Check averages go up on and around Feb. 14, but while guests may open their wallets for a pricey dinner, tips take a dip. Couples are generous about opening their wallets for pricey tasting menus and dinners on Valentine’s Day. But that generosity doesn’t extend to tipping. According to recent data from POS platform Lightspeed,… read more

As the new year unfolds, it brings the anticipation of new hires and heightened activity among the hospitality industry gearing up for the bustling spring and summer seasons. But with the promise of busy season comes a looming concern: the widespread labor shortage. Despite offering competitive wages and benefits, the hospitality industry’s struggle to adequately… read more

Can the food & beverage industry capitalize on a slightly more stable landscape in 2024 and grow volume, not just dollar sales? It may seem like a broken record or some strange rewrite of the movie “Groundhog Day,” but as the food & beverage industry moves into 2024, it does so with a sneakily similar… read more

The global license agreement will enable JDE to manufacture, market and sell Caribou-branded consumer and foodservice coffee products. JDE Peet’s, which claims to be the world’s largest pure-play coffee and tea company, inked a long-term global license agreement to manufacture, market and sell Caribou consumer and foodservice coffee products, excluding Caribou coffeehouses. That means JDE… read more

Highly anticipated proposal to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus and other pollutants in meat and poultry plant wastewater discharge takes steps to protect small processors, but some wish EPA did more sampling even for the large establishments. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday released its proposal to amend regulations on meat and poultry processors’ wastewater… read more

The National Restaurant Association and the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation named their 2024 board officers, directors, and trustees. Jeff Lobdell, president and founder of Restaurant Partners Management, LLC., will serve as chair of the National Restaurant Association Board of Directors, and Shaun Beard, senior vice president of SAVOR Hospitality, will serve as chair of… read more

Restaurant owners should work to forecast their busy and slow seasons. With ever rising costs for supplies and staffing, there are important measures restaurant owners can take to navigate an uncertain economic climate in 2024. That being said, unemployment remains low across the country and consumer spending is strong despite higher interest rates. We expect… read more

Working Lunch: It promises to be an historic year politically, with plenty of pandering by candidates and action on a slew of issues, from service fees to credit-card processing charges. A week into the new year, government figures are already taking up a number of issues that could affect restaurants, from service fees to credit… read more

By proactively mitigating certain risks, restaurants will tap into AI’s true value. A one-size-fits-all approach isn’t what customers want. The restaurant industry finds itself at a crossroads, navigating a dynamic landscape fraught with supply chain disruptions, economic instability, labor scarcity, and evolving customer tastes, requiring unprecedented agility. Enter artificial intelligence (AI), whose meteoric rise was… read more

Overall restaurant employment surpassed pre-pandemic levels, but the extent of the industry’s recovery varies significantly by segment. Restaurant job growth was choppy in recent months, but the latest data suggests the industry finally returned to pre-pandemic employment levels in November. That was thought to be the case in September, before the preliminary data was revised… read more