2023

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Beyond the Plate: The Future of Restaurants in a Tech-Driven 2024

Modern Restaurant Management

As the calendar turns towards 2024, the restaurant industry stands at a crossroads, with innovation and adaptation at the heart of its ongoing evolution. This vibrant sector, a cornerstone of the global economy that tantalizes taste buds and fuels job markets, is bracing for transformation that will redefine its future. However, persistent labor shortages are pushing restaurants to explore automation and artificial intelligence to streamline operations – from kitchen management to customer

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Tech Update: Metz deploys AI-powered self-checkout at multiple sites

Food Management

Touches checkout means shorter lines and faster transactions in airports, healthcare facilities and other high-volume locations.

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Ground beef recalled for E. coli O157:H7

Food Safety News

Valley Meats, LLC, in Coal Valley, Ill., has recalled approximately 6,768 pounds of raw ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, according to USDA’S Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). About E. coli infections Anyone who has eaten any of the implicated products and developed symptoms of E. coli infection should seek medical attention and tell their doctor about their possible food poisoning.

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Top Food Safety Innovations of 2023

Food Safety Magazine

With each passing year, new and emerging technologies and techniques that have promise for advancing food safety are developed and validated. This article summarizes the top food safety innovations of 2023, based on audience interest.

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Food & Beverage Industry Report 2024

Driven by a diverse and exciting ecosystem of passionate, ambitious, and often young entrepreneurs, the Food & Beverage (F&B) sector is a highly competitive environment full of immense challenges and exciting opportunities. Expert Market’s 2024 industry report, sponsored by Toast, is informed by a survey of 522 U.S. food and beverage professionals, from restaurant owners to food service managers, providing insights into the real-time challenges and opportunities within the industry.

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Exploring the Factors Behind the Surge in Restaurant Automation

Modern Restaurant Management

If you've been paying attention to the tech scene, you have surely noticed a significant upswing in interest in artificial intelligence (AI) and automation. It seems almost everyone, from social media influencers to evening news anchors, is extolling the capabilities of this emerging tech. From softwares like ChatGPT to self-driving cars like the Tesla Model 3, AI and automation are making remarkable strides In the restaurant industry, these solutions are streamlining various aspects, includ

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What Does 2024 Look Like for the Restaurant Industry?

Modern Restaurant Management

A new year brings new beginnings and opportunities for transformation in the restaurant industry. It’s the perfect time to look back on a few things we learned in 2023 – based on recent survey data from our restaurant partners – as well as what we predict for the industry in 2024. A Look Back at 2023 To gauge the state of the restaurant industry, including the industry’s most pertinent worries around food and labor costs, Restaurant365 conducted a survey of over 730 custo

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A picture is worth far more than a 1,000 words

Bill Marler

Perhaps millions in punitive damages and criminal fines for “conscious disregard to a know risk?” People always ask my why do leafy green E. coli outbreaks keep happening. I think the bottom line is that retailers, restaurants, growers, processors and the government simply do not give a cow’s pie about the sickened and/or dead consumers – they are simply the cost of doing business or staying in office.

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Building a Healthier Future for Virginia's Kids

Chef Ann Foundation

The Chef Ann Foundation has partnered with the Virginia Department of Education to identify barriers and capacity to procure, process, and serve more fresh, locally sourced food in the school meal programs of divisions across Virginia. The project focuses on bringing more scratch cooking, culturally inclusive meals and local procurement to these divisions.

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French Gov Proposes Labelling Ban for Plant-Based Meat, Freight Farms to Go Public + More

Food + Tech Connect

Image Credit: IntraFish Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines. In recent news, France’s Agriculture Ministry is making headlines with a bold proposal to ban the use of meat-related terms such as ‘Steak,’ ‘Ham,’ and ‘Grilled’ on plant-based products, alongside a stringent condition of vegan protein content.

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The evolution of QSR loyalty programs

Restobiz

Today’s crowded marketplace means there’s fierce competition for restaurants to stand out and cultivate customer loyalty. With the average consumer belonging to 16.7 loyalty programs, how can you make yours special, add value, and have it work for your business? Loyalty programs are not a new invention, but these days, we are seeing them evolve, […] The post The evolution of QSR loyalty programs appeared first on Restobiz.

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How AI Technology Can Help Restaurants Stay Open

Modern Restaurant Management

In recent years, the restaurant industry has incurred staffing issues that have closed independent establishments and franchises nationwide. With two jobs open for every jobseeker , chances are slim that human workers will fill the demand. Fortunately, the latest advances in AI technology may keep the lights on for restaurants facing staffing shortages, while also helping these businesses run more efficiently and obtain more customers.

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Is Your Restaurant AI the Real Deal? Here Are Five Questions to Ask Vendors

Modern Restaurant Management

The restaurant industry is undergoing a technology renaissance. Everywhere you care to look, AI and automation can be found taking on critical roles and supporting restaurants, bars, cafes, and coffee shops still battling against labor shortages and rising inflation. Robots are helping with food prep and even serving dine-in customers. Data-driven analytics tools are allowing restaurants to optimize pricing and personalize menu options.

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MRM EXCLUSIVE: Consumer Data Analytics Reveal Dining Patterns to Attract Customers 

Modern Restaurant Management

The last few years have not been easy for several key industries in the U.S., including restaurants. According to CNN, there are fewer U.S. restaurants today than in 2019 and it is not clear when —if ever — they’re coming back. In 2022, there were about 631,000 restaurants in the United States. That’s roughly 72,000 fewer than in 2019.

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The Best Pre-Launch Marketing Strategy for Your Fine Dining Restaurant

Modern Restaurant Management

Launching a fine dining restaurant is an undoubtedly exciting venture, but it's not without its challenges. With the fierce competition in the food industry, a well-thought-out pre-launch marketing strategy is crucial to ensure your restaurant gets the attention it deserves. With 60 percent of new high-end restaurants failing within the first year, it’s clear that far too many budding restauranteurs are not pursuing the optimum marketing strategies.

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Tik Tok Marketing Proves Profitable

Modern Restaurant Management

Seventy-eight percent of small businesses that run ads on TikTok have already realized a positive ROI–the majority within just six months. according to Capterra’s TikTok Marketing Survey. TikTok marketing yields undeniable power, especially with Gen Z as it helps mitigate choice paralysis by giving users immersive, vertical videos that take them inside a business instantly, rather than sifting through text-heavy sites.

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Why Manual Workforce Management Processes Should be a Thing of the Past for Restaurant Owners

Modern Restaurant Management

Scheduling employees is one of the most time-intensive tasks for restaurant managers. They often have to rely on historical data to forecast customer demand, and typically can’t take into account the impact of weather and other local events on demand. Additionally, they have to remember how this demand aligns with employee skills and availability, before they begin creating shift schedules – often using pen and paper or an Excel spreadsheet.

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Six Important Steps Restaurants Should Take to Build a Strong Food Safety Culture

Modern Restaurant Management

Ensuring food safety is essential for restaurant brands and others within the food industry. A weak food safety culture can have severe consequences, including product recalls, foodborne illnesses, reputational damage, diminished customer loyalty, and financial losses. Restaurants and other food businesses must prioritize building and maintaining a strong food safety culture to mitigate these risks.

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Three Things Your POS Can’t Do if You Lose Internet

Modern Restaurant Management

Nearly every restaurant in the United States relies on a Point of Sale (POS) system for the majority of its front-of-house operations. That system needs access to the internet in order to keep functioning. But what happens when your restaurant suffers an internet outage, taking your POS system with it? Not only can that become frustrating for your guests, but it can also make in-house operations much more difficult.

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A CPA’s Insight on Top Issues Restaurant Owners Face

Modern Restaurant Management

For restaurant owners, there are a number of issues in their workplace keeping them up at night and hindering them from successfully managing and operating their restaurant efficiently. As a firm that specializes in working with clients in the restaurant industry, we regularly assist restaurant owners with many of these issues, particularly in areas like tax compliance, payroll, bookkeeping, and providing sound financial advice to help manage cash flow and business growth strategies.

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How AI Alleviates Restaurant Pain Points

Modern Restaurant Management

Since the pandemic, restaurants have endured a plethora of issues ranging from fluctuating dining restrictions to supply chain issues to rising food prices. But arguably no issue has proven to be as constant and bedeviling as the labor shortage. Recent research has proven the industry is still struggling to rebound on staffing, reporting a woeful 500K fewer employees than before the pandemic.

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Top Restaurant Hiring Tips

Modern Restaurant Management

Ask any restaurant owner for their main pain point and the likely response will be: staffing. Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine asked hiring expert Sid Upadhyay, co-founder and CEO of Wizehire for his advice on best practices for hiring and retention. What do you see as key challenges of restaurant hiring right now? What are the biggest pain points and have they changed due to the pandemic?

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Top-Effective Tech Solutions to Improve Profits

Modern Restaurant Management

Most restaurants (76 percent) are currently using automation in three or more areas of operation and agree that certain roles are more automatable than others, according to Capterra research The survey also found that more than half of restaurant leaders say front-of-house restaurant workers can easily be automated with today’s technology, and nearly all restaurants today (96 percent) use automation tools in their back-of-house operations.

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Strategy A La Carte: The Dish on Digital Marketing Trends for Restaurant Brands 

Modern Restaurant Management

The future is digital. Restaurant brands around the world are finding that their audience is craving something more than pretty pictures of delectable dishes, but rather a need for community and discussion. They want engaging content that keeps them entertained. Effective full-funnel marketing strategies are vital for the success of any business, but are definitely the garnish on top for those in the food and beverage industry.

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How to Prepare and Protect Restaurants for Drinksgiving

Modern Restaurant Management

The cultural phenomenon of Drinksgiving (or Blackout Wednesday) continues to grow in popularity for the restaurant industry, especially as sales continue to rebound from the pandemic. Data shows that alcohol sales typically increase between 270-658 percent on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, compared to weekdays prior. Higher alcohol sales typically connect to higher volume of alcohol consumption, which unfortunately leads to higher risk of harmful consumer behavior after leaving the restauran

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Strategic Ways for Restaurateurs to Grow Their Brands

Modern Restaurant Management

Independent restaurants with fewer than three locations make up more than half of the restaurants in the U.S. Many restaurateurs dream of growing into multiple locations, but it takes a lot of capital investment to get there. At my restaurant development and investment firm Full Course, we work with emerging brands to develop leadership, optimize business practices and ultimately provide financial investment for expansion.

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Why Setting Wait Time Expectations Is Key to a Good Customer Experience

Modern Restaurant Management

Not much sours a customer’s perception of a restaurant as fast as unwieldy lines and long waits. Especially for fast-paced establishments, managing wait time expectations is a significant challenge and can cause patrons to leave — or, worse, never return. Although management can’t always eliminate the wait for service entirely, they can use modern technology to set reliable wait time expectations from the start.

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How Technology Is Transforming Restaurant Checkouts

Modern Restaurant Management

When you ask your diners how they would like to pay, when was the last time they handed over physical cash? Perhaps you don’t even accept cash anymore? You wouldn’t be alone; well-known brands including Prezzo, Itsu and Côte Brasserie have all made the decision to go card-only for good as a means to reduce costs and speed up customer service.

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Optimize Local SEO for Your Restaurant

Modern Restaurant Management

When it comes to attracting customers to restaurants, local SEO is crucial and can optimize their online presence to attract more local customers. What Is Local SEO? Local Search is a search format where Google's algorithms rely on location data to display specific results according to the geographic location of the user or other locations suggested by them.

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Connecting with the Millennial Generation of Diners: Embracing New Mover Marketing Strategies

Modern Restaurant Management

The Millennial generation is a force to be reckoned with, not only in the housing market but also in the dining industry. As Millennial homeownership surpasses Millennial renters for the first time, restaurants have a golden opportunity to engage this valuable demographic through targeted new mover marketing strategies. Millennials have been charting a new course for home ownership, with the number of Millennial homeowners reaching a staggering 18.2 million in 2022.

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Three Holiday Workforce Trends Restaurant Managers Need to Know 

Modern Restaurant Management

The restaurant workforce is largely back to pre-pandemic levels, signaling a much-needed reprieve amidst the larger, ongoing hospitality labor crisis. However, the typical increase in consumers wanting to dine out during the holiday season – not to mention the continued demand for take-away and delivery services – could disrupt this balance, even as businesses attempt to bolster their staff with seasonal hires.