BofA Report: New Appreciation for Restaurants

There is a widespread new appreciation for restaurants, an encouraging sign for the future, according to The Bank of America 2022 State of the Restaurant Industry report. In other encouraging news, franchise operators believe that, although most restaurants are not fully staffed, the labor situation has stabilized.

Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine asked Cristin O’Hara, Managing Director and Head of Restaurant Group at Bank of America, to elaborate on some of findings. 

How would you characterize 2022 for restaurants? What were major challenges for them? In 2021, restaurants saw a rebound, leading many to approach 2022 with rose colored glasses. Unfortunately, last year took a turn for the worse; the momentum from 2021 was stunted as we embarked on 2022. Restaurant profit and loss statements were hit hard due to major labor and commodities challenges. Other supply chain related events, which spanned from restaurant equipment (creating issues for restaurant development…