Author : HOSEA;, ELISA

Industri makanan dan minuman merupakan salah satu industri yang mudah berkembang karena selalu adanya permintaan dari konsumen. Dari sifat manusia yang selalu merasa bosan, dan haus akan sesuatu yang baru, maka konsep perancangannya mengacu pada sesuatu yang memang baru di kalangan masyarakat kota Surabaya. Sesuai dengan arah globalisasi ke pasar bebas, maka dalam perancangannya direncanakan jenis usaha makanan yang memiliki khas dari luar negeri.

Keyword : food and beverage industry, surabaya, design concepts

Sumber : http://repository.petra.ac.id/1756/

The Internal Revenue Service announced on December 1st that it is extending the Attributed Tip Income Program (ATIP) to December 31, 2011. The program was scheduled to end as of December 31, 2009.

The program simplifies the recordkeeping required for reporting tip income in the food and beverage industry. Participating employers report the tip income of employees by using a formula that uses a percentage of gross receipts, which are generally allocated among employees, based on the practices of the restaurant. Participating employees do not have to keep a daily tip log or other tip records. The IRS will not initiate a tip examination during the time the employer and employee participate in ATIP.

Employers enroll in the ATIP program by checking a box on IRS Form 8027. Employees of a participating employer need to sign an agreement with their employer to have their tip income computed under the ATIP program and reported as wages.

Two weekends ago, I had a college reunion with two out of the three roommates with whom I shared an apartment during my Junior and Senior years at Miami University.  Perhaps the biggest dilemma we encountered in an otherwise perfectly planned weekend was deciding where to eat with our respective girlfriends and/or brothers (in my case).  Once we came to the realization that it would be best to have the women in our lives pick the restaurant, we felt a sense of relief, yet a certain degree of anxiety over their choice of “Employees Only,” a 1920’s style Speakeasy on Hudson St.

It was our last night all together and we arrived at the restaurant shortly after our 6:00 p.m. dinner reservation.  Some of us were a little late getting to the place, probably because the address of 510 Hudson Street can be easily missed and/or confused for a “Pyschic,” as there is actually a fortune-teller in the window of the restaurant (see picture of me cautiously entering under the awning marked “EO” above)

Once we were all together and began to order cocktails (the menu of alcoholic beverages was quite ample), we all settled in nicely to our surroundings of what once was a place for local New Yorkers to convene during prohibition as they imbibed on beer and spirits.  My roommate, Jeff, suggested the Billionaire Cocktail, in order to evoke a kind of “Old Boys Club” feeling.  This drink contained bourbon shaken with lemon juice, homemade grenadine and absinthe bitters.  For $15, this not-so-cheap cocktail made me feel like I was the champion of the mahogany covered back room at Employees Only.

After a successful opening act to our festive meal, we proceeded to order what we thought was the best pairing of food and aperitif as if young adults in their early twenties could make such a decision.  I decided on “Orecchiette,” which contained house-made Italian sausage, arugula and parmesan cheese.  While, others in our party carefully chose the “Young Organic Chicken,” probably the safest thing in the menu, my brother took a risk by opting for the evening special of Trout over a bed of green vegetables.

Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed my meal and overall experience at Employees Only, a place which was not necessarily the cheapest, but definitely made me dream of the days when alcohol was illegal and women wore flappers, a 1920’s style outfit which often consisted of a short skirt, bobbed hair, and excessive make-up.  The whole idea was this kind of pervasion of societal norms by women who flaunted themselves through their dress, smoking and drinking habits as well as many other behaviors that were easily frowned upon.

Anyways, if you are ever in Manhattan, specifically in the West Village near the intersection of Christopher Street and Hudson Street, definitely give this place a try!  Lastly, here is some more information from New York Magazine:

Employees Only Menu – West Village – New York Magazine Restaurant Guide

Not satisfied with topping the EnvirUp eco-index, Unilever has yet again come top in another index – this time it’s the prestigious Dow Jones Sustainability Index.  

Unilever took the top spot in the food and beverage industry beating others on its corporate economic, environmental and social performance.  

The company was assessed for its handling of issues such as corporate governance, risk management, branding, climate change mitigation, supply chain standards and labor practices. 

This was Unilever’s 11th consecutive year as the industry leader – so congrats to the big U! 

Even in this brutal economy, there are those individuals who are inspired and passionate enough to start a company completely from scratch.  Having an idea and a vision for a new company and then trying to implement the vision is definitely a risk that few people will venture to take in their lifetime.  However, behind these three local start-ups are individuals dedicated to driving home new business in these tough times.

The three companies are all products of Fairfield County residents, mothers and daughters, fathers and sons who have been inspired to take an idea and try and turn it in to a full fledged business operation.  They are all uniquely creative and inspiring ideas, starting with Tufitout, a local clothing company I have previously written about:

http://andybailer.wordpress.com/2009/04/30/introducing-tuftitout-a-new-fashion-line-for-men-women/

Tufitout is the biproduct of two local women, Linda Schoff and Amy Luett, who wanted to create a line of clothing that reflects the toughness and the spirit of all men, women, and children through these challenging times.  With personally designed shirts with a fist pump logo and slogans like “It is What it is,” the tee shirts and shorts Schoff and Luett have created are sure to be a hit among local families and clothing boutiques.

The second company is Yum Nut Naturals, an innovative line of flavored cashew nuts, which I have gotten the chance to sample at a local grocery store, Porricelli’s.  At a tasting event, you may get the chance to meet Jerome Metivier, the man from Paris who co-founded the company with Tyler Ricks, two former employees of the successful start-up granola company, Bear Naked.  Ricks and Metivier along with their employees and interns have committed themselves to spreading the word throughout the Southern Connecticut, Northern New Jersey, Manhattan, and North Shore, Long Island communities.  Not only are the different flavors of cashews delicious, like chili lime, sea salt, and spicy cajun, but the whole mentality behind the company is powerful and exciting.  On the company’s website, http://www.yumnutnaturals.com, there is a section about the Yum Nut Philosophy and it goes like this:

“Everyone told us not to start a business during a recession. Maybe we’re just stubborn but we thought now more than ever it was time to do something good. After all, we believe in squeezing the yum out of life.  The ‘Yum’? That’s remembering to laugh, following our passions, enjoying the little things, chasing our dreams. Have you said yum today?”

The last company is Twelve Beverage, a startup of almost three years out of Fairfield, Connecticut, with a dedication and culinary expertise to create an adult beverage product that is loaded with healthy ingredients and can be enjoyed at any hour from noon to midnight.  The tea based sparkling beverage founded by accomplished chefs, David Burke and Alfred Portale, comes in bottles that are sold through mostly high end grocery markets, so the product is not available everywhere, but it is certainly worth a taste if you see it on the shelves of one of the markets listed on the company’s website: http://www.twelvebeverage.com/

Although all three of these companies are marketing completely different products, they are all maintaining the same spirit and dedication to growing their businesses during these tough times.  All of the people behind these companies have devoted their time and energy to not only running the day-to-day operations of their business, but also working late hours into the night and early morning to make sure everything is running smoothly and efficiently.  It is my hope that these three companies can inspire others to want to create something out of an idea or personal interest.  We certainly need more people like Schoff, Luett, Burke, Portale, Ricks, and Metivier in this world, especially if we are going to rise up out of this terrible recession.

Here’s proof that we’re in a recession: Starbucks is closing 600 stores.

According to the New York Times, “Starbucks said Tuesday that it planned to close another 500 underperforming stores and eliminate as many as 12,000 full- and part-time positions. The company, which now plans to close a total of 600 underperforming stores, will take related charges totaling more than $325 million. Most of the stores, which are company owned, will be closed by the end of the first half of its fiscal year, which ends September 2009, the company said. Starbucks estimated that total pretax charges associated with the closures, including costs associated with severance, would be $328 million to $348 million. The nation’s largest coffee chain said 70 percent of the stores targeted for closure have been open since the beginning of fiscal 2006. The job losses would represent about 7 percent of the company’s global work force.”

These closings are clearly fallout from the housing bust.  As the Times noted, Starbucks had “aggressively opened stores in areas like California and Florida, which have been hardest hit by the housing downturn. “

The next time economists get together to discuss whether we’re really in a recession, they may have to meet somewhere other than the local Starbucks. 

It might be closed.

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Subscribers Say ARAMARK Uniform Services is Number One

BURBANK, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–ARAMARK Uniform Services (AUS), a leading supplier of uniforms and career apparel, has been named the top uniform supplier in Food Processing magazine’s “2008 Readers’ Choice Awards”, a who’s-who list of suppliers and vendors in the industry. AUS moved up from a second-place ranking in 2007 and 2006. The sixth annual Readers’ Choice Awards were determined by a web-based survey, which was taken in December of 2007 and January of 2008 by Food Processing magazine subscribers and representatives of all categories of the food and beverage industry. “AUS is proud to be recognized as the top uniform provider in the food processing industry,” said Brad Drummond, President of ARAMARK Uniform Services. “We are committed to a long-term partnership to deliver quality service and proactive program management for our customers’ needs, and we thank them for recognizing our efforts in fulfilling those commitments.” ARAMARK Uniform Services understands the food manufacturing business and helps client partners address food safety and sanitation concerns with its award-winning “Total HACCP Solution” program. ARAMARK is proud to serve the majority of this country’s 100 largest food processing plants.

About ARAMARK Uniform Services ARAMARK Uniform Services headquartered in Burbank, CA, the company is a leading supplier of uniforms and career apparel. More than two million people at more than 200,000 businesses in the United States rely on ARAMARK Uniform Services (AUS) customer focused service. AUS also offers image enhancement programs that effortlessly deliver image and safety solutions to fit any size of budget for any size of business. ARAMARK Uniform Services is a division of ARAMARK Uniform & Career Apparel LLC, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of ARAMARK Corporation.

About ARAMARK ARAMARK is a leader in professional services, providing award-winning food services, facilities management, and uniform and career apparel to health care institutions, universities and school districts, stadiums and arenas, and businesses around the world. In FORTUNE magazine’s 2008 list of “America’s Most Admired Companies,” ARAMARK was ranked number one in its industry, consistently ranking since 1998 as one of the top three most admired companies in its industry as evaluated by peers and analysts. ARAMARK seeks to responsibly address issues that matter to its clients, customers, employees and communities by focusing on employee advocacy, environmental stewardship, health and wellness, and community involvement. Headquartered in Philadelphia, ARAMARK has approximately 250,000 employees serving clients in 19 countries. Learn more at the company’s Web site, www.aramark.com.

Recession or not, we all need to eat. The food industry should be one place I would expect to find solid balance sheets and consistent operating performance in an uncertain economic environment.

I screened 14 food, beverage and confectionary stocks using the Company Stock Risk Profile Fast Track. Here’s what I found.

The industry has a lot of financial leverage. Long-term debt as a percentage of total capital averaged 38.2% for all 14 companies. Only three companies were below 20%, which is the Company Stock Risk Profile’s definition of low long-term debt – Coca-Cola (KO), Pepsico (PEP) and Diamond Foods (DMND). Heinz (HNZ) and Hershey (HSY) were at the high end with 70.4% and 68.3%, respectively.

This is not a consistently cash rich industry. Free cash flow at as many as six companies was not stable and declining.

Eight companies reported disappointing earnings as compared with Street expectations in at least one quarter in the latest four quarters. Street analysts have lowered earnings estimates at only two companies. Are these analysts too optimistic?

Valuation is a mixed picture. Eleven stocks had P/E’s (using trailing 12-month earnings) below the average of the high and low P/E’s for the last five years. But based on the PEG ratio (forward P/E / Projected Earnings Growth Rate), 12 stocks were overvalued relative to the industry and/or the S&P 500.

Managements have not demonstrated enthusiasm for their stocks. Kraft was the only company where management had purchased their company’s stock.

The Street on balance likes this group. There were eight stocks where more than half the analysts following them were recommending buy. The Company Stock Risk Profile and Fast Track favor stocks where less than half the analysts are recommending purchase, leaving plenty of room for ratings upgrades.

There were only two stocks that had both low long-term debt and stable or growing free cash flow. They were Coca-Cola and Pepsico. And Coca-Cola was the only stock that failed only 3 of the 10 Fast Track categories, leading me to take a closer look.

Coca-Cola’s Company Stock Risk Profile rating turned out to be Medium Risk. While the company’s fundamentals are solid, two variables raised the stock’s Risk Profile. Failing 8 of 12 valuation measures, the stock is far from cheap. And the Street is extremely bullish with 14 of the 16 analysts following the stock recommending purchase. Admittedly, I passed on Coca-Cola in March 2005 when the stock was $43 based on valuation.

The stock I find most intriguing is Kraft (KFT). Although the stock failed 4 of the 10 Fast Track categories, I broke my 3-category rule and put the stock through the complete Company Stock Risk Profile research process. Kraft is a turnaround story, so I wasn’t surprised that the Risk Profile rating was Medium. Here’s what caught my interest:

1. Kraft is one of the world’s leading food and beverage companies with such well-known and established brands as Philadelphia cream cheese, Oscar Mayer, Post cereals, Nabisco, and Kraft.
2. Kraft has new management at the top. Irene Rosenfeld was appointed Chief Executive Officer in June 2006, and also became Chairman in March 2007 following Altria’s spin-off of Kraft. Rosenfeld is a 25 year industry veteran, and came back to Kraft from Pepsico’s Frito-Lay where she was Chairman and CEO since 2004.
3. The company generated cash flow from operations of $3.6 billion last year and, after capital expenditures, free cash flow of $2.3 billion.
4. Insiders purchased stock this past February.
5. Kraft has yet to gain support on the Street. Only 4 of the 18 analysts following the stock are recommending buy.
6. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway owns 132.4 million shares or 8.6% of the outstanding shares.

There also are negative factors to consider: (1) Management’s strategy to accelerate growth and cut costs has yet to prove successful, although top line growth is beginning to pick up; and, (2) The shares are not a bargain, having failed 7 of 12 valuation measures.

Because most Street analysts probably have low expectations, Kraft is positioned to surprise on the upside if the implementation of management’s strategy continues to move in the right direction. But the stock doesn’t yet offer the value I require to be appropriately compensated for the risk inherent in a turnaround. Nevertheless, I believe Kraft has the potential to be an attractive buy idea, and I’m going to follow the stock closely.