A new frontier: Desktop dining

by Darrel Suderman — President, Food Technical Consulting

The opportunity for new product and packaging innovation in the Desktop Dining category has never been greater.

Crime prevention – The power of a flower

Crime Prevention through Environmental Design relies on the ability to deter criminal acts.

Disharmonic harmony in trends 2012

by Suzy Badaracco — President, Culinary Tides Inc

Patterns shift based on their own trajectory regardless of corporate strategy planning.

Google: I dislike my staff

by Nate DaPore — President and CEO, PeopleMatter

The second most likely reason your staff leaves is lack of respect or support from a supervisor.

Meal credits

by Rick Casmass — VP Marketing, Valiant

Many restaurant owners who offer free meals to their employees are unaware that they are entitled to a minimum wage meal credit for each employee.

Feds charge a suspected major cyber thief

by Brad Cyprus — Chief of Security and Compliance, Vendor Safe Technologies

Everyone in retail can breathe a little easier today knowing that federal authorities have charged David Benjamin Schrooten, or as he is known in cyber space…

Food allergies hit more city kids

by Betsy Craig — pres, menutrinfo.com

Food allergies and special dining needs are rising, so it's important for restaurants to learn how to cater to this growing demographic.

The next steps of a soon-to-franchise restaurant company

by Harold Kestenbaum — Partner, Gordon & Rees, LLP

In my last blog, I discussed what to do once you decide to franchise your restaurant. Now that you've taken those next steps, where do you go from here? The…

Worry maps

by Suzy Badaracco — President, Culinary Tides Inc

Eighty percent mistakenly believe the gluten-free diet is either "more healthful" or a weight loss solution, instead of a medically-indicated diet for the auto…

Restaurants serve up a path to success – Part 2

by Nate DaPore — President and CEO, PeopleMatter

Retaining your top talent will grow increasingly difficult as the economy continues to improve and the labor market tightens.

Employee hotline – Avoid passing in the no passing zone

Employee Hotlines encourage employees to report incidences when they observe unsafe conditions or inappropriate behavior, and promotes a culture of ethical…

New 'inventive' food innovation

by Darrel Suderman — President, Food Technical Consulting

New product research eventually evolved into a new mindset term called 'creative,' and companies hired research chefs to bridge the gap between research and…

The QR Code – A cheap, green, effective marketing tool for pizza operators

by Jennifer Wright — CFO, Ecovention, LLC

There is a plethora of websites that produce QR codes for URLs quickly, easily and at no cost.

All I really need to know I learned in kindergarten

by Marla Topliff — President, Rosati's Pizza

Learning an important marketing lesson at the age of 7.

Restaurants serve up a path to success — Part 1

by Nate DaPore — President and CEO, PeopleMatter

Have you taken a look at the 2012 Restaurant Industry Forecast? If you don't have a copy, you'll want to get one. If you have a copy and haven't read it…

It's counterfeit! Now what do we do? - Part 3

Training your employees on how to detect counterfeit, and what to do when it occurs is an essential element of loss prevention and cash management plans.

Food innovation burnout at 33,528 feet

by Darrel Suderman — President, Food Technical Consulting

The term innovation is used more frivolously as it now implies a company is "agile" and "cool."

What are your brand standards?

by Betsy Craig — pres, menutrinfo.com

Research shows that 96 percent of the nearly 31,000 menu items studied from chain restaurants failed to meet USDA recommendations for calories, sodium, fat and…

A hiring road map: tips to navigate key trends in the hourly landscape

by Amanda Richardson — Senior Vice President of Product and Marketing, Snagajob

Adapt your method of hourly hiring and retention to build a better approach that works with the trends instead of against them.

Is it real or counterfeit? Part 2 – Detection devices

Part 1 of "Is it real or counterfeit?" gave practical tips in teaching cashiers how to detect counterfeit currency. Anti-counterfeit technology has been…