Chris Comparato CEO, Toast

f you lived on planet Earth during the pandemic – or any time since, for that matter –chances are you ordered in. With restaurants shuttered and social distancing rules in place, many of us took advantage of the speed and convenience of food delivery. It’s a growing trend and a market that’s expected to be worth as much as US$430bn globally by 2030.

Along with the rapid rise of digital payments, it is one of the consumer demands that is driving a technological revolution in the restaurant business. One company that is helping to serve restaurants and meet those needs is Bostonbased Toast, which has been on an astronomical ascent since it was founded in 2011. The company has raised more than US$900m in funding since the beginning of 2015 – during which time it has been led by one man.

Consumers are dining out more again

Chris Comparato has an extensive background leading high-growth SaaS companies, which explains why he was such a good fit for the top job at Toast when he was appointed in February 2015. Before Toast, he led all customer success functions at Acquia and Endeca, as well as roles at consulting firms Keane and Cambridge Technology Partners.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Toast was doing well. Revenue had increased by more than 100% year-on-year, and the firm had just raised US$400m in its largest funding round to date led by the likes of Bessemer Venture Partners and Tiger Global Management. It was a stern test – not just for Toast, but for its merchants too, who were already having to adapt rapidly to dining habits in constant flux.

“If you look at the course of the last two-and-a-half years, the restaurant industry has been incredibly resilient,” Comparato told CNBC earlier this year. “We’re making sure that our merchants and restaurants are ready to adapt and be resilient. Restaurants continue to struggle with staff shortages, food inflation, and how to engage their team. Our platform helps our customers strengthen their position on those three dimensions.”

Despite the challenges of the past few years, restaurants are beginning to bounce back. More consumers are dining out again, and food delivery is a long-term trend that will prevail because of its overwhelming convenience to customers. Inflation poses a new threat – both in terms of business rates, but also consumer budgets facing greater pressure – though research from restaurant marketing company Popmenu suggests that almost 60% of US consumers were dining out more last year, despite rising menu prices.

Toast continues to add more restaurants

Toast’s system helps restaurateurs to reduce ticket times by up to

40%, connecting the kitchen with the front-of-house to ensure that no tickets are lost and orders are picked up accurately. A bill-splitting feature allows diners to share the cost of a meal with others at their table, while handheld units let waiters put down their pad and pen.

Toast is trusted by nearly 80,000 individual restaurants, having added another 23,000 net new locations last year. It’s not just for big chains; even for small franchises, Toast can help realise productivity savings and empower staff to turn over tables more quickly.

Explaining the value that Toast brings, Comparato recently told the Entrepreneur podcast: “Our platform enables restaurant operators to deliver great guest experiences, whether it’s ordering off-premise through online ordering; whether it’s ordering takeout; whether it’s having a tremendous dining experience within the restaurant. We enable restaurants to deliver these fantastic experiences. We want to make sure that we’re freeing up their time and energy to do more of what they love.”

Today, Toast is a public company, having listed on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2021 as part of a successful IPO that valued the company at US$20bn and made all three of its original founders billionaires.

As for Comparato, he continues to lead the business as it recruits even more restaurants into the Toast ecosystem – or Toasters, as the company calls them. His name gives some clues to his Italian heritage, and subsequently his favourite type of cuisine when he decides to eat out. “Italian of course,” he says.