Fast food was not easy to find in the year of 2021. After the unusual trends of 2020, demand came back quickly, but managing supply issues and staffing were bigger challenges this year.
The year in fast food was filled with many debacles.
There is a promotion for Boorito.
The orders were left at the end of the night.
An organization called Anonymous.
Several workers at the burrito joint told Insider that they were worried about understaffed stores being able to handle the influx of digital orders during the Halloween Boorito promotion.
Workers told Insider that the concerns all played out. Some workers at New York City's Chipotle walked off the job on Halloween to demand better working conditions.
The issues that caused the Chipotle app to go down were not widespread.
Starbucks' major supply issues.
Mary Meisenzahl is an Insider.
According to an internal memo viewed by Insider, Starbucks put at least 25 items, including key drink ingredients, on hold in June. The list included popular items like green iced tea and hazelnut syrup.
Some stores had signs that said "we are currently experiencing temporary outages of some of our food and beverage items". The signs were distributed from Starbucks to individual stores.
The company said the shortages were temporary.
Long waits and traffic problems were caused by drive-thru popularity.
The Washington Post has a photo by Tracy A. Woodward.
There is no end in sight to the drive-thru wait times. Customers don't seem to mind, but municipal officials and nearby businesses object to the long lines, which can block traffic and cause safety issues. Local governments and nearby businesses have filed lawsuits against Chick-Fil-A because of its traffic offenses.
According to Dan, as many as 30% of customers leave the restaurant because of the long lines. The chicken chain has the longest wait times at nearly nine minutes.
Workers are being harassed on the job.
Spencer Platt is a photographer.
Many workers in food service say that the abuse and mistreatment from customers this year has made it unbearable.
According to a Black Box Intelligence survey of 4,700 former, current, and hopeful restaurant workers, over half of them reported being abused by their managers.
"People think it's okay to be unreasonable, and they think it's perfectly okay to be tolerant," a worker who quit after 20 years told Insider.
The Louisiana Starbucks barista told Insider in May that the "handful of customers" that they get each day can take a toll on their mental well-being.
No one has enough workers.
McDonald's is trying to find younger workers.
HotLunchPam/Reddit
Many of the workers who were abused are leaving the industry because of the difficulty in recruiting and retaining workers.
The fast-food world has been thrown into chaos by lower staffing levels. McDonald's in Oregon is one of the restaurants that is turning to younger workers to fill in missing labor forces. Jose Cil, the CEO of Restaurant Brands International, said in a third-quarter earnings call that 40% of Popeyes restaurants have closed early because of a labor shortage.
In other cases, restaurants simply can't handle the increased volume of digital orders with skeleton crews.
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