7 Restaurant Trends That Will Shape 2021
Managing virtual brands and stabilizing labor forces could be challenging this year, but curbside, drive-thru and ghost kitchens hold strong growth potential, analysts say.
Some of these trends could help restaurants grow sales even in a tumultuous market environment. Curbside will become a powerful digital tool for restaurants without drive-thrus. Restaurants are increasingly interested in white label deals with third-party aggregators as a way to retain customer data, while some are eyeing smaller locations and ghost kitchens to cater to off-premise demand.
Even with these opportunities, restaurants will continue to juggle labor costs and rising minimum wage, which will only become more of a challenge.
Learn more about the seven trends predicted to define the restaurant world in 2021:
- Diners will seek out digitally integrated curbside channels as a faster, cheaper alternative to delivery.
- Despite high unemployment, labor costs will rise amid wage hikes and changing labor pools.
- Chains will shift their focus from urban markets to suburbs, and will seek smaller footprints.
- Third-party partnerships are here to stay, but white label deals will rise amid fight for diner data.
- Virtual brands will benefit chains that have the bandwidth to balance brands.
- Ghost kitchens will benefit brands that are mature enough to have robust delivery channels.
- Restaurant owners, operators and managers will hire a best-in-class grease trap service provider – like LES.
Credit: Restaurant Dive.