Restaurant Leadership Conference News
Product recalls can be devastating to the restaurant industry, yet traceability along the foodservice supply chain is complicated and outdated. “Foodservice is where retail was 40 years ago,” said Syndee Stiles, vice president of operations support for McLane Foodservice, at Restaurant Leadership Conference session on traceability.
Energy saving may not be “an overly sexy conversation to have at eight in the morning,” acknowledged OSI Restaurant Partners’ vice president of procurement, Kristin Brooks. But a standing-room-only audience showed up at that hour during the Restaurant Leadership Conference to hear the Outback Steakhouse parent’s experiences in cutting utility costs.
A restaurateur-turned-media-consultant advised Restaurant Leadership Conference attendees to avoid some of the common pratfalls of mobile and social media.
Value-oriented consumers, increased protein prices and the social media revolution were a few of the trends laid out during presentations by Technomic and GE Capital at the Restaurant Leadership Conference.
Growth in the restaurant industry will come near-term from grabbing market share from other concepts, said Warren Solochek, vice president of foodservice for The NPD Group.
It’s not like restaurants haven’t wanted to grow over the last year. It’s just nobody wants to lend the money for it.
The state of the industry, through Technomic and GE Capital’s eyes, is improving. Sloooowly.