The saying goes that first impressions are everything. Huxley’s restaurant took this advice to heart, and began steadily working towards dramatically improving the aesthetic appeal that their customers receive upon entering. The outcome, as can be guessed, was an increase in their sales revenues and attendance at the restaurant on a weekly and monthly basis.

Key Takeaways:

• The Casual Dining Group (CDG) claims a rebrand of its British restaurant Huxley’s at Heathrow has helped turn it into one of its best-performing sites.
• Lewis-Thomas commissioned design agency Eat with Your Eyes to give the 150-cover all-day dining venue a new look and approach to help boost its appeal.
• Eat with Your Eyes decided to retain Huxley’s British essence, while giving it a fresh look, so based the rebrand around a combination of ‘Victorian heritage with modern London attitude and wit’.

“As well as a new-look, CDG, owner of the Las Iguanas, Cafe Rouge and Bella Italia brands, worked on improving Huxley’s food offering, introducing more healthier options, an improved children’s menu and gluten-free dishes.”

http://www.bighospitality.co.uk/Business/How-a-rebrand-of-Huxley-s-restaurant-led-to-a-16-sales-increase?utm_source=RSS_text_news&utm_medium=RSS_feed&utm_campaign=RSS_Text_News

Generation Z or otherwise known as millennials are made up of 82 million Americans.. They have a large purchasing power and a fifth of that money goes towards food. With this large population, they are influencing and shaping the restaurant industry. To stay competitive and appealing to millennials, these restaurants have to keep up with the latest trends such as social media accounts and splitting bills through digital services such as Venmo. This article illustrates all the different ways Generation X is changing the restaurant industry.

Key Takeaways:

• Generation Z is the cohort of roughly 82 million Americans who were born in 1996 and later, according to the Census Bureau’s 2015 population estimates.
• The youngest generation is shelling out a lot on dining. More than one-fifth of teens’ total budget goes toward food, according to Piper Jaffray’s fall 2016 “Taking Stock With Teens” survey, conducted by analysts at the investment firm.
• Gen Z doesn’t have a lot of patience. Teens prefer limited-service and fast-casual concepts at nearly a 50 percent greater rate than full-service restaurants, according to Piper Jaffray. Starbucks, Chipotle and Chick-fil-A are among Gen Z’s top five brands.

“The youngest generation is shelling out a lot on dining. More than one-fifth of teens’ total budget goes toward food, according to Piper Jaffray’s fall 2016 “Taking Stock With Teens” survey, conducted by analysts at the investment firm.”

http://www.restaurantnews.com/how-new-generation-z-is-shaping-the-restaurant-industry/

Across the USA many food workers are obtaining certifications to expand their knowledge base. According to Frank Turchan, executive chef at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor at “We have a lot of cooks that don’t have a formal culinary school training, but are hungry to learn more”. Cafeterias across the country are using these continuing education classes to certified participants on topics such as knife skills, soup and sauce preparation, recipe writing and allergen safety.

Key Takeaways:

• Certifications act as a powerful recruiting and retention tool
• they can also give insight to guests, the community and the industry about an operation’s direction and focus
• Check out the types of accreditation operators are chasing after in 2017.

“Last fall, Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, became one of the nation’s first operations with a certified gluten-free dining hall.”

http://www.foodservicedirector.com/managing-your-business/managing-staff/articles/certifications-should-be-your-radar

With increasing prices for gas, cable, and many other services like Netflix, many people are cutting costs across the board which means they won’t be going out and buying dinner from restaurants anytime soon. Restaurants are trying their very best to gain interest and foot traffic through their doors.

Key Takeaways:

• Instead, consumer spending on new services, like Netflix, could be taking up room in their budgets and leaving less for restaurants.
• Many costs have been rising in recent years. Apple released the iPhone in 2007, just before the recession, and helped unleash the smartphone craze.
• Gas prices likely helped boost restaurant sales last year, and it’s possible that one of the reasons for weak sales now is that consumers have adjusted their budgets.

“Instead, consumer spending on new services, like Netflix, could be taking up room in their budgets and leaving less for restaurants.”

http://www.nrn.com/consumer-trends/netflix-stealing-sales-restaurants

Food trucks are becoming commonplace in the 21st century. As a result, Farmers Insurance has rolled out a program that will provide these mobile food distributors the protection they need for their business, food, and means of transportation. Although a relatively new program, it remains to be one of the first of its kind, and serves a great deal of potential benefit for the company if all goes according to plan.

Key Takeaways:

• Farmers Insurance, one of the nation’s largest multiline insurer groups, announced the launch of an innovative food truck policy, marking the company’s first foray into the growing food truck insurance marketplace.
• Over the course of 2016, Farmers has introduced food truck insurance policies in a total of 29 states, with California being the last addition. The food truck policy is now available active in 29 states.
• The innovative Farmers food truck policy will offer food truck owners the option to obtain coverage for their truck or a truck attached to the stand-alone store.

“Farmers Insurance, one of the nation’s largest multiline insurer groups, announced the launch of an innovative food truck policy, marking the company’s first foray into the growing food truck insurance marketplace.”

https://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/farmers-announces-policy-insure-food-trucks