

We don't need no stinkin' restaurantsThe increase of government legislation targeting the foodservice industry, on the federal, state and local levels, is one of the largest challenges restaurateurs face, industry executives and operators said Monday during the International Restaurant & Foodservice Show of New York.
Jon Luther, chairman of Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin Brands Inc., the parent to Dunkin Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, said the intrusion of government through such proposed legislative measures as menu labeling, card check and health care reform, would have the most profound effect on the industry’s future cost of doing business.
“Government, that’s the greatest single threat we have,” Luther said Monday during a panel discussion at the New York State Restaurant Association’s trade show. “Every time something happens, it affects the bottom line.” Luther added that although some of the plans making their way through the Obama administration “are well thought out,” more needs to be done to ensure the success of business “for the long term.”

He told attendees a story about the late Roberto Goizueta, who, he said was “one of the most wonderful CEOs” in the foodservice industry. “The venerable CEO of Coca-Cola,” Luther mused, “was once asked why [the company had] a huge government relations office overlooking the White House. He said, ‘government could put me out of business.’”
(from
nrn.com)