Mike Hohnen

Coaching for personal growth, change and development

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Independent restaurants lead takeout trend

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PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. (March 14) – Approximately 62 percent of customer traffic for takeout comes from independent, full-service restaurants, while only 38 percent is from chain restaurants, according to a survey by The NPD Group, a market research firm based here.

Takeout traffic at independent casual-dining locations increased 6 percent in 2004, after being down 2 percent the previous year. Takeout traffic for chains was also up 6 percent in 2004. The survey showed that 44 percent of take-out traffic at full-service chains comes from people making a yearly salary of $75,000 or more. Forty-two percent of takeout traffic at independent units comes from people in that income bracket. Also, 22 percent of all takeout traffic at independent restaurants comes from people 50 years or older, but for chain restaurants 18 to 34-year-olds drive the takeout traffic.

Nations Restaurant News

Thought for the day….

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In England more people are employed by Indian restaurants than in steelmaking, coal mining, and ship building combined!

Tom Peters

White Wheat

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White Wheat. A different kind of flour that tastes more like bleached but has “all the nutrition and fiber of whole-wheat” stands to gain popularity as Americans try to get more whole grains into their diets, reports Elizabeth Weise in USA Today. The flour is known as “white wheat.” It is “a naturally occurring albino variety” that is free of the “tannins and phenolic acid” that can give the usual whole-wheat flour (made from “red” wheat) its bitter taste. “When you cut it open, it has a more golden color rather than the harsh red color,” says Gerry Newman of Albemarle Baking Company. “People are sure there must be honey in there.” Adds Charles Walker, a “professor of bakery science” at Kansas State University: “It tastes sweet in comparison.”

Tim Manners, reveries

Asparagus As High Art

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Would you spend more than $100 a person on a gourmet seven-course meal created entirely of vegetables?

Judging by the growing popularity of vegetarian tasting menus at some of the nation’s most celebrated restaurants — including several in the Washington area — the answer is a decided yes.

From the glittering new Per Se in New York, where a nine-course vegetable tasting menu is $175 a person, to the posh Maestro in McLean, where a five-course meal from the “Colors of the Garden” menu is $105, to the innovative Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago and its $115-a-person vegetable menu, ambitious chefs are presenting diners with stunning multi-course meals that don’t contain a scrap of meat, poultry or fish.

And they aren’t apologizing for the cost, either. Exceptional vegetable courses that look and taste like works of art take as much or more time to do well as any other dishes, chefs say.

Washington Post

Biofortification and superfoods

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Purple carrots and black tomatoes may seem like a marketing gimmick, but the real reason behind their development is biofortification, the process of adding extra nutrients to foods. But how are such products developed? And how will consumers react? Patrick McGuigan investigates.

Crimson carrots and black tomatoes may sound like something from a modern art still life. But scientists are developing this kind of unusually coloured produce, using traditional breeding techniques, because certain pigments contain nutrients and anti-oxidants that have been shown to fight various health problems.

And the process of boosting nutrients in fruit and vegetables, known as biofortification, may be beginning to capture the imaginations of supermarkets, which appreciate the marketing benefits of eye-catching, better-for-you produce. Wacky coloured vegetables may appeal in particular to children, who are notoriously reluctant to eat their greens, but might be tempted to eat their reds or purples.

Just-Food

Chipotle's Choices.

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You can have anything you want at a Chipotle’s restaurant — so long as it’s some kind of a taco or burrito, reports Amanda Hesser in The New York Times Magazine (2/27/05). Condiments — Chipotle offers just three hot sauces to its customers. “Nothing to dilute the purity of the tightly swaddled burrito,” writes Amanda, who also observes that the formula seems to work — and suggests that it “represents a shift in American fast food … a triumph for the increasing number of diners interested in healthful, sustainable food.” As she describes the scene at the new Chipotle on 34th Street in Manhattan: “Fresh tortillas are heated on a griddle, then piled with fillings like rice flecked with fresh cilantro, naturally raised Niman Ranch pork and organic beans. Burritos, good-tasting if bulky, are rolled by the hundred.”

Reveries

Chipotle

Where's the Loyalty?

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“A loyalty card,” says Spence, “is a piece of plastic. Most loyalty programs are plastic. They do nothing more than replace traditional paper coupons with electronic coupons. Why would that generate loyalty?”

FastCompany

Report: Soy Drinks, Yogurts and Eggs See Fastest Growth

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CHICAGO (January 27, 2005) – Food and beverage products that support healthy diets, weight loss, and on-the-go lifestyles are among the world’s fastest growing, according to a new global study from ACNielsen, based here. Specifically, soy-based drinks, drinkable yogurts and eggs were the top growth categories, reporting revenue growth increases of 31%, 19% and 16%, respectively, from 2003 to 2004, the report showed. Soy-based drinks and drinkable yogurts were among the fastest growing in a similar study conducted in 2002. The new findings are contained in ACNielsen’s report, “What’s Hot Around the Globe – Insights on Growth in Food and Beverages 2004.”

Supermarketnews