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The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

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Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#171

Post by dataviz1000 »

linkjuice4all wrote: post #158
dataviz1000 wrote: post #156

Simple. The overhead on takeout is far less than dine-in although the menu items cost the same. Dine-in costs include base waitstaff salary and workman's comp, cleaning crew and dishwashers, electricity, insurance, ect.. while takeout requires the very small cost of packaging. Something that always bugs me is restaurants that charge $2 or $5 surcharge for takeout. I'm saving the restaurant a ton of money by not using…

This really seems the like 'oh duh' insight. The output of your revenue-making equipment (the kitchen) went up without requiring additional floor space and staff to serve a larger customer-base. More specifically - the restaurants that survived (which is already a feat in and of itself) could serve more customers since they didn't have to turn as many tables. Even with the "overhead" of food delivery apps - restauran…

Maybe what is happening is before 2020 the people who carried the food from the kitchen to the customer were employees and after the people who carried the food from the kitchen to the customer are gig workers not employees which would explain "Figure 1. Annualized Real Sales per Employee (1992=100), Food Services and Drinking Places, Seasonally Adjusted" [0]. Restaurants now use gig workers and not employees to deliver the food. Of course, there are more sales per "employee."

[0] https://imgur.com/a/3n1ZJku

Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#172

Post by raesene9 »

yannis wrote: post #153
EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a retiree. I don't have much time left to spend it on cooking. Going to a restaurant takes even more time than cooking. Ordering and opening the door is much faster. Anyway, my assistant does that. I do cook meals that take no more than 5 minutes of my time, like boiled eggs, rice, grilled meat or quick salad.

I am also retired and have more or less the same routine as you. I aim my own cooking time to a maximum of 7.5 minutes e.g. fried eggs and smoked salmon. I do open the door myself though. I hope you have an assistant because you can afford one and not because of some disability.

Oddly, one of the things I'm looking forward to doing in retirement, is spending more time cooking. I started learning in my 40's and can now competently cook some basic dishes. Once I'm retired I'll have more time to experiment and try out different things.

One of the upsides of cooking yourself, is knowing exactly what goes in to the meals you're eating and being able to control things like spice level and how well done you like your dishes.

Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#173

Post by doctorpangloss »

linkjuice4all wrote: post #158
dataviz1000 wrote: post #156

Simple. The overhead on takeout is far less than dine-in although the menu items cost the same. Dine-in costs include base waitstaff salary and workman's comp, cleaning crew and dishwashers, electricity, insurance, ect.. while takeout requires the very small cost of packaging. Something that always bugs me is restaurants that charge $2 or $5 surcharge for takeout. I'm saving the restaurant a ton of money by not using…

This really seems the like 'oh duh' insight. The output of your revenue-making equipment (the kitchen) went up without requiring additional floor space and staff to serve a larger customer-base. More specifically - the restaurants that survived (which is already a feat in and of itself) could serve more customers since they didn't have to turn as many tables. Even with the "overhead" of food delivery apps - restauran…

Take out is terrible for restaurants. All the profit is in alcohol which people rarely take out. In distant second, profit comes from understaffing. So it should be obvious how and why productivity rises: in the absence of lucrative dine in drinkers, understaff. Then the denominator in the productivity calculation is smaller.

Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#174

Post by jajko »

deathanatos wrote: post #19

> The restaurants’ productivity growth rates are strongly correlated, however, with reductions in the amount of time their customers spend in the establishments, particularly with a rising share of customers spending 10 minutes or less. The frequency of such ‘take-out’ customers rose considerably during COVID, even at fast food restaurants, and never went back down. The magnitude of the restaurant-level relationship…

Hmm, did they lower their price correspondingly, at least compared to competition?

Because I don't go to restaurants to just eat, albeit fine food, I go for whole experience, environment. Something clicks in each human brain and we have this bubble of different vibes, for lack of better words. Plus social aspects.

Same reason alcoholics or anybody else still go to bars in droves, despite being able to just buy same alcohol in stores for fraction of the price.

That's why I pay restaurant prices for food that often costs much less in take aways or premade in stores. Michelin * are different but again the ambience is top priority there too, you won't get the star just for stellar food.

Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#175

Post by uppost »

cs702 wrote: post #15

Abstract: "We document that, after remaining almost constant for almost 30 years, real labor productivity at U.S. restaurants surged over 15% during the COVID pandemic. This surge has persisted even as many conditions have returned to pre-pandemic levels. Using mobile phone data tracking visits and spending at more than 100,000 individual limited service restaurants across the country, we explore the potential source…

A lot of the change in behavior probably corresponds to more work from home and social isolation. I haven't been to a sit down restaurant in over 5 years, but I still grab a to go meal about once a quarter. With inflation, I'm less price sensitive too when I buy my quarterly big mack, so I go for it and supersize, may get mcnuggets too. So work from home and inflation probably factor in.

Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#176

Post by vikingerik »

dataviz1000 wrote: post #156

Simple. The overhead on takeout is far less than dine-in although the menu items cost the same. Dine-in costs include base waitstaff salary and workman's comp, cleaning crew and dishwashers, electricity, insurance, ect.. while takeout requires the very small cost of packaging. Something that always bugs me is restaurants that charge $2 or $5 surcharge for takeout. I'm saving the restaurant a ton of money by not using…

> Something that always bugs me is restaurants that charge $2 or $5 surcharge for takeout. I'm saving the restaurant a ton of money by not using the dining room, why would they discourage that?

Because takeout isn't competing with the dining room. Customers don't go to a restaurant and then choose between those options; they've already planned whether to eat in or out. Restauraunts charge that because customers have shown they will pay it. Once you have that meal in mind, that $2 or $5 doesn't discourage you.

Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#177

Post by 0_____0 »

elcritch wrote: post #149
recursivecaveat wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you'd have to have nerves of steel as a company to try either of those maneuvers. The wind can be unpredictable so close to a structure, it is a cramped environment filled with objects and materials you can't predict, even a meal for 2 can be kindof bulky (doubly so bc it has to be packed well enough to be airworthy), the load might shift internally, and if you screw up there's a good chance a drone goes plum…

Alright hear me out, a drone "cannon" that shoots the food onto the balcony. It's perfect for covering that last distance. Works best for food packaged in discrete boxes. ;)

Uber yeets

Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#178

Post by littlestymaar »

TL;DR; “productivity” of restaurant in the colloquial sense hasn't progressed, but restaurants have diversified their business to the growing market of delivery apps, which is less labor intensive, hence the boost in observed “productivity”.

Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#179

Post by laughing_man »

copypasterepeat wrote: post #56

I wonder if the surge in productivity would hold up if you also take into account the productivity of delivery people, who are with the move to delivery apps as much a part of the kitchen-to-table pipeline as the people working in the kitchens. I don't have any data on what they typically make, but my very anecdotal evidence suggests it's usually not much, especially when you take into account the gas, wear and tear…

As a group they may actually lose money, though they might not realize it. The big thing that nobody factors in is insurance - personal auto insurance policies generally don't cover business use, and if your insurance company finds out you were driving for DoorDash when you rear-ended someone, they won't pay out.

You can get a commercial rider for your policy, but then you won't make any money.

A buddy of mine was trying to make one of those companies his full time job, and it just didn't work out. There are too many hidden costs.

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