Welcome!
Welcome to NCCO’s new blog. I’m glad you decided to stop by and see what’s happening in the industry. Twice each month, on the 15th and 30th, I’ll be posting a new entry discussing key events and activities in the restaurant and hospitality industry that affect you personally and professionally.
You may be asking, “Why am I starting a blog?” And the answer is simple. There is a lot of information out there in a variety of places but to find it you have to go to a lot of different websites. My goal is to find that information for you, summarize and analyze it and report back to you the important parts so you only need to visit one site instead of many.
In addition to consolidating this information, I also want to begin a conversation. I see this as an opportunity to create some dialogue between NCCO as a manufacturer and all the varied stakeholders with whom we interact. This includes our employees, brokers, buyers, distributor sales reps, operators, servers and chefs. I’d like this discussion to encourage, provoke, support and inspire. Hopefully, this interaction will help bring success to those engaged in the hospitality industry.
Let’s talk about the state of the industry. The 2011 restaurant industry--with numerous successes and setbacks—has been a microcosm of the overall 2011 economy. Numerous industry benchmarks from the National Restaurant Association to the US Census Bureau show that 2011 continues to offer success for opportunistic restaurant operators even while the industry remains clouded with uncertain customer behavior.
The second half of 2011 should be looked at with reasonable optimism. For one, third and fourth quarter sales typically outperform first half sales by an average of 2.3%, according to the US Census Bureau. While that is not the kind of robust growth that most of us would like to see, it is a positive indicator upon which resourceful operators will build.
2011 is proving to be not as much about industry and economic recovery, but rather navigating an entirely new industry climate. Consumers are patronizing restaurants more, but they proceed with caution and the result will continue to be slow growth with the potential for minor setbacks based on macro industry and economic news. That means providing great food, even better service and an enjoyable experience is key to keeping customers coming back. I’m curious. How have you focused on customer loyalty this year and what results have you seen?
Ben