What I Learned This Year « All Before Coffee

As with every year when we talk about food and the hospitality industry, there’s lots of news. This year was no exception, but it was a challenge for many businesses to stay above water. Some didn’t make it. Money was tight and customers were careful. It was certainly not a year where everyone stood and waited for the world to change. It was a year of action, invention, and reinvention.

–Coupon use was way up–grocery stores doubled and tripled the value of coupons in response to consumer belt-tightening and renewed interest in home cooking. No longer did grocers rely solely on newspaper coupons, but they expanded their online coupon promotions. Who would have expected Whole Foods to aggressively participate in this type of endeavor? Not me. They did and became as serious about coupons and sales as any of their competitors.

–Grocers worked on their house brands and made them palatable and popular. The price differentiation between the big brands and the new house brands became a deciding factor for many shoppers. House brands scored well in this contest.

–Restaurants increased promotions such as half-priced wine nights and 3-course prix fixe menus. They strived to emphasize how they have changed and how they could respond to the new, emerging diner. The strategy continues with greater emphasis on value dining.

–Restaurants revamped their menus and placed a greater emphasis on small, shared plates. Restaurant Weeks, with their specialty menus for lunch and dinner, were expanded to become multi-week experiences and commonly became a fixture both in winter and summer.

–Food recalls became more frequent as we became more diligent in monitoring the possible health risks of numerous foods. It was a bad year for packaged ground beef and a bad year for government watchdogs who had not tightened the rules enough to stop a problem at the source. “Voluntary recalls” became popular responses to early questions.

–Value became an important focus whether we were talking about new-found wines, sparkling beverages that tasted like Champagne, or a regular cup of coffee. All food-related businesses and others in the hospitality industry understood the importance of repeat business and strived to wow consumers with their own loyalty programs.

It was a good year to write about COFFEE as so many health research studies confirmed my basic mantra: Another Espresso, please (Sure, there are numerous studies that question that wisdom).