There’s a huge list of challenges facing today’s restaurateurs – costs, labour, waste, customer loyalty
But maybe the biggest overarching challenge of all is this:
How do I know I’m building a restaurant that’s ready to face the future?
The pace of technological change is speeding up dramatically. When electricity was introduced, it was 30 years before it reached 10% of homes – but once we got smartphones, 40% of people had them within a decade.
Restaurant clients have changed too, especially in recent years. Their fondness for casual dining in particular has soared, with diners now keen to eat and go within just 40 minutes.
Online spenders
Online ordering for delivery is another modern-day phenomenon. The analysts Deloitte point out that 40% of customers now prefer to place their orders online.
When they do, they’re likely to spend up to 15% more – a significant factor for restaurant epos keen to boost their revenue.
If you haven’t yet responded to this trend, your restaurant is running a huge risk. Not just the risk of being left behind, but of failing completely – you don’t want to watch powerlessly as your customer base drifts away from you.
We’re technology experts working at the forefront of restaurant management software, so it’s our job to identify and respond to trends as soon as they make their mark.
So at the Restaurant Show, we’re excited to say we’ll be demonstrating something that’s extremely new.
Aloha by NFS restaurant management technology is already way beyond the old definition of POS, as thousands of contented customers around the world can testify.
This software allows guests to find and book a table at your place online or via an app, then reduces their wait once they arrive thanks to graphic seating plans.
The restaurant management technology then ensures their food is delivered speedily by serving staff using handheld devices including tablets and smartphones to take orders at tableside. The order either goes instantly to the kitchen or is held until the prep time requires it to be sent.
Guest’s payments are also taken at tableside – dividing a bill is a cinch even for large groups – so your guests just can pay and go.
To follow up, captured data allows you to create targeted email campaigns that genuinely appeal to your customers’ tastes, and drive up loyalty for engagement.
We know loyalty pays off.
One leading London restaurant group told us their Aloha-supported loyalty programme is a bit hit with customers, who spend up to 42% more than non-loyalty guests.
Reducing allergy risks
Allergy worries become a thing of the past, because Aloha by NFS is supported by Kitchen CUT technology. This enables chefs to track allergens to individual ingredient level as menus and dishes are created.
Aloha works with self-service kiosks and tablets for fast food and casual dining, connecting to kitchen automation and reducing the wait even further.
The result is a seamless and satisfying customer experience that brings them back again and again.
Behind the scenes, your front and back of house workflow improves because human error is removed from the picture and communication becomes effortless.
Labour and stock control
Labour is better managed because Aloha’s comprehensive reporting shows how many staff are needed at different times, even providing useful forecasts.
Stock control also gets a boost, because the software identifies best selling dishes and alerts you to trends so you can match procurement to actual requirement and reducing your food waste. It makes environmental and economical sense.
So what exciting news will we be sharing at the Restaurant Show? It’s the next step in customer ordering.
Delivery as a service for diners has rocketed in popularity, thanks to companies such as Deliveroo and Uber Eats.
It allows restaurants who’ve never considered home delivery to develop new revenue streams, and it’s sure to keep on growing as a trend – one service is even offering restaurants the chance to use its ‘dark kitchens’ to meet demand.
Our innovative
Voice Ordering service harnesses Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant to provide your customers with an effortless link to your restaurant.
It goes like this: Your customer: “Hey, Alexa – open up the app for my restaurant.” Alexa: “I’ve opened the app – do you want your usual?”
Your customer says yes or no, (in which case he or she makes another selection), then agrees to the delivery or collection time. The order is relayed immediately to your kitchen while the payment is taken automatically.
What restaurant POS now really means
We no longer speak about Aloha as ‘point of sale’. Instead, it’s the core foundation of restaurant technology, a world-class platform-of-sale, integrating with the different software providers who can connect guests easily to your restaurant.
The fact is, the restaurant of the future knows one size no longer fits all when it comes to that important and very personal connection.
Diners demand an unprecedentedly individual service that caters just for them – and Aloha, with such easy integration, helps your restaurant build exactly what connections you need to keep them happy.
We’re really looking forward to the Restaurant Show, and hope we’ll see you there: we’re ready to show how you can REALLY build the restaurant of the future.
See us at stand GH11 – book your place now!
Sacked any of your staff recently, or seen them leave? It’s likely you have – the hospitality industry sees an annual turnover of 30%, according the British Hospitality Association.
Maybe you got rid of them because they stunk at the job.
Or maybe they left because they didn’t like your working environment? This is particularly common with the younger people who make up a high proportion of hospitality staff.
But with recruitment now a nightmare, ask yourself this question:
Is this really the time to give up on my staff?
Or is it time to have a rethink about how they work together – and how the working environment you provide is hitting their productivity and wellbeing?
Productivity has historically been low in the hospitality industry – it’s said to run at about a third of the productivity in manufacturing.
Why’s that?
Many reasons. Hospitality is a complex business covering all manner of organisations ranging from bars and restaurants to hotels and food outlets.
Did you know:
There are 240,000 hospitality businesses in the UK.
They provide 2m jobs directly and a further 1.44m indirectly.
Luckily, the BHA says that productivity in hospitality and tourism is on the up.
It’s been rising since the economic downturn, rising to an estimated Gross Value Added (the productivity measure) of £73bn.
That’s almost double what it was in 2008, and the BHA believes it could rise as high as £22bn by 2021, if the industry promotes the right conditions.
So hospitality businesses are going in the right direction with their staff, and getting more in return – but there are still improvements to be made.
Why boosting productivity is hard for restaurants and bars
The sheer variety of the UK’s hospitality businesses, the way they operate and the people they employ makes for a tricky mix when it comes to pushing productivity and wellbeing upward.
Hotel software experts Siteminder say most industries can boost productivity with technology and automation, but warn that this needs to be done exceptionally carefully in hotels and restaurants.
“It’s an industry that is built on people-to-people interaction, and also involves a huge variety of tasks and skills within one business, hotels in particular,” they say.
“Understanding what needs to change is one thing, and predicting how customers might react to certain changes is another. Reducing authenticity in such a service-based industry could be dire.”
A good point, and one that should remain a real priority in your mind.
So here are 6 ways to improve staff productivity and satisfaction in your restaurant.
Reduce tedious admin
Make time for training
Eliminate in-fighting
Swap your stick for a carrot
Grow your own leaders
Beat the cheats
Reduce tedious tasks
Duplicating head office functions in a restaurant group can drain your resources. It requires people in each location carrying out the same managerial tasks – such as creating operational reports.
It’s boring and repetitive work that does not add up to job satisfaction.
The result? Resources can be directed to more necessary areas to keep operations flowing seamlessly – and your staff get to do more meaningful and satisfying work instead.
For your serving staff, provide hand-held devices (even tablets or smartphones) that allow orders to be taken at tableside and sent direct to the kitchen.
Payment can be taken at tableside, too, so servers spend less time running back and forth and enjoy more valuable time interacting with guests.
Make time for training
Training has not always been a priority for many roles in the hospitality industry, but as the UK Hospitality Commission points out, that has led to a perception of the work as ‘low-paid, low-skilled.”
Investing in your staff so they improve their key skills, such as customer service, pays off directly by making your workers more able, but also helps to create a sense of engagement – a trained worker is a worker who feels valued.
It can be hard for a busy restaurant to find time for training and continuous development, but it’s well worth it, so invest in good labour scheduling technology that makes sure you maximise the hours of every member of staff.
Eliminate in-fighting
Are your front and back of house staff at loggerheads? It’s a common situation as the kitchen blames the servers for mistakes and vice versa, or as your finance staff criticise others for poor admin.
Teamwork is crucial to staff wellbeing and productivity in any business. It creates collaboration and innovation, and colleagues who become friends are happier and less likely to quit.
Help your team to bond by providing and environment where clear communication and great workflow remove the ambiguity and human error that cause unpleasantness.
Swap your stick for a carrot
Don’t leave all the carrots in the kitchen! If you implement a system of monitoring individual staff performance you will be in a great position to hand out the recognition that drives excellence.
It will also help you identify areas where extra training is needed to keep everyone up to scratch.
Grow your own leaders
When recruiting, be sure to seek joiners who display positive attitudes and empathy – they are key skills for the industry and a good base for growing leadership talent.
Hospitality businesses can be guilty of creating immobile hierarchies where staff members have little opportunity to advance.
This drives ambitious workers to seek better jobs elsewhere, so try to set in place a clear structure that helps people understand how they can get ahead within your organisation.
Once again, training plays an important part – you and your managers should hold regular one-to-one sessions with staff where you look at their performance and discuss the steps that will help them develop.
Cheats to beat
Employee fraud costs UK businesses more than £40bn a year, and while that’s across all types of companies, hospitality takes quite a chunk of the hit.
What’s often not taken into consideration is the detrimental effect cheating has on your team. Suspicion and distrust make for an uncomfortable working environment.
Your managers can’t have eyes everywhere all the time, and watching out for staff fraud is an exhausting task – unless you have fraud prevention technology that flags up unusual behaviours.
This level of monitoring provides quite a deterrent, and helps builds up a high level of trust within the working environment where everyone can feel confident and comfortable.
Hospitality? It’s a people business, first and foremost.
So don’t give up on your staff. Give them a technological helping hand instead, and make recognition, development and training an inherent part of their daily lives.
Getting conditions right for your own people means they feel better, take less sick time, stay longer and work harder.
It’s good for them, good for you and good for your customers. Result…
The number of restaurants in the UK fell for the first time in years during 2018, according to reports . That probably comes as no surprise if you’re a restaurant owner yourself in today’s tough market.
So rather than going over the challenges hospitality is facing, I’ve come up with 6 genuine tips that will help your restaurant fight back and grow revenue.
Customers still love to eat, after all – and there are many moves you can make to protect your business.
So here are 6 great ways to send revenue soaring with your restaurant management system:
Tableside talent – at-table ordering is a winner for upselling: that’s a fact.
Amazing menu design – ditch any dud dishes
Engage with your customers better – try multi-channel
Turn satisfied customers into ambassadors – turn up your loyalty efforts
Create new revenue streams – online ordering is the latest big trend
Make supported decisions – dump guesswork and rely on solid data instead.
Tableside talent
Fact: customers using Aloha Mobile with their restaurant management system on average see:
Sales increase by 8.5%
Serving staff using the restaurant management system have access to handheld devices including dedicated units, tablets and smartphones to take orders right at the table.
The software provides automatic upselling prompts so it’s easy for serving staff to offer enticing additions to the choices guests have made.
Also, it’s simple to add extra items onto the order – this works particularly well in small-plate establishments such as tapas restaurants.
The handheld devices send the orders direct to the kitchen, making sure accurate dishes are delivered quickly, which keeps customers happy.
Staff can take payments at the tableside, too, making it a completely swift and seamless diner experience.
Amazing menu design
Chefs today come under major pressure when designing their menus. They need to remain within budget, ensure they create food is likely to appeal to diners, and also to be fully aware of allergens.
Leading restaurant management systems incorporate menu-design tools to take the grind out of the task. They:
Spot high-selling dishes
Identify trends
Help with ingredient substitutions so budgets are controlled
Track possible allergens to ingredient level – a big responsibility for chefs when allergic reactions cause 10 fatalities annually in the UK alone
Support accurate procurement decisions
The result is that you offer on-trend dishes that customers love, delivered on budget and in keeping with diner safety. Result!
Engage with your customers better
In a cut-throat market, how can you drive up revenue by encouraging customers to choose your restaurant?
It’s vital to be accessible to them at all hours, and a multi-channel communication approach is the best way to help them get in touch.
A good restaurant management system should enable you to monitor your social media reputation so managers are alerted if any adverse posts are made.
That way, you can right any issues immediately, before your reputation is damaged.
The useful data captured by your restaurant management system also makes it easy to engage with your customers in ways ranging from direct mail – an oldie but effective – to texting and email.
Turn satisfied customers into ambassadors
Your customers should be your friends, and while a restaurant management system is no substitute for good hosting and great service, it’s a useful support.
Because your system collects useful data on your customers, you are fully aware of their preferences – vegetarian food, for example – what they order regularly and when they usually visit.
It allows you to offer your diners targeted offers that will have genuine appeal to them, bringing them back again and again.
With care, they will feel so well valued that they will recommend your restaurant to their friends – that’s the best publicity for boosting your revenue.
Create new revenue streams
It’s not a good time to be standing still, or feeling complacent. Customers now enjoy dining in as much as eating out, and home delivery is already an enormous trend.
Delivery services like Deliveroo are allowing restaurants who have never been able to offer home delivery to open up exciting revenue streams, thanks to the way their restaurant management system enables online ordering.
Make supported decisions
Successful restaurateurs always have excellent instincts – that’s clear. But in a time when what diners want, how they use restaurants and what they even eat is changing fast, it can be hard to keep up to date.
When you’re making plans to increase your revenue, your restaurant management system removes the guesswork, thanks to comprehensive real-time reports that give real-time information on everything from sales to forecasting.
Making great decisions now means success in future; that’s got to help.
Waving the wand of technology
Sadly, there’s no spell to cook up when it comes to creating a successful restaurant.
But technology is a sort of magic wand you can wave, helping you:
See what’s working – and what’s not
Produce on-trend dishes that sell – both in-restaurant and home delivery
Create a great guest experience
Engenders the sort of loyalty that keeps them returning – and bringing friends when they do.
Discover how a restaurant management system can send your revenue soaring now – BOOK A FREE DEMO
Is your restaurant doing enough to stand out? Try these 6 great EPOS promotional ideas
Like all restaurateurs, you know your establishment lives and die by repeat business – making customers so happy that they’ll not only come back again but also recommend you.
Building up this kind of loyal clientele, though, can be tough when there’s so much competition.
One of the main problems, according to Trish Caddy, a food service analyst for Mintel, is this:
“Foodservice operators that base their strategy around promotions are not doing enough to stand out,” she says.
“Brands also need to show that they care about the well-being of their customers by responding with menu choices that cater to healthy lifestyles.”
Trish has a point. Who doesn’t love a money-off voucher? It only really works, thought, if it’s giving a discount on something you really want.
So what can you do to lift your restaurant promotions out of the humdrum and make them stand out? Restaurants with their finger on the pulse of the latest trends are finding the answer in the latest EPOS solutions.
This advanced technology, designed specially for restaurants and bars, makes sure your promotions matter.
6 ways EPOS solutions can promote business at your restaurant:
You get to know your customers better
You can reward them better
Also get to know your business better
Identify and maximise your downtime
Design more creative offerings
Build your reputation on social media.
You get to know your customers better
With EPOS solutions, you can constantly capture helpful data about your diners. It means you can cater for their needs better and provide a personalised service.
These EPOS solutions create an effortless customer journey from online reservations to faster seating, including quick, accurate ordering and payment at tableside via handheld terminals used by your staff.
You can reward diners better
Now you know what your guests really like, you are able to create offers that appeal directly to them, creating loyalty programmes that are far more than a simple discount.
For example, did they dine last Valentine’s Day with a glass of fizz each? Why not offer it free if they book again this year?
Also get to know your business better
A complex hospitality business can be hard view end-to-end, but EPOS solutions provide comprehensive reports that are available in real time online, keeping track even if you are a multi-location group.
This deep knowledge of operations helps you create and track promotions that are a perfect fit – happy hours, for example.
Identify and maximise your downtime
It’s one thing to think you know when your downtime is, and another to know for sure. A restaurant management system pinpoints the quiet and busy times exactly and also provides accurate forecasts based on this data.
This not only helps you identify when you need promotions the most, and determining what they should be – it also helps you to control labour more easily.
Design more creative offerings
As we’ve already noted, plain discounts are not always the best way to stand out – so exactly what should you offer?
EPOS solutions give insight into what’s selling best, so you can design bundled offers such fixed-price menus, or an expensive wine included with items that achieve a high margin.
Another idea is to identify which items people normally share – then discount them so people bring friends.
Build you reputation on social media
No-one makes a purchase these days without viewing online reviews, so it’s a good idea to choose EPOS solutions that offer social media reputation management.
These clever systems can monitor activity across your social media channels and will alert your managers if anyone posts an adverse comment. It means you can act immediately to rectify the issue, a nasty blow to your reputation.
Showing your customers the love
With excellent offers and superb discounts targeted to delight your diners, it’s easy to show you care about your customers.
It should mean they’ll show their love in return by enjoying your food on regular basis – and boost your revenue into the bargain. Now, that’s what you call a two-way relationship!
See EPOS solutions in action-watch this video on how leading restaurant group Dishoom uses it
We’ve seen the rise and rise of the super-demanding diner in recent years, grazing to the latest food trends and making a meal of their ethics.
For restaurants competing to win their business, it’s a constant battle to keep up with the latest ideas and innovative offerings.
For example, disruptive Deliveroo have recently announced that they plan to let restaurants on their platform offer dish-by-dish calorie information.
Big groups including Jamie’s Italian, Yo! Sushi and Pho are among those snapping up the opportunity.
It’s tough to keep up with the trends: clean eating, Veganuary, ethical eating, casual dining; but crucial if you want to succeed. And that’s why the restaurant industry has a strong trend of its own – deploying restaurant management systems.
Restaurant EPOS software is proving to be invaluable in the never-ending battle between the hospitality industry and its demons: rising costs, poor efficiency and waste.
Restaurant management systems put power in your hands in a very real way – your serving staff use handheld devices or tablets to take orders and payments right at the tableside.
Restaurant managers and owners, meanwhile, get to enjoy an end-to-end view of operations in real-time, online via their mobile or laptop.
Restaurant management systems also capture useful information about your guests and their preferences. They record which dishes are selling well and also help you identify what’s trending. Cauliflower steak, anyone?
It means that restaurant companies ranging from single outlets to multiples now rely on restaurant POS software to streamline their operations and keep costs to a minimum.
So what features does your restaurant management system need?
We’ve come up with the 9 key questions you really should ask your technology provider.
Is this a dedicated restaurant management system?
Some EPOS systems are designed for retail, but restaurants require more functions than they can provide. You should ensure your system is specifically designed to meet restaurant requirements.
Does the system provide course management?
Demanding guests naturally want the best in customer service, so you need a flexible system so your servers can split courses to assist the kitchen. You should also be able to make amendments easily – substituting a starter as a main course, for instance.
Your serving staff are busy, and they need a simple interface to make this happen. Your restaurant management system should integrate with your kitchen technology, so the right information is delivered instantly to printers or screens at each station.
Can this system really go places for guests?
Your staff will want to send from their handheld devices to different destinations – orders to the kitchen, for example, for orders, and payments to the in-restaurant printer.
Can it help chef design popular dishes that protect diners’ health?
Allergen control is a high priority for any restaurant, and we’ve already seen the tragic consequences of badly-identified allergens in food.
In recognition of this, the Aloha restaurant management system has recently joined forces with KitchenCUT technology, which that tracks potential allergens throughout menus and dishes. It helps chefs keep costs under control, too. .
The system improves stock control by highlighting top-selling dishes, which helps when making procurement decisions and also reduces food waste.
Can it keep my menu under control?
If you offer breakfast, lunch and dinner at your restaurant, it’s easy to end up with an unwieldy menu for staff to deal with on the handheld device.
Advanced restaurant management technology solves the problem. It lets you customise screen layouts according to job codes, and enable or disable menus by terminal or area, the time or the day.
What about diners on the go?
Diners sometimes shift tables, and you need your staff to be able to reallocate their order easily. Make sure your restaurant management system has flexible table maps where staff can allocate orders to specific tables.
The system should also allow them to transfer the ticket, and merge tables or split them up. Aloha’s Guest Manager, for example, suggests the best table taking into account wait time and profitability. It’s smart – it won’t suggest three people are seated on a four top if it’s next to another that could create an eight.
Is it good at managing customers’ bills?
With your restaurant management system, you should be able to split bills easily. That can be particularly useful if you run a casual dining outlet that often seats large parties. This facility It speeds up table turn and creates a swift and satisfying guest experience.
Your system will capture diner data, which is important – if you are aware of their preferences you can dream up targeted email marketing campaigns that will bring them back again and again.
Will customers be inconvenienced by staff training?
No – with a good, intuitive system staff can be taking orders within a couple of hours, giving guests enhanced service.
What else should you consider?
With all its functionality and powerful operational benefits, a restaurant management system is an important investment.
Fortunately, rental schemes are available with an easy monthly payment that make ROI quick; hosted systems mean there’s no need to buy costly hardware.
Take your time in making your decision. Selecting restaurant management software is one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make for your restaurant – and for your diners, too.
What benefits does restaurant EPOS bring? See this.
Want to see how digital dining works for you and your customers all day?
What do Google, Dixons, Marriott, Fifa, Uber, Quora and Facebook have in common? On the face of it not much – but they’re just few of the famous organisations which have fallen foul of serious data breaches since GDPR came into force in May 2018.
And with many other organisations still struggling to get to grips with the data legislation, is there something hospitality businesses need to learn from their experience?
The Cambridge Analytica scandal may have caused Facebook some serious reputational damage and some tricky scrutiny, but it is now apparent that the regulations are hitting companies where it hurts most – their wallets.
The most recent and largest recipient of a GDPR-related fine is Google, hit with a £44m fine by France’s CNIL data watchdog.
Although this seems a lot, given that the maximum fine is 4% of global turnover it is a relative bargain compared to the £3 billion it could have been. It remains to be seen what the long-term effects on Google’s reputation could be.
What did they do wrong? They did not meet GDPR’transparency requirements, and didn’t prove a lawful basis for processing the data.
Why this matters to you
If you’re complacent, you could argue that the authorities are only going after the big boys – you can’t get bigger than Google or Facebook – but don’t fall into this trap.
While these cases are high profile, it would be dangerous to assume that the regulatory authorities are not prosecuting smaller companies.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which enforces GDPR and the pre-existing data protection laws in the UK, has prosecuted 180 organisations in the last two years.
Predictably, some of these companies and individuals were actively involved in shady practices such cold-calling or email spamming millions of people.
However, many who were prosecuted were simply negligent in their processes of storing and processing data. The list of enforcement actions makes sobering reading as it includes organisations that should really know better.
What this means for the hospitality industry
The hospitality industry is not immune to the impact of GDPR. Your restaurant management software or PMS may be storing gigabytes of old data such as booking data, enquiries for weddings or brochure requests.
You may not be holding as much data as Marriott but the law does not differentiate on the size of the database that has been breached or who is breaching it. The ICO have successfully prosecuted individuals for much smaller infractions.
In fact, a recent survey found that in the two months following the introduction of GDPR, 45% of hospitality businesses neglected to wipe IT equipment before disposing of it.
The research, which surveyed 1,002 UK workers, also found that 97% of hospitality businesses did not have an official process for disposing of obsolete IT equipment, with the same percentage saying they would not know who to approach within their company to do so.
Hospitality – among the most guilty industries
IT service provider Probrand group, which commissioned the survey, named the hospitality sector as one of the “most guilty industries” alongside transportation, sales and marketing, manufacturing, utilities and retail.
For an industry built, literally, on customer service a breach could not only hurt your turnover it can also damage your reputation as well as meaning that your once-loyal customers will no longer trust you with their personal data which can have a longer-term impact on your future marketing efforts.
It’s not just hard drives containing personal data that you need to be wary of. In fact, you may be ultra-stringent in your data cleaning processes and have security down to a “T” yet still get caught out.
How? A little-known fact that can catch the unsuspecting is that as an organisation processing data you need to pay a registration fee to the ICO or face a fine of up to £4350.
We recommend you do at least the following:
> Get customer consent for all data
> Appoint someone to act as a Data Protection Officer
So if you need to get up to speed on GDPR we’re happy to offer our help and guidance on best practices.
* Check out our dedicated resources to find out more – DOWNLOAD our Easy Guide to Being GDPR Compliant now!
* See how restaurant management software and hotel management software can boost your business.
Predictions for the UK restaurant trade are fairly upbeat as the country heads even further into Brexit turmoil.
Foodservice visits could rise by a huge 93m in 2019 according to one source, as consumers continue to choose to spend their cash on food.
They have a little more disposable income, too, with UK employment higher than ever before, and with wages rising at the highest rate in a decade while interest rates remain low.
So which 7 trends will shape dining in 2019 – and how will restaurant EPOS technology feed into them?
Join me for brunch?
All the signs are that UK diners are eating out less in the evening, and choosing less formal dining when they do. However, that’s doesn’t mean they’ve stopped eating out.
It’s predicted that there will be steady growth in going out for breakfast and brunch, already a popular trend throughout 2018. Lunch will remain a big market this year and is estimated to rise by about 2%.
For these busy guests in a hurry, speed of service will be crucial.
Outlets that benefit from restaurant EPOS will be able to offer quick ordering by tablet. Payments can also be taken at tableside, making the customer experience satisfyingly swift.
Robot welcome
Mobile technology, combined with millennial diners and restaurant POS, is making a great difference in the how restaurants deliver personal interaction with their guests.
Younger diners often prefer messaging to emails or phone calls, so restaurants wanting to grab their business in 2019 will definitely be exploring chatbots.
The technology is already with us – for instance, Open Table integrates with Facebook Messenger. It means people who are chatting about dinner on Messenger can be booked into your establishment by a bot.
Hey, Alexa – get me more business
Alexa, the Google Home Hub and Facebook’s smart speaker have driven up voice searches hugely – ComScore believes that by 2020, they’ll make up 50% of all searches.
For restaurants, this could be massive. Imagine a situation where your customer hears your ad on Spotify at dinnertime and places an order or reserves a table immediately. Restaurant EPOS is available 24/7 to handle the incoming business, of course – even when you are closed.
The technology will also open up a new field of business in 2019 for restaurants who can to offer home delivery for the first time.
Allergy mitigation
No-one wants this trend, but with food allergies on the rise, around 10 people may die in the UK this year because of a bad reaction to an ingredient.
For busy chefs designing tasty dishes, restaurant EPOS is a huge help.
A technology partnership between Aloha restaurant management technology and the Kitchen CUT F&B management platform assists in areas ranging from cost control to ingredient selection and warnings on allergens.
Casually brilliant
For several years, casual dining has been an increasing trend in hospitality, with many customers now opting to spend only 45 minutes over their food.
For both the fast and casual sectors, restaurant EPOS provides an incredible toolbox, integrating with self-service kiosks and also with kitchen automation.
It means customers can order, pay, eat and go – and the next customers can be served just as swiftly.
The shrinking labour pool
This is another trend restaurateurs hate having to think about – but labour is definitely in short supply.
Analysts KPMG estimate that around 75% of serving staff in the UK are of EU origin, and Brexit is making many of them think about leaving.
Inevitably, the shortage of skills and labour availability is pushing up wages – it’s an uncomfortable combination if you run a restaurant.
Restaurant EPOS helps by capturing data so restaurateurs can match staffing levels to rollercoaster of trade. It means good customer service is always maintained but costs are kept well under control.
Comprehensive reports prepared by the system confirm what the busiest times are, while the technology also uses the data to provide useful forecasts.
Ethical eating
We’re already seeing Veganuary trending, and many UK restaurants are tweaking their menus in the coming year to cater for this strong movement.
But whether you are vegan or not, ethical food production is a genuine agenda item for both diners and chefs in 2019.
Diners want to be sure that restaurants have food waste under control – and chefs don’t need to be told that stock control is directly linked to a robust bottom line.
Restaurant EPOS reports can promote excellent stock control, identifying the best-selling dishes so stock is correctly ordered, and enabling chefs to control their dishes right down to ingredient level.
So – let’s crack 2019!
We know it’s going to be even more of a rollercoaster ride than usual for the UK restaurant industry. But we also know that those who take advantage of technology to streamline operations will be in the best position to survive the ride.
The benefits of useful software were demonstrated recently when two of our restaurant EPOS clients, Dishoom and Honest Burger, won Best Restaurant Operator titles for their two categories in the Restaurant Magazine awards.
So if you’ve already broken your new year resolutions, it’s time to make a new one – if you don’t have a restaurant management system already, vow to consider one. It will go on benefiting you long after Dry January is forgotten…
When the UK government announced its immigration plan in December, it was greeted with dismay by the hospitality industry.
Kate Nicholls of the industry body UK Hospitality, told The Caterer: “The central plank of government’s immigration policy, to cut off lower-skilled migration with a salary threshold, is fundamentally flawed and will damage the hospitality sector and the wider UK economy.”
It’s another worry for a hardworking industry that is already facing severe skills and labour shortages – to the point where The Observer newspaper carried a story in 2018 entitled: “The great British chef shortage – why eating out is under threat.”
As Brexit has approached, the UK hospitality workforce – which is estimated to be around 6m people – has been disappearing.
In fact, it has been suggested by the British Hospitality Association that the industry could face a staff shortfall of over a million workers by 2029.
The natural result of this skills and labour shortage has been a hike in wages, which has only added to the rising costs for restaurateurs.
The Government promised skills training, but it is taking time; so what can restaurant owners and managers do?
Many have already turned to ever-evolving restaurant POS to provide at least part of the solution to this cooking crisis.
While restaurant POS will never be able to provide you with a great chef, it can help your business make sound decisions about staffing levels.
By capturing accurate data, restaurant management systems take the guesswork out of creating perfect rosters.
By producing informative reports in real time, the restaurant POS makes it simple to match the level of staff with customer demands. It means you can maintain excellent customer service without wasting valuable labour.
The system also ups the value of serving staff – they take orders on hand held devices including tablets and smartphones, so spend less time running to the kitchen with orders.
Their wellbeing and motivation are also boosted, because they are less stressed and tired, and they can engage better with customers. The restaurant POS even offers them upselling prompts as they take orders.
Servers using Aloha restaurant POS can also now check comprehensive food allergen advice.
It’s much quicker than having to go and ask chef or look at a list in the kitchen, and means customers’ health is well-protected.
Customers like to be able to make reservations and orders via an app, and a restaurant management system enables this 24/7, even when you are closed. Once again, it saves staff time, and also gets rid of a tedious manual task.
Even restaurant managers are able to use their time better – restaurant POS can be provided as a cloud-based option so they can keep a check on operations online at any time without travel time.
It removes the need to duplicate head office functions at different branches – another genuine staffing benefit.
As we head into a turbulent 2019, we don’t even loosely know what will happen with Brexit.
But we can feel pretty sure that labour shortages in restaurants are likely to increase – a YouGov survey just a few months ago found that 330,000 hospitality staff were considering leaving the UK.
We know technology can’t supply all the answers. But we do believe restaurant POS can help restaurateurs make the most of who they have – and create a well-run working environment where they want to stay.
Could eating out actually be under threat? Not on our watch…
* See a short video on how restaurant EPOS works with customers all day:
With profits falling, calls for calorie labelling on menus and the growing requirement for tight allergen controls, the necessity for efficient, accurate restaurant management software has never been greater.
Thankfully, technology brands are stepping up to the plate, developing cutting edge software and creating strategic partnerships to give the hospitality industry the tools to make their operations safe and profitable.
Kitchen CUT are thrilled to announce their partnership with NFS Technology – the provider of leading restaurant EPOS system Aloha.
With Aloha and Kitchen CUT working in tandem, hospitality teams have the tools necessary to keep tight control of ingredients, recipes, menus and all important profits.
NFS Head of Sales for Hospitality, Chris Cartmell, identified the benefits of the new collaboration, saying:
“The system allows tight cost controls and highlights any potential allergens in ingredients. This live information is then pulled through into every sub-recipe, recipe and dish in which the ingredient is used, making allergens completely traceable.”
Kitchen CUT’s cloud-based, scaleable SaaS technology delivers comprehensive software for complete control over F&B operations in more than 55 countries worldwide.
Whilst many countries are not covered by the EU legislation, there are still the same potential dangers of allergen mismanagement. Allergies are not just restricted to Europe and allergen sufferers need to be cared and catered for globally.
Rather than adopting a manual, error laden approach to allergen management, it makes sense to have a robust system in place that is accessible by all members of the team, not only to ensure legal compliance, but also to provide a seamless service, and to protect your customers and staff.
An allergic reaction due to misinformation or lack of information could have catastrophic consequences for customers, their families and the business involved.
Mistakes are all too easy.
Dishes may consist of multiple recipes pulled together, so an allergen can be easily missed: a few drops of thickened soy sauce, a trace of nuts or maybe a change in mayonnaise supplier could mean that the new one has an additional allergen (such as celery or nut oil) contained within it, that the previous one didn’t.
It’s important for your business to have clear processes and for the teams involved to understand the importance of following them. Here are some of the scenarios you should give thought to:
> If a supplier sends a substitute product with your delivery, what is the process for checking the new allergens? How will you ensure the allergen information for the new product is updated throughout every recipe and sub recipe in which the product is used?
> If a supplier delists a product and you pick an alternative how will you ensure that this is updated across every recipe?
> Managing the switch of entire suppliers, ensuring you update all recipes and menus.
Kitchen CUT provides accurate allergen software by allowing suppliers to upload product price and allergen data through our Supplier Gateway. This is free for suppliers to use and gives complete control and visibility over the products and allergen data being supplied.
Once approved these ingredients are then available in the system to use – chefs can be as creative as they like in the confidence that allergens are traced all the way from an ingredient level through to every sub recipe, dish and menu created. Everything is tracked accurately and automatically updated for you.
With Kitchen CUT, the system not only provides the back and front of house teams with live, accurate allergen information for every product, ingredient, recipe and menu, it also gives reassurance that there is a robust process and system in place to protect patrons against any oversights or potential mistakes that have been made.
Regardless of how big your company is, it is imperative to start taking allergens seriously.
Now is the time to stop relying on individuals as this process is prone to human error, and to start adopting a process and system that tracks allergens direct from your suppliers and vendors all the way through to your menus.
The NFS and Kitchen CUT partnership will allow you to do just that.
You can get more information about Kitchen CUT or a free online demo by emailing sales@kitchencut.com or calling +44 (0) 330 113 0050
The hospitality industry has worried about allergens in food for some time, and several shocking recent cases have brought the topic to the forefront of public concern.
While food labelling is being tightened following the tragedy, UK bars, restaurants and food outlets are already working hard to identify potential areas of risk.
But it’s difficult to be comprehensive.
The NHS warns that there are many different types of allergic reaction to food – and that’s not even counting milder intolerances that can also affect diners.
Drawing up a definitive list of every potential allergen is a headache for any chef – one recent tragedy was caused by a reaction to unlabelled sesame in a baguette.
The responsibility of missing something is a heavy burden. Food allergy causes at least ten deaths a year in the UK, according to the Food Standards Agency.
And once you have a list for your food preparation, how do you make sure your serving staff are aware of everything on it?
Thankfully, restaurant management technology is rising to the challenge.
NFS Technology – the provider of leading restaurant management system Aloha – has formed a strategic partnership with innovative food & beverage management platform, Kitchen CUT.
Kitchen CUT’s (www.kitchencut.com) cloud-based, scaleable SaaS technology delivers comprehensive software for complete control over F&B operations.
The combination of our Aloha and Kitchen CUT’s system creates a perfect way for hospitality teams to keep tight control of new dishes and beverages in areas ranging from cost to ingredient selection and allergen warnings.
NFS head of sales for hospitality, Chris Cartmell, says: “This adds enhanced functionality to our powerful restaurant management system.
“The system allows them to work to tight cost controls and highlights any potential allergens in ingredients. This live information is than pulled through into every sub-recipe, recipe and dish in which the ingredient is used, making allergens completely traceable.”
In addition, serving staff using Aloha handheld devices or tablets to take orders at tablesideare able to access allergen information from Kitchen CUT user-friendly spec sheets and menus.
As Phil Linton, Commercial Director of Kitchen CUT, says: “It’s is our combined objective to provide increased transparency and profitability for restaurants.
“We’re looking forward to building on the successful working relationship we have established with NFS and their customers over the past 12 months.”
The same goes for us, Phil.
And we hope this pioneering partnership will help our clients not only to grow their businesses, but also – crucially – to protect the precious wellbeing of their customers now and in the future.
