Labor
California Price Gouging Update: Class Action Filed Against Restaurant Group
The National Law Review 12/14
The Hillstone matter also provides a case study for all businesses dealing with price-gouging restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. While some restaurants like Hillstone have found themselves on the punitive side of California’s attempt to protect consumers, elsewhere California restaurants have benefited from local ordinances that cap fees for app-based delivery companies like Uber and Doordash at 15%.
Domino’s to Spend Over $9.6 Million on Frontline Worker Bonuses
QSR Magazine 12/14
Domino’s on Monday announced it will invest more than $9.6 million in frontline workers. The chain said north of 11,500 company-owned store and supply chain hourly employees and drivers will receive a special bonus in December that could total as much as $1,200.
Uber and DoorDash to add surcharges to cover worker benefits
Silicon Valley Business Journal 12/14
The campaign to exempt the gig companies from labour laws warned of severe price increases if they were forced to reclassify their workers.
Food Industry Policy
The future is not what it used to be: How digitization will revolutionize the food system
Food Dive 12/14
The pandemic has made the speed of this digital transformation all the more urgent. The food system was not prepared or advanced enough to shift and meet demand during this time. However, there is hope: digitization can and will completely transform and impact every link in the food value chain including agriculture, processing, packaging and purchasing — enabling us to be more prepared and ready to face future challenges.
These 10 restaurant pivots, food trends from the 2020 pandemic are keepers
The Mercury News 12/14
California’s chefs, restaurateurs, caterers and food vendors have done their best to meet the challenges of 2020, a year when life tossed them lemon after lemon after lemon. It has been tortuous. And that was before the state’s most recent dining restrictions. But they’ve rallied with creativity, flexibility and more than a few strokes of brilliance to find solutions, including some that made us wonder why, for instance, takeaway cocktails hadn’t been a thing all along.
Two Big LA Restaurants Close Because of ‘Draconian’ Outdoor Dining Ban
Eater Los Angeles 12/14
Two longstanding Los Angeles-area restaurants are closing, at least for a while, because of the ongoing ban on outdoor on-site restaurant dining in Southern California.
On the Side
12 unexpectedly great things to come out of food in the disaster that is 2020
San Francisco Chronicle 12/14
It’s been a brutal year for the restaurant industry, with many establishments closing for good while others continue to fight for survival. Workers have faced layoffs and furloughs. Owners have turned into activists, lobbying the government for financial aid. The lack of assistance makes optimism for the Bay Area’s restaurant scene difficult, but the year has also shown that locals know how to adapt in a crisis — often with delicious or heartwarming results.
157-Year-Old Cliff House to Shut Down Permanently on December 31
FSR Magazine 12/14
Dan and Mary Hountalas, operators of The Cliff House since 1973, attributed the shut down to the COVID pandemic and issues with its landlord, the National Park Service (NPS), which has owned the property since 1977. The closure will result in the loss of 180 jobs.
Senators Urge Governor to Reclassify California’s Restaurants as Essential Businesses
State Senator Patricia Bates 12/14
Senator Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) sent a letter signed by senators of both parties to Governor Gavin Newsom last Friday evening asking him to “reclassify restaurants as essential businesses, and adopt the industry’s protocols that would allow restaurants to operate safely.”
