Is your restaurant allergen-friendly?

By Adrian Johansen When you’re operating a restaurant, you have a lot on your plate — both literally and figuratively. You have to assemble and manage your crew. You have to oversee the financials. You have to ensure that your business is being promoted and marketed effectively. Above all, you have to provide your guests […]

How to better understand customer experience (and why it matters)

By Austin Verner Customers are the lifeblood of any business, and that means delivering an exceptional customer experience is a must to keep your guests coming back. A study conducted by Thanx found that revenue was highly-concentrated among a small number of customers, with the top 25 per cent contributing 64 per cent of revenue. […]

QR codes seem here to stay despite diner disdain

Foodservice’s embrace of technological solutions was hastened by the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic, safety, and staffing challenges it brought on. But it isn’t just new innovations we’ve seen rise to prominence in the last few years. QR codes, a tool once sidelined, have rebounded in a big way. These days, in the second half […]

How to put your employees first to fight ongoing labour shortages

The pandemic brought new, unimagined challenges to the restaurant industry, from closures and loss of business to supply chain delays. In the post-pandemic climate, while some of those obstacles still continue to plague the industry, a newly intensified challenge has dominated: labour shortages. During more than two years of unreliable work, many people quit the […]

Restaurant operators becoming more pessimistic about the future

The pain of the height of the pandemic may be behind us, but the trauma continues for foodservice. U.S. restaurant operators are getting less and less confident about the future of the industry, according to new data from the National Restaurant Association. A new survey from the association found that nearly half (46 per cent) […]

Food waste equals wasted opportunity for Canada’s food sector

A new report from food rescue organization Second Harvest has illustrated the severity of Canada’s food waste problem and suggested some core solutions that the food industry can implement to resolve the issue. Second Harvest’s findings show that Canada’s food system wastes almost all of the surplus edible food it produces, when it could instead […]

Most diners want QR codes as a long-term payment option

Restaurant operators, staff, and patrons have embraced increased technology over the past couple of years, both by preference and necessity. QR codes, which had existed prior to the pandemic but have surged in prominence since 2020, look like they’re here to stay. At first, part of that motivation was an early belief that COVID-19 spread […]

Cutting the cord: Upgrading the customer experience

The pandemic has made clear the importance of internet connectivity for restaurants By Jason Falovo The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the restaurant industry is well-documented, with the closure of about 12,000 Canadian restaurants since the pandemic started. While online food delivery has grown, full-service visits to restaurants have declined significantly and were […]

Navi, The Fifteen Group launch restaurant inventory management platform

Toronto-headquartered hospitality technology company Navi Inc. has collaborated with restaurant consultancy firm The Fifteen Group to launch a cloud-based inventory management and cost control platform called Navi Cost Control. The solution intends to help restaurant operators achieve sustained profitability through enterprise-level software, focusing on the three key areas of product cost control, labour cost control, […]

What restaurants can gain from private dining

By Sylvia Tomczak It’s exclusive, it’s elusive, it’s underground dining — and it might just be happening in the most obvious of places. All across Canada (and the rest of the world), chefs and restaurateurs have been rethinking the concept of dining out through embracing elements of secret supper club culture. Welcoming social intimacy and […]