Laying in bed this morning, I saw this story on my iPad news reader:
‘The over-65 group is particularly value-conscious’: Older Americans are losing their appetite for restaurants such as Cracker Barrel and Olive Garden — here’s what’s keeping them away
by Serah Louis | Thursday, October 12, 2023 | 8:00 AM EDT
Several fast-casual restaurant chains have reported declining foot traffic and sales following the COVID-19 pandemic — especially among their older clientele.
Company representatives at Cracker Barrel CBRL: (%) and Darden Restaurants — owner of Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse — have pointed to increased prices and ongoing health concerns alienating some of their over-65 customers.
“We just have not yet recovered the visits with that group [over 65 years old] to the extent we thought we would, really, since the pandemic,” Cracker Barrel CEO Sandra Cochran said during a September earnings call.
But while some of these eateries have taken these changes in spending in stride by appealing to different demographics, it’s possible that others are being held back by their original consumer base.
Well, Sandra Cochran, net worth $51 million, you need to pay attention to that last quoted paragraph. From further down in the article:
When the chain introduced plant-based breakfast sausage last year in an effort to accommodate more consumers, there was a mix of praise and backlash on social media.
“Stop pushing this woke garbage,” wrote one outraged user in response to a Cracker Barrel Facebook post promoting the new product. “We go to Cracker Barrel for Traditional Values and Traditional Country Cooking… If you want to serve Lefty food, open an alternative store.”
You know, I really don’t care if Cracker Barrel has a “plant-based breakfast sausage,” as long as they have their real breakfast sausage available as well. The far bigger problem is their biscuits and gravy. Southern-style biscuits and gravy uses a sausage gravy, but the restaurant replaced that with their “sawmill” gravy years ago, and it really should be named sawdust gravy, because they removed the sausage and replaced it with some combination of spices which they somehow believed would taste the same.
Well, it doesn’t taste the same, and doesn’t taste even remotely close. Sawdust gravy would be a far more accurate name for the stuff. That’s what you need to fix first! If you want the older customers, the ones you’ve lost since the panicdemic, to return, the best way is through returning to better food!
We usually get a “veggie” plate. For the TWO of us that means 8 individual “servings” of vegetables. It now costs over $30 including a tip! We can go to a local steakhouse and enjoy a nice prime rib, baked potato, and salad with honey drizzled croissants for the same $30 (we share since the portions are so large)! We’ll just eat our veggies at home and enjoy prime rib when we go out! AND, we’ll save due to not having to “WAIT” to be seated in a not full Cracker Barrel filled with overpriced candies and stuff!! CB had better take a LONG, HARD look at how much a spoonful of turnip greens and pintos REALLY should cost!
“Southern-style biscuits and gravy uses a sausage gravy”
I don’t know about that. Decades ago when you ordered biscuits and gravy the gravy was just a plain white gravy, generally peppered. The sausage becoming standard is a relatively new thing.