QSR or quick-serve restaurants are here to stay. Love them or hate them, fast food is “where it’s at”. This segment of the foodservice industry is growing more rapidly than any other area with sales forecasted near $145 billion this year. And this comes at a time in our society where watching what you eat and counting calories is a daily occurrence for most of us.
As a restaurant management recruiter, I have seen the interest in QSR candidates explode throughout the nation. Never has there been this kind of job need in the country for such a specialized group of individuals. Although it may not be a sexy profession to most, it is, in fact, a precious commodity. The truth is that QSR have been around since 1912 and because we are predominantly lazy in our “Americanized” lives, it will only grow bigger and bigger.
Sure we could eat healthier if we prepared meals ourselves, but the monopolies that control our produce and meat industries make it very unfeasible for the average family to eat healthy ALL of the time. They encourage us to inflate our waistlines and increase our fat intake because of the price factor. While inflation goes up and the prices of our purchases increase, the majority of people find their salaries lagging. I remember as a child in the 1980’s when inflationary pay raises were standard. These weren’t performance reviews and everyone got what was called “the cost of living” raise. Those were the great times and I don’t think we will ever see a compassionate corporate America like that ever again. So because of the price point at most QSR, we continue to frequent them and show no signs of slowing down. We simply can’t afford to eliminate them from our lives, even if we wanted.
And we are lazy. Although the nutritional value has been increased in most QSR concepts, actually the non-nutritional items like trans fats and other preservatives have been decreased or eliminated; I believe it is the service factor that has garnered more attention. Never have you been able to visit a fast food chain and get your order quickly, accurately and with a smile. Yes, I said “A SMILE”! There is so much focus on providing GREAT service in the QSR now, that I think the improved service levels coupled with an expanded “health conscience” menu will only hurt the casual dining concepts in the future. Meanwhile, the casual dining concepts are slugging it out and becoming increasingly more aware of their weaknesses and taking action. When was the last time that McDonald’s announced they were laying off 4000 people because their same-store sales sucked and they didn’t do enough demographic research before sinking $2 million into building a unit on leased land? Never, because they are smart. They don’t chase the money and their customers. Instead, their customers find them and beg them to take their money and do it quick! Really, it is the best business concept out there and probably always will be.
Let’s face it
, the fast food industry is here to stay and it will continue to become more important to our way of life in the future. And we are still lazy!
