Mike Hohnen

Coaching for personal growth, change and development

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Great Combos

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Restaurants have introduced many a great combo. Sweet and sour. Coke and fries. But roast turkey and cheeseburgers? Pizza and fried chicken?

Fuddruckers became the latest to combine two concepts, popping up in Koo Koo Roo in the past month. Late last year the burger specialist bought the chicken purveyor, which operates 18 fast-casual spots throughout Southern California, and now at least six of the stores sell both burgers and chicken. The move reflects a growing movement in the restaurant business as chains strive to fill out menus and grab more dollars. Those that successfully combine concepts bring in new customers and add sales, leading restaurant experts to expect the trend to continue. [Read more…] about Great Combos

Customer satisfaction online

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https://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/sfl-sbwebstay08feb08,0,3531199.story

Once upon a time, a good or bad hotel experience might be passed along to a small group of friends. Now it gets posted via the World Wide Web on sites such as tripadvisor.com or fodors.com. For consumers, the sites are a back channel way to check up on the advertising and marketing claims put out by hotel chains.

For hotels, the benefits are more mixed. Comments like “God awful” and “Run away as fast as you can” can sour travelers and may not be objective, even as “Terrific” and “Great view and beach” could lead to bookings.

But hotel executives say they do monitor the sites, in part to uncover problems glossed over on guest comment cards.

What backlash? Diners say oui to French cuisine

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“Anti-French feelings may be high,” says Ron Paul, president of Technomic, a restaurant consulting firm. “But the palate doesn’t play politics. French dining is doing very, very well.”

Sure, the nation’s politics swung anti-French last year when France loudly protested the Iraq war. Sales of French wine hit the skids.

So did business at some French restaurants. But a surprising number of them, particularly on the West Coast, have entered 2004 standing taller than the Eiffel Tower.

Behind this: diners’ growing desire for variety, particularly international fare. In a nation seemingly overrun with Italian and Southwestern outlets, there’s actually a dearth of French fare, Paul says. [Read more…] about What backlash? Diners say oui to French cuisine

A preference for dark meat

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A preference for dark meat is not merely personal, but a matter of tradition for David Fortuna, chef/owner of Wholly Ravioli, Sacramento, Calif. Ever since his family’s first restaurant was opened in 1945, its members have preached the virtues of chicken thighs. “In Italy you use all parts of the chicken,he says. “Dark meat has a more ‘chickeny’ flavor, and it absorbs marinades and holds sauces better than breast meat.

[Read more…] about A preference for dark meat

Search Engine Marketing – A challenge with huge returns

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The major search engines are The undisputed gateway for consumers and researchers looking for information online and The primary path for leading them to their ultimate destinations. We’re all aware of their importance when it comes to generating revenue online so let’s get right down to the options you have when promoting your company and/or its products. In a nutshell you have two; Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and Natural Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – both of them designed to position your web site in front of your potential customers. Business to business, or business to consumer it makes no difference, its imperative that you’re visible. Mind you, there is no free ride so make your decisions wisely. [Read more…] about Search Engine Marketing – A challenge with huge returns

Some like it Hot – Cool Soup News –

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I see more and more references to soup and soup concepts at the moment… here is one from Cool News

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Soup News. About two years ago, Jackie Bergman of Southfield, Mass. received an e-mail that “stirred a soup appreciation movement in the Berkshires,” as reported by Dana Bowen in The New York Times. The e-mail carried the subject header, “soupnews?” and it was from someone asking about the soups Jackie used to make at a Millerton, New York, restaurant called Farm Country Cafe, which had closed back in 1998.

Jackie removed the question mark from the subject header, replied that she was still making 50 varieties of soup from her “tiny takeout store, Farm Country Soup.” Well, her reply was forwarded, and forwarded and forwarded again, “chain-letter style,” and orders for her soup started pouring in. Trouble was, Farm Country Soup is located “behind an 18th-century buggy whip factory” in a town that “is fifteen minutes by car from the nearest sizeable town, Great Barrington.” Solution was, “a friend offered an empty refrigerator at her office” as a “soup port” — or a place where Jackie’s customers could come and pickup their soup.

Darned if that idea didn’t spread, too. [Read more…] about Some like it Hot – Cool Soup News –

What Women Want

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Freud famously wondered, “What does a woman want?” He never figured it out, but many business owners have-and are making money in the process. What women want right now is attention to detail in product design and service; [Read more…] about What Women Want