Halal Guys to become Middle Eastern Chipotle

June 17, 2014 by Leave a Comment

The street vendor Halal Guys, whose original location can be found on 53rd and 6th Avenue in Midtown, will soon be turning its cart into a restaurant chain. Halal Guys just signed a deal with the franchise consulting firm Fransmart. The firm hopes to have outposts in Canada, Los Angeles, along the East Coast and in the Middle East within a year’s time. In the next five years it also hopes to include more US locations as well as some in Europe. Fransmart is the firm responsible for the franchising of Five Guys Burgers and Fries and Qdoba. The chief executive officer of Fransmart, Dan Rowe, has stated that he believes this deal could turn Halal Guys into “the Chipotle of Middle Eastern food.”

Two other locations within New York City were already in the works before this deal was finalized; one in the Lower East Side and one near Columbia University. These locations will operate independently of Fransmart. The other five carts around the city will also continue to stay open for business.

To read more about the franchising of Halal Guys click here

Filed Under: Global Market Buzz, Local Market Buzz, Openings Tagged With: , ,

Priceline to Buy OpenTable

June 16, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Priceline Group Inc. (PCLN), the largest US online travel agent, is buying OpenTable Inc. in a $2.6 billion deal. OpenTable is a company that helps restaurants manage and accept their reservations via mobile apps and online. Priceline is looking to add these restaurant reservations to their travel bookings online. The two companies stated that the deal is expected to go through in the third quarter.

Mark Mahanay, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets expressed that this will be a smart merger by stating, “We see this deal as likely part of Priceline’s move into offering a much broader range of local e-commerce services to what is a very attractive customer set.”

Priceline will be able to benefit tremendously from OpenTable’s mobile business. This acquisition will bring in over 15 million diners per month in over 31,000 restaurants. Priceline also has plans to expand beyond the US which will  good exposure for OpenTable to get demand in new markets.

To read more about the acquisition click here

Filed Under: Global Market Buzz

Corporate Food Trucks?

June 13, 2014 by Leave a Comment

The food truck scene originally was attractive to customers because they were able to taste new specialty food items at a reasonable price. Of course there are many different kinds of food trucks, not all selling artisanal homegrown products, but overall they were presenting the customer with unique food options.

This movement is not only a cheaper alternative to selling products, but it also gives the cooks a means of creating a fan base and establishing themselves in the competitive dining scene. Soon enough, however, large fast food chains and franchises began to launch their own food trucks. In the past couple months there has been a resurgence of larger corporations setting up their own trucks that clearly will not be selling handmade special products. This will certainly have implications for the smaller food trucks who will be competing with the giant corporate ones.

To read more about how this could impact the food truck movement, click here

 

Filed Under: Global Market Buzz Tagged With: ,

San Francisco to Raise Hourly Pay

June 12, 2014 by 1 Comment

The mayor and board of supervisors in San Francisco have announced a proposal to raise the minimum wage from the current $10.74 per hour to $15. This measure will be put before voters in San Francisco this coming November. The proposal comes shortly after Seattle’s city council voted unanimously for a wage increase.

In Seattle however, there will be different length phase-in plans depending on the size of the business whereas in San Francisco there will be no differentiation.  In San Francisco, the suggested measure would raise the minimum wage gradually having different increases to be in place by certain dates with the final $15 per hour to be in effect by July 1, 2018.

This proposed measure would have different implications and impacts on smaller businesses. Pete Sittnick, chair of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, argues that the wage hike would actually make a larger disparity between tipped workers and back-of-the-house employees. Rather than help solve income inequality issues, this measure would only worsen the situation.

Gwyneth  Borden, executive director of the GGRA also shares similar views on the measure, stating that, “It is extremely frustrating when those most impacted by these laws are not part of the decision; even more so, as labor has collective bargaining agreements, so the minimum wage really doesn’t apply to them — just our members toiling to make ends meet.”

 

To read more about the proposal and its implications, click here

Filed Under: Global Market Buzz

New App Means New Competition for Fast Casual

June 11, 2014 by Leave a Comment

In an effort to add more emphasis on speed and hospitality, BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse launched an app last Tuesday that allows diners to place their orders before arriving at the restaurant. BJ’s Chief Executive Gregory Trojan believes that being hospitable is the most important task for a waiter. The casual-dining restaurant chain’s goal in launching the app is to shift the wait staff’s duties to enable them to focus on being more conscientious of the customer.

The customer is placed on the wait list once they have ordered via the app, eliminating the need to wait at the host stand upon arriving at the restaurant. The kitchen fires the meal once the customer is seated to ensure the food is hot when it arrives at the table. The app also offers a mobile payment option at the end of the meal eliminating the need to wait for the check.Trojan assures that the app will not mean less waiters but simply that the waiters will be removed from the ordering process.

The increase in speed and service will be an added draw to the customer which will enable BJ’s to better compete with fast casual establishments. Panera Bread and McDonald’s have also been experimenting with different ways to include the customer to streamline the ordering process.

 

To read more about the app launch and what it means for the future click here

 

Filed Under: Global Market Buzz, Operations Tagged With: , , ,

Breaking into the Breakfast Business

June 10, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Breakfast is probably one of the more routinized aspects of our daily lives. According to CivicScience.Inc, 61% of consumers eat breakfast at home, but rather than attempting to convert this group, establishments should jump on the opportunity to offer breakfast-on-the-go. Starbucks and McDonald’s have mastered this area, especially given the convenience of the drive-thru which fast casual establishments simply do not have. Therefore, in order to be successful when launching into a breakfast venture, the consumer must feel it is worth spending a little extra time out of their morning in your establishment. A few ways to help achieve this is by introducing original menu items with new flavors and packaging, serving a great quality cup of coffee, ensuring a timely speed of service, and overall delivering on the consumer’s breakfast desires and expectations.

 

To read more about tips on how to tackle the breakfast opportunity, click here

 

Filed Under: Global Market Buzz Tagged With: , ,

Not So Secret Supper Clubs?

June 9, 2014 by Leave a Comment

When Airbnb first launched, the concept of choosing to spend your vacation in a stranger’s home seemed completely odd. Now that this is no longer considered as irregular, Airbnb has set itself a new challenge: to make dining in a stranger’s home somewhat mainstream. Airbnb is launching a pilot program in the San Francisco Bay area where it will allow home cooks to host a home cooked meal in their own homes. Home-sharing was originally a tough sell, but this could definitely prove to be a bigger challenge. Tourists most likely will want to explore the restaurant and bar scene of their destination, but perhaps this service could add a completely new dimension to the dining experience. From a diner’s point of view the experience could potentially be awkward depending on varying degrees of interaction with the hosts and a from a host’s point of view, cooking and entertaining is a lot more labor-intensive than simply rendering the keys to your home for a home stay.

To read more about this experiment and what it could mean for the restaurant sector click here

 

Filed Under: Global Market Buzz, Openings Tagged With:

Mobile Payment Solutions Explained

June 9, 2014 by Leave a Comment

This past Thursday, our team at Tarapaige Group attended a Webinar event about mobile payments hosted by LevelUp and QSR magazine. Lysa Chen, Marketing Director of Chop’t and Michael Hagan, COO of LevelUp, shared their insights into how to avoid mistakes big brands are making, how to drive revenue, and how to achieve a successful customer adoption.

A few mistakes big brands are making in their implementation of mobile payment apps is that they are creating the app off of a loadable gift card model. What this means is that although the app is free in the app store, the customer is then being asked to invest in the brand via the price tag for their gift card. The redemption methods are also confusing as the customer must open the app, log in, load the gift card which has a numerical code and then give this code to the cashier. If after this whole process the cashier is not aware or trained, it will result in a very frustrated customer. It is important that the staff is trained and that the app provide more value than a gift card or than simply swiping a credit or debit card.

Lysa Chen stressed upon the power of promotion for a successful implementation. She suggested creating campaigns for app adaption such as loyalty programs and a way to earn and redeem rewards. She recommended a “spend x get y” loyalty program to drive revenue as opposed to a “10th visit get a free item” approach because this limits the potential of the additional spend.  Chop’t also launched an acquisition contest to celebrate the app whereby every transaction made by the customer  using the mobile app was automatically entered to win $100. Another one of Chop’t’s best practices was to distribute FAQ flyers to the customers and have the staff in the queue engaging with the guests directly to promote the app.

Most importantly, when implementing a mobile payment system the emphasis should be put on the ease of use in the digital experience and improving overall efficiency. The goal is to add as much value to the app as possible and to apply campaigns based on the insights received on customer behavior. Lysa Chen and Michael Hagaan drove these points home in what was a very informative and helpful Webinar event.

Filed Under: Events, Global Market Buzz Tagged With:

Hope is not a Strategy!

June 6, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Costs are at an all time high affecting every single ingredient in the kitchen. In order to not feel dispirited, it is important to put a good strategy in place to deal with the unreliable nature of the supply chain. Last month at the National Restaurant Association Show, a group of experts in the industry shared some advice and knowledge for operators both large and small on how to navigate these uncertainties. Picking the right type of distribution system, choosing a capable distributor and communicating with your partners are all crucial factors to maximizing your supply chain strategy. It is key to always be conscious of future problems that could arise in order to protect your operations.

To read more about the emerging issues and how to tackle them, click here

Filed Under: Global Market Buzz, Local Market Buzz, Operations Tagged With:

Advancement of Mobile Payments in the Restaurant Industry

June 5, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Starbucks was the first to adopt mobile payments back in 2011, and now other brands are quickly getting on board. As mobile payments become increasingly more available, customers will begin to expect the service, so brands are now navigating through their options on how to launch their own mobile payment systems. At a panel held last week by the National Restaurant Association, brand representatives stated that mobile payments are moving toward the mass adoption stage and are no longer in the early stages.

Mobile payments offer the benefit of providing an insight into consumer’s purchasing behaviors and this information in turn can be used to influence such behaviors in order to better engage with the customer. Mobile payments also mean lower interchange rates and more secure payments. Restaurant brands will need to explore different technologies that can help facilitate payments at the point-of-sale and decide which will be a good fit.

Here are just a few of these types of technologies:

  • NFC
  • QR code presentment
  • QR code scan
  • Single use number
  • iBeacon technology

To read more about the benefits of mobile and the technologies, click here

 

Filed Under: Global Market Buzz, Local Market Buzz, Trending Now Tagged With: ,
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