Replay | Restaurant Speaker Call

SPEAKER CALL WITH JONATHON MAZE

We hosted a call with Jonathan Maze, Editor-in-Chief of Restaurant Business, to get his thoughts on many of the hot topics in the restaurant industry currently.  Mr. Maze sits on the front line of everything restaurant and has some of the best contacts across the industry.  We discussed some of the many challenges the industry faces right now and the opportunity from technology to make the business more profitable. We also discussed recent management changes at Starbucks, Jonathan's favorite new concept, which concept he believes is under-appreciated, which concept he does not believe in, and much more. 

• Consumers have a “recessionary mindset” how will that impact sales?
• Menu price inflation rose 6.9% in March to a 40-year high. How will this play out for the balance of 2022?
• Sales look to be hitting a wall in 2H22; how will operators respond?
• The supply chain is a problem. More than a third of restaurants dropped at least one supplier due to performance issues over the past two years, according to Technomic. How else can operators respond without hurting sales?
• The labor problem isn’t going away.  But the increased pay is what keeps employees around.  Non-management turnover at quick-service restaurants is 170%, according to Aon. The cost of replacing a worker is about $5,900. Pay remains the top priority for employees, as there is a strong correlation between the two.”
• Takeout sales require focus how will that look 1-year from now? 
• Will food delivery's higher costs remain viable post-pandemic?
• Ghost kitchens are here to stay, but is it good news?
• Recent years have brought more technology into this business than ever before.  Technology can be an answer to many of the challenges operators face and maybe the most significant opportunity of the post-pandemic era—the opportunity to bring restaurants to the same technological level as other industries such as hotels or retail.
• Companies discussed include SBUX, EAT, CMG, SG, BROS, FWRG, DASH, and more.