Restaurant Roundup: Relief Is On The Way

The American Rescue Plan, the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill that includes $28.6 billion in restaurant relief, was signed into law on Thursday (March 11), offering a much-needed (if insufficient, according to some) lifeline to the hard-hit industry. Afterwards, the National Restaurant Association, which represents more than 500,000 U.S. restaurant businesses, released a statement in support of the passage of the bill.

“The creation of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund will be a catalyst to reviving restaurants and saving jobs across the country,” said association President and CEO Tom Bené in the statement. “Our focus from the beginning of this crisis has been on ensuring that our favorite local restaurants could access the assistance they would need to survive. This fund is a win for the smallest and hardest-hit restaurants that have sacrificed and innovated to continue to serve their communities.”

The restaurant industry has incurred hundreds of billions of dollars in losses during the pandemic, of which the relief allocated in the bill is a small fraction. Bené stated, “We are still a long way from full recovery, and it’s likely more grant money will be needed to get us there, but today the industry has hope for the future.”

Burger King Taps Former Domino’s EVP As COO

Burger King announced its new chief operating officer on Friday (March 12). The pick, Tom Curtis, served as executive vice president (EVP) at Domino’s for about three years, first as EVP of corporate operations and then of U.S. operations and support, capping off over 14 years at the company.

The announcement comes after a strong year for Domino’s, a company that is well-positioned to meet the increased demand for delivery with its extensive network of in-house drivers. Burger King’s parent company, Restaurant Brands International Inc., had a more difficult year, seeing declines in sales and restaurant growth, per the company’s earnings release. As many predict that consumer demand for delivery and online ordering will continue to remain above pre-pandemic levels after the vaccine rollout, Curtis’ knowledge of the delivery space may help the burger chain succeed in years to come.

“We are excited to add another seasoned expert to our leadership team and for our entire system to benefit from his impressive experience and operational expertise,” said Chris Finazzo, president of Burger King, Americas, in the release. “Tom will be an important leader and asset in our journey to provide an exceptional guest experience at Burger King, including rapidly scaling our digital capabilities and offering a consistent and loved experience at our restaurants.”

Sysco Files Lawsuit Against Pork Producers

Food distribution giant Sysco is suing a group of major pork producers, accusing them of conspiring to fix prices, according to Restaurant Business Online. The suit accuses companies including Smithfield, Hormel and Tyson, among others, of working with data insights firm Agri Stats since 2009 to inflate pork prices across the board.

The filing read, “The data exchanged through Agri Stats is a classic enforcement and implementation mechanism of a price-fixing scheme. Agri Stats ensured that its detailed, sensitive business information was available only to pork producers and not to the public or purchasers like [Sysco]. Defendants used the information exchanges through Agri Stats in furtherance of their conspiracy to fix, raise, stabilize and maintain artificially inflated prices for pork sold in the United States.”

The filing comes amidst a broader cultural and political conversation about antitrust. In both the legislative and executive branches, lawmakers are placing monopolies under scrutiny, considering new rules and regulations to oversee the power that these corporations hold.

Buffalo Wild Wings Introduces Sports Betting Platform

Restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings, whose tagline is “Wings. Beer. Sports,” just created a branded betting platform through the sports betting app BetMGM, reported Fast Casual on Friday (March 12). The program will use the app’s geolocation to work only when customers are inside a Buffalo Wild Wings store, offering custom betting deals and promotions to these customers in states where mobile sports betting is permitted (namely Colorado, New Jersey, Indiana, Iowa, Tennessee and West Virginia).

Rita Patel, chief marketing officer at Buffalo Wild Wings, said in a release, “As sports betting continues to grow throughout the country, we look forward to further expanding our footprint in the space and activating our partnership with BetMGM in ways that make the experience at our sports bars second-to-none.”

The launch calls attention to how major restaurant chains can take advantage of the digital shift to offer more than just the typical restaurant app experience. By extending the brand — in this case, sports bar — to encompass related activities, such as sports betting — Buffalo Wild Wings indicates how restaurants can integrate themselves further into consumers’ routines with branded experiences.

In addition to the app, the partnership between the restaurant chain and the betting platform also features a sports betting television network that will air on the restaurants’ screens, providing “sports betting content such as live game odds as well as fantasy and betting advice.”