Aaron Allen » Insights » Restaurant Operations
Margins are being compressed for restaurants and foodservice operators around the world. Nearly every geography, cuisine, and operating model is being hit with increased costs relative to rent, labor, commodities, demands of modernization, competitive pricing and promotional tactics designed to take share, and a more fickle and demanding consumer with
It’s time to free the guest from the tyranny of too many choices. Humans have a remarkable ability to over-complicate. And this has certainly been true in recent years for restaurant chains that lacked the discipline to prune and manicure their menu strategy.  Much like the sense of surprise
Because food costs consume between 25% and 35% of a restaurant operation’s revenue, management teams make great efforts to avoid waste. In fact, only about 4% of food in American restaurants goes to waste — much better than in household consumption, where an estimated 40% of groceries are thrown away.
Once a fairly humble piece of paper, the menu has evolved to become one of the most complex components of one of the most complex businesses in the world. Restaurant menus are a convergence of nearly every other facet of the business: marketing, supply chain, interaction, design, fulfillment production, copywriting,
As far as natural disasters go, Fall 2017 is off to a rough start. In August, Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas, stranding thousands in their homes, and leading to widespread flooding across densely populated areas like Houston. Just days later, the Category 5 Irma barreled toward Florida, leaving a
Menus are one of the most complex aspects of one of the most complex businesses in the world — yet they’re often relegated to junior teams and mired in committee consensus. Those who’ve made it past a slump have often done so by launching a new menu that revisits their
Once flush with cash, the oil-rich kingdom of Saudi Arabia is now making several moves to diversify its economy — all part of an effort to combat the budget deficit through cuts to spending and energy subsidies as well as sharp increases in fees and taxes. In recent trips to
Hotel F&B is being reshaped by powerful forces. In 2016 alone, 18% of business travelers used Airbnb — a number that’s expected to rise to 23% in 2017. With the sharing economy so dramatically altering the industry, being on the cusp of trends (and offering amenities that a rented house
The would-be U.S. Secretary of Labor can’t wait to see you replaced with a robot. Who could blame him? He has several good points. Robots never call in sick. They never complain. They work 24/7 for pennies on the dollar. They’re as eager to please as any programmer can dream up and
The thriving metropolitan centers cropping up throughout the Middle East serve as a metaphor for the region at large: a marriage of both the ancient and the modern. Here, the world’s tallest tower sits just a stone’s throw from historic ruins and Holy sites, a reminder that the area’s astonishing
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