Fast-Food Strikes Planned across U.S. on Thursday

More strikes by fast-food workers are planned Thursday across the South and West Coast, with the protests reaching as many as 35 cities, including Memphis, Raleigh, and Los Angeles.  As in prior strikes, workers are asking for a wage of at least $15 per hour and the right to unionize.  The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.  The strikes originally began in New York last November, when 200 fast-food workers walked off the job in a one-day protest.  Since then, strikes and protests have spread to many other cities, such as Detroit, Chicago, and Kansas City.

Experts agree the protests and strikes are likely to continue spreading, despite limited gains since the movement’s inception and the low likelihood that all the workers’ demands will be met. Workers say they will continue to push for change in the right direction, even if their full demands are not met.

For more on this ongoing story, click here.

Restaurants Adapt to Increased Demand for Specialty Coffee

While the popularity of specialty coffee has been on the rise for years, with coffee retailers from Starbucks to the corner cafe adapting to the trend, restaurants have been slower to offer specialty beans or advanced brewing methods.  Recently, however, restaurants are beginning to realize that many consumers will in fact seek out and pay more for these elevated brews.  Many restaurants are now even offering pour-over coffee, a specialty method favored by a number high-end roaster/retailers and coffee bars.

For the full story on how restaurants are adapting to this trend, click here.

Fast Casual Chain Adopts Rooftop Garden Model

Hyper local sourcing is a major trend for fine-dining restaurants, many of whom have started their own rooftop gardens.  But Northeast chain B. Good has shown how the model can work for the fast casual segment.   The chain reports it has actually saved money growing their own produce, compared to buying it from local farms, but insists the benefits are broader than financial success.  The brand’s identity centers on sustainability and healthy food, so growing produce on-site “‘…reinforces what our brand is supposed to be about. Our customers will get really crazy about it,'” said B. Good co-founder Jon Olinto.

For the full story, click here.

On Pinterest and Retail: A Statistics Roundup

We’re big fans of Pinterest for retailers, and were amazed to see these stats that Digiday compiled, citing them as the  “belle of the social media ball for some retailers.”
Are you pinning? If so, please share your link in the comments below — we’d love to see!
Read the full article here.
As of February, Pinterest has 25 million users. (Business Insider)Sephora’s Pinterest followers spend 15 times more that its Facebook fans. (Venture Beat)In fashion and retail, 18 percent of content engagement on Pinterest is driven by brands, 82 percent by community. (Digitas)The best time for retailers and fashion brands to pin is Friday at 3pm ET. (Digitas)70 percent of brand engagement on Pinterest is generated by users, not brands. (Digitas)

Top brands in the fashion/retail space average 46 repins on every pin, proving that those who have a presence on Pinterest, are establishing an engaged following. (Digitas)

Pinterest shoppers are spending significantly more per checkout averaging between $140-$180 per order compared with consistent $80 and $60 orders for Facebook and Twitter shoppers, respectively. (Rich Relevance)

Pinterest’s share of referrals is highest in home and furnishings, accounting for up to 60 percent of all social traffic. (Rich Relevance)

U.S. consumers who use Pinterest follow an average of 9.3 retailers on the site. (Shop.org)

Pinterest pins that include prices receive 36 percent more likes than those that do not. (Shopify)

Moms are 61 percent more likely to visit Pinterest than the average American. (Nielsen)

81 percent of U.S. online consumers trust information and advice from Pinterest. (BlogHer)

U.S. Pinterest users are more likely to live in midwestern states than other social media users. (Internet Marketing)

Pinterest accounts for 25 percent of retail referral traffic. (Rich Relevance)

Average activity of popular pinners is 2,757 pins35 boardsfollowing 355. (Repinly)

Cold Facts About Ice Machines

In the heat of summer, you really appreciate your ice machine. It’s also a top target for health department inspections.

Restaurant Hospitality’s Dan Belman has written extensively on the subject here and here.

As he writes, if you choose the right ice maker for your restaurant, then do a few things to take care of it, this key piece of equipment should last easily 10 years.

Plumfare is Acquired By Groupon

Groupon has been increasing its interest in hospitality since its purchase of  Breadcrumb last year. Now Plumfare, the food sharing application, has been acquired by Groupon.

Plumfare prompts people to take pictures of their food and share them with friends. You’re able to gift those items to your network via SMS, email, or Facebook, only paying if your friend redeems the item.

Read the full story here.

Great Things Come in Small Packages: Smallbox Retail

Bigger isn’t always better. Would 200 square feet work for your business? Smallbox retail could be the answer. Many retailers seek out diminutive spaces, food courts, fairs, and the like to launch their product or brand.

Crain’s has in interesting take on the trend, which focuses on Baked By Melissa, Simply Sliders, Bisous Ciao Macarons, Meatball Obsession, Screme, and Imperial Woodpecker Sno-Balls. All based in New York, several cite Smorgasburg as making small seem possible.

Restaurant Hospitality Lists Top 25 Smaller Multiconcept Operators

Restaurant Hospitality, with the help of Technomic and its list of the Top 200 Leading Multiconcept Operators, has examined and established a list of the smaller players in the game— 25 of them –  ones who are creating, in their opinion, the most exciting restaurant concepts that others can’t wait to copy. The “Supercool” 25.

Read the list and get a closer look at each group, here.

One Ethiopian Bean’s Path to Specialty Roasters

Digging through the NPR summer archive, this story is a Coffee Week gem about a gem of a bean and how it got to Specialty status.

 

 

 

Social Media Sharing: Food & Drink is Top Hit

e heard today from Business Insider, according to their survey conducted in 2012, 46% of people spend 2-5 hours on their iPad during an average day, 25% spend one to two hours daily, and 13.5% spend less than one hour a day.

They followed up: In terms of social sharing, Facebook represents 17.1% of all content shared by iPad users, followed by Twitter with 15.7%. On iPhones, Facebook represents 66% and Twitter 15.8% of all sharing on social media.

Food and drink-related content accounts for 18% of all items shared, the most of any category, according to a classification scheme devised by ShareThis. Family and Parenting related items, which is the most shared category among Facebook’s iPhone users, accounts for 17% of all content shared by Pinterest’s iPad users.

BII pinterest ipad shareBII pinterest ipad categories

 

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