Author: David Klemt

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Make Your Restaurant Concept ABSURᗡ in 2021

Make Your Restaurant Concept ABSURᗡ in 2021

by David Klemt

Those seeking new restaurant opportunities in 2021 should give serious consideration to Absurd! Kitchen Co., KRG Hospitality’s unique turnkey QSR.

Development of the concept was motivated by the realization that operators need to continue to pivot to survive the pandemic and thrive in a post-pandemic world.

“At KRG Hospitality, we immediately pivoted in March 2020 into ‘rescue mode,’ understanding the immediate needs of so many independent operators,” says Doug Radkey, president of KRG Hospitality.

Moving forward into 2021, guests will be more concerned health, safety and their comfort than ever before. Absurd! was developed as a response to heightened guest expectations and to create a path forward for operators in the post-Covid-19 era. Not only is the concept forward-looking, it’s designed for turnkey operation.

Restaurant guests were growing accustomed to the convenience of frictionless ordering, pick-up and delivery. Lock downs, restrictions, and health and safety concerns have pushed delivery and pickup closer to the forefront of guest expectation. Absurd! leverages the latest in technology and utilizes a subscription element to reward loyalty while offering a convenient and safe QSR experience.

In the new era of restaurant operation we can expect guests to be less tolerant of waiting in lines. Multiple publications have published articles hypothesizing that the Covid-19 pandemic we lead to the end of waiting. Considering the importance of social distancing and how commonplace curbside pickup has become, it’s understandable that many guests have developed a preference for speedy, safe service.

Equally understandable is a guest wishing to keep interactions with other people to a minimum. The ability to peruse a menu via QR code or pay their bill using their own device has offered a level of comfort to guests during the pandemic. It’s logical to believe these guest habits are here to stay.

At Absurd! locations there are no traditional lines. By design, there’s no contact between guests and staff. Guests interact with a location via designated pick-up or drive-through areas. In the pick-up area, guests access food-safe storage units through their mobile devices to grab their orders. The drive-throughs only serve delivery drivers or those who have placed pre-orders. Convenient, safe, time-saving restaurant features for a post-pandemic world.

Absurd! cuisine is inspired by Southern flavors and dishes such as loaded chicken strips, fried waffle sticks, breakfast bowls, and sandwiches. There are options for the full range of dietary needs and preferences, such as dairy-free, gluten-free and vegan meat alternatives. Along with a competitive, high-quality menu, KRG Hospitality has developed a retail offerings that include branded dry spices and meal kits, leveraging another trend that has seen significant growth during the pandemic. The concept’s packaging is sustainable, and adding a food truck can expand an Absurd! operation’s reach.

“Approximately 85 percent of the food menu will be prepared on-site, including the seasoning mix and ‘dredge’ for the fried chicken, which is intended to also be gluten-free and dairy-free,” says Radkey. “The brand is able to accomplish this by maintaining a small but robust and strategic menu mix over the breakfast, lunch, and dinner day-parts. Other food items such as the chile cornbread, breakfast biscuits, and sandwich buns will be sourced through regional partnerships.”

While developing Absurd!, KRG has created a loyalty program to go along with it that’s relevant to today’s guest preferences and consumer habits. Loyalty programs have made the news lately, with attention being paid to how they’ve been changing for the past couple of years. Tech has emerged as a driver for such programs, combining guest data and personalized digital interactions to increase loyalty. However, creativity is a crucial element as well. Recognizing the value of a unique but easily understood loyalty program that offers an attractive value proposition, KRG’s approach for Absurd! is a beverage-based subscription service.

“With a low monthly cost of approximately $8.99 USD per month, the Absurd! beverage subscription program, which is optional, gives the brand an easy way to attract customers and convince them to change their traditional F&B ordering habits while building a strong base of loyalty (and data),” says Radkey. “Consumers today are accustomed to low-cost monthly subscriptions. Therefore, we think it is time for restaurants to tap into that opportunity. The ‘unlimited drinks’ within this program include coffee, iced tea, lemonade, and an assortment of flavored soda waters.”

Absurd! Kitchen Co. isn’t unique for the sake of being different. First and foremost, the concept was designed for experienced and new operators alike so they can thrive in the new era of hospitality. The dedication of KRG Hospitality to helping operators flourish with concepts that are scalable, sustainable, profitable, memorable and consistent is ingrained in Absurd’s DNA.

The concept is a recession- and pandemic-proof QSR that doesn’t rely heavy upon day-to-day involvement by the owners, making it ideal for operators of any level, from the neophyte to the experienced hospitality group.

Click here to learn more about Absurd! and visit www.AbsurdKitchen.com to download this turnkey concept’s information packet.

Image: KRG Hospitality

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You Need to Watch “Restaurant Hustle 2020: All on the Line” Now

You Need to Watch Restaurant Hustle 2020: All on the Line Now

by David Klemt

Whether you own, operate, manage, are employed by or have ever spent time at a restaurant as a guest, you need to watch Food Network’s Restaurant Hustle 2020: All on the Line.

Guy Fieri, who has helped raise $24 million (and counting) for restaurant industry workers, executive produced and co-directed the documentary, which aired last night. He tasked skeleton production crews (one would assume given the pandemic) with following four incredible chefs—Marcus Samuelsson, Maneet Chauhan (and her husband Vivek), Christian Petroni, and Antonia Lofaso—and said he wanted them to keep the cameras rolling to capture “the good, the bad and the ugly.”

When the scope of Covid-19 became clearer and the industry began to see how much devastating its impact would be on restaurants, bars and other hospitality venues, Fieri says in the documentary that he had two thoughts: “’No way can this happen,’ and, ‘Oh my god, this is gonna be worse than we ever imagined.’”

He’s angry about what’s happening to the industry and millions of people it employs and feeds.

“I was mad. I’m still mad,” says Fieri in Restaurant Hustle 2020. “Wrecked lives, wrecked families… Changed the history of the industry.”

Per the documentary, Fieri felt compelled to help his “millions of brothers and sisters” in whatever ways possible: “There was no words. It’s coming. Prepare. Stick together. What can we do?”

The documentary begins with three indisputable facts that speak volumes to the importance of the industry: The restaurant industry employs over 15 million people. That equals up to 20 percent of America’s workforce. The industry generates over $850 billion in sales.

From there, Restaurant Hustle 2020 introduces the four chefs, their restaurants, their challenges, and their collective hustle. Like so many in this industry, there’s no giving up in these people—there’s only fight.

Chef Marcus Samuelsson

Seeking community after 9/11, Chef Samuelsson opened the Harlem location of Red Rooster in 2010. That location employed 180 people—Chef Samuelsson had 30 venues located in eight countries when Covid-19 hit. Pre-pandemic, Red Rooster in Harlem would see around 1,100 guests on a Saturday night, and Chef Samuelson was just a week out from opening the doors of Red Rooster in Miami.

“It’s taken me 25 years to build this moment, but it took ten days to tear it all down. I don’t wish it on my worst enemy,” says Chef Samuelsson.

Chef Maneet Chauhan

Chef Chauhan and her husband Vivek operate four restaurants and three breweries within the Morph Hospitality Group portfolio in Nashville, Tennessee. At their peak, they served 2,500 guests over the course of a weekend. Morph employed nearly 300 people but by March they made the heart-wrenching decision to close their doors. Recalling the difficult choice, Chef Chauhan is brought to tears talking about how gracious her employees were about it.

However, Chef Chauhan and husband Vivek are willing to fight for their dreams and their employees: “The thing is, we are scrappy. We are immigrants,” she says.

Vivek focused on developing and strategizing reopening plans, and the duo fully embody the meaning of the Hindi word “jugaad,” or “a flexible approach to a problem.” While it only represented maybe a tenth of their regular sales, Morph implemented curbside pickup at three of their venues. They rotated availability offering curbside at a different location on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This allowed them to bring back a handful of employees.

Chef Christian Petroni

There are five locations of Chef Petroni‘s Italian restaurant concept Fortina throughout New York’s tri-state area: Armonk, Brooklyn, Rye Brook, Stamford, and Yonkers. Heading into 2020, they were set to have another amazing year after doing very well in 2019.

“We were just gearing up to take over the world,” says Chef Petroni.

The first Covid-19 death in the United States was reported on February 28 in King County in Washington State. As we know, on March 16, 2020, NYC shut down around 27,000 restaurants, resulting in the loss of 225,000 jobs. Chef Petroni employed nearly 300 people but had to reduce his workforce to less than twenty. To help the communities they serve and generate some revenue, Chef Lofaso created Pies for the People so customers were able to buy pies for those in need or who needed a morale boost (such as hospital workers and EMTs).

Chef Antonia Lofaso

Over the course of a decade, Chef Lofaso has built and operated three restaurant concepts in Los Angeles, California. Her restaurants employed almost 500 people and back in February, serving 1,200 guests over the course of just two weekend evenings was common. Chef Lofaso’s biggest passion is the hospitality aspect of restaurant operation and being “the facilitator of the good time.” That good time came crashing down in March.

“It’s taken me ten years to build these three restaurants and it took a matter of a week for it all to be torn down,” says Chef Lofaso.

She admits to feeling sadness and anger, in large part because she had to lay off nearly 500 employees. Chef Lofaso says that she feels responsible to her team members because they help her build her dream. By March she was able to bring back roughly 20 workers, convert her locations into markets, and sell liquor, which allowed her to bring back 90 percent of her back-of-house employees for at least two days per week and double sales.

For the rest of the story, people will have to watch Restaurant Hustle 2020. The importance of Food Network, Guy Fieri and these chefs capturing this crucial moment in history cannot be overstated.

As Fieri says in the documentary, it’s “a historical moment in time in an industry that is so important to all of us in so many ways, shapes and forms, and these four very brave chef-restaurant owners captured it. Something you’ve never seen. Something you’ll probably never see again.”

As we move forward into 2021, it’s crucial we remember that this story is still unfolding—we don’t know what the new year holds for this or any industry. We know that without targeted aid, the lives of millions of Americans are in jeopardy. We know that even with vaccines available, we’re not out of harm’s way yet.

We don’t know what the industry will look like when the world returns to “normal,” whatever that may be. But we know this industry is made up of fighters and we look out for our own. We’ll get through this together.

Food Network is available via several streaming platforms, including Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV.

Photo by Shangyou Shi on Unsplash

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Buy a Shirt. Fight Cancer.

Buy a Shirt. Fight Cancer.

by David Klemt

It’s the giving season and the hospitality industry is one that takes care of its own.

We all have the opportunity to help an industry veteran and also support an incredible cause.

In July of this year, Chris Patino was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. One night he went to bed feeling fine and the next morning he was unable to get out of bed.

Patino is an industry advocate who has focused on elevating the art and craft of bartending, brand education, and executing incredible events. He’s a partner in the award-winning Raised by Wolves, founder of the strategic marketing agency Simple Serve, and a Bartender’s Weekend organizer.

Now, Patino has launched This T-Shirt Fights Cancer. The proceeds of each This T-Shirt Fights Cancer tee, designed by Dave Stolte, based on a design by Woodrow Guthrie, and originally sketched on the back of a napkin—so fitting for this industry—go to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PANCAN).

Like Patino, PANCAN is dedicated to building community, sharing information, and advocacy. The organization fights to improve the lives of those living with pancreatic cancer through advancements in research.

As we near the end of the year, please consider joining the fight against cancer and purchasing a This T-Shirt Fights Cancer tee. To quote Patino on his campaign page, “And as always, f*ck cancer.”

Image: This T-Shirt Fights Cancer

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Foodservice Workers Recommended for Phase 1c of Covid-19 Vaccines

Foodservice Workers Recommended for Phase 1c of Covid-19 Vaccines

by David Klemt

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended that foodservice workers be included in phase 1c of the Covid-19 vaccine plan.

On Sunday, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices met to vote on phases 1b and 1c.

The committee identified those next in line for the two Covid-19 vaccines authorized for use in the United States from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna as “frontline essential workers” and people aged 75 years and older (phase 1b), and “other essential workers” (phase 1c).

Phase 1a consists of 24 million healthcare workers, residents of long-term care facilities (LTCF), and staff members who work at such facilities.

An estimated 49 million people are included in phase 1b. Roughly 30 million people in this group are categorized as frontline essential workers. Those in education (teachers, daycare workers, support staff), First Responders, United States Postal Service workers, corrections officers, grocery store workers, food and agriculture workers, those in manufacturing, and people who work in public transit will be inoculated in phase 1b.

People aged 16 to 64 who have high-risk medical conditions, those aged 65 to 74, and the other essential workers have been voted into phase 1c. Foodservice workers are among the roughly 57 million included in this phase, along with the media; construction workers; those who work in shelter and housing; transportation and logistics workers; those in finance, IT, communications, and the legal sector; people who work in the water and water waste industries; public safety workers; and the energy sector.

A lone dissent among the 13-1 vote came from Dr. Henry Bernstein. The doctor felt that, based on the available science, people aged 65 to 74 should have been included in phase 1b.

It’s important to note that states can go against the CDC’s “Phased Allocation of Covid-19 Vaccines” recommendations. For example, Governor Ron DeSantis has stated that the vaccines, which are not yet available to the general public, will go to people aged 70 and up in Florida in phase 1b. In Texas, those aged 65 years and older and people with certain chronic illnesses are said to be the state’s phase 1b priorities.

Other states may follow suit and deviate from the CDC’s phased allocations.

Image: Gustavo Fring from Pexels

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75% of American Restaurant Operators Expect Decreased Sales Through Start of 2021

75% of American Restaurant Operators Expect Decreased Sales Through January

by David Klemt

The fifth National Restaurant Association COVID-19 Restaurant Impact Survey results have been released.

Unsurprisingly and unfortunately, the news is not good.

For their fifth installment, the NRA surveyed 6,000 restaurant operators and 250 supply chain businesses between November 17 and 30. Full-service and limited-service restaurant operators, independent and chain, reported their sales had slipped in October.

Only 12 percent of restaurant operators reported seeing sales growth. In comparison, 79 percent said sales were down.

Per the NRA survey, one reason for the decline in sales is outdoor dining season coming to a close. In New York City, per Governor Andrew Cuomo’s order banning indoor dining, outdoor dining is the only option beyond delivery and takeout. However, the weather is less than attractive for outdoor diners.

Costs are disproportionate to sales for most operators. Nearly 60 percent of survey participants reported increased labor costs when compared to the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States.

Profit margins, historically thin even at the best of times, were reported by 86 percent of operators who partook in the survey to also be lower than the they were prior to the pandemic.

The NRA’s predicted outcome for the industry is that without targeted and significant federal relief specifically for restaurants and bars, more temporary and permanent closures are coming, as are further losses of jobs.

According to an estimate from the NRA, more than 110,000 restaurants and bars had closed by December 1. On average, these establishments employed 32 people, and 17 percent of the closed businesses employed a minimum of 50 people.

Close to 40 percent of survey participants indicated they were considering closing their restaurants or bars temporarily and waiting out the pandemic. That means layoffs that could affect dozens of employees per establishment. Almost 60 percent of survey participants expect a reduction in their workforces over the coming three months.

Sales are expected to lag through the start of next year. The majority of operators surveyed, 75 percent, expect sales to fall even further from their already lower levels through the start of next year.

If that logical assumption becomes reality, slowed sales may trigger a domino effect: reduced traffic, plummeting sales, and increased operational costs leading to layoffs, temporary closures, and ultimately permanent closures.

Restaurants and bars require targeted relief for the industry to survive. If that help doesn’t come soon, if the RESTAURANTS Act or similar legislation isn’t signed into law, the country will lose millions of jobs permanently. The economy will be dealt a lethal blow, losing out on tens of billions of dollars.

Now is not the time to back off the pressure being put on Congress and Senate to pass the RESTAURANTS Act. Click here to tell them time is up—they must return to Washington in January to save our restaurants and bars.

Image: Enrico Hänel from Pexels

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“More help is on the way.” But not for restaurants and bars.

“More help is on the way.” But not for restaurants and bars.

by David Klemt

Speaking about the economic relief package, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) struck what can be generously described as tainted altruism.

“More help is on the way,” said McConnell on the Senate floor on Sunday. He also took the time to attempt to absolve Republican leadership of any blame for the glacier-paced movement forward on relief, laying the fault at Democrats’ feet.

To be blunt, both parties have failed the American people and small businesses in terms of providing federal assistance during the pandemic.

After months of inaction on relief—with the exception of a Congressional vote in September that failed to pass in the Senate—and weeks of discussions and partisan sniping, negotiators finally managed to zero in on a bill with a strong likelihood of becoming law.

Yet sifting through remarks made by some politicians regarding pandemic relief over the course of the past several months, variants of the word “prompt” were bandied about.

If the package passes—which is expected to happen later today—members of Congress and Senate will no doubt perform self-congratulatory victory laps for finally doing their jobs after months of failing to do much of anything in the way of relief. Meanwhile, millions of Americans will continue to face life-altering challenges, reaching out for lifelines that are simply not there.

Included in the package are a number of details identified as “key” to both political parties:

  • The ability for businesses that had received Paycheck Protection Program loans which had been forgiven to deduct the costs said loans covered on their federal tax returns.
  • Speaking of the PPP, it will be reopened with over $284 billion intended for small businesses.
  • $12 billion in available PPP funds for minority-owned and “very small” businesses.
  • $15 billion made available in PPP funds specifically for independent movie theaters, live music venues, and cultural institutions like museums.
  • $600 stimulus checks for qualifying adults (and each child in a household) who earned $75,000 or less in 2019. The amount would be reduced for people who earned more. Those who made $99,000 or more last year are not expected to receive a stimulus check.
  • A $300 boost to unemployment benefits for 11 months, with a possible implementation date of December 27.
  • Gig and contract workers enrolled in the PUA or PEUC programs can expect the same $300 boost to their benefits for 11 to 13 weeks.
  • The deadline to spend billions of dollars made available to cities and states via the CARES Act is expected to be extended from the end of this year to be an entire year.
  • $25 billion in emergency assistance for renters.
  • A moratorium on evictions expected to be extended through the end of January.

What’s not in the package expected to be rushed through Congress? Hundreds of billions of dollars in state and local aid Democrats wanted, liability shields for corporations Republicans wanted, the $120 billion RESTAURANTS Act, or the $240 billion Restaurant and Foodservice Industry Recovery Fund.

Despite McConnell’s declaration that federal assistance is on the way, the economic relief plan leaves an industry that employs millions of American workers and contributes hundreds of billions of dollars to the nation’s GDP (four percent before the pandemic) to fend for itself.

Guy Fieri, in all seriousness, has done more for more unemployed restaurant workers than the government, raising more than $21 million in relief funds in under two months.

The hospitality jobs lost due to Covid-19 aren’t expected to return. With more than 110,000 restaurants closed—and counting—the economic impact will be felt nationwide and, in all probability, have global ramifications.

The PPP turned out to be an absolute farce: billions of dollars went to businesses that are anything but small by definition. There’s little reason to believe the process will improve much (if at all) this time around.

And while restaurants and bars have been crucial to nurturing community, connections and culture since inception, they’re clearly not considered culturally relevant institutions by politicians.

With Congress facing an uphill battle in terms of drafting the language for the relief bill and then voting on it, expecting our elected officials to propose, negotiate, draft and vote on a bill for the hospitality industry seems foolish. That means the earliest the industry can expect help—which seems exceedingly unlikely to ever materialize—is in late February of 2021.

Apparently restaurants, bars, and the foodservice professionals they employ aren’t key to politicians on any side of the aisle. Well, not until they need venues to host their campaign fundraisers, that is.

Image: Andrew Seaman on Unsplash

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How a Famous Pub Combo May Help Combat Climate Change

How a Famous Pub Combo May Show Us How to Combat Climate Change

by David Klemt

A small UK start-up has pioneered a solution to climate change that other country’s can follow.

And it centers around a wildly popular combination ordered in pubs throughout the United Kingdom.

Beer and crisps is a combination as ubiquitous in the UK as fish and chips, bangers and mash, and steak and chips.

It turns out that the pairing may be more than just a delicious drink and snack pairing—it may just save the planet.

Alright, that may be hyperbole. But one company has found a way to cut carbon dioxide emissions and reduce manufacturing waste using beer, crisps and innovation.

CCm Technologies, formerly CCm Research, is a small cleantech firm that focuses on capturing and converting carbon dioxide so it can be used by industries like agriculture and food production.

After a successful trial, Walkers, a UK brand owned by PepsiCo and based in Leicester, England, announced their intention to install CCm Technologies equipment at their factory.

The plan will work like this: Carbon dioxide captured during the fermentation process at breweries will be mixed with potato waste and converted to fertilizer. That fertilizer will be used to grow the next crop of potatoes destined to become Walkers crisps.

Walkers makes crisps (North Americans, think of them as potato chips), and the company says the plan will cut their mission by 70 percent. Breweries tend to produce significant amounts of carbon dioxide during their fermentation processes.

While the breweries that will participate in the Walkers-CCm scheme have yet to be announced, the plan will help reduce the carbon dioxide emissions they and the PepsiCo-owned brand generate.

Americans and Canadians also love beer and potato chips, so the plan has huge potential for North America, as well. In addition to Walkers, PepsiCo owns Lay’s, Tostitos, Cheetos and Fritos brands. If the circular carbon dioxide and food waste reduction plan works out in the UK, it would be great to see it implemented in the US and Canada.

In the (hopefully near) future, bartenders and servers in the US and Canada may offer guests a planet-saving yet classic combo.

Image: StockSnap from Pixabay

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New York City Restaurant Operators Rally Against Governor Cuomo’s Orders

New York Restaurant City Operators Rally Against Gov. Cuomo’s Orders

by David Klemt

Just one day after Governor Andrew Cuomo’s ban on indoor dining went into effect, New York City restaurant operators came together to protest.

Gov. Cuomo announced the ban on Friday, December 11. New Yorkers reportedly flocked to restaurants and bars that weekend for “last suppers.” The ban went into effect Monday, December 14.

New York City’s ban on indoor dining will last at least two weeks. It has been reported that state officials are considering a statewide ban on indoor dining, depending on Covid-19 trends.

Whereas New York City restaurants have been forced to operate at 25-percent capacity since the end of September, New York State restaurants have been operating at a 50-percent capacity limit.

Restaurants are permitted to offer delivery, takeout and outdoor dining. However, a massive nor’easter winter storm is blasting the east coast. Freezing weather is more than likely to keep New York City restaurants’ outdoor dining areas empty.

The Latino Restaurant Bar and Lounge Association of New York State is being credited with organizing Tuesday’s rally. The New York City Hospitality Alliance joined the protest against the indoor dining ban, as did hundreds of other restaurant and bar owners, operators and workers.

Protestors gathered at Times Square before marching from Duffy Square (the northern part of Times Square) to Midtown East where Gov. Cuomo’s office is located.

The order appears to prove the point Joe Rogan makes on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast episode with Richard Rawlings, released this week. During the episode, Rogan says the decisions politicians are making regarding restaurants and bars are arbitrary.

“There’s no science, nothing. It’s arbitrary decisions that are made by politicians,” says Rogan. “And that’s the minimum: The outdoor dining thing is the most egregious because you have all these people that spent so much money to try to convert their restaurants and make these outdoor dining [spaces]—spent thousands of dollars that they didn’t even fucking have.”

According to current New York contact tracing data, Gov. Cuomo’s ban isn’t based on science. Their own data regarding Covid-19 shows that restaurants and bars account for just 1.43 percent of infections. In contrast, based on 46,000 Covid-19 cases from September to November, private household gatherings are responsible for 74 percent of exposures.

That data also makes clearer the disparity between restrictions imposed on New York City restaurants compared to the rest of the state. Long Island restaurants, for example, have not been ordered to close their indoor dining areas.

The governor’s statement that “restaurants have adapted and New Yorkers have really adapted” rings rather hollow when, per survey results released by the New York State Restaurant Association and National Restaurant Association, 54 percent of New York restaurants are expected to close within the next six month unless they receive meaningful, targeted relief.

An argument can be made that Gov. Cuomo is, as some New York operators have stated, scapegoating restaurants and bars during the pandemic. When announcing the indoor dining ban, the governor appeared to be following through with a threat rather than acting in the best interest of public safety and New York residents.

“We said that we would watch it, if the stabilization, if the hospital rate didn’t stabilize, we would close indoor dining,” he said. “It is now. We’re gonna close indoor dining in the city on Monday.”

The numbers simply don’t support that decision.

Yesterday, New York operators asked Gov. Cuomo to repeal the ban. At the time of publication, that request has been ignored.

The protestors also called for the governor to help the industry rather than hobble it, along with demanding the RESTAURANTS Act finally be voted into law at the federal level.

Every day that passes without the RESTAURANTS Act also passing thrusts the industry further into peril. More restaurants and bars close permanently each day while Congress prepares to leave for the remainder of 2020. If Congress fails to act before leaving, the industry will be without relief through at least February.

Cities across the country imposing crippling capacity limits and dining restrictions should prepare for future protests organized by restaurant and bar owners, operators, workers and supporters.

State representatives can be contacted about the RESTAURANTS Act via this link from the National Restaurant Association.

Image: Anthony Rosset on Unsplash

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Is Texas the Model for Restaurant Operation During the Pandemic?

Is Texas the Model for Restaurant Operation During the Pandemic?

by David Klemt

The mass exodus to Texas has been all over the news lately.

Many new Texas residents moved to the Lone Star State moved from California. Some moved to escape exorbitant rent, home prices, and taxes. But others have left California due to what some deem over-reaching Covid-19 restrictions.

On December 5, a regional stay-at-home order took effect in five California regions. Included in that order was a restriction on “nonessential trips” between the hours of 10:00 P.M. and 5:00 A.M. Some California lawmakers disagreed with labeling the restriction a “curfew” but it certainly seemed like one to Californians.

Also included in the order was a full shutdown of businesses categorized as bars, while restaurants were restricted to delivery and takeout only. In response, a group of operators in Orange County formed the #OPENSAFE movement and made it known they intended to defy the order, which is expected to remain in place through at least Christmas.

It’s likely that some former Californians flocked to Texas due to Governor Gavin Newsom’s restrictive stay-at-home order and “Covid fatigue.”

But is Texas less restrictive than California?

Some counties in Texas did implement curfews. For example, a 10:00 P.M. to 5:00 A.M. curfew took effect in Bexar, El Paso and San Antonio Counties over the Thanksgiving holiday. However, they were short-lived and ended November 30.

According to reports, El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego is mulling the idea of a “partial curfew” for the period between the Christmas holiday and New Year’s Eve.

One major difference between the orders implemented in California and those that were issued in Texas is that the latter weren’t blanket, statewide restrictions.

Another difference regards bars. Drinking establishments are closed throughout California. In Texas, according to this document located on the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission website, “[b]ars or similar establishments located in counties that have opted in may operate for in-person service up to 50% of the total listed occupancy inside the bar or similar establishment,” and guests must remained seated if they’re drinking or eating.

Interestingly, no occupancy limit exists for a bar’s (or “similar establishment’s”) outdoor area. Another interesting detail: “the County Judge of each county may choose to opt in with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) to allow bars or similar establishments to operate with in-person service.”

That statement relates to Texas’ GA-32 executive order. In counties where Covid-19-related hospitalization rates and case counts meet state requirements, county judges can opt-in to reopen bars. In fact, the TABC features a map—updated daily at 3:00 P.M. CST—that displays the counties in which bars are permitted to open their doors.

Bars are required to stop serving alcohol at 11:00 P.M. but don’t have to close for business or send guests away at that time.

Restrictions are different for Texas restaurants. According to the TABC’s website, “Restaurants may operate for dine-in service up to 75% of the total listed occupancy inside the restaurant; outdoor dining is not subject to an occupancy limit; and restaurant employees and contractors are not counted towards the occupancy limitation. This applies only to restaurants that have less than 51% of their gross sales from alcoholic beverages.”

Per news coverage, the cutoff rule Texas bars operate under doesn’t apply to restaurants, motivating the decision of thousands of bar owners to reopen their businesses as restaurants.

One of the highest-profile ex-Californians who made the move to Texas recently is Joe Rogan. Rogan speaks with Texas native and entrepreneur Richard Rawlings on the most recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast on Spotify. The subject of California comes up roughly 23 minutes into the discussion, with Rogan calling out California and saying that Californians “are recognizing” that “California itself doesn’t exist as everybody thought of it.”

Rogan goes on to say that California’s government is to blame for the exodus to Texas, saying, “Literally, it’s a case of now we know that if you have poor government, the government can ruin a state.”

He praises Texas Governor Greg Abbott and his approach to Covid-19. In particular, Rogan lauds Gov. Abbott for shutting down the state for a short period of time but allowing businesses to remain open. He mentions that while businesses are still struggling—capacity restrictions, social distancing protocols, mask requirements—at least they’re able to operate.

At around the 24-minute mark, the conversation shifts to restaurants in particular.

“You can’t even go eat outside. There’s a 10:00 P.M. curfew in Los Angeles. It’s insane. There’s no science behind it, either. There’s no science that shows that if you get people to stay home after 10:00 P.M. that there’s less transmission,” says Rogan.” There’s no science, nothing. It’s arbitrary decisions that are made by politicians. And that’s the minimum: The outdoor dining thing is the most egregious because you have all these people that spent so much money to try to convert their restaurants and make these outdoor dining [spaces]—spent thousands of dollars that they didn’t even fucking have. They just wanted to stay open, and then they just get shut down.”

Rawlings then references the owner of Pineapple Hill Saloon & Grill, Angela Marsden, and the emotional, viral video she posted in response to Los Angeles restaurants being prohibited from offering outdoor dining.

Marsden claimed to have spent $80,000 to comply with L.A. County health requirements and create an outdoor dining area before the restriction was put in place. In the video, she shows a television production crew dining under tents set up next to her outdoor dining area. Ultimately, Marsden had to shut down after running out of funds.

“I was pretty pissed off at that one because, you know, we shut down Gas Monkey Bar & Grill for the winter,” says Rawlings. “We’re just hanging out, see what happens.”

Texas hasn’t fully reopened and some may still view some of the state’s Covid-19 rules as arbitrary. However, capacity limitations for bars (up to 50 percent) and restaurants (up to 75 percent) are much more viable for operators.

There are other questions to consider regarding Covid-19 protocols and restrictions. If state lawmakers implement rules that ultimately encourage their residents to flee to other states, does that increase the risk of infection rates, hospitalizations and deaths rising in those states? Is America capable of setting aside our divisions and pulling in the same direction to flatten curves nationwide? Are our lawmakers capable of abandoning the arbitrary for the targeted and logical to provide relief and increase the survivability rates of restaurants, bars and other small businesses?

Covid-19 protocols can change in any state at any time, but for now, Texas may serve as the best model for restricted restaurant and bar operations in the United States.

Image: Thomas Park on Unsplash

by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Can Vending Machines Help Restaurants and Farmers Fight Food Waste and Generate Revenue?

Can Vending Machines Help Restaurants and Farmers Fight Food Waste and Generate Revenue?

by David Klemt

French farmers have found an innovative way to fight food waste, generate much-needed revenue, and provide fresh produce to the public: vending machines.

Last week, Barron’s, a publication dedicated to financial and investment news coverage, published an article about farmers in France finding more success selling produce via vending machines than their own farm stores.

All manner of items can be loaded into vending machines—fruits, vegetables, eggs and dairy products, for example—and famers are able to choose how many lockers their setups will include. For instance, one farmer invested in a 60-locker vending machine for €30,000, while another placed a machine with 88 lockers close to her farm.

Selling via vending machine was lauded by Barron’s as respectful of health and safety regulations since farmers and consumers aren’t interacting with one another directly.

This development begs the question: Would selling produce directly to consumers through vending machines prove viable in the United States and Canada?

The havoc afflicting the restaurant business doesn’t affect only the owners, operators and employees—it’s a shockwave ripping through other industries, such as farming and agriculture. For months, news coverage has included reports of farmers sharing stories of showing up to restaurants to deliver food only to find them closed, leaving farmers with surpluses of food destined to go to waste.

One option to make this work could include restaurant operators and local farmers partnering to set up vending machines (locker type, not the standard snack versions). This would help reduce the initial buy-in and both operators and farmers would have access: restaurants would use them for contactless meal and meal kit pickup, and farmers could accept direct-to-consumer orders of fresh produce fulfilled through the lockers.

In fact, creative operators may be able to build meal kits that combine their menu items with ingredients sourced from local farmers.

The partnership concept may prove more viable for connectivity reasons as well. In France, one major supplier of vending machines, according to Barron’s, indicated the machines required a reliable 4G connection, in part because they recommend only accepting credit card and online payments to reduce vandalism. Placing vending machines on-site should provide more stable connections and steadier consumer traffic.

Politicians continue to drag their feet and posture in regards to Covid-19 relief. It has been clear for months that the public and businesses without lobbying power are being left to fend for themselves. A partnership between restaurants and farmers could prove mutually beneficial for the survival of the restaurant, farming and agriculture industries.

When contacting their representatives to demand they help we the people and the restaurant industry, it could be wise to remind them that relief for restaurants is also relief for farmers, saving millions of jobs and thousands of farms at risk of permanent loss, along with avoiding literal tons of needless food waste.

Image: Alex Motoc on Unsplash

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