By Bret Thorn
According to guidelines disclosed by the Food and Drug Administration this week, slight variations to a restaurant chain’s name will not exempt the brand from federal menu labeling regulations; menu items available for less than 60 days won’t have to include calorie or other data; but fountain sodas will have to be labeled with nutritional information.
Those are just a few of the details provided as guidelines for federal menu-labeling regulations. The agency is seeking comments from the foodservice industry before nailing down the final rules.
Plans for national nutrition disclosure from restaurant chains were included as part of the health care reform bill that President Obama signed into law March 23. Under the law, restaurants and similar food establishments and vending machines with 20 or more locations doing business under the same name and offering “substantially the same menu items” must disclose the number of calories of each standard menu item. The information must be shown on menus and menu boards or adjacent to self-service food and food on display.
The FDA said the guidance, which it published Tuesday, indicates its current position on how restaurants should comply with the law. It is soliciting comments over the next 45 days before issuing the final regulations, which it must do by March 23, 2011.
National Restaurant Association public affairs specialist Dan Roehl said the association would be working with its members to collect feedback on the FDA’s guidance.
“It is our intention to provide comment on the content,” he said.
He said restaurants should not act on the proposed regulations until final rules are in place.
The FDA noted that it would not begin taking action against restaurants that do not comply with the law until a period of time after the final rules have been issued.
Details of the guidance, which can be viewed in its entirety here, include:
• Slight variations in a restaurant's name, such as “ABC” and “ABC Express” don’t exempt companies from the law.
• Changing the name of a menu item does not exempt it from coverage if it uses the same basic recipe of a standard item.
• Takeout menus and online menus should include calorie information.
• Chains with 19 or fewer units are not required to comply but may do so voluntarily by registering with the FDA.
• Corporate caterers that operate 20 or more units but tailor the menus to each client are not required to comply, nor are operations that cater individual events.
In addition to a restaurant's regular menu, other items that must include calorie data postings include:
• Beverages, including alcoholic beverages.
• Self-service items such as those at salad bars, buffet or cafeteria lines or beverage fountains.
• Any food on display, whether self-service or accessed by restaurant staff.
Items that don’t require calorie information to be displayed include:
• Condiments and “other items placed on the table for general use.”
• Daily specials.
• Temporary items that appear on the menu for fewer than 60 days per calendar year.
• Custom orders that require deviation from standard preparation. The FDA cited as examples a Cobb salad without bacon or a “fast-food hamburger” ordered without the usual toppings.
• Food that is part of a market test that appears on the menu for fewer than 90 days.
• Pre-packaged food with complete nutrition labels that customers can examine before purchase.
The FDA said it would issue recommended language for “variable” menu items, such as pizza prepared to order with a choice of toppings and ice cream with more than one flavor listed or displayed, in its final rule.
Part of the legislation also calls for chains to post a statement regarding the recommended total daily caloric intake per person, as well as to state on their menus and menu boards that additional nutritional information is available in written form.
That additional information must include total number of calories from any source, total number of calories from fat, total fat, total saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrate, sugar, dietary fiber and total protein. The FDA also recommended that the amount of trans fat also be included.
This week, the FDA also issued guidance indicating that the proposed federal guidelines will overrule menu-labeling laws in local or state jurisdictions in the United States.
That guidance can be seen here.
The NRA’s Roehl said the association was very encouraged by the FDA's stance.
“It’s obviously critical in establishing a uniform national standard,” he said.
Written comments on the guidance should be submitted to:
Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305)
Food and Drug Administration
5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061
Rockville, MD 20852
Electronic comments may be submitted to http://www.regulations.gov.
All comments should be identified with docket number FDA-2010-N-0298.
Contact Bret Thorn at
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.
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By Elissa Elan Most consumers expect restaurants to back up their claims of being eco-friendly at risk of losing their business, a new study has found.
The study, conducted this month by research firm Technomic Inc. in partnership with the Boston-based Green Restaurant Association, found respondents had strong feelings when it came to restaurants verifying their green efforts.
Of the 500 people surveyed in the national study, 82 percent said they would reduce or stop visiting restaurants falsely claiming to be green. Only 6 percent said they trusted self-reported, unverified claims, while 94 percent said they trusted a restaurant’s eco-friendly assertions when they're verified by an outside organization
“The statistics show that consumers have strong opinions about two things: they want to dine green and they want it to be legitimate,” said Michael Oshman, founder and chief executive of the Green Restaurant Association, which provides green certification for restaurants.
“We’ve known that for 20 years, but this is the first time that we’ve had in-depth data to demonstrate that consumers expect real and verified environmental changes in their favorite restaurants," he added.
According to the study, 79 percent of respondents said they would characterize green verifiers as untrustworthy if the organizations were awarding green-certified decals to restaurants without requiring them to meet specific environmental standards. Another 91 percent said they expected certification experts to conduct annual audits of restaurants’ green claims.
“In the era of greenwashing, it’s imperative to provide consumers with information they can trust,” Oshman said. “When it comes to certifying a restaurant as green, transparency is key. The consumer needs to be able to see the exact steps the restaurant has taken.”
Read more: http://www.nrn.com/goinggreen.aspx?coll_id=718&menu_id=1546&globalMenuTab=-1#ixzz0pcraIOh6
By Mark Brandau Pizza may be one of the cheapest, most convenient foods in the United States, but American consumers overwhelmingly turn to pizza over other meal options because of taste, new research shows.
A recent study by consulting firm Technomic found that 62 percent of consumers polled said cravings drove their most recent purchase of away-from-home pizza, compared with 25 percent of respondents who went out for pizza because it’s more convenient than cooking at home. Nearly one-fifth of those surveyed said price, coupons or discount promotions influenced their pizza buying decisions.
To capture a bigger slice of the pie -- 93 percent of consumers in the United States eat pizza at least once a month, Technomic found -- chains must appeal to consumers’ sense of taste with bold flavors and diverse offerings, said Darren Tristano, executive vice president of Chicago-based Technomic.
“Operators and suppliers will want to consider what they can do to elicit consumer cravings through adding new items to their menus and emphasizing them through their marketing message,” Tristano said. “Differentiation through pizzas that feature unique flavors and taste combinations that consumers cannot purchase elsewhere or make at home will likely help support this effort. Positioning pizza as a meal solution that is easy, convenient and affordable will resonate with many consumers.”
Technomic pointed out that some emerging chains like zpizza, Extreme Pizza and Pizza Fusion are starting to differentiate themselves with innovative specialty ingredients and the sourcing of all-natural and organic ingredients.
Meanwhile, some of the biggest pizza players have expanded their menus beyond pizza and into new dayparts, as seen in Pizza Hut’s line of Tuscani pastas or Domino’s menu, which company officials said has turned over more than 80 percent over the past two years. In addition to introducing Oven Baked Sandwiches, Breadbowl Pastas and the Chocolate Lava Crunch Cake last year, Domino’s rolled out a reformulated pizza at the end of 2009.
Technomic's study also found that more consumers today buy frozen pizza than in 2008, up to 81 percent of respondents from 74 percent two years earlier. That could be because more Americans associate frozen pizza with higher quality, Technomic found. Thirty percent of respondents said frozen pizza is equal to or better than restaurant pizza, up from 15 percent in 2008.
DiGiorno’s and other frozen-pizza brands are facing stiffer competition from restaurants, both from chains that offer branded retail products in supermarkets, like California Pizza Kitchen, as well as from take-and-bake concepts such as Papa Murphy’s
Many respondents in Technomic's study also expressed a desire for new pizza products to be more healthful. Forty-one percent of consumers indicated such a request, including 41 percent who desire more whole-wheat crusts, 30 percent who would go for more organic ingredients and toppings, 50 percent who would like to see more all-natural ingredients, and 38 percent who would prefer more locally sourced ingredients.
Technomic's pizza study also highlights certain pizza segment trends and initiatives that leading chains have undertaken to cater to them. Among those trends is streamlined digital ordering, exemplified by Pizza Hut’s iPhone app, Domino’s enhanced mobile-ordering websites and Papa John’s desktop widgets.
Chicago-based Technomic surveyed more than 1,500 consumers in February for its "Pizza Consumer Trend Report."
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By Dina Berta A large downer of a down economy is the tendency for employers and employees to settle. Employers settle for B players because they can’t afford to bring in high performers, and employees settle for jobs they don’t like for fear they won’t be able to find work elsewhere.
It doesn’t have to be that way, says David Mansbach, co-president, North America for HVS Executive Search. HVS and Nation’s Restaurant News partnered last fall to conduct a comprehensive survey of compensation data and trends in the restaurant industry. The 2009 Chain Restaurant Executive Compensation Study is an in depth analysis of data on pay and benefit offerings from 78 companies, 55 of which are privately held and 23 that are publicly traded. Of the respondents, 20 were multi-concept operators, and 58 were single-brand operations.
Purchase the full 2009 Chain Restaurant Executive Compensation Study.
See a chart of industry medians for salary, long-term incentives and total compensation here.
See a collection of median bonus targets and bonus caps for various titles here.
Mansbach recently spoke with Nation’s Restaurant News to discuss the latest recruiting and compensation trends. He says now is the time for restaurant executives to develop ways to attract and retain A players and purge their companies of poor performers. If moves are made today — amid the tough economic waters and while unemployment is still sky high — they will find themselves ahead of the pack when the economy turns.
Looking to increase pay or bonus structures may be tough for some operators in this economy. Isn’t there an attitude now that employees should just be grateful to have a job?
Times are tough, but that does not mean companies do not pay out bonuses … because things will get better. Employers have to be creative and pay bonuses out or risk losing high performers or being able to attract them. Employees don’t care if [corporate comps] are down. They care whether they are moving forward in their careers. Employees have long memories. They remember how they are treated.
Employees do care about the economy, though. Are you seeing people who are only staying in position because the job market is tough?
I often receive confidential calls from executives out there who have settled for opportunities. They call me and say if you hear of anything let me know. High performers have a job. They want a paycheck and they want to work. I can’t tell you how many qualified district managers out there are working as [general mangers] right now. It’s scary. What will happen when things turn around?
So what should companies be doing to keep those high performers happy?
They need to put a compensation strategy together that is committed to their internal customer. And they need to find a way to deal with the whole relocation issue.
Why is the relocation issue difficult now?
One issue that has definitely surfaced is the housing issue. So many people are underwater in their homes — meaning they owe more than their houses are worth. Some executives are so underwater [that] it has become a factor in the hiring process. In cities like Las Vegas or states like Arizona someone can be $250,000 to $500,000 underwater in their homes. It’s emerging as a trend in the senior level search.
How is negative equity in mortgages affecting executive recruiting?
Even from the most senior level searches have budget constraints, yet you want to recruit the best candidates. So either you pay a very hefty relocation package which is a problem for most companies or you increase someone’s base salary substantially to have them justify walking away from their undervalued homes. Then you may have an issue with a [vice president] or executive coming on board who makes substantially more than other people in the business.
Is there no better solution?
People have to meet somewhere in the middle. You give some relocation, but a somewhat higher base pay. And you have to put pay-for-performance programs together to make sure those bonuses are actually achievable.
If a company cannot afford to relocate their ideal candidate, do they not fill those positions?
Taking B players rather than A players is the trend. Positions need to be filled. The question is: Are they thinking objectively? Are they more worried about paying the heavy relocation for a superstar, and God forbid, it’s not a cultural fit.
So they hire a more affordable, second choice?
Right. I think there is a lot of settling in the hospitality industry because of relocation issues. It’s not the company’s fault; it’s not the [candidate’s] fault. It’s just a trend. People are not even hitting their [bonus] targets and … so base salaries have to be increased to make people [financially] whole.
Editor's note: The following is part of a series from CultureWaves, a tool for tracking and anticipating consumer trends. The columns will provide insight on topics such as lifestyle choices, demographics and media perception.
Lately, critics and the general public have blasted the entertainment industry for its supposed “lack of innovation.” They go after everything from the dragging newspaper business to weak video game releases to Leno as the new guy at NBC and to how the film industry hasn’t seen a new concept since — well, when? However, the “nerdsphere” is particularly pumped about the possibility that George Lucas will make a “Halo” movie. So the big buzz is the potential of a movie made about a video game, of which Microsoft — they own “Halo” — says they have “nothing to report.”
So why should you care if John and Jane Doe are bored with their current news/TV/movie/video game options? Because, ladies and gentlemen, if the entertainment industry is under scrutiny, we are certainly next. And that collective sigh we hear coming from the general public isn’t related just to their decreased pay, troubling housing index and general malaise; it’s the vacuum in the lack of new.
Sure, LTO sales seem to be up and Starbuck’s Via is a new product that looks to compete well with the instant coffee market — of course, nobody but the instant coffee people care. These are just “same old things” surrounded by a new brand. Some poor chap’s job is to find out what’s happening with Company A, run it through a computer and discover how much Company B can make off the same thing. This is not innovation; it’s merely replication.
Andy Ford, Chief Insights Officer
So why is true innovation deathly ill? Primarily, we don’t have the time to allow a market to mature around a new product. We are afraid of failure, loss, and, frankly, the R&D departments are being turned over to the bean counters and account-service types who will damn sure protect the bottom-line above anything else.
Hopefully, this is just a season. While securing profit by streamlining the back-of-the-house and cutting back on innovation and idea exploration are timely for survival, they also are the first few shovelfuls of dirt digging the grave of your brand.
Innovation should be passionate as well as timely and appropriate for the marketplace. I have seen fewer and fewer foodies helping out in the pipeline over the last year, and it makes me wonder: If we launch a new product just because it’s a good business case, will the ultimate judge — the consumer — give us credit for making their lives better, more fulfilling? I once overheard a videographer say, “A film is only as good as the reasons for making it.” I think the same should apply to our business.
In short, you can’t afford to not spend on innovation, even if it won’t move the needle in the short-term. The question we have to ask ourselves is: Where will we be when we recover from this economic pitfall? Hopefully, with products we can all be proud of.
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