Jay Eats Worldwide

Besides food service consulting, I work with corporations on marketing, product development, packaging, promotions, PR, and lately social media. I'm finding out that a lot of companies don't participate in the community that they conduct business in. How do they expect to be part of the community? The ones that I do talk to, think it has to do with having a booth at the local festival. Yes, that could be one way, but it could be as simple as using their parking lot on a Saturday to wash cars to raise money for new team uniforms or passing out advertisements for community sponsored event. A few years ago, a neighborhood grocer was killed in a robbery. The neighbors placed so many candles and flowers in front of the store, the family couldn't believe it. Neighbors were saying that this man would help out his customers if they fell a few cents short, needed milk for the kids before payday, or even hired locals to do odd jobs around the store. This man participated in t...

The restaurant business is very competitive and everyone is looking for the next hot concept. What they should be doing is improving their own food service and having something worth ordering. A few weeks ago, I heard that Baja Fresh was serving Korean BBQ Tacos at their new concept store in South Irvine. I read that the burritos and tacos were different from Kogi Korean BBQ Tacos ( http://www.kogibbq.com/ ) but thought they were working together. This week, I found out that the two aren't working together. Is Baja Fresh is doing fusion food now? I guess I'm confused as it doesn't fit their Mexican menu. Baja Fresh has taken Korean beef and chicken and put them on their menu calling it "Baja Kogi." This week there was talk that Baja Fresh used the "Kogi" name and it's trademarked and has since changed to "Baja Gogi". Also, I thought their new look reminded me of Chipotle Mexican Grill. I get it, but does it confuse the consumer? Examples...