NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- With its collective of retailers, restaurateurs, suppliers and even celebrities—country singer Matt Stillwell, celebrity seaman Capt. Sig Hansen and multiple celebrity chefs—there were nuggets of wisdom to be found in every corner of CSP’s FARE Conference this week.
Here are a few we collected:
Rough Around the Edges
As metaphors go, it was a bit far afield. But still, it was there: Sometimes the most difficult employees to manage can also become some of your most valuable assets. The connection? For retired Navy Seal David Cooper, it was the most common attributes of Navy Seals, specifically “a healthy disrespect for authority” and “a willingness to break the rules”! Think about it: The most-respected and highly trained soldiers in the military are also the most difficult to train and the most likely to break the rules.
Sounds Familiar
Cooper’s commentary echoed much of the meat of former Starbucks CEO Howard Behar’s discussion of company culture. “When you get a job you hear from the boss: ‘No surprises!’ He doesn’t mean that literally; he means no negative surprises. But you can’t have positive surprises without some negative surprises.” When you push the envelope, you don’t know what you’re going to get until it’s over.
Labeling an Optimist
Most foodservice retailers recognize the new menu-labeling rules that will become requirements in the fourth quarter are difficult and potentially expensive. But Andy Scoggins, foodservice and beverage lead for Mapco Express, sees a bright side of getting out in front of it: “Anything that makes us stand out as fresh and clean is a strategic advantage for us.”
Coffee vs. Espresso
After years of rallying around good coffee as the convenience store’s best way to enter the foodservice realm, it seems the stakes have risen. Despite its quality and well-known Java Wave coffee brand, the Family Express c-store chain saw its coffee sales decline five years straight. The problem? “Coffee” sales are on the decline across the United States. “We were throwing everything at drip coffee, but a sizable portion of consumers—and all millennials—were going to espresso-based beverages, completely undermining our program,” said Family Express’ vice president of marketing Bill Nolan. Marc Hubble, national sales manager—retail for Franke Coffee Systems North America, backed up Nolan’s observation. “Brewed coffee is trending down,” he said, noting National Coffee Association data that this year 59% of adult consumers said they drank brewed coffee the previous day, down from 64% in 2012. Specialty coffee, however, is on the rise, trending up to 18% of consumers this year, compared to 12% in 2013.
Grab-and-Go, Not Gag-and-Go
Veteran foodservice marketing strategist Ira Blumenthal trumpeted the heartbeat of the baby boomer in the face of the millennial. But in extolling the importance of a group that makes up nearly one-fourth of the American population, Blumenthal said non-traditional foodservice retailers can score well with a fresh, good-tasting grab-and-go offer, one that, if executed poorly, will be more like “gag-and-go.” The quip drew chuckles from several retailers.
The New Trendsetters
Geographically, strategist Paul Jankowski’s “new heartland” looks a lot like the old heartland of the United States. It includes the Southwest, Midwest and parts of the Southeast. Where it differs, however, is in its power to enact change. Now he’s just waiting for businesses in those areas to realize the same thing. “Stop waiting on the coasts,” he said during an educational session. “Typically, brands think trends start on the coasts and work their way in.” Not anymore, he said, and he credits the up-and-coming generation. “Millennials feel they are on top of things, regardless of where they [live].”
And the lightning round:
- Putting the silhouette of a shell or some other target in a men’s urinal leaves a bathroom 83% cleaner, according to motivational speaker and best-selling author Eric Chester.
- Chester also revealed that the average drive-thru time at the Pal’s Sudden Service quick-service chain is 17 seconds and the accuracy rate is one error per 3,500 transactions. He cited it as proof of what a service business can do with the right culture.
- Mobile ordering and pre-paying is reshaping the design of restaurants. Sweetgreen, one of the industry’s most-watched restaurant concepts, is designing new stores with the expectation that half of orders will be placed by customers, not staffers, which means less counter space is needed for POS systems.
- One third of consumers choose a restaurant on the basis of what alcoholic beverages are available, according to Technomic’s Donna Hood Crecca.
- Celebrity chef Robert Irvine on who’s better in the kitchen: men or women? “They both have their strengths. Women are usually a little better at plating, making the food look pretty, and men are more adventurous with flavors and seasoning.”
- A shoutout to chefs Q-Juan Taylor and Jonathan Waxman for committing to host benefit dinners to raise money and awareness for FARE/CARRE Foundation spotlight charity Quest to Cure MSA and the Rex Griswold Foundation.
- And finally, this nugget worth repeating from Capt. Sig Hansen of TV’s “Deadliest Catch” fame: Hansen has navigated the swells and surfs of ocean life with wisdom and prudence. His crew has incurred no fatalities. Yet, Hansen remains sensitive to the risks. When he was 11, he shared, he jumped over the rail of a boat and sprained his ankle. The captain had the lad fly home while the boat went fishing without him. The boat disappeared, never to be seen again.
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