Short Supply BIG Demand

Keep these four tips in mind to master the art of the COVID-era pivot.

BY BILLY MANZO JR.

Supply has been, well, in short supply these days. The pandemic has created significant supply chain issues, and independent restaurant owners have had to bob and weave like Jack Dempsey in order to keep from getting knocked out.

Socially distant setups, coupled with major labor shortages on the manufacturing end, are causing widespread efficiency reduction, and that’s leading to product unavailability. “People don’t realize that, when workers can’t be in a manufacturing plant less than six feet from each other, that causes output to decrease significantly,” says Alyssa Fusco, Federal Hill Pizza’s territory manager at US Foods. “Another thing people don’t understand is that there are only a handful of key players in manufacturing. So when the Tyson trucks or the Brakebush trucks don’t show up, or the plants are having issues, that affects so many other branded products, because they’re all under the same house.

“It’s like a domino effect,” Fusco adds. “All of a sudden, a Tyson truck doesn’t show up, and we don’t have any more product to sell operators. They have to go to Brakebush. So now we have to go and wipe out another SKU, and then the process happens again and again, because there’s little to no forecasting, little to no communication. It’s like we’re at that part in the Titanic movie when the musicians are on the ship, playing the violins, while the ship is sinking, and Rose and Jack are running to the top of the ship to save themselves.”

Agreed. It’s glacier-level chaos out there. And with this kind of supply breakdown, restaurant operators have to make adjustments on their end to survive. They have to pivot. They have to be creative. They have to hire, train and retrain employees. They have to build better relationships with their suppliers and distributors just to stay afloat. As Fusco says, “If you’re not savvy and can’t think on your feet, you’re going to have problems.”

Here are four of my “bandages” for the cuts and gashes we’re getting each day as we try to run our business in this COVIDera world.

1DELETE YOUR HARD-COPY MENU.

Nowadays, consistency in the restaurant game is out the window. We can’t rely on product being available on a regular basis from manufacturers. We just can’t. That means our customers can’t rely on product being available from us on a regular basis. My menu changes daily now— sometimes on the fly—based on what I can and can’t get.

The bad news: Having to change up the menu every day is a headache I don’t need. It’s like waking up every morning and having to write a new national anthem. I have enough on my mind. But it’s the only way I can stay in business in an industry that is perpetually in flux. Oh, say, can you see!

The good news: A changing daily menu can make your restaurant appear more upscale. It’s also a reason to pop on to social media and engage with your customers: “Hey, check out the special we’re having tonight!” Are you always looking for good content to post? A changing daily menu is the new social media influencer.