Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Christine DeVita. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Christine, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s jump right into the heart of things. Outsiders often think businesses or industries have much larger profit margins than they actually do – the reason is that outsiders are often unaware of the biggest challenges to profitability in various industries – what’s the biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?

3 biggest challenges to profitability in the restaurant industry

Running a restaurant whether it be Full or Quick Serve is such a challenging career. You need to be a certain type of individual to understand and work the demand. Its super easy to get overwhelmed with the day-to-day challenges. Some challenges we face as owners & operators are:

Labor:
Hiring the right people is crucial to the success of your business however the biggest mistake owners & operators make is overlooking soft or transferable skills. Finding the right people is difficult in the industry. However, once you do, you can build on their skills to fit your business models wants and needs.

Employee turnover has caused restaurants to lose a significant amount of profit, given its large scale. Hiring a new employee is extremely time-consuming, additional costs for training are incurred or even reduce the quality of work being done within the business affecting customer and guest service. Some small businesses sometimes do not that the means to hire new employees, therefore they will reduce their hours, cut their menus to accommodate their lack of work force. In turn this affects guest service, top lines sales and bottom-line profit.

Operating Costs:
Profit margins are notoriously slim for restaurants, and higher minimum wages are making it difficult to balance profit-and-loss statements. One of the biggest concerns is soaring inflation. Food prices are up 10.8% percent for year ended April 2022; largest 12-month increase since November 1980. Many ingredients that the industry uses, aren’t even specialty items such as eggs, milk, cream, and butter. These have gone up anywhere from 10%-30% from 2020- present. Costs have been rising steadily and aggressively for nearly two years.

Guest Behaviors:
Staying relevant and profitable requires more than following the latest food and beverage trends. Restaurateurs who understand their target market, including evolving preferences for ordering, payment, and add-on services, increase profits.

The comeback year for the Restaurant Industry was 2021 as we settled into the 2nd year of the COVID pandemic. Consumer spending at restaurants increased by 16%, compared to 2020, when it fell by 12%. However, 2022 is a different story. With inflation at a 40-year high, and driving costs, businesses are feeling the pressure once again.
Inflation will depress overall demand. Our industry is aware that substantial price increases are causing customers and guests to choose a more practical approach to eating then dining out.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

About DeVita & Hancock Hospitality Inc.

EXPERTS IN HOSPITALITY RECRUITING
WE SPECIALIZE IN SOURCING CANDIDATES NOT FOUND ON THE INTERNET
FINDING GREAT TALENT TODAY TAKES TIME
We do the heavy lifting, provide one point of contact to your organization and send you quality candidates tailored to your exact needs. DeVita & Hancock Hospitality have an unmatched track record for going above and beyond to find superior candidates for the biggest brands in the industry. Your success is our success and we back that up with a “No Questions Asked” replacement guarantee. Front of House. Back of House. Bar Management. Multi-Unit, Area or District Management. General Managers. Sommelier. Sous Chef. Kitchen Manager. Executive Chef. Chef de Cuisine. Marketing. Accounting. Human Resources. C-Level.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM US:
We are a Restaurant Recruitment and Consulting firm applying a modern holistic approach to a craft dating back for decades. We invite you to experience a new style of support for your business. DeVita & Hancock Hospitality Group embodies a true passion for helping our clients improve their operations, making all decisions with the complete intention of long-term growth and sustainability. We customize our approach to the individual needs of each client. We do not utilize cookie-cutter forms and scripts. A “one size fits all” strategy does not work in our industry. Since our inception in 2018, we have helped some of the industry’s leading companies recruit and restructure their operations.

We have built our company around the basis that we will offer the lowest rates in recruitment with top-notch candidates.

We have a combined experience in the hospitality industry of 50 years and are proud of our enlightened approach to Recruitment and Consulting. We are and will always be owned and operated by industry inside operators. All of our recruiters have a minimum of ten years in operations with a proven track record of results.

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

Keith and I met while working together at Pret a Manger in NYC back in the early 2000’s. We stayed friends ever since and have such an amazing friendship and working relationship.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I studied marketing and social media and then opened a Social Media Marketing Agency called SALTED a creative Company, hired a team and we tackled the social universe starting with TikTok and then Instagram. We learned that Facebook only serves local communities and not the US as a whole. I realized how important hashtags and content are to potential clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.dhhospitalitygroup.com