Restaurant Leadership Conference News

Ever feel that running a restaurant is like climbing Mount Everest? Alison Levine says it is, and she would know. She’s an accomplished businesswoman as well as one of the few people who’s climbed the highest peaks on all seven continents. Then there are her treks across the North and South Poles.

Restaurant leaders’ growing reliance on interactive technology catapulted the topic onto the main stage of the RLC for the first time this year.

Kids’ menus are proliferating, and many chains have started programs expressly to address childhood obesity. But it’s not clear how much of an impact they might have on the one-third of American children who are overweight, according to speakers who shared new insights during the RLC on promoting childhood health.

The CEO of 7-Eleven could have boasted about the inroads his chain has made into a market that was once owned by attendees of the Restaurant Leadership Conference. Joe DePinto certainly had the sales numbers to support a little braggadocio: $2.7 billion from fresh food, $5 billion from beverages, 1 million cups of coffee, 100 million fountain drinks.

Celiacs may have spurred demand for gluten-free menu options, but experts say that only 1 percent of the 44 million people estimated to be in the gluten-free audience have celiac disease. While some of these consumers may be gluten intolerant, research shows that about 29 percent simply perceive gluten-free as a healthier way to eat.

As the executives of Burger King and Five Guys revealed during a session at the Restaurant Leadership Conference, their brands share a conscious commitment to style over substance in their marketing approaches.

Here are the definitions to the terms in our pop quiz .For more information, or fuller definitions of the terms, visit the NRA’s microsite.