5 Best Practices For Training Your Kitchen Staff To Go Green

Remodeling your commercial kitchen to become eco-friendly involves a number of changes - from installing more energy-efficient appliances to using greener cleaning products to explaining to your staff why being green is important.

 

Below are 5 best practices to implement when training your kitchen staff how to be green.

What's Edging In On Restaurant Market Share?

According to the NRN, "experts participating in the MUFSO panel Stealth Competition: Who's After Your Share of the Market? cautioned attendees...that this new wave of competition is employing lessons learned from restaurant operators themselves and using them to lure away potential customers." So who are these nontraditional competitors, and what are their strategies?

Business Social Media Trend For 2013 - Creating a Mobile Device-Compatible Website

We've all been there - trying to use a smart phone or tablet to browse a website, only to find that the site is not user-friendly at all. If you're anything like me, you simply leave the site. Bam. Their loss.

 
Don't let that scenario happen to you. Your business may be terrific, your website top-notch, but if you haven't optimized your site for mobile devices yet, you may be losing valuable interactions with potential customers.

Searching for information and shopping by mobile device is not a passing fancy. In fact, it's the hottest thing since (insert generational euphemism - Example, sliced bread)! As Tech Republic reported in June of 2012, "Since 2010, mobile searches have seen a 400% increase and it is estimated that by 2013, there will be more mobile internet users than desktop users." Certainly our most recent Holiday season saw a rise in mobile shoppers.

So what's a busy business owner to do? Well, you can start by using a free tool such as Google's "Test Your Site" feature to see how your site looks when viewed on a mobile device. Doing this will let you know how potential clientele are viewing your website.

Then, when you're ready to take the plunge into mobile optimization, consider a company like bMobilized, where for $9.00/month you can get the following:

Point is, there's no reason not to embrace mobile marketing. It's here to stay, it's an expected service to customers, and it's relatively simple to get started. Good luck to you!

7 Ways Booth Seating Can Make Your Restaurant More Inviting

Booth seating can boost your profit margin, and make your restaurant a more inviting place for all types of customers. 

Read on to discover seven ways that restaurant booths and banquettes may entice your clientele:

1. Flexible seating capacity - booths typically allow four people to sit comfortably. However, groups of five or six can easily be accommodated in a pinch, either by adding chairs to the booth end or by getting cozy with one another on the provided benches.

2. An intimate dining experience - booth seating creates the effect of a barrier between guests in your restaurant, allowing them to carry on private conversations and enjoy each other's company, even with a full house.

3. Greater payoff per table - studies have shown that patrons who sit in booths tend to spend more per visit. Take, for example, this study finding published 3 January 2012: "Customer checks revealed that patrons in booth seating spent an average of $56.67, while customers who sat at freestanding tables spent an average of $38.92." That difference can really add up at day's end.

4. More patrons per square foot of space - due to their ability to go back-to-back, restaurant booths actually have an overall smaller footprint than a table-and-chairs configuration. Also, there's no need to take into account the additional space needed to pull out chairs or walk between them. Customers with disabilities will find that they can easily be seated at the booth's end, ensuring that your business is taking steps toward ADA compliance.

5. Kid-friendly dining experience - booths give parents the ability to confine children between adults, as well as provide the extra space needed for kids to wiggle, squirm, and expend excess energy. Kids are often more comfortable sitting on the padded benches as opposed to on chairs that are adult-sized, and high chairs can easily be added to the end of a booth.

6. Creative layouts - booths and banquettes can be arranged in a variety of ways, such as:

• perpendicular to a wall, with tables and chairs in the center of the room
• floating in the center of the room, with open ends on both sides
• lining the backs of the banquettes along a wall, which creates an open seating style
• use the finished backs of the banquettes to make a room divider or an isle within your floor space

7. Custom designs - restaurant booths are often custom made to your specifications. Booth seating can be basic, high-end, or somewhere in the middle. Variations include upholstery, wood stains, trim options, and style of the booth itself. Contract Furniture  Company offers fully customizable, made-to-order, affordable booth seating that's made in the USA - check us out!

Style CH6

Style BTB

Style HR3

The New Year Brings New Commercial Restaurant Furniture To Our Site

Contract Furniture Company is pleased to announce some new additions to our website.

 

Aluminum Patio - Restaurant Furniture

Jupiter Arm Chair

Jupiter Side Chair

Jupiter II Arm Chair

Lauderdale Arm Chair

Lauderdale Side Chair

Miami Arm Chair

Miami Bar Stool

Miami Table

Outdoor Wicker Restaurant Furniture

Savannah Arm Chair

Seattle Arm Chair

Seattle Side Chair

Seattle Bar Stool

It's Easy Being Green: Strategies For Making Your Business Eco-Friendly

"The only way forward, if we are going to improve the quality of the environment, is to get everybody involved. "
~ Richard Rogers

Now, more than ever, customers are likely to seek out businesses that care about their impact on the environment. "Consumers want to know that businesses they patronize are not operating purely for profit, but are also taking care of their community." (Restaurant Hospitality, 26 December 2012) Discussed below are some simple changes that will not only "green" your business, but may also garner you additional customers. 

Creative Ways To Become More Eco-Friendly:

• Use bamboo plywood, poles, paneling, etc. As restaurant owner Phil Sciortino says, "Chop down a tree and it takes 50 years to regenerate. Bamboo grows back in six months."
• Be done with paper - programs such as the web-based Schedulefly allow you to schedule and communicate with staff electronically.
• Use compostable, sustainable, and biodegradable packaging. Companies like Bio-Pak, Be Green Packaging, ECOTAINERs, and Fabri-Kal Greenware offer products for just about every business.
• Forgo plastic cutlery. WNA Comet's EcoSense line of flatware offers biodegradeable and recyclable forks, knives, and spoons.
• Use reclaimed furniture from churches, schools, and other businesses instead of buying new. In many cases you can get a great deal on items that others no longer have need for.
• Invest in solar-power, low-flow toilets, on-demand (tankless) water heaters, and energy-saving lighting.

and last, but not least ...

• Purchase commercial grade furniture that is made from recycled plastic that would otherwise end up as landfill waste. Here are some of the top in the industry:

Resin Wood Composite Outdoor Furniture

Polywood Resin Outdoor Furniture

Emeco High End Recycled Furniture

Emeco Recycled Outdoor Furniture

With all of these tips and product suggestions, your business should find it easy to be "green".

Q: Do you have any environmentally friendly products or practices to recommend? 

     We'd love to hear from you.

City Center on 6th - Koreatown, Los Angeles, CA.

Just a quick note of thanks to the people over at City Center on 6th in Los Angeles, for sharing their installation photos with us.

Shown: Maya side chair and 200 Series table base

 

Shown: Aluminum market umbrella and Cambi table

 

You can view additional photos on our Pinterest page: