Dual Restaurant Menus

Posted on May 29, 2022 by Futures Broker

Every restaurant, individual or chain, should have the right to offer a printed menu in whichever style suits them.

But standards are also good, like calorie counts on menu items, and whether they are vegan (or whatever) or not, or allergy info.

So have both. At the restaurant entrance have available a standardised, generic looking menu that tells people who care, everything they need to know. Plus QR codes that provide versions for people with vision problems.

Most people will ignore them, but for those who need such info, it would be very welcomed.

Uber Eats etc will die and come back

Posted on June 18, 2019 by Futures Broker

Here in Australia restaurant meal deliveries are a big hit, and just like Uber’s taxi service, it is only the consumers that win.

The delivery drivers suffer very low wages because they are not actually employees and not subject to a minimum wage. They also have high pressure to perform or else lose the gig.

Restaurants are paying large fees to get their food delivered, and suffering less table service, which is definitely more profitable for them.

Uber Eats etc are running at losses to gain market share.

Prediction: In Australia and maybe other countries like the USA, new laws will forbid single purpose gig companies from using contract labour. Such companies will struggle to fight this, because they would have to admit they don’t provide a minimum wage. And when the law comes in, Uber Eats etc will quit the game.

Then, because people have become so used to restaurant food, they will return to eating out, and levels of restaurant patronage will be higher than ever.

Then, when robots start doing deliveries everywhere, we will return to eating at home, and the deliveries will be substantially cheaper to provide, benefiting all…

…except we need to find jobs for the delivery drivers who are typically unskilled or recent immigrants.

2/3 Not

Posted on August 22, 2018 by Futures Broker

Restaurant idea. Guarantees that there will be:

Sweets and Desserts with less than 33% sugar
Main meals with less than 33% carbs

That’s it. Easy to understand and easier than most diets

Delivered Meal Kits: Doomed to Fail

Posted on August 11, 2018 by Futures Broker

Meal kit companies won’t last. Well, I guess one might, after buying out some others and offering a huge range. And maybe one more if it targets the wealthy. But the others won’t.

No first mover advantage. It is the opposite. With time many people will want to try something new, and will move to a new service offering a bargain first few weeks. Food is like fashion, it has frequent change, especially at the low end.

Delivery doesn’t suit everyone, especially those in apartments.

Not profitable. I guarantee that all the current services are breaking even or losing money. When they put up their prices, people will leave. And any economy of scale from getting more customers will be lost by delivering to them – as they have all started where delivery is the cheapest.

Fad. Just like diets, a lot of current customers are experimenting with a new of doing things, but will soon resort to their old ways.

Supermarkets. Even here in Australia, they have started stocking meal kits. No subscription required!

The future – small stores, conveniently located, that sell meal kits and gourmet frozen meals. Yes, 7/11 etc could stock them, or they could be standalone specialist stores. People will pay a premium to not be in a subscription. Not being subscription means not knowing how many of each to stock. So you stock less so that by a certain time you have run out, and some customers don’t get to buy. This works if the food is desirable enough. And anything that hasn’t sold by 8pm is half price.

Hybrid Food Service

Posted on March 4, 2018 by Futures Broker

There are many “food kit” delivery services, where all the ingredients arrive, chopped up, and you cook them.

For me that’s a once a week thing – every other night I want it easier.

Here’s the plan, but it can be altered to suit…

1 food kit per week
3 “just microwave me ” meals per week
Supermarket vouchers for healthy stuff

Your commitment to cook is once per week. When you shop at the supermarket, you want the healthy bargains. Lazy nights are covered by the microwavable but healthy meals.

People need to cheat, and if the cheating is also healthy, that’s a win

Dark Kitchens+

Posted on December 23, 2017 by Futures Broker

(I had this idea before I heard of dark kitchens – it is the same idea, but modular, like a prefab school building)

Future: more food deliveries to homes, less eating within inexpensive restaurants.

Problem: certain products, like burgers, don’t travel well and don’t easily stay hot
Solution #1: use industrial premises that are near residential. Lower cost buildings because they are purely cooking and delivery. No seats, no toilets, no public parking.
Solution #2: create self-contained kitchens that can fit in a garage. They use portable gas and the only external connections required water and exhaust.

Result: food created affordably, sold at eat-in prices, delivered quickly.

Possible issues: parking for deliveries and deliverers. Waste.

Advantages: a kitchen-in-a-box can be mass-produced to the standards of a major fast food player, and deployed (or redeployed) in days. Can also be used for food-truck scenarios.

Kitchen in a Box

Posted on July 18, 2017 by Futures Broker

Future: more food deliveries to homes, less eating within inexpensive restaurants.

Problem: certain products, like burgers, don’t travel well and don’t easily stay hot.

Solution #1: use industrial premises that are near residential. Lower cost buildings because they are purely cooking and delivery. No seats, no toilets, no public parking.

Solution #2: create self-contained kitchens that can fit in a garage. They use portable gas and the only external connections required water and exhaust.