CHICAGO The industry’s annual rite of spring commenced Saturday with the opening of the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show, a four-day blur of exhibit-booth hopping, networking, educational sessions and celebrity appearances. Restaurant operators on and off the podium spoke of their experiences in contending with the challenges of the day, from heightened consumer activism to preserving food safety as imported ingredients figure into more menu choices. But few offered more than commiseration or broad strokes of advice for contending with the invariably cited problem of soaring commodity costs.
Jim Skinner, chief executive of McDonald’s Corp., stressed during his keynote address that it’s unfeasible in the current economic environment to preserve margins by reflexively raising prices. A key element of the quick-service giant’s recent success has been its offer of “everyday affordability,” he explained. “It’s the most important thing right now with our customers, and you all know it. You have to find other area of efficiencies than passing it on to your customers.”
Skinner warned that one factor behind the spike in food costs poses “our next big challenge.” He explained that “the global situation for food supply and demand may be changing,” with production unable to meet the basic levels of sustenance in some areas of the world. His presentation followed reports in prior weeks of food-related riots in some areas, and of the rice crops in Asia being severely cut by recent natural disasters there.
“It is no doubt an immediate crisis,” Skinner said.
The problem, he indicated, can be eased by heightened attention to sustainability, or what he called “environmental stewardship.” He stressed that McDonald’s has already committed its operations to sustainability, suggesting it is part of his personal mission of boosting the public’s trust in the brand. But, in an apparent acknowledgement of the burger giant’s advantages of scale on green issues, he observed that “trust might look different for each of us.”
Yet, he stressed, “with a challenge this great and this global, it will require our collaborative thinking.” The contention fit with the overall theme of his presentation: The industry has to work together if it intends to resolve its common problems, from increased pressure for menu labeling to the trade’s image problems as a place to work.
“We’re all restaurateurs,” he said. “We all know the poetry of a well-run kitchen. We all know the excitement of the rush at lunch.” Competition is a fact of the business, but “none of us is as good as all of us.”