State of the Industry, ServSafe Ops Webinar, National Public Affairs Conference

2022 State of the Industry Report Now Available

The National Restaurant Association’s 2022 State of the Restaurant Industry is now available, and IRA members can download a complimentary copy ($349 value) today.

The report measures the restaurant industry’s status on the road to recovery and identifies current and emerging trends across key categories including technology, on- and off-premises business, operations, workforce, food and menus, and more.

Key findings include:

• The foodservice industry is projected to reach $898B in sales this year.
• The foodservice industry workforce is expected to grow by 400K jobs and reach 14.9M in ’22.
• More than half of restaurant operators said it would be a year or more before business conditions return to normal.
• Food, labor, and occupancy costs will continue to rise, more severely impacting restaurant profit margins in ’22.
• 96% of operators experienced supply delays or shortages of key food or beverage items in ’21; supply chain challenges will continue through ’22.
• 51% of adults say they aren’t eating at restaurants as often as they’d like, which is an increase of 6 percentage points from before the pandemic.

Click here to download the report.

Keep the Pressure on Congress for RRF Replenishment

More than 45,000 messages have been sent to Congress in the past week in our latest nationwide call to action campaign on replenishing the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.

If you haven't done so already, please take one minute to add your voice, and share with your networks.

IRA President & CEO Sam Toia recently spoke with The Center Square about the urgent need for Congress to replenish the RRF in order to save thousands of jobs and businesses across Illinois and around the country. Click here to read more.

Last Day for National Public Affairs Conference Early Bird Discount

The 36th annual National Restaurant Association Public Affairs Conference will be held April 25-27 at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C. We are thrilled to bring the restaurant industry back to Capitol Hill this Spring to advocate for our industry.

Today is the last day to register with early bird pricing - a 50% discount. Contact Matt Quinn with any questions about the event.

Click here to register now.

Next Tuesday - ServSafe Ops Webinar

ServSafe Ops is a new application developed by the National Restaurant Association to help assist restaurants with operational efficiency, compliance guidelines, training, and providing information to their employees.

This easy-to-use app is free to IRA members for six months.

Join us for a webinar on Tuesday, February 8 at 10:00 a.m. to review the program and have your questions answered.

Click here to register.

Chicago Default Beverage with Children's Meals Ordinance

Last week, the Chicago City Council passed an ordinance introduced by Mayor Lightfoot that aligns the city of Chicago with the recently passed state law that regulates the default beverage offered with children's meals at restaurants.

Chicago restaurants that offer a packaged "children's meal" are now required to offer at least one of the following beverages as the default beverage with the meal: water, sparkling water, or flavored water with no natural or artificial sweeteners, 100% fruit or vegetable juice with no added sweeteners, nonfat or 1% dairy milk, or a non-dairy milk alternative with no added or artificial sweeteners.

While the healthy beverages listed above must be what automatically comes with the meal, the ordinance does not prohibit restaurants from providing another beverage if requested by the customer.

To ensure compliance, restaurants should update their menus, menu boards, and beverage lists as well as in-store advertising for children's meals so the necessary options are listed as the default beverage.

Click here to read more. Click here to review the ordinance.