Working with Restaurant and Foodservice Information Resources

Using restaurant and food service information resources to decide on business direction

Whether you own a restaurant or your business caters to restaurant owners, you need to keep up to date on the latest restaurant information. It can help you stay aware of trends in the industry and give you clues as to how you should advertise to best reach your clientele.

There are a lot of sources for foodservice information, but not all of them are reliable. Three that you can be confident about taking direction from when working with restaurant and foodservice information resources are:

1. Restaurant research published by trade organizations in the restaurant industry;

2. Magazines that cater to restaurant and foodservice professionals;

3. Conference materials distributed at big name foodservice tradeshows;

 

Use the latest restaurant report information published by trade organizations

A restaurant report is an excellent resource to use if you want to see earnings trends and find out what companies in the foodservice industry are doing to attract customers in certain demographics. You can either compare your restaurant to others of the same type or learn how to market your product more effectively by seeing what has been successful for others.
Try: Foodservicereport, also known as Research Report for Foodservice, is the perfect place to start your research. It is basically a compilation of hundreds of the latest foodservice industry studies. You can sort the studies by state or by business type. First Research also provides restaurant reports. However, you must pay a fee before you are able to access them.

Look at trade magazines to find foodservice info

Turn to the trade magazines as additional restaurant resources. They often have more specific information than reports will offer. There are literally dozens of magazines out there catering to almost all aspects of the restaurant industry.
Try: A good magazine to start with is the Nation's Restaurant News. It is an omnibus publication that covers the entire restaurant industry in the United States. Then, to get more specific to your area of interest, take a look at RestaurantResults' compilation of publications. You will be able to find information on nearly 100 more specialized magazines and journals.

Learn restaurant industry information by attending conferences

Attend foodservice conferences and trade shows to get restaurant reference materials first hand from the companies that publish them. Going to a trade show also gives you a good opportunity to ask questions of experts and to network with others in your line of work.
Try: Check out the Restaurant News Resource. There, you will find a list of conferences focusing on restaurant and hotel foodservice held in many areas of the country. If you're more interested in the bar and nightlife side of the industry, consider Questex Media Group's Nightclub&Bar shows.

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