Juggernaut

That's what the National Restaurant Association is calling the Food and Beverage Industry. Apparently every dollar spent in a restaurant generates another $2 in spending in related industries. The industry represents 4% of the Gross National Product of the United States and employs 9% of the U.S. workforce. The forecast for 2009 shows that full service and quick service restaurant sales will increase an average of 3%. Not bad in a recession eh? My opinion is it all comes down to a few simple facts. (these are MY opinions and are backed by absolutely NO research whatsoever!)
1. There will always be a large segment of our population that does not want to cook at home.
2. There will always be a small segment of the population that is stubborn, and no news of a recession is going to keep them from enjoying their favorite meal at their favorite eatery.
3. Consumers...or humans...will always desire socialization. Basically, we want to hang out with other folks and forget our economic troubles for a couple of hours.

OK, one at a time.
Convenience. Given that allot of families today have both parents working, the last thing either one of them wants to do when they get home is prepare a meal for the household. A quick bite out or a family size take out order takes the burden off.

Stubbornness. My restaurant is located in a small New England Town. It snows...every year. And no matter what, a good number of my regular customers will jump in the SUV and brave the storm to come and have dinner. Basically, no stupid snowstorm is going to stop them! This is the attitude that they are taking with the economy. It's not going to stop them. I realize things are bad out there. People are losing jobs, and retirements, but Many of the folks in my town are still working...still collecting the same paycheck every week...and are still hungry.

Socialization. This is the most important one. For me anyway. It just so happens that my restaurant is a great place to meet. It's warm, comfortable, unpretentious. We are known for some of the finest food in the area and our staff immediately treats you as if you have been here before. We remember names, birthdays, favorite drinks, favorite desserts. The experience while dining is more important now more than ever. People may not be dining out as often, but when they do they want to make DAMN sure they receive a great experience at a value. They also want to go where everyone else is going. So...my staff and I work extremely hard to make sure we deliver great food, great service and comfortable atmosphere at a value. Value doesn't mean cheap or less expensive. It means that the customer feels they have received more than they actually paid for. My families philosophy has always been to exceed the customers expectations. We aren't perfect...but we're trying real friggin hard!

Having said all this, I dont want you to think that we restauratuers have it easy. We are faced with all the economic struggles that any business is facing. Rising costs of just about every item we purchase. Higher utility costs. Higher insurances. Higher taxes. This industry has always been unbelievably competitive. And above all that, every week there is another idiot planning to open a restaurant! I dont mean to sound harsh but I've seen it so many times. People who have NEVER been in the business before take their life savings and go for it. They think it's cool or glamorous. They think that all their friends and relatives will come and support them. they love to cook at home...and the nieghbors are always complimenting them on the dinner parties they throw, so why not? It's one of the reasons why banks HATE to lend money to restaurants. The failure rate is so high due to the fact that too many of these start-ups close within 6 months.

Ok, enough ranting. I'll probably write an article on here just dealing with that subject.

Anyway...Juggernaut, thats what we are...apparently. To tell te truth, I'm gonna have to look up the definition of the word. It sounds cool though doesnt it? Something big and powerful. I used to have a comic book with a character called The Juggernaut. He was this huge, musclebound figure with unstoppable power. He could run through concrete walls. Not sure if he could cook though, I'll have to research that.