A website for food service directors has a feature on preparing paperwork correctly for a food safety program. The writer covers Virginia Tech, which recently hired a second person to handle its Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HAACP) program. One task is to make sure the food staff keeps detailed logs about when the food was delivered to when it was eaten. The VT group keeps this information for two months in case a student delays telling the school she got sick after eating at its facility.

Key Takeaways:

• It is important to take note of all foods consumed over a time period in case of illness or outbreak.
• Employees who work in food service need to take basic food safety classes so that they are prepared within their job.
• The structures of food safety and handling are always changing and modifying to provide the best service experiences.

“It’s important to assess the structure of a food safety program—and to know what’s required, and what’s just good to have on hand.”

Read more: http://www.foodservicedirector.com/managing-your-business/ensuring-food-safety/articles/planning-food-safety-paperwork

If you are having an event of some kind you may be wondering about baked goods. They are delicious and people really seem to like them a lot. But what kind should you offer? What will people like vs. what will they pass up? If you are looking to sell baked goods or just offering them at a party or gathering of some type then you should focus on indulgent ingredients. Thinks like fudge, dark chocolate, red velvet. Things that stand out.

Key Takeaways:

• Nation’s Restaurant News has a feature, Ask The Artisan, sponsored by Dawn Foods, designed to answer baking questions.
• One tip offered by Ask The Artisan was the fact that many baked good snacks are eaten on the go.
• For this reason, it’s a good idea to create and sell baked goods that are highly portable.

“Research shows indulgence is the leading motivator for purchasing snacks so consider rich ingredients and flavors, such as a red velvet cupcake or fudge brownie”

Read more: http://www.nrn.com/ask-artisan/what-types-baked-snacks-should-we-offer

A website for food service directors has a piece on performance reviews. The account records two opinions on this practice. One director feels the annual performance session is out of style. He prefers to have short meetings with employees on a regular basis. In addition, he will talk to the group on occasion. Another director feels the practice is still useful. He feels the review need not be one sided, and invites the employee to give his or her feedback.

Key Takeaways:

• Most workers and supervisors consider yearly evaluations to be outdated
• Regular performance evaluations add more value than once a year evaluations and can be useful to set achievable timelines for goals
• The review should be a back-and-forth that allows both the employee to talk about their accomplishments and to critique the supervisor

“In the hectic pace of a dining environment, taking time to sit down one-on-one for a designated review requires real planning, but is still valuable, says Tom Driscoll, associate director for housing and director of food services for the University of Oregon in Eugene.”

Read more: http://www.foodservicedirector.com/managing-your-business/managing-staff/articles/reduce-performance-review-anxiety

According to the National Restaurant Association, middle-class job growth in the restaurant industry has increased nearly four times stronger than the U.S. economy as a whole. Specifically, restaurant jobs grew 25 percent from March 2010 through February 2017. Currently, the restaurant industry is leading in both total job growth and middle class job growth.

Because of the need for scheduling flexibility in the restaurant world, the majority of restaurant employees are part-time. Only about 44 percent of restaurant employees work full-time/full-year schedules. Yet, from 2010 through 2015, restaurants added 5.4 percent of all middle class jobs in the U.S.

Key Takeaways:

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which monitors US employment numbers, suggest that the most recent employment recovery of the US economy began around March 2010, proceeding until about February 2017.
• In the half-decade between 2010 and 2015, it was noted that jobs, featuring total annual incomes between $45,000 and $74,999, in the restaurant sector, boomeranged by almost 50%.
• Interestingly, due to the nature of the business, less than half of those employed in the restaurant sector, are full time employees.

“Not only are restaurants among the leaders in total job growth, they are also adding middle class jobs at a much stronger rate than the overall economy.”

Read more: https://www.restaurantnewsresource.com/article94029.html

The restaurant industry is struggling first quarter in the economy. While March was a upswing in sales for the industry it still was quite lacking. Sales performances have been dropping year after year and they were down eleven of the last twelve months. This is a scary trend for many. There is so much competition out there and traffic has been down over 3% this quarter. Summer is a bit of a up tick so there is still hope but the trend overall continues.

Key Takeaways:

• Restaurant sales are still down in march despite an increase in sales from the previous month
• Staffing for restaurants proves to be a huge hurdle for all owners.
• The economy in 2017 is improving and the restaurant business is following along that trend

“March did represent an improvement versus the prior month. Although still negative, sales improved by 2.5 percentage points compared to February.”

Read more: http://www.nrn.com/sales-trends/q1-restaurant-sales-performance-disappoints-despite-march-improvements