Feeling a little worn and tattered, bunky? Who wouldn’t in a business that keeps getting tougher by quantum bounds? It wasn’t exactly a cinch to start, but veterans say they’ve never been tested the way restaurant operators are today. How’re they going to find enough employees just to stay open, never mind wow guests? That’s assuming they can pull those consumers off the couch, even if it’s just to order delivery. And that small victory poses its own challenges to generating a profit.
You know the problems. Here are some solutions that might be new to you. For this special edition, we’ve pulled together some head-turning potential remedies to the problems plaguing most operators.
Unfortunately, they may be a teensy bit extreme for some. But see for yourself by reading on.
1. How Disney is landing summertime talent
A summertime gig at one of the entertainment giant’s theme parks was once a dream job for young people. Now “summertime job” is an oxymoron for high school or college students. Last summer, only about 30% of youngsters aged 16 to 19 looked for work, compared with the 45% who were on the hunt in 1986, according to a study by Drexel University.
Disney just completed a series of job fairs to meet its heightened labor needs for the summer, generating considerable buzz in the process. The reason: It’s offering bonuses this year of up to $3,000 for seasonal hires. That was the rate for chefs. A housekeeper at one of Disney World’s hotels would collect $1,250 for staying 30 days. A part-time lifeguard would pocket $1,000.
Those sweeteners are offered atop some of the highest wages in the market. All told, Disney intends to use those lures to fill 3,500 positions just at its Florida holdings.
2. How KFC intends to go plant-forward
A restaurant trend of the moment is replacing animal proteins with vegetable preps that taste, look and feel exactly like the real thing. The new generation of meat analogs has made that changeover a relative breeze for burger slingers such as White Castle and Houlihan’s. But what kind of replacement could possibly work for something like fried chicken?
Word leaked this week that KFC intends to have a veggie analog ready by next year. According to the story broken by Foodbeast, the recipe hasn’t been finalized, and will get its debut in the United Kingdom, where a number of smaller competitors are already trying faux fried chicken.
3. Take that, Uber
Almost every restaurant chain that works with a third-party delivery service would love to wean customers off those aggregators’ apps and have them use the brand’s own ordering system instead. Otherwise, they’re paying sales commissions of as much as 30% to the Ubers and Postmates of the world.
New data from Technomic, the research sister of Restaurant Business, suggests that limited-service chains are having considerable success in that quest. Nearly half the customers who order delivery from a quick-service or fast-casual restaurant are placing it via the brand’s own app or website, according to Technomic's 2018Future of LSR Consumer Trend Report.
4. NLRB promises relief on joint employer confusion
Restaurant franchisees and franchisors can expect some much-desired guidance by the end of the summer on what constitutes a joint employer relationship, according to the National Labor Relations Board.
NLRB Chairman John Ring issued that assurance in a letter to Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Kirsten Gillibrand, who had aired concerns in an early communication that the Board might be looking to issue a set definition of joint employer. The trio had expressed concerns that any new standard might be unfair to unions, and asked for a clarification of the NLRB’s plan.
“Candor requires me to inform you that the NLRB is no longer merely considering joint employer rulemaking. A majority of the Board is committed to engage in rulemaking, and the NLRB will do so,” Ring wrote in his letter, which was released to the media.
Having a definition would be preferable for many chain restaurant operators to the current state of affairs, where the concept of joint employer is being refined and set by court decisions rather than rule-making or legislation. Industry advocates want Congress to set the definition in law, a solution that would prevent the standard from being reinterpreted every time the composition of the NLRB changes.
5. Getting heard in the social media din
North Korea's Kim Jong Un is universally recognized for setting the fashions in hairstyle and dress, but restaurants are finding him to be an inspiration in marketing as well. Small operations jumped on last week’s head spinner of a news leak that the dictator intends to open a Western-style burger joint in Pyongyang as a conciliatory gesture to President Trump.
Five-unit Burger Monger offered to waive the usual franchise fee if Kim wanted to develop the brand in Pyongyang—provided he also agreed to scrap his nuclear weapons.
Stew Leonard’s, a regional food market that abounds in ready-to-eat selections, pledged to send the North Korean 10,000 of its new mixed-cuts burger, no strings attached.
Kim has not publicly responded to the social media banter sparked by Burger Monger and Leonard’s offers.
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