Food and Beverage

Hotel food and beverage operations have radically changed in the wake of the pandemic. From breakfast buffets to banquet dinners, service has drastically altered to keep guests safe and as stopgap against weaker demand. Several of the adjustments made due to immediate needs are likely to remain in place for the foreseeable future, according to some F&B authorities.

Many travelers are currently indicating a dissatisfaction with the hotel breakfast experience on offer during their travels. There is a sense of expectations not being met with the food menu and service as they start their day. This is a standard guest perception, across the board in all markets that are currently open for hotel stays.

Execs from Tropical Smoothie Cafe, Taco Bell, and KFC discuss supply challenges, and the return of sustainability practices.

Warmer weather and additional stimulus payments bolstered consumer spending in restaurants.

Operators found clever ways to survive last year, and their actions confirm 2021 State of the Restaurant Industry trend data.

As a substantial number of restaurants have implemented pickup and delivery as a large part of their business, restaurant operators must consider customers’ reactions to the structure of pickup and delivery charges. To assist restaurateurs with this matter, the findings of a survey of 329 U.S. residents who ordered using pickup or delivery are presented here. In general, the respondents were willing to pay delivery charges that they considered fair, notably, flat fees and distance-based fees.

More people are using restaurants for off-premises foodservice options, but on-premises patronage is still well below pre-pandemic levels.

The shortfall in restaurant and foodservice sales totaled $270 billion during the first 12 months of the pandemic.

Outside of fast-food and fast-casual restaurants, which are predicated on familiarity and uniformity, no two food and beverage operations are the same. Each has its own characteristics; its own challenges. It’s these variables that keep managers up at night wondering how to tweak the revenue side and reduce operational costs without adversely affecting product quality and delivery. It’s a lot to juggle.

Yesterday the National Restaurant Association released new data showing that the industry continues to struggle in pandemic conditions. In a letter to Congressional leadership, the Association highlighted how the results demonstrate a continued vulnerability for the nation’s second-largest private sector employer, and warrants prompt passage of the $25 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund in the American Rescue Plan.