It seems inflation continues to be at the top of mind for all restaurant operators, and the effect on food, beverage and packaging costs is astronomical. Restauranteurs are affected from all angles: from the rising expense of operations and related menu adjustments to a downward trend across the country in customers trading down and even looking to pinch pennies where they can. A cycle ensues.
When it comes to the restaurant and hospitality industry, there is no avoiding the hit. Savory managing director Andrew Smith “said this past summer’s inflation was a ‘cataclysmic shift’ in the cost of doing business, with prices of some goods tripling. ‘Nobody is immune to it,’ he said, adding that restaurants making 20% or more in profits were an extreme rarity now, with profits in the low teens to single digits being more common now,” according to this Nation’s Restaurant News article.
Businesses can’t really be inflation-proof, but with an expert eye, restaurants can make small shifts—reorganizing menus, tightening up operations, and following a cost-analysis report. These little maneuvers can make a big difference in the bottom line, helping restaurants not only survive but thrive, even in a financial downturn.
At National Restaurant Consultants, these business practices are our specialty, and our restaurant consultants have decades’ worth of experience making these tactics successful. We’re so confident in our ability to navigate any economic market, that we guarantee results for those clients who are willing to adjust according to our analyses.
Richard Weil, principal and owner of National Restaurant Consultants, states, “The time-honored menu engineering is as important today as ever. Owner-operators need an increased awareness of your menu layout, need to train staff to suggest higher-margin items, need to manage wast by implementing waste logs, and should inspect portion sizes.”
Restaurant owners can’t wait for this tumultuous season to simply pass. They must be proactive about business. NRN continues, “Maryam Chaney, vice president of food & beverage of Savory Management, said operators need to stay on top of events that are likely to affect their cost of goods. ‘Don’t keep your head in the sand,’ she said. ‘Don’t keep it even in the four walls [of your restaurant]. Look at what’s going on in the world, and you’ve got to become a proactive business operator and connect the dots so you know if there’s something that’s going to be affected in terms of an ingredient [or] a trend that you can plan accordingly.’”
To begin working with one of our expert restaurant consultants, reach out for a free consultation today.