As restaurants continue to grapple with inflation and labor shortages, a new “haunting” obstacle may be on the horizon for the industry.
“Bar Rescue” Executive Producer and host Jon Taffer is sounding the alarm on a potential industry switch from gas to electric stoves that could pose a massive challenge to restaurants.
“These are not small matters. They’re economic matters, they’re culinary matters. These regulatory issues haunt us as an industry,” he stressed.
During his appearance on “Varney & Co.” Tuesday, Taffer explained that not only is the “regulatory issue” a “massive investment” but proves why this year’s presidential election “means something.”
Bloomberg reported that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission was considering a ban on gas stoves because the appliances can emit pollutants that cause respiratory and health issues.
A move that Biden’s White House didn’t support.
“We know that if Trump comes in and he’s regulatory issues with regard to no gas in our kitchens and all of these regulatory issues that are haunting us, to tell you the truth, would disappear if Trump should become president,” Taffer expressed.
The restaurant industry, however, is still reeling from high prices due to inflation and the fallout from employees working from home.
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“Menus are being compressed. Inventories are being compressed. Labor forces are being compressed. Small square footage and footprints, sizes are being compressed. And this is the way we’re dealing with these elevated costs,” he said.
“I see a lot of compression in every aspect of the business,” he continued.
Taffer offered a solution for the industry, opting for a less is more approach.
The “Bar Rescue” star said his “Taffer Tavern model” is a “smaller footprint, and it compresses all of those elements to create a different economic model that works in today’s environment.”
“In the independent restaurant world, we need to get better at managing these costs and managing this compression,” Taffer said.
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Fox Business’ Hillary Vaughn, Chris Pandolfo and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report