One of the real joys of the holiday season is the opportunity to extend a heartfelt thanks to all Pennsylvania and New Jersey wineries, wine and hospitality businesses for your continued business throughout the year. On behalf of the firm we’d like to wish each of you best wishes for peace and joy this holiday season. Here’s hoping you have a new year that’s filled with health, happiness and prosperity.
This week the Pennsylvania Supreme Court potentially opened the door for beer sales at supermarkets and big retailers. The seven justices found in a unanimous decision that the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board properly granted licenses to Wegmans Food Market Inc. to sell beer at eating areas in its supermarkets. For more information read The Philadelphia Inquirer’s: Pennsylvania Supreme Court Upholds Beer Sales At Wegmans Store.
Federal regulators are preparing to ban the drink Four Loko and other manufacturers of similar alcoholic energy drinks following numerous deaths of 
young people who are drinking the fruity flavored caffeinated alcohol energy drink.
Many state governments are moving to limit the sale of these products or to ban them outright. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board has sent letters to the state’s 17,000 beer distributors encouraging them to cease the sale of the drinks until a FDA investigation determines the products safety.
Today Senator Charles Schumer D-NY, issued a press release announcing that the Food and Drug Administration will rule that producers of caffeinated alcoholic beverages are marketing products that are considered to be unsafe and should be banned from the market. For more on these developments read here: Schumer:FDA To Effectively Ban Caffeinated Alcoholic Drinks.
Pennsylvania’s neighbors in the Garden State of New Jersey continue to emerge as east coast regional wine producers with its recent American Viticulture Area approved by the US Department of the Treasury’s Alcohol, Tobacco, Tax and Trade Bureau. The South East geographic portion of the state has been designated The Outer Coastal Plain AVA.
This is exciting news for the state’s emerging wine industry. I look forward to including more posts on New Jersey’s winery/hospitality industry and as a member of both Pennsylvania and New Jersey state bars, to address their future legal needs as well.
Meanwhile, for more on this news read Dr. Lawrence Cola’s: New East Coast AVA Established
Have you suffered adverse consequences in your Pennsylvania restaurant, winery or
hospitality business this year by being far too trusting? Did you rely on mutual trust by conducting your business strictly on the basis of a handshake? Perhaps you found yourself in the middle of an ugly verbal confrontations of “he said, she said “ telling the other party to ‘talk to the hand”?
If so, now might be the time to formalize your Pennsylvania restarurant, winery or hospitality business infrastructure by putting your future agreements in writing. Why? Because parties often forget the terms of their oral agreements. While oral agreements often exist, they can be difficult to prove and to enforce. A written contract will help you guard against confusion, misunderstandings and the forgetful mind as you go about your day to day business operations.
Whether you make agreements with your local suppliers for daily produce deliveries or your favorite caterer to reserve banquet room or tasting room space, a written contract is a sound business practice. Routinely, hospitality businesses often find it objectionable to draft contracts for every single business transaction. Oftentimes the cost of retaining a lawyer might appear to out way the benefits derived from memorializing mutual promises. In these instances you may want to alternatively consider having your attorney prepare form agreements that can be used multiple times and can prove to be cost effective. In the event of a dispute, having your written agreement for purchases, catering, or meeting space can be very beneficial.
The written agreement doesn’t have to be a complex document full of legal mumbo jumbo. It should be in plain english and contain certain essential provisions. Thus when promises between the two parties are not kept and contract obligations go un-fulfilled, you will be on stronger legal ground to pursue economic remedies for your losses.
For example, lets imagine that the local tour bus company in your area contracts with 40 of its customers to participate in a tasting at your winery or dinner at your restaurant. When the tour group arrives they find your establishment is unable to accommodate the prior reservation. Perhaps the tour bus company oversold the event. Your understanding was that you agreed to twenty customers not forty. The tour bus company because of the confusion and misunderstanding may now find itself in breach of its contract with its patrons. The tour bus company then pursues litigation against your establishment for failure to provide food and/or alcohol services to their customers. Do you see where this is headed? Hence the best way to avoid these circumstances is to get your agreements in writing.
If and when a disagreement arises, you won’t have the need to shout “talk to the hand”. Instead you can produce your written contract of what he said, she said that was intended to safeguard against any subsequent misunderstandings.
Your interests are now protected.
Running a successful restaurant or hospitality business can be extremely grueling.
It takes more than just your passion to succeed. You have to be well prepared to avoid making painful mistakes along the way. Because at the end of the day, diners vote with their forks. And…you want them to vote for you.
To do so, your food business enterprise will need to emerge as a success. If you currently own or plan to own your own restaurant, small chef eatery, catering business or food selling dynasty here are a few good tips that will help you avoid some unnecessary pitfalls as you grow your successful food enterprise.
Make sure you have a sound business plan. A good solid business plan will help you to focus on your location, your anticipated customer base, and what measurable goals you’ll need to make to turn a profit. While you may be an awesome chef or caterer, your ability to stay in business is also a function of your ability to control your costs. A business plan will help you to identify and track your goals and how well you are doing.
If you feel you lack an appropriate business skill set because your real love is your focus on your food, then be sure to retain the right lawyer to look over your business contracts and to conduct your contract negotiations.
You may want to create a Partnership with another individual or entity not just for and injection of money, but for sound business advice. Alternatively you may want to enlist the services of a business or restaurant consultant who specializes in the restaurant industry. This can be a good resource to develop your ideas or help you to implement a successful business strategy.
Develop good employee relations standards. Pursue a good understanding of your federal, state and local labor laws. You want to avoid unfavorable legal action taken against you by knowing how these laws affect the way you need to conduct your business on a daily basis.
Visit your local planning department in your municipality to educate yourself on applicable zoning, parking, signage, noise, sewage and other requirements that you’ll need to know to cut through the red tape necessary to operate your business.
If you plan to serve liquor in your restaurant you’ll need to protect your business investment by ensuring that you’re properly protected from suits filed by 3rd parties for damages or injuries caused by patrons imbibing in your establishment. Invest in liquor liability training procedures for you and your restaurant staff.
If you incorporate these tips into the daily operation of your business, you will be well on your way to running a successful hospitality enterprise.
Keep you eyes on the prize and remember the big picture. Success won’t just be measured in metrics alone but will be expressed with the people connections you make with your food. Now go out there and get your votes. After-all, you’re most likely to succeed.
There aren’t many Pennsylvania Wines if any that grab the attention of the famous global wine reviewer himself, Mr. Robert Parker. Happily, I wanted to give a very special shout out and big “congratulations” to my winemaker friends on the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail, Sarah and Galen Troxell at Galen Glen Winery for it’s notable Gruner Veltliner and Zweigeit Wines recently reviewed by Mr. Robert Parker. There is a lot to celebrate in the tasting room at Galen Glen Winery. To learn more about this great review read here: Robert Parker Scores Gruner Veltliner
Have you considered “greening” your Pennsylvania Winery or Hospitality Business? If so, you may want to follow in the footsteps of University of California, Davis. Looking to serve as a model for wineries and hospitality industries throughout the nation, UC Davis has launched the world’s “greenest” winery, brewery and foods facility. The new winery, brewery, and food processing complex was designed to serve as a “test bed” for production processes and techniques that conserve water, energy and other resources. For more information read: UC Davis Launches World’s Greenest Winery, Brewery, and Foods Facility.
Pennsylvania’s neighbors in the Garden State of New Jersey have recently begun to emerge as wine producers. With 39 wineries and eight more waiting for licenses, wine production in the state has improved dramatically in recent years. Thus, I look forward to including more posts on New Jersey’s winery/hospitality industry and to address their future legal needs as well. Meanwhile, for a closer look at New Jersey’s growing wine industry your may enjoy reading the Press of Atlantic City’s: A Growing Industry Gets Better With Age
Are you a “die hard foodie” who aspires to cook, or a well trained culinary arts graduate who desires to open your own restaurant or small chef eatery? Do you 
already own your own restaurant and are looking to keep pace with what’s trending in the food industry? If so, this may be the right moment to act on your dreams or make some well needed changes.
In 2010 the restaurant industry expects to serve over 130 million patrons who will generate economic activity that will exceed $1.5 trillion dollars. If you have a burning desire is to get your own piece of that rock and make your mark in the restaurant and hospitality business consider what’s hot in 2010 in the culinary world as viewed through the eyes of the members of the American Culinary Federation.
The American Culinary Federation is composed of 1800 professional chefs who participated in the National Restaurant Association’s “Chef Survey: What’s Hot In 2010.” Predicting culinary trends and what’s “hot” in 2010, the top 2010 “hot” chef response winners are:
1). Locally grown produce
2). Locally sourced meats and seafood
3.) Sustainability
4.) Bite-size/mini desserts
5.) Locally produced wine and beer
6.) Nutritionally balanced children dishes
7.) Half-portions/smaller portions for a smaller price
8.) Farm/estate-branded ingredients
9.) Gluten-free/food allergy conscious
10).Sustainable seafood
Did you take note that “locally produced wine” made the list of top 10 “hot trends”? Thus when you’re ready to turn your restaurant dream into a reality and begin organizing and planning your initial organizational form, franchise, business name, menu plans, and formal business plans you’ll want to be sure to include wines produced locally by Pennsylvania wineries.
As one who provides legal representation to Pennsylvania’s winery/vineyard owners, wine, restaurant and food based business owners, I believe there’s nothing that the public appreciates more than a well prepared meal with a great Pennsylvania wine!
Now go forth foodie and get your food and wine business on!
