 A year ago, it would be hard to imagine that 2020 would put the restaurant industry front and center of a pandemic. While operators have shown tremendous resilience this year, they still remain in the crosshairs of dining room restrictions, with over 110,000 already forced to close. Some of the biggest restaurant chains declared bankruptcy, including Chuck E. Cheese, California Pizza Kitchen and Ruby Tuesday.
But in the backdrop of this heartbreaking news, a handful of restaurants found opportunity. Inspire Brands bought Dunkin' for $11.3 billion, and Zaxby's sold a significant stake of its company to Goldman Sachs. Even the food delivery segment saw major moves, with Grubhub and Uber entering acquisition deals, while DoorDash made a blockbuster initial public offering.
While the start of 2021 isn't likely to be an easy couple of months for restaurants — especially with a surge in coronavirus expected to continue and winter making it difficult to maintain outdoor dining — there are some signs of hope. Casual dining chains began to see sales recovery within several months of the start of the pandemic. Congress passed a stimulus package to provide another round of Paycheck Protection Program loans that could provide additional resources for restaurants to try to keep the lights on. But restaurants weren't specifically addressed in the bill, and the industry continues to push for $120 billion in much-needed targeted aid.
Restaurant Dive pulled together some of the most significant news of the year as we prepare for what will hopefully be the start of the industry's long recovery. While our daily newsletters will be on break until Jan. 4, we will be updating our website if any major news breaks.
To help support this crucial journalism and keep our industry-specific content free, we kindly ask that you consider sharing our newsletter with your colleagues and industry peers. Send them this link to get them subscribed to the newsletter: https://www.restaurantdive.com/signup/insiders/?signup_referred_by=5f93078d7aa51972095c9316
Thanks for reading!
 Julie Littman
Reporter, Restaurant Dive
Twitter | Email Without more financial support from the federal government, the association says the industry is on track to lose $240 billion by the end of 2020. |
The transaction is the largest deal of the year between two restaurant companies, but Inspire will need to strategize how to expand Dunkin' into the West as it nears saturation in Eastern markets. |
UPDATED The food delivery company's initial public offering stock price is expected to range between $75 and $85 per share. |
You're challenged to grow traffic, stay competitive, keep up with consumer expectations and find ways to cut costs without losing menu integrity.
| Deep Dive Corporate ethics experts feel the chain isn’t doing enough to establish a zero-tolerance policy following news of ex-CEO Steve Easterbrook's inappropriate relationships with female employees. |
UPDATED Uber estimates Postmates will contribute between $350 million and $400 million to Uber's delivery gross bookings. |
UPDATED After its Ch. 11 bankruptcy filing, the company is asking to abandon 45 leases at underperforming locations, or which 11 were already permanently closed. |
Grubhub shares jumped more than 7% during after hours trading on news of the deal, which will also give Amsterdam-based Just Eat Takeaway a strong foothold in the U.S. |
Deep Dive The Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act and streamlined loan forgiveness applications make the federal safety net easier for operators to use without penalty, but critics argue that key needs are still unaddressed. |
Over the course of this week, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced two different, overlapping plans to close restaurants in neighborhoods with high infection rates. Here's what's happening now. |
UPDATED Uber, DoorDash, Postmates and Instacart contributed $200 million to support the measure in the state, which preserves their business models of hiring drivers and independent contractors instead of employees. | Featured Resources FROM: Perdue Foodservice | Find more industry insights from Perdue Foodservice | | | |
0 Comments