A unique concept is an essential element to any food and beverage marketing plan and great leaders won't go further with their restaurant plans until they have that key element in place. While good food and service are, of course, important, an interesting restaurant concept can bring patrons to your door and cause them to choose your eatery over the hundreds of other establishments vying for their business. A unique concept can also help attract top team members to your restaurant. Employees like an enjoyable workplace where they can be around creativity.

Now that we are several months into 2021, members of the food service profession continue to ask me if better days are ahead. Being data-driven, this resulted in my analysis of industry and economic data to determine what the remainder of the year will look like. 

While last year brought its share of challenges for the beverage industry, it also spurred some exciting innovations and unique offerings. From the rise of canned cocktails and hard seltzers, to adaptive to-go drinks, the beverage industry found a way to rise above the insanity of 2020. 

As we enter the new year, let’s take a look at what 2020 trends will continue and what new beverage trends you can expect in 2021.

It’s a weeknight. You woke up early to get a head start on the day and, after working late, you’re finally returning home. You begin to settle in and then an empty rumbling feeling reminds you: You forgot to make plans for dinner.

You check the fridge, nothing. You could hop in your car and go find a bite to eat, but honestly, it’s been a long day and you just want to kick your feet up and relax. Embracing the laziness, you grab your phone and open one of the many food-delivery services you’ve downloaded, you begin to scroll.

A kitchen can be like a swirling black hole that unfortunately happens to be located on the other side of a swinging double door in the back of your establishment. People, food, and orders get sucked in and disappear in the form of bloated payroll and food cost and subpar meals. Finding effective kitchen managers — individuals with the skills, experience, and demeanor to turn this void into a center of efficiency and driver of guest satisfaction — is critical to your financial success and can provide a significant competitive advantage over your competition.

The coronavirus pandemic has had devastating effects on the restaurant business. Experts estimate that more than 20,000 restaurants have closed their doors permanently and many more are likely to follow. Some restaurants, however, have been quite resourceful in figuring out ways to survive, if not exactly thrive. In many locales, outdoor dining has been a key to survival in conditions where demand and capacity have been reduced. Takeaway and delivery programs have also played a part in the new normal for restaurants.

As restaurants struggle to stay in business and dining rooms across the country close due to COVID-19, food delivery apps—like Uber Eats, Grubhub, DoorDash, or Just Eat—have picked up steam.

In a post-COVID environment where many restaurants have had to reimagine how they operate, the procedures and requirements for mobile units have not changed. As it turns out, food trucks have been a blessing to many in the past several months. As people were in lockdown and only essential workers could move about, it meant that all in-restaurant dining stopped abruptly. However, not the food truck.