Mother Nature Attacks Again!

Most people don’t realize the effect that the weather has in the restaurant world. I am not referring to the dramatic loss of business during every snow storm, but more the cost of doing business. With the excessive rain, snow and earthquakes, restaurants are going to be facing a dramatic increase in food cost. Take the biggest and most tragic event, the massive earthquake in Chile. Most people don’t realize that Chili was the primary source of plums, peaches, nectarines, and grapes during the winter months. Chile is also the chief supplier of Salmon all year long. In 2009, we imported $1.5 billion worth of fruits and fruit based products, including frozen juice, followed by fish and shellfish at $737 million, and wine and related products at $275 million. (more…)