NRA Show Blog

Restaurant sales, job growth advance in 2011

The National Restaurant Association's Senior Vice President of Research & Knowledge Hudson Riehle summarizes the newly released 2011 Restaurant Industry Forecast.

By Derrek J. Hull, Blogger-in-Chief

Restaurant industry sales are expected to reach a record $604 billion and post positive growth in 2011 after a three-year period of negative real sales growth, according to the National Restaurant Association 2011 Restaurant Industry Forecast. Sales are projected to advance 3.6 percent over 2010 sales.

"As the national economy is slowly improving, the restaurant industry is climbing out of its most challenging period in decades to post positive real sales growth in 2011. As in 2010, restaurant industry job growth is expected to outpace the national economy this year, emphasizing the importance of industry to the nation's economy,” said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the Research and Knowledge Group for the National Restaurant Association.

Sales at the nation's 960,000 restaurants represent 4 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product, and restaurant employees comprise nearly 10 percent of the U.S. workforce. Restaurants are the nation's second-largest private sector employer with 12.8 million employees.

Quickservice restaurants are projected to post sales of $167.7 billion this year, a gain of 3.3 percent over 2010. Sales at fullservice restaurants are projected to reach $194.6 billion in 2011, an increase of 3.1 percent in current dollars over 2010.

Employment Outlook
The industry will add jobs at a rate of 2.4 percent, compared with the 1.8 percent expected for the national economy. In the next decade, the industry will add 1.3 million positions.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

By Derrek J. Hull, Blogger-in-Chief

Original post ran February 15, 2010 in SmartBlog on Social Media by Jesse Stanchak, associate editor, SmartBrief on Social Media

Today’s post comes from Derrek J. Hull, voice of the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show and International Wine Spirits & Beer Event (IWSB) blog Floored!, as well as its Twitter and Facebook profiles.

Restaurants need a response plan that includes social media elements to cope with the fact that customers can leave negative comments almost instantaneously.  Having a plan in place before a situation occurs lets everyone on your team know who the point person is for the response, along with the chain of command and the plan for monitoring the conversation.

Everyone gets a good or bad review at some point. Embrace it — and in the case of a bad review, don’t sweat it. Look at every comment as an opportunity to have a conversation.

“If people are taking the time to give you feedback — even if it’s negative — that’s an opportunity for you to re-frame the conversation with them and hopefully turn the situation into a positive,” said Spike Jones, of word of mouth and identity firm Brains on Fire.

Nobody is perfect. A couple of bad reviews alongside highly positive reviews actually makes potential customers more likely to take you seriously, because they realize your page isn’t full of shills posting fake positive reviews. In the case of Yelp, business owners have an option to respond privately and publicly to reviews — this free feature can be unlocked by visiting biz.yelp.com.

2010 Shaping Up to Be Best of Three

By Derrek J. Hull, Blogger-in-Chief

Coupled with the National Restaurant Association's 2010 Restaurant Industry Forecast projections that restaurant industry sales will reach $580 billion (a 2.5 percent increase over 2009 sales), the Association’s Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) – a monthly composite index that tracks the health of and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry – edged up 0.9 percent from November and its strongest level in nearly two years.

“Along with a solid improvement among the current situation indicators, restaurant operators are increasingly optimistic about industry growth in the months ahead,” said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of Research and Knowledge Group, National Restaurant Association. “More than a third of restaurant operators expect their sales to improve in six months, the highest level in more than two years.”

Goose Island Serves Food and Beer Pairing Tips

By Derrek J. Hull, Blogger-in-Chief

What's "hot" on restaurant menus in 2010 you ask? The National Restaurant Association's annual survey of American Culinary Federation member chefs sheds the light. For example, in addition to local wine and beer, the top alcohol trends are culinary cocktails; artisan liquor; organic beer, wine and spirits; food and beer pairing; craft beer; bar chefs/mixologists; gluten-free beer; specialty beer, and organic cocktails.

With Super Bowl XLIV just around the corner, brewmaster Greg Hall of Goose Island Beer Co. shares tips on pairing food with beer in this exclusive Floored! video. Foods highlighted include several cheeses, mussels, and roast chicken paired with Goose Island’s IPA, 312, and Belgian Style Ale Matilda.

Be sure to check out Greg and the Goose Island Beer Co. team at International Wine, Spirits & Beer Event (IWSB), held May 23-24 at Chicago's McCormick Place in conjunction with the National Restaurant Association's NRA Show 2010. Cheers!

Restaurant Industry Outlook Brightens in 2010, Sales to Reach $580 Billion

By Derrek J. Hull, Blogger-in-Chief

With the economy improving, the restaurant industry is projected to show improvement in 2010, according to the National Restaurant Association’s 2010 Restaurant Industry Forecast.

Restaurant industry sales are forecasted to top $580 this year, a 2.5 percent increase over 2009. Job growth is also expected to pick up in 2010, and the restaurant industry is slated to add 1.3 million career and employment opportunities by 2020.

Consumers continue to seek value, convenience and expanded menu options in 2010 – and restaurants are stepping up to the plate to deliver. Pent-up consumer demand for dining out more often will pick up as the economy continues this upward movement.

Going Gluten-Free Easy As ABC

By Derrek J. Hull, Blogger-in-Chief

The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA) through the NFCA Great Association and Great Food Service will produce the first-ever Gluten-Free Showcase Pavilion at the National Restaurant Association's NRA Show 2010, held May 22-25 at Chicago's McCormick Place.

It's no surprise to us gluten-free/food-allergy conscious meals made the top 10 of the National Restaurant Association's "What's Hot in 2010" survey of more than 1,800 American Culinary Federation chef members.

All things gluten-free (and we mean everything!), including products and activities, testing and menu investigation, flour options and final products, and distribution and packaging will be available to help restaurant industry professionals implement a proven 4-part process to serving guests gluten-free options. 

NFCA's Showcase Pavilion at NRA Show 2010 is an industry first – taking gluten-free foods mainstream, and changing the way nearly 13 million Americans suffering from celiac disease and gluten intolerance manage their health through diet and nutrition.

Stay tuned to Floored! as we bring you more details on the 12 gluten-free participants in this new pavilion. We'll also bring you tips from NFCA's very own director of education Nancy Baker in the weeks and months ahead. Our interview with Baker (she knows it all!) will make going gluten-free as easy as ABC.

For information, updates on the NRA Show's more than 65 education sessions and to register, visit www.restaurant.org/show. As always, join us on Facebook and Twitter to interact with others who love restaurants.

Restaurants Help Haiti Relief Efforts

By Derrek J. Hull, Blogger-in-Chief

Restaurants often are among the first to respond when disaster strikes, and many quickly sprung into action following Tuesday’s devastating earthquake in Haiti.

The National Restaurant Association encourages restaurants across the country to support disaster-relief efforts for Haiti. From national chains to small businesses, everyone can help. We’ve heard from some of you, including the Common Man Family of Restaurants. The New Hampshire company pledged to donate 50 percent of Jan. 17 food sales to Haiti relief efforts. Common Man twice won the Association’s Restaurant Neighbor Award.

Read more about the Common’s Man’s fundraiser, as well as Yum! Brands’ $500,000 and McDonald’s (with their main Latin America operator Arcos Dorados) $1 million commitments.

Don't forget to share your Haiti disaster-relief stories with us here at the Association’s NRA Show and International Wine, Spirits & Beer Event blog Floored! , Twitter and Facebook. Also, e-mail the Association’s Alyssa Prince at [email protected].

“I'm personally humbled by the opportunity to help in such a critical tragedy,” said mk’s executive chef and NRA Show participant Erick Williams. 

Chicago’s mk The Restaurant will be hosting a cocktail hour on Monday, Jan. 18, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. to support relief for those in Haiti. Donations will be matched and all proceeds will go to Oxfam International. Also, Bleeding Heart Bakery is serving cupcakes for Haiti this weekend. All proceeds will go directly to the Red Cross.

Here are relief organizations collecting food, drinking water and money for Haitian earthquake victims:

Share Our Strength
www.strength.org
(800) 969-4767

UN World Food Programme
www.wfp.org
011-39-06-65131

Food for the Poor
www.foodforthepoor.org
(800) 427-9104

Action Against Hunger
http://www.actionagainsthunger.org/

American Red Cross
www.redcross.org
(800) REDCROSS

UNICEF
http://www.unicef.org/

Doctors Without Borders
www.doctorswithoutborders.org
(888) 392-0392

Three Must-Do Word of Mouth Ideas

 
By Derrek J. Hull, Blogger-in-Chief

 Make yourself look like a rock star by doing these simple things starting today. It's not rocket science folks, these ideas are free, easy and are the most effective way to get you more word of mouth.

1. Ask people to spread the word

2. Put everything in an e-mail

3. Add a tell-a-friend link on every page of your Web site

As Floored!'sword of mouth supergenius contributing blogger Andy Sernovitz always says, tell a friend and be remarkable. How is your company getting people to talk about you?

Andy Sernovitz will be moderating a WOM/social media panel of operators including Domino's Pizza's Ramon De Leon at the National Restaurant Association's NRA Show 2010, held May 22-25, 2010 at Chicago's McCormick Place. Stay tuned for more details.

* Excerpts/ideas from Andy Sernovitz's Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking book.

10 Golden Rules of Responding in the Social Media Age

By Derrek J. Hull, Blogger-in-Chief

Converseon's Lindsay Lebresco recently spoke at Gaspedal's Word of Mouth Supergenius conference about "the golden rules of responding" in the social media age.

Lebresco dished out ten tips to join in the conversation:

• Respect (the venue, the participants, the importance of even a single comment)
• Expect everything to be public (even if you intended it to be private)
• Speed is of the essence (react in a timely and appropriate manner)
• Openness and Transparency are key (trust is paramount)
• Never conceal (who you are, who you work for and what your intentions are - FTC Guidelines)
• Do your homework (search, listen, read, know your communities first)
• Identify an engager (someone who will represent you well)
• Nothing builds credibility like action (do what you say or don't say it)
• Gather internal resources now (get them trained and ready to respond)

What's missing? Oh yeah, that's why Paying attention is so important!

Word of Mouth Tip #229: Say thanks!

* Word of mouth tip #229 is from word of mouth super genius Andy Sernovitz's book Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking

Starbucks Brews Action With Word of Mouth and Social Media

By Derrek J. Hull, Blogger-in-Chief

Last week's ideas-packed Word of Mouth Supergenius Conference hosted by GasPedal was a smash hit. Thanks a mil to all the speakers who shared tips and ideas on how to be great at word of mouth marketing.

We met up at the conference with Starbucks'  very own word of mouth/social media master Matthew Guiste for a one-on-one interview about how the company creates action with word of mouth and social media.

Q: How [and why] does Starbucks engage in WOM and social media?

A: We view social media not as a marketing channel, but as a way to genuinely connect with our customers outside the four walls of our stores. We meet them through a variety of experiences and online places. Chief among them are Facebook, Twitter, MyStarbucksIdea.com, YouTube and Flickr. We engage in these channels for a variety of reasons, most of which fit into the following three buckets:

• Listen and Learn: Active participation in the conversations in these places help us hear directly from and speak directly to our customers.