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Culinary Currents
August 2003
Foodservice Trends and Currents
The foodservice landscape is certainly dynamic, and its
promise of change is enticing an increasingly large number of young people
to join an industry that continues to grow, even in the face of a soft
economy. Casual theme restaurants such as Dallas, Texas-based Chili's and
Maggiano's Little Italy are examples of just how dramatic the business
truly is. Where casual pioneers T.G.I. Friday's and Steak and Ale focused
on taking market share away from family-style restaurants by positioning
themselves as being more upscale with more ambiance and service at
minimally higher check averages, today's casuals are ambitiously pointing
their guns at the white tablecloth restaurants to increase market share.
When one surveys the foodservice scene, it is striking
how traditional family dining is disappearing. In the Texas market, for
example, family chains like Denny's are struggling. In addition, cafeteria
chains such as Wyatt's, Furr's and Luby's, once mainstays, have either
disappeared or are re-positioning their concepts. San Antonio-based Luby's,
whose driving leadership is the renowned Pappas brothers of Houston, has
tried all-you-eat buffets and even a table service seafood concept as
prototypes to revive that sagging chain, only 10 years ago a highly
successful and profitable business. So far, the Pappas' golden touch has
not worked. Yet, one might argue, the demise of this segment speaks more
to the success of casual restaurants and an understanding of the changing
demographics than to poor execution of so-called family concepts. The
customer base for family dining, including cafeterias, has simply eroded
through time, and this segment has not adapted to the demands of today's
consumers who want more drama in their dining experiences.
It is consumers who are driving these changes with their
increased knowledge of food, ever-higher expectations of service, and
their desire to be entertained while dining. Chili's definitely speaks to
this with advertising that features diverse actors spinning up foods that
are mainstream but only recently considered edgy. Lettuce wraps and other
fusion foods with an Asian bent now are common fare for casuals. Chili's
ads also depict the fun atmosphere, and a current ad features a well-known
gay actor who was previously a professional baseball player. All this adds
up to dialing into the contemporary state of the consumers' minds. In
marketing terms, the casuals have figured out the new psychographics.
Consumer demand for higher quality food is trickling down
and revolutionizing the college scene. Young people are seemingly bitten
by the foodservice bug and are anxious to build credentials to enter the
field. Culinary programs are expanding at a breakneck pace to meet demand.
Johnson & Wales is set to open a new campus in Charlotte, NC; The Art
Institute International is opening a School of Culinary Arts in Vancouver,
B.C., and Paris-based Le Cordon Bleu is forming new alliances with
culinary schools in the U.S. and internationally. The Greystone campus of
The Culinary Institute of America, located in the Napa Valley wine-growing
region of California, continues to build on its success. Many of these
young grads choose casual restaurants for initial employment, where they
can build speed and learn the systems these chains use to run restaurants
like the businesses they are. While many stay, others move on to open
their own upscale restaurants.
This quality and excitement is also evidenced in the
emergence of the so-called fast casuals like Chipotle, Panera Bread and
Chevys. Here also the food is fresh and the atmosphere dynamic. While the
pace is fast, the food is much different from the traditional fast food
concepts and is finding today's consumers more accepting of unusual wraps,
salsa-picante bars and even fish tacos. Only a few years ago, these items
were considered extraordinary.
All this creates Nirvana for a food nerd like me. After
all, who wants to dine on food you could prepare yourself at home?
Restaurants offer endless interesting choices today and tomorrow holds the
promise of even more. I'd say the food scene is definitely changing, and I
love it!
Hospitably yours,
Peter
Bio:
Peter Langlois is founder of
www.RestaurantU.com: Tools of the
Trade for Business, for School, for Free!, co-editor of Weekly Restaurant
Connections (e-Newsletter):
www.wrcnewsletter.com, Instructor, The Art Institute of
Houston-Culinary, and Management, Marketing and e-business Facilitator at
The University of Phoenix (Houston). Langlois is also a Malcolm Baldrige
2004 Examiner. He has a Political Science degree from Michigan State
University (Modern International Chinese Relations) and an M.B.A from the
University of Houston (Marketing and Business Strategies). A detailed CV
outlining his hospitality career is available on both web sites.
Contact information: 832.860.5595 or
peter@wt.net
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