A Second Slice

Monitoring Period: 2/17/2020-2/20/2020

Bella Luna Pizza Kitchen

5OOODIES

LOCAL NEWS

“Local food movement is growing in The Valley,” by Morgan Donnelly 

• Malcolm, owner of Malcolm’s Market Garden, is teaming up with Local Food Hub to expand business to promote more locally grown food (Donnelly, M., WHSV3, 2017).
• Malcolm has been allowed to sell her produce in chain grocery stores in Washington  D.C., as well as, food that is served at James Madison University (Donnelly, M., WHSV3, 2017).
• Malcolm hopes that, “Students see a difference, and connect that these local farms surrounding their campuses are helping to feed them” (Donnelly, M., WHSV3, 2017).
• Local businesses are growing together with local farmers to create fresh food for the Harrisonburg community (Donnelly, M., WHSV3, 2017). 

https://www.whsv.com/content/news/Local-food-movement-is-growing-in-The-Valley-416178273.html

This article holds relevance, as it promotes the combination of local businesses with local farm’s produce. Bella Luna can be influenced by the decision to have fresher foods served at their restaurant, by teaming up with local farmers from The Valley. This could be an innovative, and lucrative deal for Bella Luna, as both industries would be benefiting one another in this situation. Also, this article writes that fresh food from Malcolm’s market, is being served at James Madison University, which is profitable and encouraging. This can provide inspiration for Bella Luna to potentially serve their food samples at other venues, besides their home restaurant.

“Friendly City Food Co-op To Expand Into Adjacent Building,” by Ian Munro

• Friendly City Food Co-op will expand into a neighboring building (Munro, I., DailyNewsRecord, 2020).
• The additional grocery store will be opening and hiring in March, and will be open for a seasonal 8-month period (Munro, I., DailyNewsRecord, 2020).
• Cooke, the general manager, says, “They’ll be lots more grocery products, more wellness products, more meat — the meat department is definitely expanded” (Munro, I., DailyNewsRecord, 2020). 
• Cooke claims that the changes to The Friendly City Co-op will not affect the character and maintenance of this grocery store (Munro, I., DailyNewsRecord, 2020). 

https://www.dnronline.com/news/local/friendly-city-food-co-op-to-expand-into-adjacent-building/article_f471e874-0147-5b59-9e4b-36a8970a25e1.html

This article holds relevance to Bella Luna, because it brings about awareness to the growth and importance of local farmer’s markets. Friendly City Food Co-op claims that their new grocery store incorporates more meat to their selection, therefore this could provide an opportunity for Bella Luna to purchase their meat toppings from a locally owned grocery store. This pairing could create an economically beneficial relationship with the businesses, as well as, an inclusive culture within the Harrisonburg community. Both industries could potentially combine forces to explore flavor and freshness in downtown Harrisonburg.

SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING

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INDUSTRY NEWS

Burke Corp. Launches New Plant-Based Alternatives

• Burke Corporation which is under Hormel Foods “an industry leader in foodservice fully cooked meat toppings and ingredients, announced the launch of new Burke™ Alternatives plant-based products available to foodservice operators across the country.”
• They’re new “pea protein” meat options will “include a fully cooked crumble and uncooked ground products with traditional or Italian flavored options”
• The Hormel Food brand is a large distributor and plans on selling this new plant-based meat country wide

This new line of plant-based meats may impact Bella Luna’s future menu and their local competition. With wider availability and affordability of such products Bella Luna may have to adjust or re evaluate how much meat they use. They may also need to look into using plant based meats in their dishes in the future if the public interest and want for such products grows. If other pizza companies and producers start using this vegetarian friendly product it may take many customers away from Bella Luna if they do not offer it as an option.

• https://www.pmq.com/burke-corp-launches-new-plant-based-alternatives/
• https://www.hormelfoods.com/newsroom/press-releases/burke-corporation-launches-new-plant-based-alternatives/

Are States Getting Ready to Crack Down on Third Party Delivery Services? 

• “Several states and municipalities are considering legislation that would impose new regulations on third-party platforms”
• In California currently there is a debate on whether or not third party delivery services such as “Grubhub, Postmates and others to share customer data with the restaurants they order from”
• This is because “restaurant operators often don’t know where the customer is located or how to contact them. This means operators might not know about problems with the orders and can’t follow up to gauge the customer’s satisfaction and the quality of the delivered food.” 
• Many restaurants also who have these third party delivery services never agree to them or use them
• “Food delivery apps take as much as 30 percent of sales from restaurants” in California and other states
• Other states such as “Pennsylvania, New York and Illinois” some laws have already been set up to minimize these negative effects on restaurant owners

Though Bella Luna doesn’t allow or use any third party delivery service many competitors and other restaurants in town do. This may actually benefit Bella Luna if other restaurants stop using such as Postmates, Grubhub, etc. Some future laws may increase the price for such services meaning many might return to restaurants or such apps may not be sustainable or as affordable to use on a daily basis. In a college town where these third party delivery apps are often used this may have a significant impact on who uses them and what restaurants do. If laws are put into place to help or benefit the restaurants Bella Luna may want to look into using these apps then but until then their current business structure of not allowing these apps is most likely beneficial financially.

• https://www.pmq.com/fairfooddeliveryact/
• https://thespoon.tech/rhode-islands-proposed-bill-would-ban-delivery-services-from-listing-non-partnered-restaurants/

Papa John’s Recognized as LGBTQ-Friendly Company

• “The chain scored 90% on the Human Rights Campaign’s annual Corporate Equality Index covering practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality.”
• This is the first year Papa John’s has been ranked on the index but they scored very high on tolerance and equal treatment
• The Corporate Equality Index or CEI ranks  “1,059 U.S.-based companies are promoting LGBTQ-friendly workplace policies” 

Papa John’s is a large competitor of Bella Luna’s in Harrisonburg as a pizza provider, they’re a direct competitor. Anything about them in the news or that affects them affects the pizza industry and market. Though there is nothing that Bella Luna can do about Papa John’s new national recognition as a LGBTQ Friendly, nor should there be anything they do. It may benefit Bella Luna to look into becoming or promoting LGBTQ enviroments as well. Though this news is not likely to affect them significantly or directly it is news in the pizza industry.

• https://www.pmq.com/papa-johns-lgbtq-equality/
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/aliciakelso/2020/02/18/papa-johns-focus-on-company-culture-is-starting-to-pay-off/#17ee0ca52b06

ADVISORY COMMENT: It would be beneficial for Bella Luna to consider emphasizing their “clean-eating behaviors.” Adding a little blurb on the menu about the benefits of eating locally or even having servers emphasize this to tables would be beneficial with the rise of the local food trend in Harrisonburg. On the national level, Bella Luna should consider doing something progressive like incorporating more vegan foods on the menu. This will show that Bella Luna really cares about the planet and healthy eating and that they don’t only do it for a marketing ploy or because it’s easier than using national farms.