There’s plenty of fear and loathing going on in the restaurant business. Every restaurant and restaurateur are struggling to figure it out – “how am I going to make this work?” This is not the normal amount of angst that has been present for decades – fickle customer tastes, rising cost of goods, changing demographics, or escalating rents; there are far deeper concerns that make everyone scratch their heads in wonder. There are problems, right now, without answers.

First and foremost is the mystery of the labor pool, a problem that has been growing for almost a decade. Look up and down Main Street in Anytown, USA and you will see help wanted signs in the window. This is true for every business. Wages have gone up – still no one is biting. Where are the workers? Are we missing something here? Jobs are posted, a few apply, many of the applicants don’t show for an interview and others after being hired never return after the first week (or sometimes the first day). Restaurants would typically rely on high school and college students during the summer months to fill positions during peak season – now that is a challenge. Chefs and restaurateurs invested in recruiting students at regional culinary colleges for internship and permanent positions after graduation, but those schools are struggling to find students to enroll – what’s going on?

Customers are becoming more discerning about value and anxious about the price of a meal (from quick service to fine dining). Many are once again viewing restaurants as a luxury they can do without versus a necessary part of American culture and a convenience for families with multiple wage earners and impossible schedules. It’s becoming difficult to pull guests in for multiple visits in a week or month and even when a restaurant succeeds, they find it more and more challenging to sell the bookends (appetizers and desserts where the money is made). What’s going on, how do restaurants overcome this problem?

Well, at least operators should be able to rely on alcoholic beverage sales to make up the difference but wait…there is a trend among the 21-35 demographic to live alcohol free and the movement is gaining traction. So, it seems we are in the throes of a paradigm shift that could dramatically change the restaurant world.

The knee jerk reaction is to rely on technology to save us. Technology can save restaurants money, help them become more efficient, reduce dependence on a qualified labor pool, and trim some reliance on a challenged supply chain. This must be the answer – right?

Where does this leave the restaurant experience and the societal role they have played for generations? How do we keep the business of food from becoming more and more transactional? Is this our future – a place we want to be?

Computer kiosks take the place of interaction with a smiling employee at the counter, self-service continues to eat away at table service and interaction with those who might explain and upsell, ghost kitchens remind us of the Wizard of Oz hiding behind a curtain, and lo and behold I’ve even seen a wine vending machine in a hotel lobby. Commissaries for some restaurant chains have reduced the need for kitchens and trained cooks in individual units and the drive-thru has influenced Detroit to view your car as a dining space with added cup holders and space for holding food.

The restaurant has been, is, and hopefully will remain a special place for gathering, celebrating, relaxing, learning about, and enjoying the work of the chef and mixologist. These are the places where everybody knows your name and relishes the opportunity to serve you and make your day. What will we become if the answer remains nipping away at those things that make us special – the interaction with knowledgeable servers, interplay with talented bartenders, connections with chefs, manager, and owners?

It is, after all, the experience that makes dining special and allows restaurants to play such an important role in communities. Is the experience in jeopardy?

I don’t have the answers to these questions or challenges, but I do know that we must engage in serious discussion and research to determine what those answers might be. Uniqueness, personalization, and person-to-person dialog is what has made restaurants an integral part of a community’s and countries story and that, my friends, is worth protecting. Where there’s a will there is a way.

PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER

“Work Hard and be Kind” – Dick Cattani

Harvest America Ventures, LLC

Restaurant Consulting

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