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Upselling is Back

Jan 18

Posted by admin in dining out, Economy, food universe, life | No Comments

In the old world, as defined as a few years ago, the economy was flush and diners happily supported the restaurant industry without a blink about fancy meals and high price tabs. It was the world, and upselling was a prevalent theme. Make that “a problem.” Yes, waiters never seemed to tire of the million strategies to drive the bill. Then the recession hit and waiters, too, were happy to serve tap water or let diners share an entree. With the first visible positive signs of economic change or potential stability, waiters have returned to the 1000 ways to enhance your dinner or drive up the tab; your call as to how to define the strategy: rhythm or an incessant drumbeat from an earlier era?

Take a recent outing where the waiter quickly moved himself into the annoying corner as he seemed to meet resistance with his every ploy. Sparkling water became a spigot that was never shut off. You know how I feel about the restaurant versions of still and sparkling without a cost to the consumer.

When the waiter moved to a more profitable part of the menu as he  tried to sell truffles a thousand ways, he lost everyone at the banquette. The group preferred a conversation rather than a lesson in pricing or slicing. He was unstoppable as he moved through menu gyrations with the almost musical tone, “we could just add a thin truffle slice to make the dish purr.” Seriously, uninterested and turned off by this overpowering display of in-your-face possibilities. Let us dine. Let us relax and chat and welcome our dining choice rather than secretly dread the restaurant decision.  Did he mention the cost? No need; there were no bites at the table. He quickly tried another approach, also an unsuccessful strategy as he encouraged additional courses. He asked, “Is that it?” Not smooth; not impressive, and not a winning tool.

Yes, dining out can be complicated and expensive with rising food costs and creative plating as chefs struggle with all matters of pricing.  Yet, the annoyingly, cloying waiter needs to remain a caricature and not make a visible presence tableside. Let the diners’ imaginations go wild and let them initiate as in, “could I have the truffle atop that salad, or…”.  You get the picture. Food is expensive enough at high-tiered restaurants without the nagging upsell that has again entered the market space.

Let’s all be hospitable and relax.

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Hotels Elevate the Food Experience

Jun 20

Posted by admin in beverages, coffee, Economy, news, Starbucks, tourism, travel | No Comments

We have spent a lot of time talking about high food prices and equating that to the continual stalemate of economic progress: The reality of doom and gloom. Yet, another indicator has emerged from the doldrums. This time the specific focus is on the travel industry. Hotels that were giving away rooms not that long ago are now more inclined to raise prices and offer pluses to lure you inside. Travel has always been a strong indicator of economic growth, and with the uptick in business travel, leisure has started to fill rooms, too.

What special benefits can hotels offer to distinguish themselves? That is an ongoing industry, marketing question. Hyatt jumped up to the plate with a Welcome Credit. Depending on the number of nights, the monetary reward could be as high as $150. A guest should have no problem enjoying spending the money on the property. Hello, steak dinner.

If you’re Vegas-bound, you have the universe of selections as hotels are tripping over each other with good deals as their economy still lags. Once you settle on a property, take a stroll down the Strip and dine to your heart’s content as a whole coterie of big-deal chefs continue to wine and dine the visitor. It seems no end is in sight as to the restaurant potential in Vegas. Corby Kummer finds that the food now matches the hype! Jose Andres followers take note: The famous chef continues to research and study the history of foods. His latest education turns his palate to Chinese food. Washington, DC, which feels a certain hometown national pride over Andres’s food empire, will readily welcome a good Chinese restaurant, or two.

Let’s not forget coffee. In-room coffee service has been heavily scrutinized, and criticized, for its questionable cleanliness standards. Hotels have fought back with lobby coffee partnerships that promise a respectable cup of coffee. Marriott Hotels have various coffee partnerships depending on the brand. Newer or refurbished Courtyards offer Starbucks in the Bistro, and the higher-end properties (JW Marriott, Renaissance) may have taken coffee to a new height: An Espressamente Illy., a true coffee experience. The logic is quite simple: Keep the money in the property rather than watch guests stroll down the block and return to the hotel with someone else’s cup.

Sure small refrigerators and minibars stocked with a guest’s pre-ordered items (Hilton) are popular, but what’s better than good food and a great cup of coffee? OK, a lovely wine, but that’s not really been a hotel’s downfall. So pack your bags and take a hotel holiday or a mini-vacation. It is summer, after all.

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Someone’s in the Kitchen with Uncle Sam

Jun 10

Posted by admin in Administration, beverages, cooking, Economy, FDA, First Lady Michelle Obama, gardening, healthy eating, news, USDA | No Comments

Not quite the Dinah song, but clearly a spirited shout-out to the National Archives for putting together a phenomenal exhibit, “What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam?” The answer quite simply is that everything we know about food in this country has some piece of history attached to it and the exhibit underlies the strong connection.

In the past few years since the Obama Administration took office, it seems that food has become a major player in the national conversation. We have talked about the White House Garden, the commitment to getting people to Move off the couch and be aware of their food intake. Obesity has been a major topic of concern as has the School Lunch program. Yet, so many of these discussions have their roots in much earlier times. It is impossible to speak of food safety legislation today without thinking about the letter Upton Sinclair wrote President Theodore Roosevelt.

Our current obsession with food, chefs, and food trends is nothing new. Buying local and supporting the farmer has deep-seeded, yes, it’s true, roots in our country’s agricultural history. You’ll be able to study the past while reflecting on how so much of what we believe today parallels our government’s earliest commitments to food safety. No need to make this sound so serious, as the exhibit focuses on all the aspects of our food culture.

What this exhibition hall is filled with it the how the Federal government’s programs intersected with our lives whether we are referencing food safety regulation or tracing the early paths of those we affectionately call “agricultural pioneers.” Besides enjoying the numerous posters from the collection including the already popular “Vitamin Donuts” or “Uncle Sam Says , Garden to Cut Food Costs.” My initial favorite, “Eat the Carp” includes the advice, “The muddy taste can be washed away.”

Trust me, you’ll have fun exploring the original records (“Eat More Cottage Cheese“) that explain the history of our country through its food supply with an emphasis on four distinct influences on our food environment: Farm, Factory, Kitchen, and Table.

Check out the event calendar as numerous additional programs and speakers have been lined up to supplement the standing exhibit. The exhibit opens today and continues through January 3, 2012. You need to know that date as you’ll want to go more than once!

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Those Smart Girl Scouts

Jan 30

Posted by admin in Economy, food universe | No Comments

Here we are in the midst of winter snacking surrounded by so many ways to boost our caloric intake. Then along comes a tasty tradition: The annual  Girl Scout cookie event. After all, the money provides…The list is impressive and we haven’t even talked about endless snacking, sharing, and good will! It gets harder and harder to say no to Thin Mints (love to keep a box in the freezer, the flavors come out even better).  The program has always been stellar, and a true celebration of know-how, marketing, and leadership. They even have a clever website to demonstrate cookie power.

Well, the Girl Scouts are smarter than we are. In a move that highlights the economic financial chaos that has everyone rethinking their food budgets and generosity quotients, the Girls have decided not to offer their expansive list of delectable choices but to concentrate on the big sellers and not fill up their inventory with unsold boxes. Helps the consumer’s angst, too, as temptation lures with every supermarket outing.

Several chapters are concentrating on the six biggest sellers to see how this type of change will impact overall sales. The most popular cookies will continue to headline the leader-boards. Don’t worry the Thin Mints, the peanut butter Do-si-dos, and the buttery shortbreads are certain keepers. This type of experiment should have the number crunchers busy figuring out the stats. The rest of us will have  to wait and see.girl_scout_cookies_shortbread

Smart move on their part and probably a saving grace for the rest of us as the selection process will be more limited, and we can probably smile and get away with just a single purchase. OK, two boxes, but you get the strategy. No need for us to bulk up as we commiserate with the young ones and fall victim to our inner cravings.

Smart economic move for the organization; our waistlines thank you.

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Virginia Wine: Some Unexpected Headlines

Nov 5

Posted by admin in Economy, news | No Comments

Plenty has been written about the strength of the Virginia wine industry including how it has literally sprung up from nowhere in the past 30 years. The state has played an active role in its support, especially during this current administration with the enthusiasm of First Lady Maureen McDonnell. Then there has been the masterful celebration of 20 years of upward success from Luca Paschina, winemaker and director of internationally recognized Barboursville Vineyards in the state’s Piedmont region. He has obviously championed the efforts and products from his own terroir and become the public voice and face of the state’s economically beneficial wine growth.slide_cork

There was news this summer of additional accolades for multiple wineries while new enterprises were coming on board. Public highlights of recognition include the Virginia wine that was served two years ago at Inauguration events and then this past summer at Chelsea Clinton’s wedding. Somehow the end of harvest sent up a warning flag of different news as two wineries are now in financial trouble. One, the larger and more widely known, Kluge Estates is fighting the banks to avoid a complete shutdown. The other, Sweeley Estate Winery has acknowledged that foreclosure bank proceedings are scheduled for later this month.

How did this happen so quickly? Are these two wineries just another example of the devastating effects of the economy? Both tough questions to answer. Maybe the ecstatic aura surrounding the strength of Virginia as a wine destination had to produce some casualties. After all a lesson from the past several years is that quick growth and vast spending met with devastating results in a number of industries and individual businesses.

The bigger question for the state is what next? The simple answer is that all the new wineries are in survival competition with each other as it is easy for visitors to pay a mere tasting fee for a weekend outing but another level of commitment to purchase wine or join one of the many wine clubs. Another stumbling block rests at the heels of the distributors as product into the nearby DC market has not been as successful an undertaking as many of these wineries need. In turn many nearby local restaurants have not been quick to jump on the local wine bandwagon but instead offer lists that lean more heavily to other more familiar domestic and international areas. No one is saying that everyone of these 180 wineries deserves a place at the restaurant table, but that instead plenty of worthy contenders are having difficulty getting that seat.

As a wine and food writer, I can only hope that the furling up of these two winery flags will open a common sense approach to further growth and enable the established wineries to continue to work with their terroir and produce the best product from their grapes. Too much progress has been made over the past two decades to turn our back on what Thomas Jefferson believed was a natural product from his beloved state.

Let’s champion the growth and support the wineries that deserve a place at the table.

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Promotions to Fill the Carts

Oct 5

Posted by admin in Economy, lifestyle, shopping | No Comments

Sure lots of people want us to believe that the good times are back, but we know better. There are plenty of ways to measure the economy: How about the approach those in the food business are taking? Grocery chains seem to have figured it out as the promotions keep on coming. Regardless of where you live in this great, vast nation your local chain, as part of a national roll-out, has a deal for you.

This past week solidified the reality of shopping. Chicago area chain Dominick’s (aka, Safeway) fired a missile into the competitive marketplace with their recent roll out of personalized deals: Just for You. They do not have the exclusive handle on this strategy as most of the majors have figured out they need to get into our grocery baskets to help us earn savings for our regular purchases. Not invasive; just cost-saving as most of these grocery programs are limited to car-carrying loyalists!

On the East Coast, Giant Food (Stop & Shop) has been running a promotion with Shell gasoline. (Kroger, and its many affiliate names throughout the country, has a similar tie-in.)  Giant just upped the ante and tied specific purchases to higher gasoline discounts. The promotion was supposed to expire over the summer. Now that it’s October, the program seems to have moved into overdrive with numerous new promotions that come with high rewards: 200 points, for example, equals 20 cents off a gallon of gas. Simple math or a two-fer: grocery promos and gas savings! We may have to start watching Shell Oil to see if its sales climb, too, or see if Costco’s gas prices are impacted?

Not only businesses that call themselves grocers are in on the act. Look at Dollar General, Target, Costco, and target78543_P2009_2380_PFRESH_PRODUCE_WIDESHOT-thmbWal-Mart and you see an expansionary trend: Consumers buy what they can afford, and these companies want to be at the top of the list. Target plans to open stores with full-fledged food departments. If you think I’m making a small point, check out their 10/10/10 strategy; they’ll  open 10 new stores, all with a major emphasis on the grocery part of the business. That’ll be a date the company will remember!

Lest you forget, the big box guys as in Costco and Wal-Mart already realize the impact food purchases have on the bottom line. Neither is standing still and both plan major expansions and an increased emphasis on private labels and upscale goods. It’s tough out there as the consumer does the math and heads for the bottom line; no one wants the sidelines.

Even though the economy has not dealt us all a fair deck, grocers continue to fight with a vast array of new promotions.

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Food Blues

Jun 24

Posted by admin in alcohol, dining out, Economy, news | No Comments

On the positive side of “Food Blues,” we could be talking about the freshest crop of blueberries. (Yes, they are beautiful). Instead, we are looking at the latest reports that indicate consumers are not yet believing they are out of the woods on their finances. They exercise caution in their grocery shopping and their restaurant expenses.blueberry

Meal planning, according to the NPD Group study, will remain on the thrifty side. Consumers have learned how to make better meals with less and are not ready to jump from the calm ship and break out the foie gras. The study reports that consumers do not see their situation improving over the next 12 months and plan to continue strategies they employed during the earliest days of the Recession. This information is almost in direct contrast to several economic market indicators pointing in a more positive, upward trajectory.

Examples of thriftier behavior from the report include decreasing spending on groceries, using coupons for food and beverage items, and stocking up on foods when they are on sale. The list also includes shopping for less expensive brands and making use of online coupons.

These are all consumer behavioral strategies that grocers can address to make shopping a better, more positive experience. Matching coupons, doubling or tripling those from circulars, and offering good, solid sale prices on a large variety of products will keep customers loyal returnees. It sounds as if little has changed for the consumer no matter how hopeful everyone wants to remain.

Restaurants have a lot to learn from this report and from the Nielsen Company’s latest research. Some of these findings could spell doom for a number of restaurants that have been hanging on and waiting for customers to increase their dining out events and cash outlays. After surveying 7,500 alcohol beverage consumers, they found almost 60% reducing their trips to casual restaurants and a similar number reported they were going less frequently to more expensive restaurants (fine-dining). An additional find was that 47% said they frequent bars and clubs less often. This translates into changed behavior patterns across the age demographics. The report underlies the belief that consumers learned new ways of entertaining and continue to exhibit uncertainty about the extent of the recovery.

Another interesting tell-all concerns alcoholic beverage purchases. More than 75% of those interviewed said they have not changed their beverage purchases because of price, but 25% of those say they are making fewer purchases. So even in this category, consumers have adjusted their behavior, and they are more conscious of their decisions.

Yes, these reports do NOT put a smile on the face of anyone in the food and beverage universe. They give great pause and increase the likelihood of more promotions rather than assuming that the diner of yore, as in 2-3 years ago, is lining up to get in the door.

Free-wheeling dining and shopping has not returned, and it appears to be stuck in fear. Hopefully, someone is listening.

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Restaurants Saving Themselves

May 23

Posted by admin in dining out, Economy, food universe | No Comments

Have you noticed the new caution? I might add, the smart, economic caution associated with some of the decisions restaurants are making in terms of the little, subtle changes.

Here are a few:

–Bread and butter do not just magically appear when you are seated. You are often asked if you would like to have bread and butter. Smart, cost-saving approach to running a restaurant. Not like we need to have bread and butter! Nor do they need to put a basket on the table and waste its contents.breadbasket

–Sauces. Rather than just put cocktail sauce or tartar sauce, for example, on every fish or seafood plate, servers are checking to see if the diner wants either or both. If not, hey, the kitchen saves the money on either or both of the sauces. Lemon falls into that category. It is no longer just a natural plate adornment. More often than not, guests make the inquiry. It’s not an automatic slice or 1/8th.

–Water. Of course, in higher-end restaurants, the water question comes with numerous choices and dollar signs: Flat, fizzy, or tap. At multiple price points, water does not even come to the table unless you ask for it. With a worldwide water shortage, this is a logical, natural omission. Why serve something that’s just going to get poured out and wasted?

As consumers watch their dining out dollars, restaurateurs play the same game. Economic uncertainty still drives many businesses to close their doors. Recuperation is a slow process and little glimmers of hope do not mean we are out of the woods.

Little changes make a significant difference. We can support each other.

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Mother’s Day Panic

Apr 25

Posted by admin in dining out, Economy | No Comments

MD snoopy brag-LYes, I know it’s still April, but the panic surrounding what to do about Mother’s Day (Sunday, May 9) has already set in. Restaurants are quite pleased with the renewed interest in dining out. According to the National Retail Federation, this particular holiday ranks 2nd only to our spending around the December holidays. That’s a significant statement as specialty stores such as jewelers and florists are also eagerly awaiting the renewed interest in consumer spending. The study also found that over 80% of Americans plan to celebrate the holiday this year. Another sign that we are seeing improvements in the economy!

A quick look at restaurant reservations shows that lots of diners are already well organized for the breakfast, brunch, or dinner outing they’ve planned. This is the time to get to Open Table and see what’s still available in your city. Many restaurants offer special menus that enable them to handle larger crowds but still manage to fill up quickly. Unless you’re planning on finding a spot that does not take reservations and you don’t mind waiting around for a table, this is the week to finalize your plans.

There are plenty of families that shy away from restaurant outings at typically crowded times such as Mother’s Day. They try the more storybook approach with breakfast in bed or a barbecue event–anything that keeps Mom out of the kitchen is the philosophy behind this strategy.

Whatever route you think is best, remember it’s MOM you’re talking about so a little bit of planning is in order. OK, a lot of planning. Now. Don’t forget the card–selection starts waning a few days before the 9th!

Go for it.

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Food World: Restaurant Promotions

Apr 10

Posted by admin in dining out, Economy | No Comments

filet with wine for webEvery time we see little glimmers of strength in the economy, we are bombarded with a piece of information that makes us question if the news holds true for the restaurant industry. With so many restaurants tweaking their menus and adding small plates for guests to share and help diners reduce the cash outlay, something still is amiss. The same goes for wines as so many restaurants have half-priced wine bottle nights and more restaurants are doing mini pours to encourage wine purchases rather than have guests skip the beverage all together. All these food and beverage promotions are in place for a reason: A financial one.

Most major cities have had a restaurant week promotion and a number of spots continued the concept well beyond a week. Yet before this time we have not had a two-month restaurant week promotion. The Palm announced a Restaurant Week menu (a starter and an entree that comes with at least one side for $39.95) until the end of May. That’s an impressive strategy that should heat up the restaurant wars a little.

So much attention of late has been focused on the mid-tier dining establishments, but now the big guys want to show their food stripes. This will be a major promotion that will prove inordinately successful or be a tell tale sign of limited strength in the industry. It will be worth watching to see how other competitors jump in for the challenge.

A little step forward and two back. We still need promotions and incentives.

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