This month we look at: green onion costs, the latest inflation updates, how the upcoming time change could impact your restaurant and national restaurant sales trends from September.  

I don’t know about you but I can’t believe it’s October already. I was taking a look at turkey prices in advance of Thanksgiving and it looks like prices will be dropping for those of you with turkey on any upcoming menus. 

We have a lot to cover, so I am going to keep the intro short. I know this newsletter is a long read, and I want to say thank you for reading The Board every month. 

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- Tracy & the MarginEdge team

 

 

MONTHLY SALES METRICS & UPDATE

Fast Casual beat out Full Service once again, with sales ending equal to September 2022's numbers and Full Service ending not far behind at -1%. Both segments saw a strong positive trajectory during the last week, with Full Service sales increasing 5%.

Food, beer, wine and liquor average category costs as a percentage of sales decreased from last month for MarginEdge customers in September, with food costs averaging 28% of sales.

Dig in to the full report.

 

ITEM TO WATCH

Green Onions

Whether you call it a scallion, green onion, or even “onion, green” we saw a really big spike in those prices compared to last month. I don’t know too much about onion farming, but we did notice the prices of yellow, red and white onions were down quite a bit percentage-wise compared to their less colorful counterparts. Digging in, most green onions are from California or Mexico while most of the yellow, red and white onions are produced across Washington, Idaho, Oregon and California.

Regional supplier Hillcrest Foodservice reports “Due to Hurricane Hilary's heavy rains and the recent extreme heat in Mexicali, green onions are in short supply and of poor quality. This market will rise as supplies tighten. For the next three to four weeks, supplies are expected to remain tight.” Weekly prices are bouncing up and down up to 28% so expect volatility to continue.

Oak & Ola | Tampa, FL

ASK [me] ANYTHING

Tipping is getting so complicated! I have been sticking to cash, but should I go digital?

We completely agree, especially in the last couple of years restaurants have been navigating in a cashless sea. With over 80% of restaurant revenue from card payments, and digital tipping averages 11% higher than cash there are plenty of reasons you should consider a switch. 

• IRS rules are pretty complicated. 
• Paying out tips in cash in 2023 might mean a bank run. 
• We all make math errors, counting cash at the end of a shift might be more prone to error.

As a technology company, we are biased to digital solutions. Options you can consider: adding tips through payroll, digital payment cards, or depositing tips to the employee’s bank account.

Ask [me] anything!
Really. Each month we’ll take a look at the questions we get and answer one here. Have a question about our product, accounting or restaurant operations in general? Email me or message us on our social media channels.

Eggspectation | multiple locations

THE ECONOMY

Order Inflation Up (again)

September’s consumer price index (CPI) increased 0.4% over the previous month. News outlets seemed focused on the good news and breathed a sigh of relief. September's overall year-over-year  CPI remained flat and the Wall Street Journal economists’ survey out on Sunday reported less than 50% chance of recession which is the first dip below the halfway mark since mid-last year. 

Food away from home (restaurants) inflation was up 0.4% compared to last month with the food at home (grocery) up only 0.1% since August. Checking in with our CEO, he noted that continued inflation and recessionary concerns may be taking a bite out of consumer spending on fine dining. The National Restaurant Association has more details on full service versus limited service menu price changes.

Spooky season has a couple of things brewing to keep an eye on. Federal student loan payments restarted a couple of weeks ago, with 43.6 million outstanding loans averaging over $35,000. Interest rates across mortgages and credit cards are up, these two could have a negative impact as we get into the holiday season.