The situation in the United States is relatively special, the land is vast and short history and there are more than a hundred countries of different races of people immigrated to the United States, now? In the total population of about 280 million, of which about 43 million Spanish-speaking residents, about 36 million blacks, Asian immigrants have more than 10 million, so a huge foreign ethnic groups in the United States to set up home and take root, the United States is the melting pot of the world's ethnic groups, the formation of American food dishes are also from the "melting pot".

The formation and characteristics of American cuisine?

Because of the influence of early immigrants (English Puritans and American pioneers), traditional American cuisine? Like traditional Americans, it is characterized by "rugged authenticity," the use of fresh ingredients, and the absence of additives, flavors, and spices. It uses fresh ingredients, no additives, no seasonings, food is kept in its original flavor, and the cooking process is not drawn out, no matter how it is grilled, fried or deep-fried. Whether it is grilled, pan-fried or deep-fried, there are no complicated procedures, and do not pay attention to the slow stew (except for a small number of local dishes), not too much. Local dishes), not too many fancy decorations, put on the plate of food can be eaten in the belly, ? Painfully, realistically eat a full meal. The main structure of American food is a one-two-three-four system, as in ? The same triangle shape, the most important one is "beef", two is chicken and fish, three is sheep, pigs and shrimp, four is pasta? Buns, potatoes, corn, vegetables.

The end of the 19th century, with the development of American civilization and economic prosperity, coupled with information and transportation? Developed, Americans have gradually increased the requirements of food, especially from 1965 onwards, the United States relaxed? Immigration policy, all levels of people from all walks of life from all over the world, a large influx of these huge new? immigrants have had a tremendous impact and far-reaching influence on the social and cultural structure of the United States. These new immigrants have had a tremendous impact on the social and cultural fabric of the United States. s cooking styles and culinary specialties are like the spark that starts a prairie fire, making the American family and restaurant? tables with a rich and diverse array of foods.

There is no doubt that Americans recognize European cuisine as the ancestor of American cuisine, and that American cuisine has its "roots" in European cuisine. As the "root", and then through their own cultivation, sprouting branches and leaves, and gradually thrive and flourish, set up their own? The main body of their own and even seeding grafting, spread around the world. The western United States is rich in Pacific? Seafood and a variety of river food, the quality of the nation's freshest, most varied fruits and vegetables, with the famous ? California cuisine (California?cuisine) and Asian cuisine with the characteristics of the fusion of dishes (AsianFusion?Cuisine); the south of the Mexican characteristics of the Texas cuisine (TexMex?Cuisine),? Louisiana cuisine (Louisiana?Cuisine) with French, Spanish, and African characteristics; in the Midwest, there are German, Dutch, and African cuisines. Chicago and Pennsylvania cuisines (Midwestern Cuisine) with German, Dutch and Scandinavian specialties; New England cuisine (NewEngland?Cuisine) and New York cuisine (New?York?Cuisine) with English, French and Irish specialties in the east; and the eastern part of Oceania (New York?Cuisine), which is characterized by a variety of cuisines. Islands, the Philippines, Portugal, and Japan's characteristic Hawaiian cuisine (Hawaii-Polynesian)? etc.

The booming U.S. restaurant industry? In recent years, the high-tech industry has skyrocketed, and Americans, especially the younger generation, have seen an increase in economic income? , and work pressure has also increased, so more emphasis on leisure and food. Especially the dinner this meal willing? Willing to spend money to enjoy a relaxed and delicious food and select a good wine with the wine. Due to the market? demand is strong, all types of restaurants, whether it is a fast food restaurant for general consumption, a family restaurant for medium consumption, or a fine dining restaurant, have become more and more popular. A variety of restaurants, whether they are general consumption fast food restaurants or moderate consumption family restaurants, or high-class restaurants, such as the rapid opening of business across the United States,? set off a wave in the U.S. restaurant industry. The U.S. food and beverage industry can develop rapidly, there are two main pillars of success, one is to focus on research and development? (Research), one is to seek efficiency (Efficiency). U.S. companies are willing to invest a lot of money to hire experts and scholars. The funds to hire experts and scholars, not only cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, aquatic products, agricultural products, etc.? Various kinds of raw materials to breed improvement, improve breeding and planting technology, improve production and quality, at the same time will be the world's best-selling products. At the same time, the best-selling food dishes from all over the world are modified to meet regional needs using objective criteria. Give moderate and skillful changes, inject brand culture and then with joyful and fashionable packaging, planned to introduce inexpensive and varied food products, and to improve the quality of food. The introduction of inexpensive, varieties and flavors are characteristic of the product, by the majority of consumers welcome. On the other hand, Americans attach great importance to efficiency, especially businessmen, they put quality improvement and market? Promotion is tightly bound together, and the use of scientific methods of product quality and management methods to add? to specification, with precise marketing means to promote to all parts of the region, the formation of regional chains, national? Chain or even a global chain of franchised super-enterprises. Each franchise has a detailed management manual. Each franchise has a detailed management manual, each employee has a clear division of labor and responsibilities, and the chef must follow the rules in the manual to cook the food. The chef must also follow the rules in the manual to cook food dishes, in addition to the quality of delicious but also know how to control costs, the pursuit of profit, to enhance the vitality of the enterprise. In addition to quality and flavor, they also know how to control costs, pursue profits, and enhance the vitality of the enterprise. It is worthwhile to learn from this way of doing business with humanized management. The company's business model is a good example of the kind of management that is worth studying.

Chain management has become the main means of expanding the global marketing of the U.S. food and beverage industry

In the United States, chain management in the food and beverage industry occupies a dominant position. From the history of development, franchising is mainly in the middle and low-grade catering market, fast food is mainly practiced franchising. Restaurants mainly practiced direct chain and management contracts. Relatively speaking, management contracts are somewhat more expensive than franchising and offer a much wider range of services.

(a) franchising. Franchise is an important form of chain management, known as "the most successful marketing concept of the 20th century". The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business that franchising is "the wave of the future", in any country or place in the world, any kind of economic environment and cultural background, franchising can play an important role. Essentially, a franchise is an agreement between a branded restaurant company (the licensor) and a restaurant owner (the landlord). For the licensor, franchising is a low-cost, high-margin avenue for its capital expansion, which helps to increase brand recognition and customer loyalty among consumers. However, franchising also carries risks for the authorizing party, mainly that the company loses control over the day-to-day operations of the business and control problems in terms of service, quality and tidiness can occur. For the owner, there are benefits to be gained from the group's advertising, purchasing arrangements, periodic inspections, and business building. The authorized party provides operation manuals and procedures, staff training manuals and audio-visual materials, as well as proven operation methods and product sales methods, and these advantages give the owner a reduced risk of business investment. At the same time, the owner has to pay a one-time franchise fee and brand royalties to the licensor, the extent of which is generally determined by a percentage of the business revenue. In addition, there are advertising fees, sign rental and sales fees, and the purchase of office supplies and food. Not all franchise agreements in the United States are the same in terms of content and fees, nor are they set in stone. The more common business model franchises allow the owner to use the authorizer's designs, methods, procedures, reservations, group advertising, promotions, and purchasing programs. The authorized party will routinely provide advice on marketing, day-to-day operations, and feasibility studies. It also obligates the owner to comply with the requirements of the licensor for operational and quality control use in order to maintain the brand's reputation. The owner may also claim the right to use the franchise brand exclusively within a geographic area. Currently, franchising in the U.S. fast food industry has been a huge success. McDonald's has nearly 30,000 restaurants around the world, 60-70% of which are franchises

(ii) Management contract. This is the main form of restaurant chain. A restaurant management contract is essentially an agreement between the branded restaurant (the operator) and the owner. The operator contains the responsibility to operate the restaurant and manage the restaurant business; the owner does not make business decisions, but to assume the responsibility to raise operating capital, operating expenses and repayment of loans, and to assume the responsibility to pay management fees to the operator. Management contract mode is mainly five aspects:

1. services provided by the operator. These generally include: feasibility reports and marketing surveys; advice and technical support in planning, design, construction and interior fit-out; advice on selection, layout and installation of equipment; signing of leases, procurement and construction agreements; start-up operations and opening; marketing, advertising and promotion; staff recruitment and training; secretarial work, financial management work, control and reporting functions technical advice; purchasing; reservation services; management of the operating restaurant; and head office supervision and control. These services may be provided as a package or individually.

2. Management costs. The services provided by the operator are paid for by the owner in the form of a fee. Most management fees are composed of a base fee and an incentive fee. The base fee is typically 3-4% of operating revenue and the incentive fee is typically 5-10% of gross operating profit. In the U.S., in addition to the management fee, the owner has to pay three fees: First, the operator's system fee, including the system's marketing, advertising, sales, finance, training, procurement, and booking, as well as the travel, lodging, and meal costs of the relevant management personnel for on-site guidance, which is generally 1-3% of the operating income. Second, technical support costs, including feasibility studies, architectural style, interior decoration, installation of machinery and equipment, layout of food and beverage equipment, supervision of the construction process, as well as supervision of the energy system, recreational facilities, security and financial aspects, which generally account for 2% of the total project investment. Third, opening costs, including recruitment and training of staff, installation of operational systems, marketing, procurement of supplies and inventory, etc. The opening budget is generally 1.5-1.9% of the total project cost.

3. The control of the right to operate. There are three main aspects: first, the selection of the general manager and senior management. As a rule, senior management by the operator has the final decision, but before making decisions, but also to listen to the owner's side of the advice. The second is the budget plan. This is an important tool for the owner to control and monitor the operation of the restaurant. There are three types of budgets for restaurant operations: operating budgets, planned reserves for replacement expenditures, and planned funds for remodeling and expansion. Generally speaking, the owner has the power to approve and veto expenditure items, but all kinds of budget expenditures mainly rely on the negotiation between the two sides. Third, day-to-day operations. The operator wants full control of the restaurant's operations, and the owners want to be involved in key management decisions in order to protect their equity investment. In the U.S., the operator is granted control over day-to-day operations, while the owner, through its resident representative, retains the power to control general policy to protect the investment and approve capital expenditures and other large purchase expenditures.

U.S. Restaurant Industry Highlights Innovative Development

Innovation is the main driving force behind the development of the restaurant industry, including the introduction of new dishes, the adoption of new technologies, the development of new markets, the application of new concepts, and the promotion of new business models. The U.S. catering industry innovation is mainly in five aspects:

(a) fast food franchising. The development of the United States fast-food franchise business on the catering industry's huge impact is unprecedented. McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's fast food chains, with hamburgers as the main varieties, have accelerated their expansion to internationalization with franchising as a tool to become a household name all over the world, replacing the long-standing roadside restaurants in the United States, and changing the global way of eating into an internationally popular food culture. With the development of fast-food franchising, on the one hand, fast-food restaurants on both sides of highways are developing rapidly, and some of them can provide fast-food services for two passing cars at the same time. On the other hand, mergers and acquisitions among fast-food chains have become more common, marketing strategies have become more innovative, and innovations in the way fast-food industry operates have contributed to the globalization of the restaurant industry.

(ii) Innovation in restaurant cuisine. The United States restaurant business is mainly catering and beverage service two elements, whether it is a Chinese restaurant, Western restaurant, bento restaurant or hotel dining, are constantly innovating. First, the introduction of foreign gourmet cuisine, steakhouse, crab house, lobster house, barbecue restaurants are constantly pushing the boundaries of innovation, organized by the Russian Food Festival, the French Food Festival, the Brazilian Food Festival, to meet the customer's curious consumer demand. Second, the development of green cuisine, which is a development trend of the modern catering industry, mainly in the restaurant business to safety, health, environmental issues in an important position to achieve sustainable development of the catering industry. Many restaurants to green as a slogan, the development of health care functions of healthy food has become a consumer fashion. In the United States, the green restaurant catering, than the average restaurant to be higher than 20-30%, more by the concept of health consumers welcome. Third, the development of ethnic catering, the introduction of the world's different ethnic food culture, the development of different ethnic dishes, two or more ethnic dishes combined into a new dish, the development of new markets.

(C) brand joint expansion. In the United States, many convenience food stores and fast food restaurants supply food that is the basic diet of people's daily lives, and the business hours are generally from morning to late at night. Convenience food stores in the United States mainly sell ready-to-eat foods, salad buffets, sandwiches, all kinds of fast food and other diets. These diets can be taken away to eat, or eaten in the store. With the development of the fast food industry, more and more aspects of the food store to introduce fast food restaurant brands and varieties, and well-known brands of fast food restaurants **** the same business, the sale of fast food, rapid change in the public on the convenience of the food store to sell the types of food and quality of the identity. Not only that, some supermarkets, department stores, airports, schools and hotels are also adopting this form to promote brand association and expand the market share of food and beverage.

(iv) Meal delivery. In the United States, meal delivery is a huge emerging market, people can enjoy such a meal delivery service, the delivery person first picks up your reservation, and then according to your reservation to the appropriate restaurant to order dishes, and after that the good dishes to home. Some of them also provide meal service and dishwashing service after meal. With the development of modern communication technology, fax machines and e-mail have added new ways of ordering food, and consumers can use these new technologies to order food directly from the restaurant, pick it up at the restaurant on time or have it delivered. Some restaurants also offer postal delivery of meals across national borders. Many cities network restaurant, virtual restaurant is also gradually emerging.

(E) family kitchen and takeaway catering food. Alternative home kitchens have become a strong trend in the catering industry to expand into new areas. Consumers are looking for easy and money-saving ways to cook family meals, and restaurants and supermarkets are in fierce competition to capture this market. Currently, restaurants and supermarkets are able to offer prepared foods, including ready-to-eat and quick-cook foods. These types of foods have become a staple of family meals. More and more restaurants are developing takeaway catering foods, developing vacuum-packed gourmet delicacies and semi-finished products of culinary production, which enter the home through supermarkets, so that busy people can enjoy all kinds of restaurant food at home without having to cook and clean their kitchens.

The U.S. catering industry attaches importance to talent development

With the rapid development of modern catering industry, talent has become one of the important conditions for development. The U.S. experience proves that the development of modern catering industry, the key is to have an excellent catering management team. In the catering talent demand, the United States has formed a more reasonable catering personnel education and training system.

(a) established a multi-level catering professional education, including graduate, undergraduate and vocational education and other levels. Many famous institutions of higher learning such as the United States Cornell University, the University of Hawaii, Michigan State University, the University of Wales, Florida International University, the University of Nevada and other well-known institutions have set up a hospitality management school, forming a considerable scale of graduate education system and undergraduate degree education.

(2) Under the organization and advocacy of the American Hotel and Restaurant Association, comprehensive vocational education, vocational training and vocational qualification certification in the catering industry. Linking vocational education with academic education, there are undergraduate degree vocational education, college degree vocational education, and secondary degree vocational education, and each course provides teaching materials and academic certificates. In terms of vocational training, the Association provides trainee books, training videos, computer CD-ROMs, and instructor's guide books for the corresponding specialties. In terms of vocational qualifications, the positions range from general manager to ordinary staff, including restaurant waiters, delivery waiters, baristas, kitchen cleaners, cocktail bartenders, banquet servers, banquet hostesses, as well as catering safety managers, marketers, financial managers and catering industry professional managers. The certification of these qualifications, there are strict standards, after the examination to obtain the appropriate qualifications, engaged in the corresponding catering industry work. The U.S. catering industry's professional qualification system, has been common in more than 40 countries around the world.

(C) chain restaurant enterprises to establish education and training centers. In the United States, the chain of catering enterprises to maintain the development of one of the important factors is the support of the education and training system. The world's largest McDonald's Catering Group, their own Hamburger University, located in Chicago's McDonald's headquarters, was built in 1984, covers an area of more than 80 acres, costing more than 40 million U.S. dollars, the annual training of nearly 5,000 trainees, the main object of the McDonald's store managers and regional managers. These trainees in addition to the basic training in this enterprise according to the McDonald's training manual for more than 300 hours, in the University of Hamburg to carry out 5.5 days of intensive training, training content is mainly McDonald's operations management. In addition to the University of Hamburg, McDonald's has regional training centers in Japan, Germany, Brazil, Hong Kong and other places. Practice has proved that the emphasis on talent training is an important cornerstone of the modern catering industry to achieve sustainable development.