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While cleanliness shapes a cafe’s reputation from a customer’s perspective, the unseen practices behind the bar have far broader implications for equipment longevity , coffee quality, and customer and staff health. You may also like our article on why equipment longevity needs to be a priority for coffee shops.
Scaling an artisan food business is no easy feat. Many small food businesses reach a critical point where they must decide whether to remain small and exclusive or expand into wholesale, manufacturing, and broader distribution. Increased interest from wholesale buyers or retailers requesting larger orders.
Steady Online Ordering Brings Food Waste, Donations to the Forefront of Priorities Orderingfood online increases restaurant sales, but it also can potentially increase wasted food if proactive measures aren’t taken – for both the business and consumers at home.
By mid-2024, 82 percent of food and beverage operators were still actively recruiting, with chefs and cooks comprising 30 percent of open roles. Economic shifts including inflation-driven cost increases in food, utilities and supplies; regulatory changes and climate-related disruptions will continue to challenge restaurant operators.
After all, it’s not just the quality of your food that can keep customers coming back — 73% of diners base their satisfaction on the quality of service they receive. How do you handle unexpected challenges, such as equipment failure or supply shortages? How do you ensure compliance with foodsafety and hygiene regulations?
Back-of-house (BOH) staff, including chefs and kitchen assistants, will focus more on foodsafety, food handling, and kitchen equipment use. Restaurants with large or intricate menus will need to allocate more time to staff training on the ingredients, preparation methods, and food handling procedures.
"If I had the opportunity, I would encourage them to employ voice analytics, not to automate ordering, but rather to analyze customer/employee conversations for insights into customer experience, operational efficiency, marketing effectiveness, safety compliance, employee engagement, and more, he said. "The
It’s no surprise that the fast food chains, which have over 100,000 outlets between them, see opportunities for AI efficiencies. Vulnerabilities in Voice and Vision With voice-automated ordering, there are known threats such as bad actors targeting systems with sub-human-level sound, which can be heard digitally but not by humans.
With rapid advances happening across various industries, including the food industry, you might be wondering: What does AI have to do with running my restaurant? It allows AI to understand and respond to human language, which is how virtual assistants can answer customer questions or take online orders. The short answer?
Is online ordering inefficient? Do you lose money due to food waste? Experiencing over-ordering or last-minute shortages? With a modern cloud-based POS, restaurants can streamline order taking, reduce human error, and improve the overall speed of service. Are labor costs too high? Too many missed reservations?
Adaptability became non-negotiable as takeout, delivery, and digital ordering shifted from secondary revenue streams to essential lifelines." Self-ordering kiosks, QR codes, mobile apps and loyalty reward cards have created more personalized experiences, which increase the likelihood customers will return.
How do you handle multiple tables and orders at once? What steps would you take if a customer received the wrong order? How do you maintain accuracy when taking orders for large groups? How do you handle special dietary requests or food allergies? How do you handle multiple tables and orders at once?
Managing food allergies in a restaurant isn’t just about good service its a critical safety responsibility. A well-equipped POS system helps reduce human error, improve kitchen workflows, and build guest trust. KDS Integration : Streamline order preparation with allergen-specific alerts.
Restaurants are already experimenting with using AI to handle drive through orders to allow human employees to focus on customer interactions in the restaurant. I think smart, AI-enabled platforms will turn data into intelligence around visit frequency, ordering, traffic patterns and more.
Real-time inventory systems help restaurants cut food waste , save money, and improve operations. Forecast Demand : Use sales data to predict future needs and order the right quantities. Forecast Demand : Use sales data to predict future needs and order the right quantities.
From AI-driven ordering systems to smart inventory tools and contactless dining experiences, today’s innovations are reshaping how restaurants operate, serve customers, and stay competitive. In 2025, staying ahead means more than great food—it means leveraging the right tech to boost efficiency, reduce costs, and elevate the guest experience.
With the growing demand for fresh, made-to-order meals and local favorites, starting a deli can be a smart and rewarding business move. If you want to learn how to open a deli, follow these key steps to establish your brand and get the tools you need to serve customers great food and experiences. Youre not alone.
Then costs go in order from most controllable to least controllable. That could simply be food sales , alcohol , and non-alcoholic beverages. Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) Your Cost of Goods Sold is the cost of your food and beverages. That way you'll have accurate food and beverage cost percentages for each COGS line item.
From the front-of-house ensuring a pleasant dining experience to the kitchen crew keeping up with orders and maintaining sanitized facilities, every process needs to run smoothly. Kitchen staff rely on hot water for sanitizing silverware, wiping down food prep areas, and quickly cleaning spills.
From planning the layout to managing food services and ensuring compliance, we’ll cover what it takes to launch a profitable, well-run cafeteria in 2025. By offering a range of healthy and diverse food options, employers can create a positive work environment that fosters employee well-being and satisfaction.
A well-structured management training program equips new leaders with essential skills while promoting ongoing development. Inventory control Understand how to keep track of your inventory, place orders efficiently, and minimize waste. Health and safety Go over foodsafety regulations and proper handling procedures.
Equipment downtime alone is costing the industry an estimated $46 billion annually. The system brings together real-time equipment monitoring, energy optimization, and predictive maintenancefeatures that have traditionally existed in silosinto a single, seamless solution.
Managing food allergens isnt just a best practiceits a legal and safety necessity for todays restaurants. With increasing awareness of food allergies, allergen management in POS systems has become essential to ensure customer safety and streamline kitchen operations.
Other bars and restaurants tout the benefits of increased safety and cleanliness (more on that below). By eliminating the need to count, store, and deposit cash, restaurants can free up staff time to focus on serving customers and preparing food. The Melt even went a step further, debuting with online, mobile, and QR-code ordering.
From knowing where an order is in the kitchen to having instant insight into which upsell recommendations are driving the greatest gains in average order value. At Qu, we’re focused on giving you data-driven tools to optimize every part of the order journey so you can run a more efficient, profitable business.
The Chinese chain opened two stores in Greenwich Village and Chelsea, offering mobile app ordering and competitive pricing. With the new equipment, MTPak Coffee now offers a minimum order quantity of 200 pieces and a one-week turnaround time after design approval. Changes aim to simplify orders and boost barista efficiency.
Bringing together state-of-the-art foodsafety innovation with highly specialized insurance solutions tailored for restaurants, cafes, and hospitality businesses. We are delighted to announce our new collaboration between Rainbow Insurance and PathSpot Technologies.
As 60 percent of American consumers order takeout or delivery at least once a week, and online ordering is growing 300 percent faster than in-house dining, many smart operators have pivoted, using ghost kitchens to adapt to these new trends. All workers must be trained in foodsafety, not just upon hiring, but throughout their tenure.
Integrating IoT devices and connectivity drives efficiency, enhances foodsafety, mitigates risks, increases transparency, reduces waste, and provides many other benefits for restaurants. The numerous, significant benefits of using IoT in the restaurant industry include: Enhancing foodsafety. Did you know that U.S.
The combination of stay-at-home orders, ongoing COVID restrictions, spikes in COVID numbers, and consumer fear about the risks of dining out are significantly impacting the restaurant industry. A good first step is to elevate your foodsafety culture. How FoodSafety Culture Has Changed.
As we close out 2022, food production is at risk. We’re still facing product shortages, exacerbated by ongoing supply chain interruptions and the Russian-Ukrainian war stalling food shipments – including 9.5 Inflation is causing food prices – and food insecurity – to soar. . Focus on Sustainable Food Production.
Foodsafety has never been more prevalent. When dining out, they rightfully expect that the food they order is cooked properly to a safe temperature and that the kitchen foods are prepared in is clean. For operators interested in ramping up their efforts, updating equipment can be a big help in fostering safety.
Quarantines and stay-at-home orders meant that restaurants were unable to serve guests onsite for months. Most restaurants and food businesses have done a great job adjusting to the new COVID-19 protocols. And they’ve implemented these new COVID-19 protocols in addition to the foodsafety procedures that were already in place.
Hospitality operators are rapidly turning to contactless ordering and payment solutions to help navigate the long road back to normal from COVID-19’s impacts. According to a recent study by Mastercard , “79 percent of respondents worldwide say they are now using contactless payments, citing safety and cleanliness as key drivers.”
However, for restaurants looking to provide the safest environment possible, the CDC’s guidance forced some to become “vaccination police,” as noted by United Food and Commercial Workers. Restaurants mainly use QR code technology as a substitute for physical menus and as a customer ordering platform.
Mobile orders were expected to drive $38 billion in restaurant revenue in 2020. Although mobile ordering isn’t the new kid on the block, it has certainly become the most popular because it’s one of the safest – and easiest – ways to order and pay for food. Dining/fast food/take out.
Restaurant managers will need to identify and implement training solutions that accelerate onboarding and equip new employees to positively impact the bottom line as quickly as possible. Optimize FoodSafety Protocols. Food waste is endemic at many restaurants and across the food supply chain, collectively totaling more than 1.6
Expert food preparation results in appealing and delicious dishes, employee training reduces errors that can increase wait times and proper warewashing keeps plates, glasses and utensils spotless. Thankfully, technology is pushing the industry forward, and improving everything from reservations to ordering to dishwashing.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, a new trend in the food service industry has risen in popularity—ghost kitchens. These restaurants, which exclusively deliver food, typically use online ordering and a cashless transaction system that allows for little physical interaction between the customer and facilitator.
Adopting in-house technologies became necessary for restaurants to stay open throughout the pandemic, restart operations after temporary closures, and pivot services to maintain revenue while still following enhanced health and safety protocols. Too Much Tech Is Not a Solution. As such, an industry migration is underway.
These heightened foodsafety standards and consumer expectations are sure to continue after reopening and could possibly lead to more permanent requirements. The national narrative has shifted in recent weeks to talks of reopening and public safety concerns with implementation of effective social distancing protocols.
With many restaurants closed for in-person dining on and off throughout the pandemic, the food service industry shifted to delivery and takeout as a business imperative. According to SEC filings, food delivery apps experienced tremendous growth in 2020 earning a combined $5.5 billion from the same period in 2019.
As these restaurants (and others) have discovered, technology has become instrumental in improving their safety and quality programs, increasing compliance, keeping up with ever-changing regulations, improving the customer experience, and differentiating themselves from the competition. Increase quality and safety across the supply chain.
Food costs are one of the highest costs for restaurants, ranging anywhere from 20 percent to 40 percent , according to point of sale system provider TouchBistro. Restaurant operators should take time to analyze their menu and determine where ingredients can be used across multiple dishes to better manage food costs. Revamping the Menu.
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