Posts

Pennsylvania’s Winery Neighbors In The Garden State Are Beginning To Flourish.

/0 Comments/in , /by

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

Do Pennsylvania Restauranteurs and Winery Owners Want To Know What’s Hot In 2010?

/0 Comments/in /by

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 cheftrendsskitched-20100103-150300already 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!

How To Build Your Winery, Wine Or Hospitality Business While Avoiding Legal Pitfalls

/0 Comments/in , /by

Nothing can replace the feeling of euphoria that comes with selling that first of bottle of wine made from grapes you crushed yourself or perhaps serving that first entree inlegalpitfalls the restaurant you worked for months to open. Yes, dreams of owning your own winery, restaurant, or hospitality business can be realized even in today’s tough economy. Why? Because a new wealth economy will come by the growth of small businesses. Much of this growth engine will be fueled by new businesses, many of which will be in the wine and hospitality industry.

But Rome wasn’t built in a day. And neither was Apple or Comcast for that matter. Succeeding at your dream of building your own restaurant or hospitality business starts by planting the seeds of good leadership and sound business infrastructure. As an owner in control of your business, you quickly come to know that everyday decisions aren’t made on guts alone. They are founded on sound decision making in order to avoid financial and legal pitfalls.

Here are a few good tips you’ll want to consider to when building your winery, wine or hospitality business that will help you avoid these pitfalls:

Prepare Your Business Plan For Your Winery Or Hospitality Business:
Rather than planning as you go, execute. Create a Business Plan that details your
business strategy to determine where your business is headed in the future. Identify
measurable goals and business tactics that will guide you.

Establish Early On The Ownership Structure Of Your Winery Or Hospitality Business:
Choose the business structure that is right for your business. Whether you’re a
Sole Proprietorship, Limited Liability Company, or Corporation, choosing the right
business structure that’s a fit for your business is key. In doing so, seek legal counsel
when necessary to assist you in making the right business choices.

Read Your Contracts:
Do not sign agreements you do not read. You may be presented with contract
agreements from your suppliers, vendors and speciality suppliers for products that
make your business unique. Consult with legal counsel to read your contracts and
advise you of the risks associated with various contractual provisions.

Maintain Good Record-Keeping:
Good record-keeping shows the quality of your company to future investors. Due
diligence is necessary to maintain good corporate formalities. Maintain policies
outlining your internal practices on check signing, accounts payable and financial
reporting.

Seek Legal Guidance When Franchising:
Many aspiring restauranteurs often look to buy a franchise when breaking into the
food and wine business. Franchising is not a guarantee of financial success. While
instant branding comes with franchising, there are also numerous costs associated
with franchising that you may not have contemplated. The U.S. Small Business
Administration provides guidance on answering common questions about franchising.
Before entering a franchise relationship, you will need to consider what opportunities
best suit your needs and interests.

Is there a winery, wine or hospitality business in your future? If so, join the new wealth economy, get your business on and watch your step!

Does Your Pennsylvania Winery, Restaurant, Or Hospitality Business Embrace The Millennials?

/0 Comments/in /by

Is your winery, restaurant, or hospitality business attracting the new generation of young millennial’s? If so, you’ll not want to miss marketing to this group on their own terms. Just ask them. If you don’t get on this train, it will surely leave the station without you.

Check out this new virtual sommelier aka Enomatic Wine Dispensing System. This high tech sommelier gone wild can be found at the CLO Wine Bar in New York, New York. CLO Bar has the right mix of edge and attitude to attract today’s generation of young drinkers. Its a visionary concept that may appeal to the future urban winery or trendy hot spot for the next budding restauranteur.

So just for today, I have momentarily veered away from a more serious post and have included a link for your viewing pleasure. Just between you and I…this spot has been added to my list of favorite places to visit. Perhaps I’ll see you there!

Will Pennsylvania Wine Consumers Swipe and Blow?

/0 Comments/in , /by

plcb_kiosk
The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board has recently introduced it’s new vending machines aka “wine kiosks” to the Commonwealth. Customers must swipe their ID, blow into a breathalyzer, and look into a security camera to buy their wine. A State employee then verifies that you are who you say you are and that you are also sober. If you pass the swipe and blow test you are approved to buy wine.

Based on the success of a recent trial run of two test kiosks, the PLCB has just announced it will be adding over 100 kiosks in grocery stores all over the Commonwealth.

A big question still outstanding is whether Pennsylvania produced wines will make it into the wine kiosks for consumer purchase. After all, if its good for Pennsylvanians to “eat local”, then why not “drink local”?

What say you?

Does Your Pennsylvania Wine, Winery, Restaurant Or Hospitality Business Have A Winning Name?

/0 Comments/in , /by

Does your Pennsylvania wine, winery, restaurant or hospitality business have a winning name? In my earlier post, Can A Rose By Any Other Name Still Be A Rose we consideredintellectual_property_250x251 some of the challenges associated with naming your new winery, wine, restaurant or hospitality business. By now, many of you newer entrepreneurs have surely discovered that naming your business indeed requires significant thought, imagination, and creativity.

But once you’ve come up with that one memorable business name that perfectly reflects your brand, you should now give consideration to taking those steps necessary to protect your business identity. Register your new business name as a trademark.

A trademark is a distinctive word, slogan, phrase, logo, graphic, symbol or other mechanism used to identify the product source and to distinguish your product from everyone else. If you’re starting out as a new winery, restaurant, or hospitality based business, having the exclusive right to use your selected name without interference and confusion by use of others can be greatly beneficial.

A good example is Black Boxed Wine. Its a wine that is sold in a square black box. Its very hard not to miss the identity and source of that wine and its brand. Its a product that is well distinguished from other wine brands. Just like Black Boxed Wines, if you’re the first to use and register your trademarked name you can prevent other businesses from using the same or similar marks.

How can you can achieve comprehensive protection of your brand’s identity? You can accomplish this by registering your mark under state, county and federal trademark laws.

To do so, you’ll need to conduct a full search to ensure no one else is utilizing the name or mark you have in mind. You can conduct your search by checking with both your Secretary of State’s trademark registers and the Federal trademark register at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. These are ways you can determine if the name you have selected is available for your business.

You may also consider the use of a professional trademark search service. While the latter can be quite expensive, such services have a high degree of reliability. A well conducted search will help you to avoid the possibility of paying damages to a first user in a trademark infringement suit who has challenged your use of their name.

Once you have checked the availability of your new business name, register your name with the Secretary of State in your jurisdiction and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. By doing so, you will have established the legal presumption that you are the trademark owner of your business name. You can more likely substantiate ownership if a dispute over your mark ends up challenged in a court of law or whether other marks exists that conflict with your own. If someone infringes your mark, you can hire legal counsel to pursue and protect your interests.

Does your Pennsylvania wine, winery, restaurant or hospitality business have a winning name? If so, protect your brand. Trademark your name.

Are Pennsylvania Wineries and Restaurants Contributing to Food Borne Illnesses?

/0 Comments/in /by

Is your restaurant or winery contributing to food borne illnesses? Let’s hope not. But kitchenglovessummertime is as good a time as any to discuss ways to avoid food liability claims against your winery, restaurant, or hospitality based business. Ingesting foods that have been contaminated by bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemicals can indeed cause food borne illnesses.

If your establishment engages in the preparation, service or sale of food items, safe food handling helps to avoid legal liability from customers that are imbibing and dining at your establishment. Mitigating such claims is of major importance to the success of your business and brand.

As often evidenced by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), incidents of food borne disease often emerges as a result of improper food handling.

To prevent these hazards, you will want to exercise appropriate food safety procedures for your winery, restaurant, or hospitality based business. Employing these tips will help you and your employees avoid complex food liability litigation while maintaining best practices for food safety as advocated by your state and local public health departments.

Top Food Safety Tips To Remember:
Handwashing: Wash hands frequently and practice good hygiene.
Food Storage and Temperature Control: Properly cook and store all foods at proper temperatures. Cold foods should be refrigerated at or below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Keeping foods cold slows bacterial growth. Hot foods should be cooked at or above 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep cooked food hot until serving. Bacteria growth increases with food remaining at room temperature longer than two hours. Do not re-freeze food.
Sanitation: Use sanitary food and water sources. Replace/wash dish towels and sponges to prevent the spread of harmful bacteria.
Avoid Cross Contamination: Practice proper personal hygiene to safeguard against the transfer of harmful bacteria. Avoid smoking, eating, drinking, coughing and sneezing in the food preparation areas. Keep your ill employees at home.
Equipment: Keep all equipment clean, assigning food and equipment sink protections.
Vermin: Protect against flies, rodents and roaches.

By utilizing best practices in food sanitation and workplace safety, you’ll be assuring your customers that your winery, restaurant, and/or hospitality based business takes food safety seriously.

Now, that you have these tips under your belt, do have a great summer and get your food and drink on safely!

This Is How We Get Our Wine Toast On In Pennsylvania!

/0 Comments/in , /by

If you’re the life of the party and the great “toaster”, you may be interested in joining white-wine-toastPennsylvania Wine Association’s toast competition. If you can write a toast of a 100 words or less, this is a party you surely will not want to miss.

Sixty-two wineries state wide are participating in the Great Pennsylvania Wine Toast. Pennsylvanian’s are setting out to achieve a Guinness World Record for the largest number of people raising a toast on August 14 at various wineries simultaneously. Do get your pen, paper and wine out and join The Great Pennsylvania Wine Toast celebration.

For more information on the competition and how to apply read here: Pennsylvania Wine Association

New Jersey Implements New Tasting Law Effective May 1, 2010

/0 Comments/in , /by

The State of New Jersey’s Division of Alcohol Bureau Control has recently announced new legislation to take effect on May 1, 2010 that in effect changes its existing law related to wine tastings. The new legislation modifies existing law regarding size, sampling, events and media advertising related to tastings. To learn more on this new statutory ruling read here: NJ Special Ruling Regarding 2010 Statutory Change To Tasting Law.

Is There A Wine Or Hospitality Business Franchise In Your Future?

/0 Comments/in , /by

A couple of friends of mine have recently gone into business by purchasing a franchise-agreement-signingfranchise. One friend purchased a pizza franchise while the other purchased a computer repair franchise. Each is reaping the benefit of investing in an existing business model and brand for which the corporate name, logo, products, services, business and marketing processes are already in existence.

Perhaps you too are considering opening a wine or hospitality business by purchasing a “franchise”. Maybe you already own a successful wine or hospitality business model that you would like now to franchise. If so, franchising may be your path to business.

When purchasing a franchise, while you don’t own the business, you own the rights to do business under the existing brand of the original business owner. Alternatively, as an owner of a franchise, you have an opportunity to grow your existing brand as other franchisees pay fees and grow their businesses. Whether or not you have the chops to enter the world of franchising, you’ll need to consider the many advantages and disadvantages of the franchise relationship.

When purchasing a franchise, the original business owner is known as the “franchisor”. The buyer of the franchise is known as the “franchisee”. Typically the franchisor will furnish the franchisee the operational plans to get the business underway . The franchisor will assist the franchisee in the daily operations and support of its business. In exchange for the franchisor’s expertise, the franchisee, can expect to invest thousands of dollars for this support through franchise fees, royalties, equipment costs, training, marketing fees and other costs.

The franchisor will license its way of doing business to the franchisee by executing a complex legal contract known as a Franchise Agreement. The Franchise Agreement will identify both parties commitments, restrictions, specifications, obligations, income and fee payments, warranties, customer service requirements, and terms of the business relationship. The Franchise Agreement eliminates a lot of the guess work that comes with the daily decision making processes of the business.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires that disclosure documents be given to franchisees before purchasing a franchise. Franchisors are required to provide buyers with a copy of the Uniform Franchisor Offering Circular 10 days prior to executing the Franchise Agreement. This franchise disclosure document provides prospective franchisees with basic information on the franchisor’s business, background, initial investment, fees, terms, and dispute resolution processes. The more you know about the franchisor, the better informed you’ll be to make a sound business decision.

Before entering a franchise relationship, determine what kind of franchise opportunity best suits your needs and interests. If you are concerned about the numerous risks involved in going it alone in opening your wine or hospitality business than franchising may just be the right vehicle for you.

For additional resources on how to start and grow your wine or hospitality franchise the U.S. Small Business Administration offers some useful guidance to assist you in buying a franchise.

Now, is there a wine or hospitality franchise in your future?