Quote:
Originally Posted by WereBear
We are fortunate to have some good local restaurants, where there's a chef in the back and they use local produce, etc.
My family has history in the restaurant business, and one brother had a career in it, but corporate restauranting steals your tips and won't give you enough hours.
We are being sold People Chow.
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Corporations are good at some things, not so good at others.
I don't eat at corporate restaurants, because I know better. I also don't do corporate medicine if I can avoid it.
The problem is, the corporation needs perpetual profit growth. This quarter's profits must be bigger than last quarters. Next quarters profits must be bigger than this one's, the next one even bigger, the one after that even bigger ad infinitum. After all, if the stock prices don't go up, and up, and up, and up, and up ... ... ... the stockholders will sell their stock. What's the use of investing in a stock that isn't going to grow and grow and grow.
On the other hand the small, family owned business, needs to make a profit to provide an income for the owners and employees. It's nice to make bigger profits, but as long as there is enough profits to pay the bills and have enough left over, it's fine. So the small restaurant, private doctor, or private dentist doesn't need perpetual growth, just enough to keep up with inflation.
Since the corporate needs perpetual growth, once established to the point where their clientele is fairly steady, they have to cut corners to make next quarters' profits and the one after that and the one after that higher and higher.
Cheapen the product, replace better ingredients with cheaper ones. Pay the help less (including the kitchen help), and do whatever it takes to reduce operating costs just to keep the stockholders from jumping ship.
High fructose corn syrup (sugar) is cheaper than wheat, and the sweet taste is addictive. Hmm, if we save $0.50 per meal in ingredients per customer, and serve a million customers each day, that's quite a bigger profit this quarter.
Next quarter, perhaps we'll use cheap farm fed fish from China. So what if it has mercury and other metals in it?
Oh, and the next one we can put algae in the tomato sauce to stretch it, and add a little corn syrup so it still tastes sweet.
I have gone to corporate restaurants when family comes down and wants to get together at their local chain restaurant. I can suggest what I prefer but often get outvoted by the majority. When eating at those places I find the food OK, but not nearly as good as the small restaurants that I prefer.
I don't eat fast food, at all. It's mediocre frankenfood at best.
Life is too short to eat mediocre food.
Bob