On November 17, Cohn Reznick will host the next installation in the MBA series titled “Mastering the Business of Running a Restaurant.”  This month, they will be discussing food allergens, with an emphasis on gluten, and managing menus accordingly.  The speakers will be Betsy Craig, CEO and Co-Founder of MenuTrinfo, and Greg Remeikis, of CohnReznick.

To register for the webinar, sign up here.

While the restaurant industry is booming with many new competitors in the field, many are lacking good staff in kitchen that can produce high demand quality foods without the Chefs. This side effect has become an important factor for the restaurant industry as it shifts the type of restaurants Chefs are now tending to open. Many underpaid chefs are leaving their “425 square foot Bushwick studio to open ramen and friend chicken fusion joints. Hooni Kim, chef owner of Hanjan and Danji, said he’s given up on expecting that “line cooks will be able to season correctly.” His new dishes are ones that he can make himself in advance and the line cooks heat when serving.

Openings for junior jobs like prep cook and line cooks are taking longer to fill because applicants are showing weaker skills. While applicants are under performing, they are also expecting more from positions. Stagiaries, aspiring cooks, once begged for unpaid internships but ow are leaving after a day of work or not showing up at all. These trends have become a major crisis for chefs and restaurateurs. The shortage has effected hiring in restaurants. Eventually, for some, it is even affecting their food and forcing them to simplify dishes.

The lack of eligible stagiaries is creating a shift in restaurants to where they are simplifying their foods and creating basic scalable restaurant concepts.

To read more, click here.

Maple is a newly launched service where food is prepared in a commissary kitchen in Brooklyn, then is delivered in a network of neighborhood delivery kitchen hubs. David Chang, a major influence in the New York City restaurant industry, is a partner with Maple delivery services and its products. When it launched in April, it only delivered below Chambers Street. However, starting tomorrow, Maple will expand its delivery zone to serve parts in West Village, Greenwich Village, SoHo, Tribeca, Lolita, and Little Italy. CEO Caleb Merkl said “The thing about growth for us is that, because we actually are building out the infrastructure with more neighborhood kitchens, the reality is a we gain more density, the model actually gets even better.”

The lunch and dinner options will cost $12 and $15 respectively. There will be new signature green juice, drinks selections, and dessert collaborations with Christina Tosi. Menus include dishes like wild albacore tuna nicoise salad, lamb kofta with coriander yogurt vinaigrette, spicy shrimp stew, and herb grilled garlic chicken, and smoked-brisket sandwich, peppered pro steak, and red-wine braised short ribs.

Maple’s concept is that all food is made to travel, and kitchens are optimized so orders arrive in 30 minutes or less. “You get online, you order, and there’s basically a giant marketing channel that pushes an order onto a restaurant, and that restaurant wasn’t necessarily built with delivery in mind,” Merkl says.

To read more, click here.

Anheuser-Busch inBev, one of the largest brewing companies that make different beers including Budweiser, Stella Artois, Corona, Michelob Ultra, Beck’s, Goose Island, Bud Lite Lime-a-Rita, has recently proposed a merger with SABMiller, another major brewing company that produces beers like Coors, Coors Light, Blue Moon, Miller. SABMiller has agreed with AB InBev’s terms to pay $104 billion in the deal. This merger will result in annual revenues of $64 billion that is potentially 30 percent of beer sales around the world.

While the terms to the deal has been agreed by both companies, the “mega-company” will inevitably face regulations that will change the logistics of the ‘new’ company. However, independent craft brewers will not be facing greater issues to stand as a competing brewer in the industry.

To read more, click here.

Starbucks has implemented a mobile payment system with Apple Pay. The iPhone’s digital wallet is already an option in restaurants like Panera Bread, and other restaurants with OpenTable. While Apple Pay will be available to all Starbucks locations already, Starbucks already has other mobile payment systems. Starbucks believes mobile payment systems will be a rising trend, and be the future of their sales. Already, 20 percent of in-store sales are made by mobile devices. Tim Cook proclaimed 2015 will be the year of Apple Pay. Starbucks already integrated a version of Apple pay that lets customers refill their “Starbucks Card” through the mobile application.

Apple pay will be further expanding its services to not only Starbucks but also is coming to KFC and Chili’s in the next year.

To read more, click here.

JetBlue Airways is building a farm at John F. Kennedy International Airport as a result of a multi-year effort between GrowNYC, a non-profit environmental group. The efforts to build a 24,000 square foot farm outside Terminal 5 is primarily intended to create a more organic landscape and to be used as an educational tool to teach people about farming. JetBlue hopes to invite local students and airline customers to learn about agricultural growth. Moreover, for their food menu to be more transparent for customers.

Restaurants within JetBlue’s terminals will have access to use herbs and produce harvested from the new farm. JetBlue is, also, planning to produce their signature blue Terra Chips from the Adirondack blue potatoes grown at JFK.

The farm will grow chives, basil, carrots, mints, arugala and potatoes. Because of safety issues, produce that attract birds and animals will not be harvested- grains, seeds, berries and tomatoes. The farm is expected to yield over 1,000 pounds of potatoes every four to six months.

The new development for JetBlue creates bigger impact on global awareness in the agricultural, organic industry and potentially builds better brand equity.

To read more, click here.

In honor of National Coffee Day, Square released generalized data related to both consumer trends and operational strategies among thousands of U.S. cafes. Square is a popular point-of-sale systems and analytics provider. The report released by Square is broken down into four main topics- Most popular coffee drinks across the country, customers’ average tipping percentage by state, average coffee drink costs broken down by U.S. region, and peak times on weekends vs. weekdays.

The most popular coffee drink in U.S. cafés is hot coffee. Majority of U.S. consumers order hot coffee at just over 51%. However, it is reported that iced coffee comes is a mere 2% which is less than chai or hot chocolate. This can reflect the lack of differentiation in the menu as reflected through POS systems, or that Americans are straying away from cold coffee.

Through data analysis on tipping per state, it is reported that North Dakota has the biggest tips. In general, it appears that consumers in the South, the Southwest, the Rockies and the Midwest are more generous with their tips, whereas consumers in much of the Northeast have proven to be the stingiest. New Hampshire consumers placed last in the Union, while Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont were close runner-ups.

The average drink costs by U.S. Region can be determined through the reports released by Square. Every region has difference in prices, widely affected by the demands of the consumer. While the Mid Atlantic has the highest average cost out of all the regions in terms of their Americano, the price of their Mocha is significantly less than other regions. This can be the effects of less demand of Mocha. Moreover, the Pacific Coast has one of the higher average coasts for Chai, while their Americanos are cheaper than other regions due to the trends of Chai in the Pacific region.

Lastly, peak times on weekends and weekdays can be observed. 8:30 AM is the peak on weekdays while 9:45 is the peak on weekends. Moreover it has been noted that a number of cafés are opening around 4:30 AM on weekdays. Square also notes that tea sales increase by an average of 45 percent after noon.

To read more, click here.

Shake Shack had just released their Chicken Sandwiches this past summer adding a new item on their menu. Now, Dupont Circle Shake Shack is dedicating a special burger to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of Every Day with Rachael Ray, the Pickled Jalapeño Burger. Shake Shack is incorporating Rachael’s favorite flavors like picked jalapeños. The tribute Pickled Jalapeño Burger ($6.19) is a cheeseburger topped with crispy marinated shallots, Gordy’s Thai basil pickled jalapeños and Sriracha sauce. The burger was created by Shake Shack, Culinary Director Mark Rosati, Rachael Ray, and nine other chefs.

Shake Shack has also released their recipe for the Pickled Jalapeño Burger in the 10th Anniversary issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray ( November 2015 edition). The burger will be available at the Dupont Circle Shack in Washington, DC form Tuesday 10/13 through Sunday, 10/18 only.

To read more, click here.

Burger King has introduced it’s proposal for a collaboration with McDonalds last week, and while McDonald’s rejected their proposal many other fast food chains have reached out to Burger King in effort to partner with their Whopper to raise awareness for International Peace Day. Burger King has finally decided to forgo the McWhopper, and instead created a collaboration effort with the companies that have reached out to Burger King- Denny’s, Krystal, Wayback Burgers, Giraffas.

Burger King initially created packaging that contained both McDonald’s theme and Burger King’s but for this campaign, has resorted to a blue box labeled with “PEACE DAY BURGER.” Burger King has released that “Naturally, peace is all-inclusive and open to all…we’d like to build on your individual proposals to collaborate on Peace Day.” The one-day pop up store is already under construction and will be held in Atlanta.

Burger King has released their official offer through their social media platforms like twitter, and within five minutes Denny’s has agreed “we’re in! let’s hash it out over some hash browns.” While other companies have not confirmed their participating in the Peace Day Burger, many are anticipating this event.

To read more, click here.