From the Editorial Board: Post-pandemic, inflation-strapped consumers are realigning which businesses they support, and as difficult conditions continue to pressure restaurants, the industry needs to remember to put its loyal customers first.
Opinion content—editorials, columns and guest commentaries—is created independent of news reporting and is exclusive to subscribers.The QR code to see the virtual menu inside a pod tent is seen on Dec. 2, 2020, at Bien Trucha restaurant in Geneva during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The reality is that independent neighborhood restaurants need their communities to support them as much as ever. As veteran food-service consultant David Henkes of Chicago’s Technomic put it: “It is harder to run a restaurant today than in the last 25 years.”Running a restaurant has never been easy, with one of the highest first-year failure rates of any small-business category.
The recent National Restaurant Association Show at McCormick Place heralded a wave of technology in an industry that traditionally has low technical barriers to entry. At the sprawling trade show, robots operated frying stations and stirred woks while a virtual bartender took drink orders, replete with a sassy attitude.
Between the use of automation to reduce labor costs, and the boom in takeout and delivery brought about by social distancing, even mom-and-pop outlets have become dependent on cutting-edge technology, with mixed results.
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