The situation in the United States is relatively special. It has a vast land and a short history, and people of different races from more than 100 countries have immigrated to the United States. The current total population is about 280 million, including Spanish-speaking residents. There are about 43 million black people, about 36 million black people, and more than 10 million immigrants from Asia. Such a large number of foreign ethnic groups are getting married and settling down in the United States. The United States is a melting pot of the world’s races. American food The formation of dishes also comes from the "melting pot".

The formation and characteristics of American cuisine?

Due to the influence of early immigrants (British Puritans and American pioneers), traditional American cuisine? Just like traditional Americans, its It is characterized by "rough and honest", using fresh raw materials, no additives or seasonings, the food maintains its original taste, and the cooking process is not sloppy, whether it is roasting, frying or deep-frying, there are no complicated processes and no fuss. Simmered over slow fire (except for a few local dishes), without too many fancy decorations, everything on the plate can be eaten, making you feel full and satisfied. The main structure of American food is the one-two-three-four system, which is like a triangle shape. The most important one is "beef", the second is chicken and fish, the third is sheep, pig and shrimp, and the fourth is bread, potatoes, corn, and vegetables.

At the end of the 19th century, with the development of American civilization and the gradual affluence of the economy, coupled with the development of information and transportation, Americans' food requirements have gradually increased. Especially since 1965, the United States has relaxed Due to the immigration policy, people from all walks of life and professions poured in in large numbers from all over the world. These huge new immigrants had a huge impact and far-reaching impact on the social and cultural structure of the United States. The cooking methods and cuisine characteristics brought by the new immigrants are like sparks that start a prairie fire, making rich and diverse foods appear on the tables of American families and restaurants.

There is no doubt that Americans admit that European food is the ancestor of American food. American food takes European food as its "root", and then cultivates it by itself, sprouts branches and leaves, and gradually grows strong and lush. It established its own subject and even spread seeds and grafts to all parts of the world. The western United States is rich in Pacific seafood and various river seafood, and has the freshest quality and widest variety of vegetables and fruits in the United States, including the famous California Cuisine and Asian Fusion Cuisine; In the south, there are TexMex Cuisine with Mexican characteristics, and Louisiana Cuisine with French, Spanish, and African characteristics; in the Midwest, there are Chicago cuisine, Pennsylvania cuisine with German, Dutch, and Nordic characteristics. Cuisine (Midwestern Cuisine); in the east there are New England Cuisine (New England Cuisine) and New York Cuisine (New York Cuisine) with British, French and Irish characteristics, as well as Hawaiian Cuisine (Hawaiian Cuisine with Eastern Oceania Islands, Philippines, Portugal and Japan). Hawaii-Polynesian)?etc.

The booming development of the U.S. catering industry? In recent years, the high-tech industry has developed by leaps and bounds. Americans, especially the younger generation, have experienced increased economic income and increased work pressure, so they pay more attention to leisure and food. Especially for dinner, you are willing to spend money to enjoy a relaxing and delicious meal and choose mellow wine to match it. Due to strong market demand, various types of restaurants, whether fast food restaurants for general consumption, family restaurants for medium consumption, or high-end restaurants, have mushroomed across the United States, setting off a boom in the American catering industry. Wave after wave. The rapid development of the American catering industry has two main pillars of success: one is to focus on research and development (Research), and the other is to focus on efficiency (Efficiency).

American companies are willing to invest a lot of money to hire experts and scholars, not only to improve the varieties of various raw materials such as cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, aquatic products, agricultural products, etc., but also to improve breeding and planting technology, increase output and ?Quality, while using objective standards to adapt to regional needs, the best-selling food dishes from all over the world are given appropriate and clever changes, infused with brand culture and coupled with fun and fashionable packaging, and planned launches of high quality, low price, variety Products with unique characteristics and taste are welcomed by consumers. On the other hand, Americans attach great importance to efficiency, especially businessmen. They closely tie quality improvement to market promotion, and use scientific methods to standardize product quality and management methods, and use precise marketing The methods have been promoted to various places, forming regional chain, national chain and even global chain franchise super enterprises. Each franchise store has a detailed management manual. Every employee in the store has a clear division of labor and responsibilities. Chefs must also follow the rules in the manual to prepare food dishes. In addition to paying attention to quality and deliciousness, they must also know how to cook food. Control costs, pursue profits, and enhance the vitality of the enterprise. This business method combined with humanized management is worth learning.

Chain operations have become the main means for the U.S. catering industry to expand global marketing

In the United States, chain operations dominate the catering industry. Judging from the history of development, franchising is mainly in the middle and low-end catering market, and fast food is mainly franchised. Restaurants mainly implement direct chain operations and management contracts. Relatively speaking, management contracts are more expensive than franchises and provide a much wider range of services.

(1) Franchising. Franchising is an important form of chain operation and is known as "the most successful marketing concept in the 20th century." The Small Business Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives believes that franchising is the "wave of the future" and that franchising can play an important role in any country and place in the world, under any economic environment and cultural background. Essentially, a franchise is an agreement between a branded restaurant business (the franchisor) and the restaurant owner (the owner). For franchisors, franchising is a low-cost, high-profit avenue for capital expansion, which helps improve consumers' brand recognition and customer loyalty. However, franchising also has risks for the franchisor. The main reason is that the company loses control over the daily operations of the enterprise, which may lead to control problems in terms of service, quality, cleanliness, etc. For owners, benefits can be derived from the group's advertising, purchasing arrangements, regular inspections, and business construction. The licensor provides operation manuals and procedures, employee training manuals and audio-visual materials, as well as effective operating methods and product sales methods. These advantages reduce business investment risks for owners. At the same time, the owner must pay a one-time franchise fee and brand usage fee to the authorized party. The level of payment is generally determined by the percentage of operating income. In addition, there are costs for advertising, sign rental and sales, and the purchase of office supplies and food. In the United States, not all franchise agreement contents and fee rates are the same, nor are they set in stone. A more general business model, franchising allows owners to use the franchisor's designs, methods, procedures, reservations, group advertising, promotions and purchasing programs. The licensor will regularly provide advice on marketing, daily operations, and feasibility studies. At the same time, owners are obliged to comply with the licensor's requirements for operation and quality control to maintain brand reputation. The owner may also request exclusive rights to use the franchise brand within a geographic area. At present, franchising in the American fast food industry has achieved great success. McDonald's has nearly 30,000 restaurants around the world, 60-70% of which are franchised stores

(2) Management contracts. This is the main form of restaurant chain. A restaurant management contract is essentially an agreement between the brand restaurant (operator) and the owner. The operator has the responsibility of operating the restaurant and managing the restaurant business; the owner does not make operating decisions, but is responsible for raising operating capital, operating expenses, repaying loans, and paying management fees to the operator. The management contract method mainly includes five aspects:

1. The services provided by the operator.

Generally includes: feasibility report and marketing survey; providing advice and technical support in planning, design, construction and interior decoration; providing advice on equipment selection, layout and installation; signing contracts, procurement and construction agreements ; Initial operations and opening; Marketing, advertising and promotions; Staff recruitment and training; Secretarial work, financial management, control and reporting functions; Technical consulting; Purchasing; Reservation services; Managers operating restaurants; Headquarters supervision and control. These services can be provided as a package or individually.

2. Management expenses. The services provided by the operator are paid by the owner at a certain fee. Most administrative fees are made up of base fees and incentive fees. The basic fee is generally based on operating income of 3-4%, and the incentive fee is generally based on operating gross profit of 5-10%. In the United States, in addition to management fees, owners also have to pay three fees: First, the operator's system fees, including system marketing, advertising, sales, finance, training, procurement, reservations, etc., as well as the presence of relevant management personnel on site Guidance travel, accommodation and meal expenses generally account for 1-3 of operating income. The second is technical support costs, including feasibility studies, architectural style, interior decoration, mechanical equipment installation, catering equipment layout, construction process supervision, and supervision of energy systems, entertainment facilities, safety and finance. These costs generally account for the total project cost. Investment 2. The third is opening expenses, including recruiting and training employees, installing operating systems, marketing, purchasing supplies and inventory, etc. The opening budget is generally 1.5-1.9 of the total project cost.

3. Control of operating rights. There are three main aspects: First, the selection of general managers and senior managers. By convention, senior managers have the final decision-making power from the operator, but they must also listen to the owner's advice before making decisions. The second is budget planning. This is an important tool for owners to control and monitor restaurant operations. There are three types of budgets for restaurant operations: operating budget, planned reserves for replacement expenses, and planned funds for renovation and expansion. Generally speaking, owners have the power to approve and veto expenditure projects, but various budget expenditures mainly rely on negotiation between the two parties. The third is daily operations. Operators want to have complete control over restaurant operations, and owners want to participate in key management decisions in order to protect their equity investments. In the United States, operators are given control of day-to-day operations, while owners, through their resident representatives, retain control of broad policy to protect investments and approve capital expenditures and other large purchases.

The U.S. catering industry highlights innovative development

Innovation is the main driving force for the development of the catering industry, including the introduction of new dishes, the adoption of new technologies, the development of new markets, and the application of new concepts. Promotion of new business formats. Innovation in the American catering industry mainly lies in five aspects:

(1) Fast food franchise. The development of fast food franchises in the United States has had an unprecedented impact on the catering industry. McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's fast food chain companies, with hamburgers as their main varieties, use franchising as a tool to accelerate their international expansion and become household names around the world. They have replaced the long-standing roadside restaurants in the United States, changed the global eating style, and become an international Popular food culture. With the development of fast food franchises, on the one hand, drive-through fast food restaurants on both sides of the highway have developed rapidly. Some drive-through fast food restaurants can provide fast food services to two passing cars at the same time. On the other hand, mergers and acquisitions between fast food chain companies are more common, marketing strategies are more novel, and innovations in fast food business operations have promoted the globalization of the catering industry.

(2) Innovation of restaurant dishes. Restaurant operations in the United States mainly include catering and wine services. Whether they are Chinese restaurants, Western restaurants, casual restaurants or hotel catering, they are constantly innovating. The first is to introduce foreign delicacies. Steakhouses, crab restaurants, lobster restaurants, and barbecue restaurants are constantly innovating, and Russian food festivals, French food festivals, and Brazilian food festivals are held to meet the curious consumption needs of customers. The second is to develop green food, which is a development trend of the modern catering industry. It mainly puts safety, health and environmental protection issues in an important position in restaurant operations to achieve sustainable development of the catering industry.

In the United States, one of the important factors for chain restaurant companies to maintain development is the support of the education and training system. The world's largest McDonald's restaurant group has its own Hamburg University. The McDonald's headquarters in Chicago was built in 1984, covering an area of ??more than 80 acres and costing more than 40 million US dollars. It trains nearly 5,000 trainees every year, mainly at McDonald's stores. Manager and Area Manager. In addition to more than 300 hours of basic training in the company according to the McDonald's training manual, these trainees also need to undergo 5.5 days of intensive training at Hamburg University. The training content is mainly McDonald's operation management. In addition to Hamburg University, McDonald's also has regional training centers in Japan, Germany, Brazil, Hong Kong and other places. Practice has proved that paying attention to talent training is an important cornerstone for the modern catering industry to achieve sustainable development.