Though mask mandates are coming back in some places, the world is still largely open for the summer. That means restaurants can expect that increase in foot traffic to stay steady as long as it’s legal to open. Nonetheless, different types of businesses have their own obstacles affecting recovery. Restaurants need to look up the food supply chain to know what their own business can expect.
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What the Food Supply Chain Faces
Shortages will likely occur as the food supply chain gets back to pre-pandemic success too. Meanwhile, increased demand for dine-in service presents an obvious problem for restaurants. As more people get vaccinated and state and local restrictions continue to loosen, demand will only grow. Restaurants need to find other ways to meet customer expectations.
Diversifying your vendors may be one such answer. When you connect with more and more people in the supply chain, you have several fallbacks in case something goes wrong with one of your suppliers. This is also a gateway to bartering for better deals, since you can shop around, price match and form good relationships with more vendors.
To help, the government funded grants aimed at helping processors who run up against manufacturing issues. Restaurants who monitor that situation can account for it when making choices about the menu. Perhaps they add dishes that aren’t encountering supply holdups to ensure a smooth customer experience throughout the season. There’s also no reason that restaurants can’t emphasize that in their marketing, and let customers know they’re doing all they can to serve whatever’s trendy right now.
And it’s not just food—as the rest of the supply chain recovers, prepare to adjust everything from your seasonal menu to your takeout packaging. You never know what they may run out of farther up the chain of command. Prepare for anything.
How Restaurants Can Adjust
Diversification will help get restaurants stocked with high-quality ingredients that are good for the environment and their patrons. Working with local businesses also entices green customers because it’s less damaging to the earth; just think of how short transport is!
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Managing several vendors won’t be a problem with the latest technology, either. Smart Point of Sale systems will track, for example, expenditure so you can see where you’re losing the most money. As soon as the supply chain experiences some kind of holdup, you can adjust your budget to account for it. POS tech also…
facilitates better communication and heightened transparency between levels of the supply chain, thereby promoting understanding during these troubled times.
automates the accounting process so it’s simple and fast, even as you adjust your budget.
handle menu engineering so you can update as soon as ingredients go out of stock. Auto-syncing capabilities automatically disseminate the changes to every device in the store to keep customers in the loop.
streamlines unnecessary expenses.
Let your vendors know you’re here for them while simultaneously doing what’s best for your business. As the food supply chain recovers, restaurants should keep an eye out so they can mitigate the repercussions to their own business. Then, use cutting-edge technology to implement operational changes that promote adaptability, so your business can weather whatever the future holds.
