> I think, generally, the problem is that food service doesn't scale that well. Maybe? First and foremost: my knowledge of the industry is limited to a passi

> I think, generally, the problem is that food service doesn't scale that well. Maybe? First and foremost: my knowledge of the industry is limited to a passing interest. I've investigated opening a restaurant, have worked in precisely one professional kitchen, and worked in front-of-house as well. That said, it depends on what you mean by "food service" and "scale". Fresh ingredients, prepared with great care, served by a professional staff... yeah, that doesn't scale. It takes years to learn to work with "whatever is available in-season", and finding good people is hard in any industry -- waiters at high-end restaurants do not make minimum wage, I assure you. But the price is too high for most people, other than as perhaps a special occasion. The French Laundry isn't about to open up in rural Alaska. Reasonably nutritious food that is both fast and cheap? We have that. Your choice between canned or frozen. American processed food tends to go nuts on the additives, but that isn't a requirement, and I'd say the Europeans overall do a much better job on this front. You get a lot less variety, but more quality. Likely this is an artifact of our history -- preservatives were a godsend before the logistics revolution of WWII made its way into civilian life. American food scientists also went vitamin-crazy early in the 20th century, which combined with the introduction of convenience meals (TV dinners) and fast food, transformed the American culinary landscape into enriched breads, artificially-colored drinks, and "low-fat" snacks (which are horribly unhealthy). China has a similar problem, funnily enough. Communism is all about stamping out the slightest differences between people, so during the cultural revolution, preparing and eating your own food was viewed as "counter-revolutionary", and thus banned. Everybody ate in communal kitchens, and never learned to cook with their parents and grandparents. Killed millennia of culinary history, and is partially why there's so much processed food and so many restaurants in China today. Anyhow, there are restaurant chains here in Japan that literally serve up nothing but reheated frozen food -- Saizeriya is a good example. It's basically the Japanese answer to Olive Garden (which I believe does the same thing!) So, you've got options from fresh and gourmet, all the way down to Chef Boyardee served on a posh plate. What doesn't scale?