Food

Got a surly server? That’s all right; customers won’t care once they taste their food. That’s what many restaurateurs believe, anyway. Here’s the cold truth: great food can’t make up for less-than-stellar service. Customers complain more about personal service than food quality, Jay Baer found in his research for “Hug Your Haters: How to Embrace Complaints and Keep Your Customers.”

“There seems to be an under-emphasis in employee training and employee skills in comparison to the emphasis on product quality,” Baer tells Nation’s Restaurant News.

How can restaurateurs fix this? Look to the best. Here are seven secrets of customer service all-stars. 

Even giants stumble. The past few years have brought huge shakeups in the foodservice industry, as fast-casual dining and technology innovations have dramatically altered customers’ expectations for eating out. As a result, big chains like Pizza Hut, Applebee’s and McDonald’s have had to change their game plans to regain the popularity they once took for granted.  

Here’s a look at what can smaller chains and independent operators can learn from the turnaround efforts of America’s biggest restaurant companies.

Imagine if every third customer to your restaurant ordered a meal, looked at the plate, then immediately threw it away.

That's pretty much what's happening. A whopping 25 to 40 percent of food that is grown, processed and transported in the United States will never be eaten. Around 80 billion pounds of food ended up in landfills last year, the Food Waste Reduction Alliance estimates, and 43 percent of that waste comes from restaurants and institutions.

Foodservice industry groups are working to reduce barriers to food recycling and donation efforts. But there's also a lot that individual restaurant companies can do. Here are six ideas for restaurant food waste management.

Freshëns was fast casual before fast casual was cool.

Founded in 1985 as a frozen-yogurt store, Freshëns found its niche serving health-conscious students on college campuses. Now, it's the largest yogurt and smoothie company in the nation. Hamilton Beach Commercial is proud to support its growth by providing high-performance blenders, drink mixers and more.  

How has Freshëns continued to capture the 18-24-year-old niche while staying true to its brand? We talked to Joe Sardina, Vice President of Operations, to find out.

Jeff Saxman is a local commercial photographer here in Richmond, VA who has been working with Hamilton Beach Commercial for several years. His blog recently took us behind the scenes on a photo shoot for our upcoming HBF1100 series, the newest member of our EXPEDITOR™ Family of Culinary Blenders. Read on to learn more about what it takes to create vibrant and interesting product photography.

 

FeedMore's Community Kitchen, located in Richmond, prepares more than 3,000 nutritious meals each weekday.

Stewed tomatoes. Macaroni. Stir-fried cabbage.

Haute cuisine it's not; but in the hands of Chef Amory James and his army of volunteers in hairnets, home-style recipes like these change lives. Every day, FeedMore's Community Kitchen in Richmond, Virginia, dishes out more than 3,000 healthy meals for the region's needy children, elderly and homebound clients. We asked Chef James for a few pro tips and took a look behind the scenes of this innovative nonprofit.

The chefs spoke. And we listened.

Chefs in kitchens around the world told us they needed an advanced culinary blender at their side. They needed a blender that was versatile enough to allow them precise control, but had enough power to handle all the fresh ingredients that are the mainstay of modern kitchens. Most importantly, they needed a blender that could unleash their creativity and help them to put their signature of flavor in every dish, no matter what the style of cuisine. We took note of everything they said — and we delivered.

We're not quite ready to trade our morning mug of coffee for a hot cup of bone broth, or our blueberry muffin for a gluten-free scone. But your customers might be.

The paleo diet has grown to become "one of the most influential dietary trends in the country, with as many as three million followers and a disproportionate cultural influence," reports Salon. And as many as one in five Americans include gluten-free foods in their diets, Gallup found.

Considering altering your menu so you can join the ranks of paleo restaurants or gluten-free restaurants? Here's a look at the dos and don'ts for restaurateurs.

The days of plain roller dogs and two pots of coffee are over. In the realm of food and beverages, convenience stores can no longer stick to the tried and true.

For millennials, especially, it's all about customization, says Joe Chiovera, principal at XS Foodservice & Marketing Solutions and a 19-year c-store veteran: "It's not only in the ingredients, it's when I want it and how I want it." Toasted, pressed, cold, in a bowl, in a burrito or bunless? Young customers are accustomed to having options.

Here's what convenience store companies need to know about adding customized beverage and food offerings. 

Saddled with student loans, stuck in low-wage jobs, supremely geeked out and still living with their parents — millennials, at least as they are painted by the headlines, don’t appear to be the best prospects for restaurateurs. But look beyond the stereotypes and it’s clear that millennials, who were born between 1979 and 2000, love to eat out. They're dedicated foodies who eat in restaurants nearly 10 times per month — significantly more than Gen Xers or boomers. They currently account for 22 to 24 percent of restaurant spending in the US, and they are expected to account for 40 percent by 2020.