Food Editor RSS | Food Management

A Businessperson’s Point of View

Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 EDT

Second Helpings: Special Handout Edition

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EDT

These articles highlight important topics for anyone aspiring to a career in foodservice.

Towards a Universal Theory of Foodservice Trend Contradiction, Paradox and Convergence

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 12:00:00 EDT

Pretty important sounding column, isn't it? If you're wondering what it means, I'll get to that in a minute. As I said in my last column, I often receive speaker invitations in which the caller is somewhat vague about the topic he or she wants addressed. If one presses for specifics, the answer you get most of the time is, We'd like you to talk about Trends (capital T is usually their emphasis). Other

Reputation Management is a Megatrend

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:00:00 EDT

In my view, there is a very significant large wave trend that deserves special mention outside of the narrower segment analyses that make up this month's cover story. That trend is reputation management and it's not a new topic, per se. It's been around as long as people, institutions and brands have. But it has taken on vastly new significance in the era of social media and instant communication

How to Feed a Feeding Frenzy

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EDT

Things Are, and Are Not, What They Seem

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:00:00 EDT

As you might guess from the photograph here, I will digress a bit in my column this month. I came across this character in the heart of New York's Times Square, just before Thanksgiving. The sign you see, declaring Occupy Wall Street dictums, was not the version he preferred to show. On the cardboard's other side was a much blunter, hand-scrawled message: Need Money for Weed. It was only when I went

A Big Deal in Small Transactions?

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 12:00:00 EDT

Swiping a card to pay for small retail transactions is something most of us take for granted these days, but it's convenience that could disappear at many operations if banks and card networks don't moderate a controversial new policy many of them began to implement in October. First, the background The issue of what banks and processors charge for debit (and credit) card transactions is an obscure

Face Time Issues Re-visited

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EDT

In my last column, I spoke to some of the consequences I see as a result of modern society's growing adoption of on the run, attention-deficit lifestyles. In particular, I noted how often you find younger people at the intersection of quickservice dining and social media use these days, eating meals almost unconsciously, focused on mobile tweets or Facebook postings rather than in-person socialization.

Second Thoughts About Pit-Stop Dining

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:00:00 EDT

Not long ago, Bloomberg BusinessWeek ran a story called Fast and Furious, a look into the processes that undergird the fast food drive-through industry. The article's upshot, besides detailed descriptions of the service and production systems used by today's fast food companies, was that the drive-thru isn't just a convenient way to fill your car with fries; it's a supreme achievement in American

A Changing of the Guard

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 12:00:00 EDT

A few weeks ago, when NACUFS executive director Joe Spina announced at the group's annual business meeting that he would be retiring next year, it gave immediate focus to most who are active in the college and university foodservice community. After all, he is only the group's second executive director (Clark DeHaven was the first) in NACUFS' 50+ years of existence. It underscored that a time of transition