No more Alberta Beef at Earl's

[Aegypticus]

I also wonder if they were springing for better quality stuff during a transition period than they were planning to use long term, but maybe that's a bit too "conspiracy theory".

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Aegypticus

I also wonder if they were springing for better quality stuff during a transition period than they were planning to use long term, but maybe that's a bit too "conspiracy theory".

Possible, but they made a huge deal out of naming their supplier, Creekstone, because they're considered one of the best in the US

[BurningYears]

Originally Posted by Robbob

Chet Wallaby

[Firebot]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I don't believe that for a second. Lots of people in my office have said today they will never go back there even after this announcement. Earls management simply miscalculated how devoted Albertans are to their own.

But..but...what about Certified Humane®! Surely Albertans must care more about eating Certified Humane® meat!

Certified Humane® brought to you by Humane Farm Animal Care Founded circa 2003!

[Locke]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Especially since the new meat was tastier. Now they're going back to (presumably) lower quality meat just because of this pressure.

It also cost 3 times as much!

Sorry man but if I'm going out for $50+ steak it ain't gonna be at Earl's no matter how nicely they promise me they killed my food.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Locke

It also cost 3 times as much!

Sorry man but if I'm going out for $50+ steak it ain't gonna be at Earl's no matter how nicely they promise me they killed my food.

Their menu prices never changed, just their supply costs

[Locke]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Their menu prices never changed, just their supply costs

Dude...for now. That was only a week. Do you honestly think they were going to suck up that cost increase in perpetuity? What happens when minimum wage gets hiked to $15, are they going to suck that up too?

Its always going to get passed to the consumer one way or another.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Locke

Dude...for now. That was only a week. Do you honestly think they were going to suck up that cost increase in perpetuity? What happens when minimum wage gets hiked to $15, are they going to suck that up too?

Its always going to get passed to the consumer one way or another.

Sure, but that's not how food cost price increases work. They'd first try and eliminate costs elsewhere, like taking other high cost supply items off the menu. If a price increase was the route they ended up going, it'd be tiny increases across the board, not just crank up that particular item, because like you said a $50 steak at earls would be stupid, nobody would get it.

Their profit margin on steak was already super low, something like $1.80 profit for each plate. This difference could be made up by introducing a few new wines at the usual ridiculous markup

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Full "Earls loves Alberta" PR push on Twitter right now. Most of it rings hollow, but credit where it is due: They are offering free food at their Edmonton locations for anyone who has a Fort McMurray address on their government ID.

If true then this is a nice gesture and they can be commended for it.

[Frequitude]

Originally Posted by getbak

Weird choices for your examples since McDonald's widely promotes its use of Canadian Beef (not necessarily Alberta beef only), and Moxie's started in Calgary and still has its headquarters here. It's also one chain that promotes its use of Alberta Beef on its menu.

Sorry, I was just picking out random restaurants that I go to without having the source of their beef on the top of my mind to make the point!

Color me a greater Moxies and McDonalds fan today though.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Their profit margin on steak was already super low, something like $1.80 profit for each plate. This difference could be made up by introducing a few new wines at the usual ridiculous markup

Just curious since you know about this stuff, is there any type of food at a restaurant that actually makes a healthy profit? Or is it always in the drinks (and perhaps dessert?)?

[Coach]

Not a restaurant, but the profit margins on movie theatre popcorn are absolutely obscene.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Just curious since you know about this stuff, is there any type of food at a restaurant that actually makes a healthy profit? Or is it always in the drinks (and perhaps dessert?)?

Appetizers are usually a good money maker, same with desserts like you said.

Add-ons are also a big money maker as far as cost/profit goes. That steak might not make much money, but add mushrooms and shrimp onto that and now it's a different story as those things are cheap. Say the steak was $30, and the profit was $2. Add 6oz of mushrooms to that (Cost $3, profit $2.75) and now that 30/2 steak becomes a $33 steak with $4.75 of profit. Doesn't seem like much but if you look at it in percentages it adds up quick.

Drinks are definitely the biggest though, say a place did $10k in food sales in a night, the drink sales could easily double or triple that. And that's just the sales before costs, so keep in mind that of that 10k in food, maybe 1-2k is profit. But of the say 20 in drinks, a good 10-11k of that would be profit.

What makes this more interesting is the manpower, development and training required to make that food vs just showing a bartender how to pour wine.

That's why they say the best advice to anyone looking to open a restaurant for profit, is to open a bar instead.

[Table 5]

Interesting, thanks for the insight. That's kind of what I assumed...restaurants to me always seemed like a pretty awful way to try to make money.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Interesting, thanks for the insight. That's kind of what I assumed...restaurants to me always seemed like a pretty awful way to try to make money.

They can be profitable, keeping with the topic of earls I think the last one they opened in Calgary hit their first million in sales after something like a month and a half. But that's a company that's been around for decades and was jam packed from opening night, if you were starting from scratch you won't see a return on that investment for a quite while

[Party Elephant]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Appetizers are usually a good money maker, same with desserts like you said.

Add-ons are also a big money maker as far as cost/profit goes. That steak might not make much money, but add mushrooms and shrimp onto that and now it's a different story as those things are cheap. Say the steak was $30, and the profit was $2. Add 6oz of mushrooms to that (Cost $3, profit $2.75) and now that 30/2 steak becomes a $33 steak with $4.75 of profit. Doesn't seem like much but if you look at it in percentages it adds up quick.

Drinks are definitely the biggest though, say a place did $10k in food sales in a night, the drink sales could easily double or triple that. And that's just the sales before costs, so keep in mind that of that 10k in food, maybe 1-2k is profit. But of the say 20 in drinks, a good 10-11k of that would be profit.

What makes this more interesting is the manpower, development and training required to make that food vs just showing a bartender how to pour wine.

That's why they say the best advice to anyone looking to open a restaurant for profit, is to open a bar instead.

Make it a bar with VLTs and those will make more than your food and beverage combined!

[killer_carlson]

I think the damage from this will linger.

For what it is worth, we had a staff meeting today (it's a small office) and went for lunch afterwards.

We would have gone to Earls - go there a lot for client promo or office functions - but because of this whole attempt to exclude Alberta Beef we went to a different restaurant. Like I said, it's a small office, but there was $150 worth of lunch and drinks that went directly to a competitor and not to them. I'll also be doing client promo at other establishments for a while.

We mentioned to the waitress that we were glad they were serving Alberta beef. Waitress said she's heard that a lot lately, and was glad to hear it.

Quite frankly I suspect we aren't the only place to make that decision.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Appetizers are usually a good money maker, same with desserts like you said.

Add-ons are also a big money maker as far as cost/profit goes. That steak might not make much money, but add mushrooms and shrimp onto that and now it's a different story as those things are cheap. Say the steak was $30, and the profit was $2. Add 6oz of mushrooms to that (Cost $3, profit $2.75) and now that 30/2 steak becomes a $33 steak with $4.75 of profit. Doesn't seem like much but if you look at it in percentages it adds up quick.

Drinks are definitely the biggest though, say a place did $10k in food sales in a night, the drink sales could easily double or triple that. And that's just the sales before costs, so keep in mind that of that 10k in food, maybe 1-2k is profit. But of the say 20 in drinks, a good 10-11k of that would be profit.

What makes this more interesting is the manpower, development and training required to make that food vs just showing a bartender how to pour wine.

That's why they say the best advice to anyone looking to open a restaurant for profit, is to open a bar instead.

Thanks for that. Is that true across all price points? If you take a place that really gouges you on food, like Rouge, would their margins be healthier, or does it get eaten up by higher input costs, and they still have to rely on selling wine at 3x?

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Thanks for that. Is that true across all price points? If you take a place that really gouges you on food, like Rouge, would their margins be healthier, or does it get eaten up by higher input costs, and they still have to rely on selling wine at 3x?

The same rule of thumb applies, but where places like that are able to make more money is mostly by having a very limited, streamlined menu. Their supply costs are much lower despite charging much more. They also dont have to try and keep menu prices down so much to remain competetive. I'm not sure what their profit per plate would be, but the drinks would still be at least double.

[Barbecue]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Thanks for that. Is that true across all price points? If you take a place that really gouges you on food, like Rouge, would their margins be healthier, or does it get eaten up by higher input costs, and they still have to rely on selling wine at 3x?

just a random suggestion by a celebrity chef... David Adjey on The Opener, suggested to restaurant owners to charge 4x the ingredient cost of a menu item

so you surely bet a place like Rouge or Model Milk is upcharging about that amount