This Sunday, December 8th from 1-6pm at the Astor Center Screening Room (399 Lafayette St.), Slow Foods will hold its third annual food vendor showcase featuring local producers. Samples will be offered and products available for purchase. Proceeds support Slow Foods NYC programs. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased here.
Umami Burger Founders Introduce “Build-Your-Own” Pizza
December 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment
In last week’s Enterprise Insight we discussed the benefits of assembly lines. On that note, the LA-based restaurant group that founded Umami burger announced their newest project 800 Degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria, making its way to New York in the near future. The model will be a “build-your-own” assembly-line-style fast-casual restaurant serving $5-$7 pizzas. The minds behind Umami burger know how to cater to customers’ fast-paced schedules; each pizza only take 1 minute to cook.
RFP Update: Brooklyn Culinary Incubator
December 5, 2013 by 9 Comments
Business Meals: Are Fast Casuals in Jeopardy?
December 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment
As of October, both the frequency and the check average of business meals has increased. Casual and Fine Dining restaurants have become the targets of diners eating out for business-related meals, according to a survey by Consumer Edge Insight.
David Decker, president of Consumer Edge Insight remarked, “A higher-spending business meal customer is a very welcome development for the high-end but also the middle tier of the restaurant industry. For fine-dining restaurants, one of their core customer segments is starting to visit restaurants more often and is more likely to be trading up to fine-dining than a year ago. While this is a smaller customer segment for most casual-dining restaurants in terms of traffic, the higher average spending among this group makes them an important segment to understand and target as much as possible given your brand.”
So what does this mean for limited-service concepts?
Limited-service restaurants wanting to target business diners should seek ways to overcome obstacles to being perceived as less desireable for business-meal occasions. One idea is to promote catering.
Fast Food Wage Strike: $15/Hour
December 3, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Fast food employees are on strike, seeking a wage increase of $15/hour. This Thursday the Strikes are expected to occur nationwide in 100 cities, and protests will take place in 100 more. With this information, companies have the foresight to plan around the inconvenience, which will be unavoidable with employees’ participation in strikes and protests in 200 cities.
So Long, Sabrett
December 3, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The Parks Department’s private conservancy board is cracking down on the appearance of Washington Square Park’s food vendors. Apparently the hot dog carts are too “unsightly,” and they therefore no longer have a home in the Park. Mario Batali’s Otto gelato cart and the popular N.Y. Dosas cart still have license to stay, and Melt will soon join them, selling gourmet ice-cream sandwiches. We’ll miss hot dogs in the Park!
The Environmental Revolution: Sugar Cane Plates
December 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The New York Times reported that the Urban School Food Alliance, a committee made up of six big-city school systems nationwide, has initiated a sustainability pilot program. The preliminary initiative is switching from plastic trays to plates made from sugar cane. These recyclable plates cost 11 cents more per plate to manufacture and take slightly longer, but there’s no denying the positive message it reinforces to children about the importance of being environmentally conscious amongst other eco-friendly benefits. A few schools in Miami have already made the switch to sugar cane plates. The next project will be switching over to antibiotic-free chicken. Completely revamping school systems’ food programs nationwide sets the precedent for other institutions including hospitals and universities. Perhaps it won’t be too long after all before all restaurants nationwide enforce sustainable practices.
10 Food Terms that Have Lost Meaning
December 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Huffington Post compiled a list of food terms that have become void of meaning. This is in large part from commercial companies throwing around terms for marketing purposes without considering their actual meanings— like the word “natural” which has no formally recognized definition. It’s also because these adjectives have become omnipresent in general, so consumers have stopped questioning their significance. The list includes:
- Artisan/Artisanal
- Local
- Natural
- Farm-To-Table
- Authentic
- Gourmet
- New American
- Modern
- Fusion
- Sustainable
Healthy Eating Habits: Messages in Receipts
November 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment
TaraPaige Group hopes you had a happy and healthy Thanksgiving! Now that it’s the day after, many of us still have food on our mind— specifically in the context of how to lose that post-Turkey bloat. Studies from Bloomberg show that healthful tips printed on fast-food receipts actually influence consumers’ decisions. In contrast, consumers have reacted indifferently to caloric content posted next to food items on fast-food menus. Consumers can also personalize the types of messages they receive on their receipts, similar to the customization offered on Netflix. This is in thanks to Nutricate receipts, a program in which the chain Burgerville already witnessed improvements in consumer choices.
Eataly Chicago Opens Next Week
November 27, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Chicago will welcome Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich’s gargantuan Italian market, Eataly, on December 2nd. Not only is this Eataly 30% larger than the original New York location, but it will also feature a Nutella bar to sate customers’ “spuntino,” or snack, cravings and a white tablecloth restaurant, “Baffo,” set to open December 10th, that will serve higher-end delicacies including fresh pastas and salumi.
paigepapers.com 