Inspired by the principles developed in the “Service Profit Chain”, Mike Hohnen takes you through each of the steps needed to create an outstanding service business.

You will find it here on Amazon

Best!

We live in a world of abundance – there is plenty of choice everywhere. And since 2008 we have experienced significant drops in demand as consumers became more careful. The result is a widening gap between supply and demand in virtually any category you can imagine.
When that happens, many companies have a knee-jerk reaction, and the recipe is more or less always the same: initiate rigorous cost-cutting programs, reduce staff and/or services, offer discounts in many forms, and increase advertising aggressively.
This, however, is the equivalent of trying to steer and brake as your car begins to skid on black ice while going through a sharp curve.
As you hit that declining demand curve, you need to perform what at first seems like a counterintuitive move: hold your price, increase your services, improve your quality, and narrow your focus in the market.
In this book, you will not only understand why but also see how you can do that.

The new D’Espresso on Madison Avenue (at 42nd) in New York has received more media attention than is generally awarded to a tiny coffee shop in this world of millions of new coffee shops.

The reason for the attention is the fun design by the Manhattan-based nemaworkshop, a team of designers and architects that has created numerous cool retail and hospitality concepts. Founder Anurag Nema took the idea of a coffee shop that looks like a library – giving a nod to the nearby New York Public Library’s Bryant park branch – and turned it on its side. The walls are not lined with books but the floors and ceiling are. Except that it is all an illusion, a life-size image of books printed on custom tiles. Pendant lighting does not hang from the ceiling; it sticks out from the walls.

See the photos here D’Espresso

The Magazine FastCompnay has launched a series on the 100 most creative business profiles. Here is their take on who are the top 10 creative Foodies.

1. Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Jean-Georges Management
The Alsace-born celebrity chef has built a multimillion-dollar, multi-Michelin-starred empire without slapping his face on a frying pan or frozen pizza. Vongerichten’s unprecedented partnership with Starwood Hotels has given him license to unleash his creativity — and his take on Asian flavors — in 50 new restaurants over the next five years. “If I could have my dream,” he has said, “I would open a new restaurant every month.”

2. Dan Barber, Blue Hill restaurants
Barber is foodies’ latest locavore darling, the driving spirit behind the two acclaimed Blue Hill restaurants, and a passionate advocate for regional farm networks. The winner of the 2009 Outstanding Chef award from the James Beard Foundation, he practices what he preaches at his family’s farm and at the nonprofit Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture.

3. Will Allen, Growing Power
Since he used his life savings to buy the last working farm in Milwaukee, Allen has been dedicated to creating a more just food system. Growing Power’s network of urban teaching farms raises vegetables, fish, livestock, and honeybees; supplies local restaurants; creates sustainable cafeteria programs for corporations; and distributes food to more than 100,000 families. “We’re not just growing food, we’re growing people too,” he says.

4. Dan Cutforth and Jane Lispitz, Magical Elves Productions
Top Chef creators and executive producers Cutforth and Lispitz –”the elves,” as they’re known – have used reality television, of all things, to lift up serious cooking rather than reduce it to farce (we’re looking at you, Gordon Ramsey). In the process, Top Chef has become a pillar of the Bravo network’s urban-sophisticate strategy, spawning a popular Web site, cookbooks, and merchandise — making it an example of the 21st century integrated media brand.

5. Floyd Zaiger, Zaiger Genetics
The father of the pluot, 83-year-old Zaiger, has developed — by hand pollination, not genetic manipulation — some 200 new and improved fruits, from low-acid peaches to cherries that grow in warm climates to the golden red apricot-plum cross known as an aprium. “Developing a new cross takes 12 to 15 years,” says Zaiger’s daughter, Leith Gardner. “You need a little patience.” Coming next: a blue-skinned aprium.

6. Ed Kaczmarek, Kraft
Pay for an ad? Only if it’s extra cheesy. Director of innovation Kaczmarek’s Kraft iFood Assistant, which offers Kraft devotees with iPhones, thousands of recipes and more, proves not only that brands can create meaningful mobile experiences but also that customers will pay for them. Kraft’s cooking app ($0.99) cracked the iPhone’s top 100 apps list, rising at one point to the No. 2 slot in the lifestyle section, and helped the $42 billion company better understand its customers and what they’re shopping for.

7. Temple Grandin, Associate professor, Colorado State University
“There are similarities between my autistic mind and animal thinking,” Grandin says. The Woman Who Thinks Like a Cow, the title of her video bio on YouTube, has relied on that understanding to develop more humane ways of treating cattle destined for slaughter. She has no fans in the animal-rights blogosphere, but the walled, curved chutes she has designed and the handling standards she has set up for companies like Swift and McDonald’s — no flapping objects, no shadows, no spraying in the face — reduce stress in the animals and improve the efficiency of the operation as well as the quality of the meat.

8. Becky Frankiewicz, VP of portfolio marketing for Frito-Lay North America
Who says good for you has to mean “tastes like cardboard”? Frankiewicz is leading the shift for Frito-Lay’s Smartfood and Baked Lays brands to appeal to women, using design and taste to communicate that healthy snacking isn’t an oxymoron. New packaging is more elegant, appealing, and signals health benefits, and new technology lets flavor be baked into each crisp.

9. Jeff Jordan, CEO of OpenTable
Jordan, an eBay vet, has helped make restaurant reservations fun, adding features such as detailed users reviews and clever lists to help restaurant fans make better decisions in the same place they make their reservations. Perhaps his neatest trick has been to take OpenTable public in the current market climate — and get a 1999-style response. OpenTable stock hit a high of $35.50 on its opening day in late May, a nice bump from its initial price of $20 a share.

10. David Chang, Momofuku
The intense, award-winning chef launched his quirky downtown Manhattan mini-kingdom with inventive takes on Asian noodles and pork buns. Besides producing great food, Chang hits all the stylish notes — local produce, cool staff, lots and lots of pork. Plus, his latest (and priciest) venture, Ko, is the only restaurant we know that takes reservations only online.

Read more about the 100 Most Creative People in Business

Jeg vil ikke bruge ‘K-ordet’, så lad os bare blive enige om, at markedstilstandene varierer, og at betingelserne for vores livsform er under forandring.En af de positive konsekvenser er præcis det, at vi bevæger os fra virtuelle til virkelige netværk – og hovedkraften bag denne tendens er Generation Y.

Generation Y elsker de markante statements og at finde en større mening i tingene. Blandt andre kæden Starbucks har fået øjenene op for de muligheder, det giver. Prøv engang at se her:

Da jeg sidst besøgte deres website, var de langt over målet på løfter om 100 timers frivilligt arbejde fra de unge – godt gjort! Nu kommer så den mere tricky del af konceptet. Jeg vil gerne se, hvordan det udvikler sig. Bliver arbejdet lavet og bliver konceptet en succes, eller vil det langsomt dø ud?

På mange måder viser Starbucks vejen her. Jeg er sikker på, at andre restauranter og cafeer kan udvikle sig til lokale netværkssteder. Mulighederne er uendelige: Fra at være værter for café-workshops, give løsninger på dagligdags problemer – til at give tips om jobsøgning, osv. Eller hvad med være vært for en madlavningsession for de unge, som gerne vil spare penge på madbudgettet – måske endda opfordre dem til gøre det til jævnlige, fælles aktiviteter og derigennem skabe et socialt netværk – det kan give så meget mere end et par indlæg på facebook.

Første step er at få de lange fællesborde tilbage i cafeerne, hænge en opslagstavle op og se, hvad der sker…[/lang_da]

[lang_en]I have been watching and trying to learn the ropes of virtual social networking for a while now. In the process I have become convinced that this must some how eventually spill over from virtual to real.

I don’t what to use the “R” word so let just say that market conditions fluctuate and we seem to be in a change phase ;-) One of the positive things that may come out of that is exactly this move from virtual to real networking – and the main driver of this will be Gen-Y.

Gen-Why loves a big calling and a big hairy purpose – and Starbuck’s has seen the opportunity in this. Take a look at this:

When I last checked their website they were well beyond their goal of over a million hours pledged. Well done – now comes the tricky part execution. I for one will be watching how they get that going. Will they build on this and actually cash in the pledges or will it fade out?

But in many ways Starbuck’s is showing the way here.
I am sure that other restaurants and cafes could develop themselves as local networking hubs and in the process keep their turnover from sliding the wrong way.

The possibilities are endless: from hosting cafe workshops or finding solutions to everyday problems, tips on job hunting. Or how about hosting a cooking class for those youngsters that would like to save a few bucks on their food budget (and stay healthy at the same time) by cooking some real food themselves, maybe even encourage them to do it as communal effort – it could become a diner network – and that could be a lot more rewarding than a few posts on facebook.

The first step is to bring back in the communal tables and hang up a message board and see what happens…[/lang_da].

Forbrugertillid bliver et dyrebart aktiv, som der skal værnes om – opnår man det, er det til gengæld rigtig mange penge værd.

Det stiller igen Foodservice branchen over for nogle skarpe valg.

For på den ene side vil man være fristet til – eller måske endda nødt til – at kompensere for de stigende råvarepriser ved at bruge industrialiserede produkter i højere og højere grad – men det er på sin vis også begyndelsen på enden; for dermed bliver branchen, som ellers i manges øjne har nydt større forbrugertillid end de producenter der fremstiller industrialiserede produkter, pludselig slået i hartkorn med netop dem.

USA og Tyskland er allerede langt med lovgivning om varedeklarationer på restaurationsmad, og andre lande forventes at følge efter. Det bliver også nødvendigt; for efterhånden som råvare priserne stiger, bliver det mere og mere fristende at forsøge at snyde på den ene eller den anden måde. Den seneste skandale med mælkepulver i Kina bliver nok ikke den sidste at den slags, vi kommer til at opleve.[/lang_da]

En dag, mens de stod og kiggede fortvivlet ind i en sandwichmontre, spurgte John Vincent sin konsulentmakker, der tilfældigvis også var hans bedste kammerat fra skoletiden: “Du, hvordan tror du en fastfood forretning ville se ud, hvis Gud skulle designe den”? Det blev startskuddet til Leon

På menuen finder man salater, supper og wraps til frokost, og om aftenen lidt tungere ting som lam og makrel, men ikke skyggen af en sandwich. Der bliver brugt quinoa, broccoli, alfafa, kylling, hummus, koriander og kardemomme, som var det en helsekostbutik – og alt sammen til priser, der svinger mellem 30 og 50 kr. for en ret. Se hele menuen her.

Men tag ikke fejl. Bag det familiære hyggeimage er der en stålsat vilje til at gøre verden bedre: “Vi skal have gjort op med industrialiseringen af vores fødevarer,” siger John Vincent, “og det bliver først rigtig godt, når vi er så store, at vi virkelig kan sætte vores præg på udviklingen. Derfor er målet 2.020 forretninger inden året 2020 – med Guds vilje.”[/lang_da]

[lang_en]The beginning is as classic as it can get. In the same way as the founder of McDonald’s, Ray Krock, asked himself, why it was so hard for a businessman to find a good hamburger on the road in the States, two consultants from Bain & Company in London, John Vincent and his colleague, Henry Dimpleby, realised that every day they encountered the same dilemma. Either they had to spend time on a healthy and nourishing lunch or get lunch from one of the traditional fast food chains.

One day, while they were looking at a sandwich glass case with despair in their eyes, John Vincent asked his colleague who also happened to be his best buddy from the years of school: ‘Hey, how do you think a fast food restaurant would look like if God had to design one?’ That statement was the very first step in creating ‘Leon’.

On their menu you find salads, soups and wraps for lunch and in the evening more solid meals like lamb and mackerel – but no sandwich in sight. Ingredients used are quinoa, broccoli, alfalfa, chicken, hummus, coriander and cardamom – as if it was a health food store and with reasonable prices between 5 and 8 dollars for a meal. Take a look at their menu here: http://www.leonrestaurants.co.uk/

But don’t be mistaken. Behind this cosy family image there is a powerful determination to make the world a better place. “We have to make an end to our industrial foods”, John Vincent says, “and it won’t happen before we get big enough to influence the development. That is why the goal is to reach 2.020 businesses before the year 2020 – if God will.

De absolutte megatrends i restaurantverdenen er fortsat ‘tid, tillid, sundhed og emotioner’, så umiddelbart var der intet nyt under solen, da der blev præsenteret trends på årets foodservice konference i Zurich. Men under overfladen er der alligevel skift og nuancer, som er interessante nok til at få et par ord med på vejen.

Vi har i rigtig lang tid opfattet restaurationslivet som noget, der er forbundet med ‘at gå ud’ – og sådan har det også været hidtil. Men restaurationsverdenen i dag lever ikke af, at vi ‘går ud’. Den er der, fordi vi hele tiden er ude, og det er noget andet. Den moderne, urbane livsstil handler om, at vi tilbringer mere tid væk fra hjemmet end nogen sinde tidligere.

Den tendens kommer tydeligst til udtryk, når man ser på, hvad det er for sektorer, der oplever den hurtigste vækst, og her ligger ‘travel’ højst med en vækst på 12,3 pct. fra 2006 til 2007, mens f.eks. ‘quick service’ ligger på 9,2 pct. og catering på kun 5,8 pct. i samme periode.

Samtidig har trafikknudepunkter udviklet sig til nutidens shopping centre og ‘food court’. Hovedbanegården i Rom er et fint eksempel på sådan en udvikling, hvilket vi tidligere har beskrevet her i bladet, men nu er desuden St. Pancras, London, Berlin Hauptbahnhoof og Marseille kommet til. I en travl hverdag er det nemmere at fortage sine indkøb på vej til og fra toget.

Også lufthavne undergår i disse år en rivende udvikling. Her har man hidtil været vant til at se næsten det samme udvalg i selve lufthavnen og såmænd også fra lufthavn til lufthavn. Men besøger man Heathrows nye Terminal 5, London, vil man se, at den nu er eksponent for noget af det smarteste og hotteste i både foodservice og detailhandel.

Trafikknudepunkterne er blevet de nye ’high street locations’.[/lang_da]

Men der var især én pointe, der gik rent ind hos mig. Vi talte om den tendens, som mange hoteller har, med at forsøge at give produkter væk som en slags extra service – at overgå folks forventninger kaldes det ofte. Men som Iben så rigtig påpegede, så er det en livsfarlig kurs at komme ind på. Produkter er noget vi sælger; de koster os noget at købe hjem, og vi skal have penge for dem. Tilgengæld er service noget, vi frit deler ud af – det koster os ikke noget, og gæsterne elsker det.

Den store fare ved at give drinks, snacks, pauseoverraskelser osv væk er, at det skaber en ny forventning og dermed skruen uden ende. Uddeler vi derimod masser af omsorg og service, sker der det samme. Men det koster ikke ekstra for os at leve op til det – tværtimod – og den forventing, vi skaber, holder hele teamet til ilden: Det bliver til “sådan gør vi her”.

At give sine produkter væk, er i virkeligheden en dyr og dårlig ertstaning for at yde superb service.[/lang_da]

Read the post here