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Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Outlook for 2012

It is a presidential election year and, unlike 2008, I expect a stronger economy in 2012.  Specifically, operators who are value customer focused will see increases in covers and sales.  These value oriented customers will pay a small premium for quality while avoiding extravagance.

Commodity markets will see continued volatility due to severe weather patterns, the linking of grain prices to oil prices, and a overall increase in consumption.

The constraints on menu item prices will ease to a greater degree than 2011.  Operators will begin to pass inflation increases along to customers.

I expect employment to improve as Americans become more pragmatic and fill positions they have shunned in the past.  Many industries are still breaking even or showing a loss.  The workforce will need to grow with a stronger economy.  I see a year end unemployment rate below 8%.

4 comments:

Gladys L. said...

My 2012 outlook is 2012 will be a great year for the economy and a lot of opportunity for the job seekers.

Neilesh Patel – Loving the Food Industry! said...

I enjoyed some of these posts, thanks for writing. I will share them with my colleagues. Is it ok if we include some of your posts in our newsletter? We will link to your site, of course. :) I think our audience would enjoy these tidbits from time to time – they are all food and beverage industry professionals. You can email me at the address I provided.

Neilesh
neilesh@myfoodrecruiter.com

James said...

Glad to hear you guys so positive with Minium wage increases and prices go up everywhere. I hope you're correct!

James said...

With Minium wage going up and businesses raising prices, I hope you're correct. I know it just gets tougher for the middle class man or women to makes ends meet .

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