{"id":1119030,"date":"2021-12-14T17:59:22","date_gmt":"2021-12-14T22:59:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1119030"},"modified":"2021-12-14T17:59:25","modified_gmt":"2021-12-14T22:59:25","slug":"menus-shrink-as-restaurants-struggle-with-skyrocketing-prices-staff-shortages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/menus-shrink-as-restaurants-struggle-with-skyrocketing-prices-staff-shortages\/","title":{"rendered":"Menus Shrink As Restaurants Struggle With Skyrocketing Prices, Staff Shortages"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmenus-shrink-as-restaurants-struggle-with-skyrocketing-prices-staff-shortages%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1119030&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"p1\">Restaurants are limiting the options on their menus in response to employee shortages and the skyrocketing prices of ingredients.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/restaurant-menu-food-costs-shortages-11639437261\">reported<\/a> by The Wall Street Journal, \u201cThis year, 60% of restaurants reported reducing their menu size, according to Datassential, a food-industry market-research firm that studied more than 4,800 menus in the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cThe menus at fine-dining establishments were hit especially hard, with the number of items declining 23% over 2021, says Datassential\u2019s Sean Jafar, who studies menu trends. The consumer-price index for food away from home, which includes purchases from restaurants, rose 5.8% over the past year, the largest 12-month increase since 1982, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">As noted by The Journal:&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Restaurant menus often expand and shrink with the economy. Many menus shrank after the onset of the 2009 recession, but expanded as business came back,&nbsp;Datassential\u2019s Mr. Jafar says. The number of menu items can tick up or down by roughly 10% depending on the year, but he says most restaurants haven\u2019t experienced the huge swings associated with the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Restaurants moved to implement simpler menus during the pandemic, as well, and the trend could be continuing as supply chain issues affect consumers and business owners alike.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">CNN <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/06\/23\/business\/restaurant-menus-shrinking\/index.html\">reported<\/a> on the smaller menu sizes being carried out in restaurants across the country in June of 2020.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">John Dillon, chief brand officer for Denny\u2019s, said in an emailed statement to CNN Business at the time, \u201cWhen we realized the effects of the pandemic we quickly mobilized to create a new streamlined menu,\u201d adding that the company was serving dishes that \u201csimplify operations and [are] easier to execute for our team members.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">This trend has been ongoing for some time and is a tactic sometimes used by restaurants for creativity and marketing. However, it might be turning into a long-term strategy. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cThe longer the menu, the more costly it is to maintain,\u201d said Gordon Food Service Corporate Consulting Chef Gerry Ludwig, CEC, in an industry <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gfs.com\/en-us\/ideas\/the-incredible-shrinking-menu-0\">article<\/a> by Gordon Food Service.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cA smaller menu allows you to streamline your inventory. Fewer dishes are less complicated for the kitchen to execute,\u201d Ludwig noted. \u201cConsistency is easier to maintain. Faster inventory turnover means fresher ingredients.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The scarcity of available workers is also contributing to the issue.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/go.restaurant.org\/SOImidyear.html\">According<\/a> to the National Restaurant Association\u2019s 2021 State of the Restaurant Industry Mid-Year Update, \u201c3 in 4 operators say recruitment and retention is their toughest challenge despite employment gains.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The report, which was released in September, also noted:&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Restaurant sales are on the rise.Wholesale food prices are trending sharply higher. A first in its 54-year history, the Bureau of Labor Statistics index registered gains above 2% in 3 consecutive months.Menu prices trended higher due to higher food, labor and fuel costs.Case rise of the COVID-19 delta variant is impacting restaurant visits.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics\u2019 recent report, the \u201cfood index increased 0.7 percent in November after rising 0.9 percent in both September and October. The food at home index increased 0.8 percent in November as all six major grocery store food group indexes rose; this was the third consecutive month that all six increased.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The rise in prices is not only affecting American families and individuals, but is pushing business owners to make their own decisions on what items they can afford to sell to consumers, and how they will be able to keep their companies going as Americans begin to potentially cut back on their spending once again.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\">member<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Restaurants are limiting the options on their menus in response to employee shortages and the skyrocketing prices of ingredients.\u00a0As reported by The Wall Street Journal, \u201cThis year, 60% of restaurants reported reducing their menu size, according to Datassential, a food-industry market-research firm that studied more than 4,800 menus in the U.S.\u201d\u201cThe menus at fine-dining establishments were hit especially hard, with the number of items declining 23% over 2021, says Datassential\u2019s Sean Jafar, who studies menu trends. The consumer-price index for food away from home, which includes purchases from restaurants, rose 5.8% over the past year, the largest 12-month increase since 1982, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.\u201dAs noted by The Journal:\u00a0Restaurant menus often expand and shrink with the economy. Many menus shrank after the onset of the 2009 recession, but expanded as business came back,\u00a0Datassential\u2019s Mr. Jafar says. The number of menu items can tick up or down by roughly 10% depending on the year, but he says most restaurants haven\u2019t experienced the huge swings associated with the pandemic.Restaurants moved to implement simpler menus during the pandemic, as well, and the trend could be continuing as supply chain issues affect consumers and business owners alike.CNN reported on the smaller menu sizes being carried out in restaurants across the country in June of 2020.\u00a0John Dillon, chief brand officer for Denny\u2019s, said in an emailed statement to CNN Business at the time, \u201cWhen we realized the effects of the pandemic we quickly mobilized to create a new streamlined menu,\u201d adding that the company was serving dishes that \u201csimplify operations and [are] easier to execute for our team members.\u201dThis trend has been ongoing for some time and is a tactic sometimes used by restaurants for creativity and marketing. However, it might be turning into a long-term strategy. \u00a0\u201cThe longer the menu, the more costly it is to maintain,\u201d said Gordon Food Service Corporate Consulting Chef Gerry Ludwig, CEC, in an industry article by Gordon Food Service.\u201cA smaller menu allows you to streamline your inventory. Fewer dishes are less complicated for the kitchen to execute,\u201d Ludwig noted. \u201cConsistency is easier to maintain. Faster inventory turnover means fresher ingredients.\u201dThe scarcity of available workers is also contributing to the issue.According to the National Restaurant Association\u2019s 2021 State of the Restaurant Industry Mid-Year Update, \u201c3 in 4 operators say recruitment and retention is their toughest challenge despite employment gains.\u201dThe report, which was released in September, also noted:\u00a0Restaurant sales are on the rise.Wholesale food prices are trending sharply higher. A first in its 54-year history, the Bureau of Labor Statistics index registered gains above 2% in 3 consecutive months.Menu prices trended higher due to higher food, labor and fuel costs.Case rise of the COVID-19 delta variant is impacting restaurant visits.According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics\u2019 recent report, the \u201cfood index increased 0.7 percent in November after rising 0.9 percent in both September and October. The food at home index increased 0.8 percent in November as all six major grocery store food group indexes rose; this was the third consecutive month that all six increased.\u201dThe rise in prices is not only affecting American families and individuals, but is pushing business owners to make their own decisions on what items they can afford to sell to consumers, and how they will be able to keep their companies going as Americans begin to potentially cut back on their spending once again.\u00a0The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a member.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1119030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1119030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1119030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1119030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1119030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}