale and run these new units? As you’ll see in the full episode above, their path to international expansion is a unique one based on community and connections, an ethos that aligns well with the brand’s mission.
Big beer is big business. But that statement has been threatened by smaller craft beer companies as consumer demand and education has evolved and increased. With the recent merger buzz of AB InBev and SAB Miller, what does this mean for the future of brew and perhaps more importantly, for micro-brewers? In this “On Foodable Weekly” episode, we’re joined by Bill Sysak, also known as Dr. Bill, craft beer ambassador and Certified Cicerone® at Stone Brewing Co., the eighth largest craft brewer in the United States.
Watch the full episode to get expert insight on why AB InBev is taking this strategy (it’s probably not what you’d think), how it will affect international beer markets, and what this means for the craft beer community.
The James Beard House in New York City is a monumental institution rooted in history that beams culinary charm, talent, and greatness. Given the opportunity to cook here is often a mark of success and honor, and is not soon to be forgotten. In this episode of “On Foodable Weekly,” brought to you by the Foodable WebTV Network and the American Lamb Board, we welcome viewers into The James Beard House for this year’s annual American Lamb Jam. The competitive event challenges chefs to create new dishes with this alternative protein, and with a rule nixing the use of rack or loin, innovation increases. Joining us during the “calm before the storm” is Megan Wortman, the executive director of the American Lamb Board, along with five competing chefs.
Watch the full episode for the best seat in the house as we bring you into the kitchen and the front-of-house to explore how five chefs from all over the country are bringing their own flavor to lamb. Then, pull up a seat in the dining room as host Paul Barron delivers his feedback on each dish. Who is “bringing it” this year? Which chef will bring the trophy home? And how are these chefs adding a new spin, inspired by their various backgrounds, to American lamb?
On this week’s “On Foodable Weekly,” brought to you by the Foodable WebTV Network, host Paul Barron talks mobile masters and Google trends with guest Brandon Hull, founder and editor at NextRestaurants.com and vice president at Main Path Marketing. In this episode, we break down the Top 5 mobile brands of last quarter and ask the tough questions about the future of mobile and technology as it relates to dining.
What about the No. 1 mobile brand makes it so successful? Will consumers continue to embrace brands that engage them from a mobile-first perspective, like Instagram contests and gamification? And how can smaller brands compete with bigger brands using mobile?
On Foodable Weekly: Chipotle’s Lawsuit & What Technomic’s Acquisition Means for Big Data in Foodservice Chipotle gets hit with a class-action lawsuit for GMO marketing and Technomic gets acquired by Winsight Media. We cover these topics in this episode of On Foodable Weekly, brought to you by the Foodable WebTV Network. How might this lawsuit affect Chipotle, its brand message, and restaurant visits? Bill Bender, industry consultant and co-host of “Rock My Restaurant,” joins host Paul Barron to discuss.
Also making a guest appearance in this episode is Jessica Bryant, the managing editor at Foodable, to discuss the Technomic acquisition, how data will continue to affect the restaurant space in different ways, and what the difference is between structured data and unstructured data.
In this episode of On Foodable Weekly, brought to you by the Foodable WebTV Network, Host Paul Barron is in Washington, D.C. at the National Restaurant Association (NRA) headquarters’ test kitchen with Phil Kafarakis, Chief Innovation & Member Advancement Officer at the NRA.
What does Kafarakis’ role entail? What three pillars guide the work of the NRA? How does the long-standing association integrate and prop up innovation? What can operators look forward to in the industry in terms of advocacy and change? Find out all this and more in the full episode above.
On this episode of On Foodable Weekly, brought to you by the Foodable WebTV Network, H. Joseph Ehrmann, proprietor of Cocktail Ambassadors and Elixir Saloon, joins host Paul Barron at the Nightclub & Bar Show.
With nearly 30 years of experience in the industry, H. dives into the ebb and flow of cocktail and bar trends throughout the past few decades, as well as current trends moving the industry forward, and tells us why most great bars fail.
On this episode of On Foodable Weekly, brought to you by the Foodable WebTV Network, we are at the Nightclub & Bar Show with some of the experts behind “Bar Rescue.” Cocktail Engineer Mia Mastroianni, Chef Nick Liberato and Mixology Master Phil Wills join us to discuss how they grew to become notable experts in the field; the first thing they each look for when faced with a challenging (struggling) bar or restaurant operation; and what chefs, mixologists and operators should be doing now to stay on trend.
On this episode of On Foodable Weekly, Paul Barron is at the Nightclub & Bar Show in Las Vegas with “Bar Rescue” host and consultant Jon Taffer.
Watch the full episode as Taffer dives into how different technologies are impacting the bar scene; why he’s not a fan of tablet ordering; what one of the most important things every brand needs to attract Millennials; and why alcohol in fast casual has not been as prevalent as it should be, but how that is changing.
On this episode of On Foodable Weekly, brought to you by Foodable WebTV Network, Paul Barron speaks to two wine experts– Joseph Phillips, Master Sommelier and Francesco LaFranconi, Executive Director of Mixology & Spirits Education both from Southern Wine & Spirits about the recent developments in the cocktail scene. Consumers, specifically millennials have become more educated and passionate about wine which is driving the consumer to these beverages more than ever.
Watch the episode to see if the new popularity of wine and spirits will lead to an upcoming rise of celebrity sommeliers, mixologists, and bartenders- like how this has happened in culinary.
In this episode of On Foodable Weekly, brought to you by the Foodable WebTV Network, host Paul Barron heads to the NAFEM Show to speak to not one, not two, but three industry experts to uncover and share the latest tips and tricks for operators around the world. The guests include: President of MAFSI, Joe Ferri; president of CFESA, Paul Toukatly and FCSI Chair William Taunton!
Watch the full episode to learn more about industry trends in operations today.
In this episode of On Foodable Weekly, brought to you by the Foodable WebTV Network, show host Paul Barron and QSR Magazine editor, Sam Oches, chime in on the attempts of quick-service chain restaurants to enter the fast casual sphere. What are these big guys doing right and what are they doing wrong? Is it even possible for QSRs to make the jump or will they plummet into profitless pits?
“It’s an interesting move. I think in the last couple of years, a lot of QSR concepts have been exploring that idea of upgrading to fast casual. And you know, it’s worked to some degree for some,” Oches said. “But on the other hand, I think there’s a lot of evidence for why some of these bigger legacy QSR brands should probably just stick with QSR.”
The approaches QSRs have been taking vary. Wendy’s has been steadily adding fast casual components to its menu without full-out embracing the movement, while KFC jumped headfirst into fast-casual with its KFC Eleven concept, yet it ultimately failed. Why are these brands doing what they do?
Barron and Oches first discuss Del Taco and Rubio’s, two brands whose menus are primarily fresh mex. In a decade, Rubio’s has gone from going toe-to-toe with Taco Bell to successfully elevating itself to fast casual, yet Del Taco, which is attempting to do the same thing, may struggle. This could be due in part to the fact Del Taco has already been established for 50 years, whereas Rubio’s has a younger history, Oches said. As a legacy consumer chain with a loyal customer base who has an expectation with their visit, it would be challenging to make that leap and requires a huge investment in the supply chain and equipment of the franchise.
The next two brands Barron and Oches explore are Sonic and McDonald’s. Both brands have been around for nearly as long as the other and have the same brand trademarks, yet, Barron reveals according to the Restaurant Social Media Index, Sonic has increased its score from 73.5 to 88.8 in consumer sentiment, whereas McDonald’s has fallen from an 80.82 to 67 in the last four quarters.
Why?
“Sonic is very much a middle-class brand…that really resonates in the Midwest and in the South, and it’s something that is kind of a down-home brand, and I don’t think they try to pretend they’re much more than that,” Oches said. “Whereas McDonald’s wants to assert itself as the leader in limited-service restaurants. And if that means upgrading the menu, if that means upgrading its restaurants, it’s going to try to do that. I don’t think Sonic is much going to try to play that ballgame.”
Yet, Oches doesn’t count McDonald’s out of the running.
“I would never bet against McDonald’s. When you look back at the last 20 to 30 years, you actually see McDonald’s go through this a couple of times,” he said.
He believes the company should aim for the millennial demographic, which is now at the cusp of starting families, in an authentic way. By winning back this generation and having them bring their children to get Happy Meals, McDonald’s will win the next generation as well. Watch the full episode to get more insight on QSRs making the shift to fast casual.
In this episode of On Foodable Weekly, brought to you by the Foodable WebTV Network, host Paul Barron and top-notch bar operator Stephanie Richardson pour over the highly anticipated 2015 Nightclub & Bar Show. Richardson, who is also an advisory board member for the event, gives some insight on how first-timers should make the most of their visit. From more than 70 conference sessions, 50 panel experts, 700 floor exhibitions and two different back-of-the-house tours at number one resorts who will show guests how they run the bar and kitchen right down to their glassware, show attendees who can take this knowledge back to their businesses will learn that what happens at Vegas doesn't always stay at Vegas.
Watch the full episode to get the inside scoop on what The Nightclub & Bar Show has to offer!
In this episode of On Foodable Weekly, brought to you by the Foodable WebTV Network, host Paul Barron discusses with Rudy Miick, Founder and President of The Miick Companies about one of the recurring challenges in the industry– staffing. Hiring, keeping and training staff are consistently major issues in this industry. The restaurant industry turn over rate is consistently 25 – 30% higher than others.
Watch the full episode to learn why that is and how to hire those employee "rockstars" and how to mold staff into these A players.
In this episode of On Foodable Weekly, brought to you by the Foodable WebTV Network, host Paul Barron discusses the trends and studies evolving around mobile concepts– including food trucks, food carts and pop-ups with AJ Barker, Concept Developer at Think Tank Hospitality Group. Learn why there is still a huge consumer demand for mobile food and how these units are continuing to be used as a launching pad for a brick and mortar, while also being added as a supplement to existing ones.
Watch the video to also see how brands within all industries are using these concepts to market their products.
In this episode of On Foodable Weekly, brought to you by the Foodable WebTV Network, host Paul Barron speaks to Dr. William Davis, Author of Wheat Belly Total Health & Cardiologist, about the recent gluten-free and grain-free lifestyles that consumers are now adopting and how to properly incorporate them onto restaurant menus.
Watch the full episode to some of the health benefits that have been attributed to embracing these dietary habits.
In this episode of On Foodable Weekly, brought to you by the Foodable WebTV Network, host Paul Barron speaks to Jeff Fromm, President of FutureCast and Co-author of Marketing to Millennials, about how to attract the millennial generation to restaurants and the new trends in millennial consumer dining habits.
Watch the full episode to learn more about how to market to this demographic by creating compelling shareable content that will inform, inspire and engage this segment of consumers to create content for you.