Restaurant And Hospitality News – January 23, 2017
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
In news this week, Pizza Hut ramps up hiring to prepare for football’s biggest day; Carnival debuts its connected cruise ships; and restaurants look to new delivery options and customer-facing technology to help overcome the slumping sales of 2016.
Pizza Hut Pledges To Fill 11,000 New Jobs For Super Bowl Sunday
Cheering on your favorite NFL team with the right pizza and sides is no laughing matter, and Pizza Hut has pledged to fill 11,000 jobs in a hiring blitz leading up to Super Bowl weekend, according to The Nation’s Restaurant News. Super Bowl Sunday is traditionally Pizza Hut’s busiest time of the year. The positions to be filled include pizza makers, delivery drivers, store managers and others, according to Fortune, and are both pre-existing and new jobs.
The pizza chain currently has approximately 120,000 employees in the U.S. in 6,300 locations, with plans to increase store count to 8,500 within a few years. Kelly McCulloch, senior director of human resources at Pizza Hut emphasized to Fortune that the job hires are not temporary, and that they are aimed at helping the chain meet two goals.
“It’s tied to the fact we are heading into one of the busiest weekends of our year so we absolutely want to make sure we’ve got enough people in our restaurants,” McCulloch stated, but the staffing decisions also aim to improve customer experiences at existing and future restaurants as well. She said that filling these jobs reflects “our commitment to delivering on a better customer experience.”
The positions are permanent, emphasized Doug Terfehr, a spokesman for Yum! Brands (YUM), the parent company of Pizza Hut. "The need begins to mount as we head into our busiest day of the year, but it's still there following Feb. 5," he said.
Carnival Debuts Its Connected Cruise Ships
Carnival Corporation, the company behind the Carnival and Princess cruise lines, has unveiled its new connected cruising experience at this year’s CES in Las Vegas. Called the One Cruise Experience Access Network, or OCEAN, the initiative lets you control virtually all aspects of your trip from a personalized smartphone app and a tiny quarter-size medallion that acts as your access pass, and turns its ships into floating connected hotels.
The process utilizes a series of geolocation sensors throughout the ship that read the NFC and Bluetooth low-energy chips embedded in the medallion to track your progress. Using your location, it can automatically do things like activate lights or control room temperature before you even get to your cabin door. The medallion also serves as the room key, and a touch screen display outside the door provides guests with their upcoming schedules and other important trip information. From ordering drinks or dinner to planning shipboard entertainment, the OCEAN technology lets guests control it all from your fingertips. It even allows passengers to gamble or play adventure games without ever stepping into the onboard casino, allows guests to make onboard payments, and includes a messaging app to keep in touch with fellow passengers.
Restaurants Are Betting On Delivery and Customer-Facing Technology After Weak Sales In 2016
A recent On the Margin blog post by Jonathan Maze examines how restaurants are turning their attention to delivery and investments in customer-facing technology in the wake of slumping sales in 2016. Restaurant execs agreed that 2016 was a rough year for sales. At the ICR Conference in Orlando, Florida, several acknowledged the challenges. “2016 was the most challenging in our 23-year history,” Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. founder and CEO Steve Ells said, while Habit Restaurants Inc. CEO Russ Bendel stated, “There’s no question it’s been a choppy environment, a challenging environment with customers.”
So how do restaurateurs rebound from such challenges? According to Maze, they are looking to new delivery options and deeper investments in customer-facing technology to break them out of the slump. Investments in online and mobile ordering and other technology that allows restaurants to communicate directly with consumers are gaining ground. And several brands – from Papa Murphy’s Inc, to Panera to Jack in the Box Inc. and beyond - are experimenting with new delivery options.