If you’re like most operators, you’ve reduced your menu to better cope with increased food costs, supply chain disruptions, and labor shortages. Adding in unique limited-time offers (LTOs) can help infuse life into pared-down menus. These specials not only create a buzz, but they also provide an opportunity to stimulate traffic and sales.
Over half (54%) of restaurant operators say that LTOs are a central part of their business1, and many (43%) launch an LTO anywhere from every month to every three months.2 Look for ways to improve LTO visibility while boosting profitability with these four tips. Click here to read the full article. 

The holiday season breaks up the monotony of winter by adding festivity and cheer. Families look for ways to make the holidays spread further. They might take their kids Christmas shopping downtown or gather together for tree-lighting ceremonies. Restaurants can capitalize on seasonal festivities by getting in on the fun.
Transforming your restaurant into a winter wonderland can draw people into the warmth of your building. Instead of being one of many potential stops while people are out and about, you can become the go-to restaurant in your area for people who want to celebrate the season. Click here to read the full article. 

Market research firm IRI predicts that your Thanksgiving meal will cost about 13.5% more compared to last year, based on how retail prices in the four weeks through October 16 compared to the same period in 2021. IRI measures items including turkey and other meat, baking essentials, beverages and popular side dishes in its list of Thanksgiving foods.
Even if retailers offer promotions in the weeks or days leading up to the holiday, those prices will still likely be higher than in the same period a year ago, said Alastair Steel, executive of IRI Client Engagement. Click here to read the full article. 

The restaurant industry has historically performed well in Q4, generating an uptick in traffic as more people venture out to shop or socialize. The pandemic turned that trend on its head in 2020 and again last year amid the omicron surge.
This year’s holiday season arrives with some new challenges, including persistent inflation and labor shortages. Recent data from Alignable finds that holiday hiring is down nearly 40% versus last year, for instance, leaving operators to scramble to cover hours. Because of these challenges, nearly half of small restaurant owners are having a hard time covering rent costs. Click here to read the full article. 

Job openings surged in September despite Federal Reserve efforts aimed at loosening up a historically tight labor market that has helped feed the highest inflation readings in four decades.
Employment openings for the month totaled 10.72 million, well above the FactSet estimate for 9.85 million, according to data Tuesday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. Click here to read the full article. 

The combination of rising prices, increased costs of living and ongoing social upheaval prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in financial problems for many consumers. As a result, consumers are growing thriftier and changing their behavior, according to NielsenIQ.
The consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry insights company identified five key trends that may last into 2023. Click here to read the full article. 

North America’s leading premium dessert company, today closed the acquisition of Dianne’s Fine Desserts, a leading provider of premium frozen thaw-and-serve desserts, from Geneva Glen Capital. The acquisition expands Dessert Holdings’ assortment of products supplied to the foodservice industry. Financial terms of the private transaction were not disclosed. Founded over 40 years ago, Dianne’s innovative product line includes cheesecakes, layer cakes, pies and tarts, brownies and bars, individual minis and specialty desserts using high quality ingredients and chef inspired craftsmanship. Dianne’s operates two Global Food Safety Initiative-certified manufacturing facilities. Click here to read the full article. 

Commercial turkey facilities in Minnesota are getting hammered by highly pathogenic avian influenza, with HPAI confirmed on Thursday at sites in Le Sueur and Stearns counties, according to the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. 
A total of 20,100 birds were affected at the Le Sueur producer, while the facility in Stearns lost 75,000 turkeys, the APHIS tally stated as of Monday. A commercial turkey meat producer in Swift, Minn., lost 33,800 birds after HPAI was confirmed at the site on Tuesday.
HPAI has been confirmed this year in 580 commercial and backyard flocks in 43 states, with 47.86 million birds affected, according to the agency.
The ongoing outbreaks have the U.S. edging closer to the record set in the nation’s deadliest HPAI onslaught in 2015, when 50.5 chickens and turkeys perished.

​Inflationary pressures and other global uncertainties are prompting pork companies to carefully manage production in the fourth quarter, according to a new report from Rabobank.
Pork processors have already built inventory to satisfy a modest rebound from the third quarter. Holiday sales of pork products are expected to test the market’s resilience and its ability to absorb premiums, the Rabobank analysis noted. Value-conscious consumers already are seeking out lower-value cuts and trading down from branded to private-label alternatives at retail, adding to further weakness to premium product markets, the report added.
Rabobank analysts also predicted that weaker economic growth expectations will likely impact pork trade volumes in the fourth quarter and into early 2023. With inflation still outpacing wage growth, lower real wages also are expected to negatively impact overall protein consumption in the current quarter and into the first half of 2023, the report said.
 

Grocery inflation is hot now, but USDA economists are predicting a big chill in 2023. Grocery food prices in September were up 13% compared with year-ago levels, according to the latest Food Price Outlook report from the USDA. That was much higher than the all-items consumer inflation rate of 8.2% compared with a year ago, the USDA said. Click here to read the full article.