THE FUTURE OF FOODSERVICE
THE SPONSOR’S PERSPECTIVE:
MJ: How are changing customer habits
shaping the whole industry? JL: People don’t want to have to pay more when they go to a restaurant, or a takeaway, or to buy healthy food. We must respect that. So, instead we need to optimize the processes involved in food production or food deliveries. Tey need our support.
MJ: How do we fix the labor issue in our
MEGHAN DARO VICE PRESIDENT, CONSULTANT SERVICES, THE MIDDLEBY CORPORATION I’m excited and optimistic that many of the things that we’re working on as a manufacturer are aligning with many of the specific concerns the board raised today.
It was also great to hear your
views on attracting and keeping young people in the industry. That’s something that’s important to me, individually as well as professionally. I started out in this industry as a 14-year-old in the back-of-house in my uncle’s Deli in Chicago, and I also helped on the catering side. Then, I went to school on the marketing, media and hospitality side, before I ended up in the manufacturing aspect of this industry. Now, in every single committee or board meeting that I sit on, I think it’s so vital to have those conversations about young people. What’s really going to fuel things is pushing down into the younger workforce to make these things come to fruition. I fully accept and see some of these challenges, but we as manufacturers are certainly taking them into consideration as we design and develop products.
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industry? EN: It was a problem that was coming pre-pandemic, that we as an industry prepared poorly for. One of the biggest factors is the rate of pay. It’s not enticing enough for most people to start as a frontline worker on $15 an hour. Gen Z and Gen Alpha are not getting jobs like our generations had at a young age. But if we raise pay, the price of the goods and services are going to go up as well. So, it’s about finding a healthy balance between paying employees enough to support them and the cost of living and also not driving the consumer away by raising the prices too high. But labor is going to remain an issue for at least the next few years.
MJ: How do we make consulting more
attractive to younger people? CG: We need to tell our story. Consulting is a unique and fun profession. But it is hard to come in and be a consultant. You must work
“People don’t want to pay more. So, instead we need to optimize the processes involved in food production or food deliveries. They need our support”
your way into it and have some experience behind you. But there are some cool things happening. We just need that generation to come in and kick-start us into utilizing all those things for our clients – because there are great client benefits. Also, we need to ensure young folks are seeing other young folks at our events. We need to give them their space – as we do with the EPiC Committee – so they have a chance to talk to each other and get excited about what’s happening. We can get very insular. We need to invest in their education too.
MJ: Is the industry in danger of losing its
people-centric heart? BG: Getting people into the industry is tough, so mundane tasks need to be eliminated as much as possible – automate them as much as you can in the back-of- house, so it allows more staff to be trained to deal with people. Spend more money on good staff training. Consider outsourcing your cleaning. I’ve seen restaurants close at 10pm, then the cleaning company comes in, so,the chefs don’t have to clean down all their stations. Tey’re not breaking their backs – and having to leave the industry.
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