Restaurants have played a significant role in many life events. Whether the occasion is a simple dinner or a grand wedding, people hold intimate or social gatherings in these venues. This fact makes restaurant trends important to anyone who owns a fine-dining or casual-dining business.
If you’ve launched a restaurant business or have signed up for a food franchise opportunity in 2019, you’ll need to keep up with upcoming trends to survive and thrive in the succeeding years. By doing so, you can attract potential diners looking for something new and provide regular or loyal customers with a superior dining experience.
Here are a few of the trends you should watch in 2020:
Customers Putting More Value on Transparency and Health
According to a report by Nielsen, transparency is a major driving force affecting consumer buying behavior. People want to know everything that goes into the food they purchase and consume. The saying “you are what you eat” means so much more to consumers today.
Besides transparency, more consumers are looking to eat healthily. A report published by the NPD group, a market research firm, revealed that a quarter of adults in the United States are doing their best to manage their health by being careful about the food that goes inside their bodies. Additionally, these people see food as medicine. They want to eat dishes that can manage (or perhaps even cure) illnesses.
Restaurant Customers Want Healthy Food Options
Still on the subject of health, people who choose to eat in restaurants opt for healthier eating options. More consumers prefer dishes that fill up their stomachs and benefit their overall health. Factors, including rising costs in health care, aging, and growing interest in diet-based wellness, are getting people to eat healthily.
If you’re running a food business, consider introducing functional foods in your menu. Apart from delivering essential nutritional benefits, these foods help improve health, such as lowering cholesterol or regulating blood sugar.
You, for instance, can serve dishes that use fermented ingredients, such as kimchi. An article from Forbes reported that the consumption of fermented foods soared by as much as 149 percent in 2018.
If you’re thinking about beverages, go beyond serving standard or flavored water. Opt for healthy drinks, such as cold-pressed juice and kombucha (fermented tea).
Staff Turnover Still a Bigger Problem
The attrition situation in the restaurant sector is highly problematic. An article by CNBC revealed that the turnover rate in the industry is a whopping 130 percent. This situation can cost companies thousands of dollars per staff.
The reason for such a high employee turnover is due to the growth of the economy. Extended economic growth resulted in a tight labor market for restaurant operators.
On top of that, restaurant owners have been heavily dependent on the HR model of “attrition-proof” jobs. Restaurateurs, in the past, didn’t worry about replacing anyone in their business. It is because the positions in the food industry were easy to fill. This, unfortunately, is no longer the case today. The evolving labor market and business landscapes mean that no role is turnover-proof.
A simple solution for attrition is to follow HR best practices to control staff turnover. That includes providing employees with competitive compensation, a fantastic benefits package, and opportunities for growth.
Being transparent with the food you serve to customers, adding healthy food options to your menu, and reducing staff attrition are just a few of the things you do to keep pace with the 2020 restaurant trends. These trends will help you start the year (and the decade) on the right foot.