Revenue Management

🍴 COJE Management Group, since 2010, runs successful restaurants in downtown Boston and Seaport District with diverse cuisines. CEO Chris Jamison and co-founder Mark Malatesta, who opened their first venue in 2010, now boast eight concepts and nine restaurants. Yvonne's, opened in 2015, replaced the historic Locke-Ober space. Chef Tom Berry joined as culinary director and COJE's management is mostly promoted internally. COJE's portfolio includes Ruka, Lolita, Mariel, Cuban-themed Underground, Coquette, Cocorico, nightclub Caveau, and Mr. H, with a new Sicilian restaurant under construction. COJE focuses on experiential dining with meticulous attention to detail, targeting mostly local customers.

🥚 Salted egg yolks, a Chinese and Southeast Asian staple, are gaining popularity in U.S. restaurants as a unique flavoring in various dishes. Market research from Datassential shows a 71% increase in menu appearances over four years, now at 0.5%. However, among the U.S. population, while 50% are aware of salted egg yolks, only 23% have tasted them. The trend reflects a rising interest in indulgent, umami-rich flavors.

🥒 Dukkah, an Egyptian seasoning blend, is gaining popularity in the US with a 35% increase in restaurant menu presence over four years, particularly in independent and fine-dining venues. Market research from Datassential reveals 14% of the US population, mostly Gen Z, recognizes dukkah. It's creatively used in salads, soups, as a protein coating, and as garnish on avocado toast.

💾 In the hospitality industry, tracking capacity (rooms, meeting spaces, etc.), volume (units sold), and price data (ADR, package pricing) is key for revenue and staffing optimization. Despite their importance, many hotels analyze these metrics in silos rather than holistically. To unlock growth opportunities and improve guest satisfaction, hotels must align all departments—housekeeping, front office, food and beverage, sales, and revenue management. An integrated business intelligence (BI) tool is essential for collecting, consolidating, and visualizing data, allowing for strategic decision-making that enhances service coordination and leverages cross-department synergies. The article suggests moving beyond siloed metrics and adopting an advanced, coordinated approach to capacity, volume, and pricing strategies with the right BI platform.

🍴 According to the ICR Conference, the restaurant industry saw sequential improvements in traffic and sales towards the end of 2024, with a 0.3% month-over-month decline in December but a 2.4% increase compared to December 2023. Traffic rose by 0.8% in Q4 2024, in contrast to a 1.1% decrease in Q4 2023. Analysts anticipate a "stable to improved environment" with consumer spending expected to advance in 2025, while credit card and auto loan delinquencies slowed down, implying a potential peak in consumer debt. Restaurant spending is predicted to grow by a low-single-digit percentage, but traffic could be flat or slightly negative due to ongoing inflation and a cooler labor market.

🏨 The European extended stay accommodations and serviced apartments sector is projected to grow at a CAGR of 12.3% from 2024 to 2030. A shift in traveler preference for work and play trips, restrictions on short-term rentals, and lean operating models are driving this growth. Revenue management in this segment faces challenges such as varying rates for different stay lengths and demand forecasting. Advanced revenue management systems are essential for optimizing forecasting, inventory allocation, and pricing strategies to maximize revenue. Serviced apartments must balance long-stay and short-stay demand and ensure straight-line availability to unlock revenue potential.

🍴 Bret Thorn, Senior Food & Beverage Editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, reports on food and beverage trends. Host of “In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn” podcast and columnist for The New York Sun (2005-2008). Joined Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999, after 5 years in Thailand writing for Manager magazine and Asia Times. Studied history at Tufts University, French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Paris, and Chinese culture in Beijing and Nanjing. Worked for ABC News during Tiananmen Square protests (1989). Won 2006 Jesse H. Neal Award, inducted into Disciples d’Escoffier (2014). Lives in Brooklyn, NY, and specializes in French, Asian, and Thai cuisines. Email: [email protected] Social media: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

💰 EBITDAR is a profit metric particularly relevant for businesses with high rent expenses like hotels. It excludes non-operational costs such as interest, taxes, rent, and restructuring from earnings to give a true picture of operational performance. The Dalata Hotel Group reported an EBITDAR margin of 39.4% in H1 2024, a slight decrease from 40.6% in H1 2023. EBITDAR margin is calculated as EBITDAR over total revenue x 100. For a hotel with $4,500,000 in revenue and $3,550,000 in costs, EBITDAR is $2,300,000, resulting in a 51.11% margin. Technology plays a key role in simplifying EBITDAR tracking, and hotels can improve this metric by optimizing revenue and controlling costs.