Last year, as rising costs affected businesses, over half of all restaurants suffered some type of profit loss.
From last Friday until March 24 what has been called “Black Restaurant Week” is and will be taking place.
Long lines can be seen at Smokey John’s Bar-B-Que & Home Cooking. However, in the food and beverage field, money is tight.
“Every restaurant is probably having challenges but particularly minority-owned restaurants,” said Juan Reaves, co-owner of Smokey John’s.
They have been experiencing problems like getting people to come back to work since COVID to the increasing costs that are lessening the bottom line.
“It’s tough. There’s so many things that are impacted we don’t think of traditionally. We think about the weather and what’s happening with crops that sort of thing. But, right now, it’s manufacturing. It’s labor, Reaves said.
“There are so many factors that come into play. It’s been a difficult situation because the worst thing you can do as a restaurant owner is raise prices. You hate doing it, but at the same time, we have a responsibility to take care of our team members that work with us and to be responsible business owners,” Reaves said.
The awareness platform is Black Restaurant Week. This is a business out of Houston and a non-profit that advertises black-owned restaurants, through its website, digital ad campaigns, and corporate policy, for free, to registered restaurants.
“It’s very hard for small businesses to set aside dollars for marketing. And so, Black Restaurant Week is essentially helping fill the gap, creating awareness of these businesses in their local communities, a spokesperson said.
Once these restaurants are known, it could provide new customers with a new food experience.
“There’s some great options for you to work into your systems so that people know that they don’t have to go to the same places all the time. There are some really great options out there that happened to be owned by minorities,” Reeves added.
