Profitability & Entrepreneurship

The National Restaurant Association has announced the recipients of the 2012 Kitchen Innovations award, which recognizes cutting-edge kitchen equipment geared to the foodservice industry.

Award recipients were selected based on their ability to help foodservice operations run faster and more efficiently through increased productivity, quality, safety, cost-efficiency and environmental sustainability.

This year's slate of awardees is:

As Congress begins to debate whether to extend a payroll-tax cut for American employees beyond Feb. 29, the National Restaurant Association is encouraging Congress to act swiftly to extend two other tax provisions important to restaurants: a 15-year restaurant depreciation schedule and the Work Opportunity Tax Credit.

Congress let both tax provisions expire at the end of 2011. The NRA has mounted a widescale campaign to tell Congress why it's so important to provide tax certainty to restaurateurs, in order to spur businesses to put money back into their operations and create more jobs. The NRA submitted testimony on this issue to the Senate Finance Committee last week and this week sends a letter to every member of Congress to encourage immediate action on the WOTC and depreciation, asking lawmakers to extend the benefits retroactively to Jan. 1.

The Work Opportunity Tax Credit is available to employers when they hire certain individuals in groups that often face barriers to employment, to offset the cost of hiring and training. The depreciation provision allows restaurateurs to depreciate the cost of building improvements and new construction over 15 years, rather than 39.5 years.

In his latest commentary, the National Restaurant Association's chief economist Bruce Grindy breaks down the January jobs report.  The economy added nearly a quarter-million jobs in January, and the jobless rate fell to a three-year low.  In addition, the restaurant industry continued its steady growth, adding more than 300,000 jobs in the last 12 months. 

The national economy got off to a solid start in 2012, according to the latest employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).  The economy added 243,000 jobs in January, the third consecutive monthly acceleration and strongest gain since April 2011. 

The private sector continued to drive growth with an increase of 257,000 jobs in January, the 23rd consecutive gain and strongest performance in nine months.  In contrast, the public sector remained a modest drag on the economy, shedding 14,000 jobs in January.

Despite sluggish recovery by the nation’s economy, the restaurant industry is projected to expand in 2012, according to the National Restaurant Association’s 2012 Restaurant Industry Forecast released today.

Total restaurant industry sales are expected to reach a record high of $632 billion in 2012 – a 3.5 percent increase over 2011. In addition, overall restaurant industry employment will reach 12.9 million in 2012, representing 10 percent of the total U.S. workforce.

“As our nation slowly recovers from the economic downturn, restaurants continue to be a vital part of American lifestyles and our nation’s economy,” said Dawn Sweeney, president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association.

Technology is finding its place at the restaurant table, according to the National Restaurant Association's 2012 Restaurant Industry Forecast, released today. Although high-tech items such as wireless payment and iPad menus aren’t commonplace just yet, there is strong consumer interest in such options.

Nearly 4 in 10 consumers say they’d be likely to use an electronic ordering system and menus on tablet computers at tableservice restaurants. About half said they would use at-table electronic payment options and a restaurant’s smartphone app to view menus and make reservations. 

At quickservice restaurants, about 4 out of 10 consumers say they would place online orders for takeout, use in-store self-service ordering kiosks, and use smartphone apps to look at menus and order delivery.

Watch the National Restaurant Association's Senior Vice President of the Research and Knowledge Group Hudson Riehle summarize the 2012 Restaurant Industry Forecast. The annual Forecast provides details on economic, workforce and consumer trends expected in the year ahead.

Also, read our blog posts on top economic and consumer trends in 2012.

Employers in states that borrowed from the federal government to pay for jobless benefits and that haven't yet repaid the funds will feel it in their wallets as they file their tax returns for 2011.

Employers pay a 6 percent federal unemployment tax (FUTA) on employee wages up to $7,000. Typically, employers each year are able to offset the 6 percent federal tax with a 5.4 percent credit for state unemployment taxes paid.

However, employers who operate in states that still owe the federal government money for unemployment benefits will not be able to take the full 5.4 percent credit for 2011.

The IRS released a bulletin last month listing the 21 "credit reduction" states. Employers in most of these states will be limited to a 5.1 percent credit against FUTA taxes for 2011. The information is also available on the IRS's recently released 2011 Form 940, Employer's Annual FUTA Tax Return.

Fueled by solid same-store sales and traffic results and a bullish outlook among restaurant operators, the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) rose sharply in December. 

The RPI stood at 102.2 in December, up 1.6 percent from November and its highest level in nearly six years.  In addition, December represented the third time in the last four months that the RPI stood above 100, which signifies expansion in the index of key industry indicators.

“Aided by favorable weather conditions in many parts of the country, a solid majority of restaurant operators reported higher same-store sales and customer traffic levels in December,” said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the Research and Knowledge Group for the Association.  “In addition, restaurant operators are solidly optimistic about sales growth in the months ahead, and their outlook for the economy is at its strongest point in nearly a year.”

Watch our latest industry update video, where the National Restaurant Association's SVP of the Research & Knowledge Group Hudson Riehle summarizes the December Restaurant Performance Index.

For previous industry update videos, visit our Research & Insights section.

The California Restaurant Association, representing 22,000 restaurants across the state, applauded the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors last week for its approval of the Los Angeles County Healthy Design Ordinance that promotes exercise and increased access to fresh foods.

The organization also cautioned policymakers to avoid punitive and impractical policies that would create excessive zoning regulations on Los Angeles restaurants.