Restaurant Chains Prepare for Tough Years Ahead reports AB Req

(EstateNewsWire.com, December 23, 2012 ) Morganville, NJ -- The upcoming year could be a difficult one for many of the American restaurants. There is the health care coverage rule sets that are being implemented, general employee turnover, the rising costs of food, and the weakened consumer spending totals.

Despite all these negative aspects that are sure to plague the industry, the National Restaurant Association predicts that America's 980,000 eateries will amass more than $660 billion in sales in the 2013 fiscal year. That total will mark a 3.8% increase from 2012's totals. If the somewhat positive forecast is accurate, restaurants nationwide will enjoy four years of growth for sales tallies.

The food industry is set to empty 13.1 million persons in 2013, according to the report released on Tuesday. A 2.4% rate of employment growth, which is slower than the 3% noted in 2012, is still higher than the 1.4% rate of employment growth by other employers.

Within the next ten years, the association has noted it expects restaurants to hire 1.3 million employees, which will bring the workforce total to 14.4 million by 2023.

There is a downside to the surge in workers. The labor pool has a natural negative correlation, which is a problem that the industry has dealt with for some time. The difficulty in recruiting and retaining talent will likely only grow more prominent if the numbers from the association hold true.

President Barack Obama's health care reform, which is set to take effect in 2014, will slim margins for restaurant owners. Large eateries like Papa John's and Olive Garden's parent company have begun to scramble to find affordable coverage for all full-time workers.

Government is not the only item putting the squeeze on the food service industry, as summer droughts and dry falls caused for inflated wholesale food and beverage costs. Increases in meat and food prices are causing many prices to rise . Coupling that problem with the fact that the American economy is still only stabilizing after the downturn of the housing market collapse, and there are major concerns on the disposable income of the average customer.

The industry must also find a way to evolve along with its consumers. More and more individuals are using electronic payment systems, mobile ordering and self-order kiosks. As of now, fewer than 10% of restaurants contain such capabilities.

About AB Req:
AB Req (http://www.abreq.com/) provides kitchen and food preparation equipment that caters to all sizes of business. Browse the hundreds of products that include cutlery, hotplates, various food supplies, beverage equipment, and so much more.

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