With $799 billion in U.S. sales last year alone, the restaurant industry is big business. Competition is fierce, and operators must capitalize on every advantage to remain profitable.
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In an industry plagued by labor shortages and relentless competition, restaurant and foodservice operators often find themselves with shrinking margins and, as a result, profits. Protecting margins by doing more with less has gone from a smart business strategy to an everyday best practice, leaving many to consider how — or if — they can reverse course on this erosion of profitability.
Your pizzeria may be operating without any glitches, but does that mean it’s running efficiently? In light of the growing challenges operators are facing — labor shortages, higher costs, lower margins and stiffer competition — it may be an ideal time to assess what’s working and what isn’t, and make some changes to maximize profitability and customer satisfaction. Start with these five steps:
Although the current national unemployment rate of about 4% suggests otherwise, foodservice professionals continue to struggle with finding and retaining workers in an industry with an annual employee turnover rate averaging 73%.
In 1889, when a famed Naples pizza chef trundled three different pizzas — fully cooked and piping hot — to the doorstep of the hungry and demanding King Umberto I of Italy and Queen Margherita of Savoy, little did he know that he started a trend that's alive and well hundreds of years later.
Many people understand the advantages of using frozen dough balls, but did you know just how many styles of pizza you can make from them? In the past, we’ve shown you how to use dough balls for styles like hand-tossed and wood-fired pizzas. This time, Chef Luke from Alive & Kickin’ Pizza Crust shows off just how easy it is to tackle signature pizza styles of Take ‘n’ Bake, Detroit-style and Chicago-style deep dish pizzas — all using pre-made dough balls.
People love grilling pizza at home, so imagine their delight if they’d find grilled pizza at your venue — especially if pies aren’t your specialty. Owners/operators of restaurants or entertainment venue chains are finding adding grilled pizza to the menu is a true brand differentiator, and many are surprised at just how easy it is to do once they understand how to maximize their grill’s capabilities.
Growth is a top priority for multi-store pizzeria owners/operators, but have you considered how meeting that goal will change how you do business?
Point of Sale (POS) systems are restaurant industry staples, providing a variety of capabilities beyond what the transaction-oriented name suggests. Some operators with existing POS systems aren’t familiar with the operational efficiencies of lesser used features — and that oversight could be costing them time and money.
Given that some of the top national pizza chains garner about 15% of their collective total annual revenue from digital platforms, mobile apps are a viable and sought-after way for customers to connect with your pizzeria. The sticking point for smaller operations, however, is that if the “big guys” are realizing this kind of success in mobile ordering (which is predicted to be a $38 billion industry by 2020), the price of developing and maintaining a mobile app must be cost-prohibitive.
