Buffet-style restaurants just don't have the draw they used to.
When they're done right, they can still be pretty exciting, and that makes it a little
sad when they seem to be closing across the country.
Here's the real reason buffet-style dining is disappearing.
Millennials might be changing the nation's eating habits, but what about the section
of the market that buffets are still targeting, the seniors?
There's a lot for older customers to love about the self-service style of a buffet,
but according to QSR, there's been a massive shift in what that generation is looking for
in a restaurant, too.
They say today's seniors are much more health-conscious than previous generations, and that they're
well aware of just how much of an impact a reduced-sugar, low-sodium, low-fat diet can
have on their health and longevity.
It's such a big shift that experts say it'll continue as the nation's population gets increasingly
older, and that means they're going to get farther and farther away from buffets and
their gluttonous image.
When you go out to eat with your friends and family, which do you prefer: a meal that's
been cooked-to-order and is exactly how you requested, or something that was cooked hours
ago and transferred to a dish to keep warm?
Not having fresh-cooked food that's made to order is a deal-breaker for many people, and
it's a completely understandable one.
According to The Hartman Group, a large percentage of diners consider "fresh" to be the "most
valued quality distinction marker," and that section of the market is going to increase.
Bord Bia found that around half of diners make adjustments to dishes that are on the
menu, and at a buffet, what you see is what you get.
According to ReviewTrackers, 6 in 10 people head to the internet to look at reviews before
investing, and a whopping 94 percent of those people say that negative reviews online have
steered them away from a business.
According to Yelp, about 68 percent of their reviews are 5 or 4-stars, while only about
23 percent are 2 or 1-star.
That means those low reviews stand out, a lot, and what does that mean for buffets?
Do a quick search, and you'll find there's an almost overwhelming number of buffets rated
and reviewed, and most are in that 23 percent.
Considering most of the bad reviews come with photos of the unappetizing food, is it any
wonder people are being dissuaded from these places?
Dinnertime staples like Old Country Buffet aren't the only buffets reevaluating things,
and hotel breakfast buffets are also taking a good, long look at not just how profitable
they are, but how wasteful they are.
It's worse than you might think, and according to Forbes, a typical breakfast buffet throws
away around half the food that's put out.
That's an unthinkable amount of waste, and the problem really only came to light in 2017.
That's when the Hyatt Regency Orlando's executive chef Lawrence Eells opened their kitchen to
a team of researchers that looked at just how efficient their buffets were, and the
answer was pretty much, "Not efficient at all."
The New York Times said they also found that only about 10 to 15 perfect of buffet leftovers
were re-purposed, and the rest was just thrown away.
Eells, who oversaw around 5,000 buffet-centric events each year, was shocked by the findings,
calling the problem an "eye-opener beyond belief."
All that wasted food isn't just contributing to America's staggering food waste problem,
it's money down the drain for buffets that are already struggling.
Buffets are all hurting, but hardest hit has been Ovation Brands & Buffets Inc.
They put all their eggs in one basket, so to speak, and when they struggled, that led
to closing hundreds of restaurants.
Behind the closure of HomeTown Buffet, Ryan's, Old Country Buffet, and Country Buffet was
a huge amount of debt.
According to CNBC, the parent company had the dubious honor of declaring bankruptcy
for an unprecedented third time in 2016, and they had previously filed Chapter 11 in 2008
and 2012.
Let's start with 2008: just two years prior, they had made purchases that made them the
largest buffet chain in the US.
When they filed for bankruptcy, they wrote off 626 locations and more than $700 million
in debt.
In 2012, they dumped 494 locations and $245 million in debt, according to Business Wire.
And in 2016, another 300+ locations were impacted, and the company had more than $100 million
in liabilities.
That adds up to 1,420 locations and over $1 billion in debt.
Those are mind-numbing numbers.