Plastic Foam Ban

New York City is considering banning plastic foam from restaurants. This would include cups, takeout containers and trays. The alternative would be environmentally friendly but more expensive.

New York’s annual waste stream includes about 20,000 tons of plastic foam, according to the New York Times.

Plastic foam is currently the cheapest option, according to Andrew Moesel, spokesperson for the New York State Restaurant Association.

Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle have already banned plastic foam.

Perhaps the restaurants will increase menu prices to make up for the extra cost of more environmentally friendly options?

Female CEOs in the hotel industry

Kathleen Taylor, CEO of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, has resigned from the job after three years.

What's the big deal? Now, there's even fewer female leaders in the hotel business, according to a Hotel News Now article. Sure, it's definitely news that a major CEO has resigned - but the article is so concerned that now there are less female leaders.

But really, what's the big deal? Why are we so concerned with females having leading roles in the workforce? Instinctively, naturally, in our DNA, men are "breadwinners" and women take care of the home and children. Occasionally, they switch roles, but overall, that's just the way it is. Women naturally aren't dominating, powerful, business-minded creatures. And that's okay. Why must we masculinize women? Why are we so obsessed with making men and women gender-less and neutral? Since men are the dominating, powerful ones, it makes more sense to leave those kind of roles up to males. Women are softer, gentler, empathetic - which is why they make excellent school teachers, nurses, and caregivers. We should play to our own natural strengths.


These are some of the leading women in the business:

Denise Coll, president of Starwood’s North American division;
Angela Brav, CEO of Europe for InterContinental Hotels Group;
Liia Nou, senior VP and CFO, Pandox AB;
Sophie Stabile, global CFO, Accor;
May Wu, chief strategy officer; Home Inns & Hotels Management; and
Nancy Johnson, executive VP of development for Carlson Hotels, who also served as chairwoman of the American Hotel & Lodging Association in 2012.

Good for them that they are successful and making big bucks! It takes hard work, but let's just remember that success doesn't always mean leading a business. Success also means teaching young children to tie their shoes, or taking care of a home all day.

Is there something Facebook DOESN'T do?

Facebook has recently hired a "head of travel" and has come up with two new travel products which will directly influence hotel performance, according to this Hotel News Now article. The two products, Graph Search and Nearby, are predicted to be boost up the hotel industry.

What does Nearby do? People with Facebook on their mobile device can easily search up what hotels are, well, nearby. This app will also provide comments and recommendations of those hotels from their Facebook friends.

Graph Search is similar. When a person searches something on Facebook, those results will also have friends' comments and recommendations.

"They're game changers," Lee McCabe, Facebook's new head of travel, said in a statement. "Graph Search and Nearby are going to be huge for hotels. And they're pretty good, and they're a long way off from their potential."

I'm not sure if this is bigger news for Facebook or for the hotel industry!

No Bones About It

Inhaling as many chicken wings as possible is clearly important to many restaurant diners, but the darn bone just seems to get in the way. No problem, though - boneless wings are the latest thing.

In 2012, sales in boneless chicken wings grew faster than any other menu item - including the old-fashioned chicken wings, according to research from GuestMetrics.

Chicken wing sales overall rose by 10.7 per cent, but 81 per cent of that came from the boneless version. Restaurants, on average, sell the boneless wings for a higher price than the bone-in wings, but customers clearly didn't mind.

Technically, though, it's breaded chicken breast pieces, not actual wings. Perhaps adults just feel too mature to order chicken nuggets?

Hotel Loyalty is Going Down

People seem to be cheating on more than just their partners.

According to a Deloitte survey, a small eight per cent of consumers are always loyal to specific hotel brands.

"With heightened competition and eroding customer loyalty, hotels and airlines, now, more than ever, need to focus on enhancing and personalizing the consumer experience," said Adam Weissenberg in a statement. He is the vice chairman, Deloitte LLP and U.S. Travel, Hospitality and Leisure leader.

The survey also found that customers believed grocery stores had better loyalty programs. About half of respondents were satisfied with their hotel's loyalty program.

The most important aspect of choosing a hotel is comfort and location for consumers. When it comes to the actual booking, 61 per cent of respondents said they used hotel sites the most to book their stay and they primarily want a secure and easy purchase process, along with email discounts and up-to-date news.

"Travel brands need to be more innovative and clear in communicating their product and service offerings," said Weissenberg. "For example, Deloitte's research showed that while earning and redeeming points are the most important attributes for choosing hotel and airline loyalty programs, travel brands should focus on enhancing the customer experience, making rewards personally meaningful, encouraging loyalty with unexpected rewards if they want to boost consumer engagement, and ultimately building long-term customer relationships."

Menu Trends for 2013

The National Restaurant Association (NRA) surveyed upwards of 1800 chefs from the American Culinary Federation (ACF) to find out what menu trends will be for 2013.

The following is the list of top 10 trends:
(from  www.restaurant.org/pressroom/pressrelease/?ID=2346)

1. Locally sourced meats and seafood 
2. Locally grown produce 
3. Healthful kids' meals 
4. Environmental sustainability as a culinary theme 
5. Children's nutrition as a culinary theme 
6. New cuts of meat (e.g. Denver steak, pork flat iron, teres major) 
7. Hyper-local sourcing (e.g. restaurant gardens) 
8. Gluten-free cuisine 
9. Sustainable seafood 
10. Whole grain items in kids' meals 

Children's nutrition is being taken more seriously, seeing as three trends revolve around just that. Parents can feel more relaxed taking their little ones out to eat. Also trending will be local food sourcing for menu items. This will be a cheaper option for restaurants, as well as a healthier option for customers.

“Making sure that nutritious food is available for children and their families, and for everyone in the U.S., is paramount to the future of foodservice," said Michael Ty, ACF national president, in the press release.