QSR 322 December 2024

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22 SWEETGREEN IS DETERMINED TO SPREAD ITS HEALTHY MENU AND MESSAGING ACROSS THE U.S.

GREENS AND GROWTH

THE 2024 DIGITAL DISRUPTORS

These visionaries are reimagining the restaurant space as we know

83%

ghirardelli.com/professional

20 WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP Leaping from Law to Food

The spiritual journey behind this emerging Vietnamese eatery. BY SATYNE DONER

50 FRANCHISE FORWARD Family, Flavor, and Frozen Treats

Why a Burger King veteran decided Rita’s Italian Ice was the ideal franchise. BY BEN COLEY

INSIGHT

11

FRESH IDEAS

AI Answers the Call Brands are easing labor concerns with automated phone systems. BY SAM DANLEY

18

ONES TO WATCH Milkshake Factory

A family business grows from chocolate shop to regional franchise. BY TALLULAH HAWLEY

52 OPERATIONS

Sweetening the Menu

Some concepts are partnering with external partners to build their menu. BY TALLULAH HAWLEY

72

START TO FINISH Daniel Smith

The Rusty Taco president is revamping the fast casual and leading a transformation.

ON THE COVER

Sweetgreen founders Jonathan Neman (from left), Nicolas Jammet, and Nathaniel Ru love promoting healthy lifestyles.

PHOTOGRAPHY: SWEETGREEN

EDITORIAL

BRAND STORIES FROM QSR

SmartChain

VICE PRESIDENT EDITORIALFOOD, RETAIL, & HOSPITALITY

Danny Klein dklein@wtwhmedia.com

QSR EDITOR

Ben Coley bcoley@wtwhmedia.com

FSR EDITOR

Callie Evergreen cevergreen@wtwhmedia.com

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Sam Danley sdanley@wtwhmedia.com

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AUDIENCE GROWTH

Greg Sanders gsanders@wtwhmedia.com

CONTENT STUDIO

VICE PRESIDENT, CONTENT STUDIO Peggy Carouthers pcarouthers@wtwhmedia.com

WRITER, CONTENT STUDIO Ya’el McLoud ymcloud@wtwhmedia.com

WRITER, CONTENT STUDIO Olivia Schuster oschuster@wtwhmedia.com

ART & PRODUCTION

SENIOR ART DIRECTOR Tory Bartelt tbartelt@wtwhmedia.com

FSR ART DIRECTOR Erica Naftolowitz enaftolowitz@wtwhmedia.com

SALES & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

VICE PRESIDENT SALESFOOD, RETAIL, & HOSPITALITY Lindsay Buck lbuck@wtwhmedia.com

VICE PRESIDENT, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Eugene Drezner edrezner@wtwhmedia.com 919-945-0705

NATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR Edward Richards erichards@wtwhmedia.com 216-956-6636

NATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR Amber Dobsovic adobsovic@wtwhmedia.com 757-637-8673

NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Mike Weinreich mweinreich@wtwhmedia.com 561-398-2686

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE Tracy Doubts tdoubts@wtwhmedia.com 919-945-0704

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE Brandy Pinion bpinion@wtwhmedia.com 662-234-5481, EXT 127 FOUNDER Webb C. Howell

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A Year in Review

Since we’ve arrived at the final month of the year, I want to take time to reflect on the biggest trends 2024 had to offer.

The first one that comes to mind is the growing popularity of chicken. Now, I’m not saying the protein exploded all of a sudden this year. That’s certainly not the case. Chicken has been on the rise for a while, especially considering the boom of chicken sandwiches over the past few years.

It just seems 2024 kicked it up a notch, especially wing products. For instance, Popeyes rolled out boneless chicken as a permanent menu item in June with signature flavors Classic, Honey Lemon Pepper, Signature Hot, Honey BBQ, Sweet ‘N Spicy, and Roasted Garlic Parmesan. Whataburger, mostly known for its high-quality hamburgers, launched a WhataWings platform early in the year.

However, those two combined don’t reach the scale of McDonald’s, which launched its Chicken Big Mac in the U.S. on October 10. Chicken is starting to rival the chain’s beef sales, thanks to the growth of the McCrispy Chicken Sandwich. The Chicken Big Mac just adds another level to what is a $1 billion business for McDonald’s.

I would expect chicken to keep rising in 2025, and companies like Wingstop should benefit from the increased awareness.

Another quickly rising menu concept is dirty sodas—soft drinks that have been customized with flavored syrups, cream, and other mix-ins to create a rich, dessert-like drink. The trend is widely associated with Utah, home of Mormons who opted for dirty sodas as a fun bever -

age in lieu of alcohol. Swig is the most popular concept with over 80 stores open and 500 franchise stores signed. Cool Sips, a New York City–based chain, is spreading the trend in the Northeast. While Swig and Cool Sips are dirty soda chains, other beverage brands are adding dirty sodas as a section of their menu, including Dunn Brothers Coffee, which announced in October that it added the product as a permanent menu item. Hopdoddy Burger Bar released dirty sodas for a limited time as well.

The third and final observation I’ll leave you with is fast-casual pizza may be back. A lot of action happened in this space in 2024 after being dormant for a long time. Firstly, Blaze Pizza— which graced our September cover— went public with its brand transformation, including a revamped menu with new side items and signature pizzas. &pizza hired a new CEO and decided to return to its rebellious roots with its menu innovation and marketing messages. MOD Pizza was on the brink of bankruptcy, but was instead purchased by Elite Restaurant Group. The chain announced a nationwide menu refresh and will franchise many of its companyowned units going forward.

A lot more happened in 2024—well beyond what I could fit into this editorial letter. But these are some big ones in their own right. The industry is always changing and offering new surprises. It’s why I love my job so much.

Ben Coley, Editor

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Firing Up a New Look

El Pollo Loco has a fresh, modern design for franchisees.

a modern restaurant prototype as it nears its 50th anniversary. The updated design retains beloved brand elements, such as the fire stack gradient and logo, while incorporating a refreshed color palette, energy-efficient features, and upgraded interiors to create a bright, airy atmosphere. Enhancements include LED lighting, efficient HVAC systems, and contemporary furniture.

This redesign follows the hiring of Tim Welsh as chief development officer. A registered architect with over 25 years of experience in restaurant and retail design, Welsh previously held leadership roles at TriMark, Crunch Fitness, QDOBA, and Sweetgreen. His expertise spans prototype development, franchise growth strategies, and facility maintenance, positioning El Pollo Loco for expansion.

With 495 locations across seven states, the chain aims to open its 500th restaurant by the end of 2024.

El Pollo Loco’s new store design was announced in October.

EL POLLO LOCO UNVEILED

In October, ezCater released its third annual lunch report, providing valuable insights into employees’ changing afternoon dining habits. The company surveyed 5,000 full-time U.S. workers.

27% of millennials say they don’t have enough time

Do Workers Want to Eat?

• Twenty-seven percent of millennials say they don’t have enough time to get their work done if they take a break.

• Among all employees surveyed, 20 percent forgo a lunch break because they want to finish their workday as soon as possible, 19 percent say they have too many meetings, and 11 percent say they feel guilty taking a lunch break.

Gen Z Enjoys Lunch the Most, but Eats it the Least

• Fifty percent of Gen Z respondents say lunch is their favorite daypart , followed by millennials (41 percent), Gen X (29 percent), and baby boomers (19 percent).

• According to ezCater, guilt is the biggest reason why Gen Z doesn’t eat lunch Gen Z is four times more likely than baby boomers to feel guilty for taking a break from work.

• Forty-four percent of Gen Z respondents say they block time for lunch, but 75 percent say they end up using that time for other purposes, like meetings.

• When workers do take lunch breaks, 33 percent say it’s 45 minutes to one hour, followed by 32 percent taking 30 to 45 minutes and 29 percent taking 15 to 30 minutes.

• New Yorkers don’t seem to mind as much. Seventy-six percent of New York employees take breaks that are 30 minutes or longer (compared with 68 percent nationally).

Treats are Becoming Popular

• ezCater found that younger workers are more likely to chomp on little treats throughout the workweek than older employees. And you can thank social media for that.

Seventy percent of Gen Z respondents say TikTok has influenced their

• 30 percent of all workers have at least one little treat per day, while 76 percent have at least one per week. Millennial and Gen Z workers are more likely to have fruit or healthier treat options (38 percent), compared to older generations (32 percent)

• The top treats in the workplace are candy and chocolate; salty snacks; cookies; pastries; fruit or healthier sweet options; ice cream/ frozen desserts; artisanal beverages;

Employees spend $12.67 per occasion

True Cost of Lunch

• On average, employees spend $12.67 per occasion and purchase lunch about 2.2 times per week.

• Workers pay about $282 for lunch per month.

• Seventy-eight percent say inflation has changed their lunch habits. Thirty-six percent choose cheaper lunch options, 31 percent buy lunch less frequently, 25 percent implement a stricter budget for eating lunch, and 22 percent look for value meals, discounts, coupons, or loyalty programs.

• Houstonians are most likely to say inflation has impacted their lunch habits (84 percent). Forty percent of employees in Boston are buying lunch out less often (compared to 36 percent nationally)

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AI Answers the Call

Are automated phone systems the answer to staffing shortages?

BY SAM DANLEY

As labor costs rise and customer expectations evolve, QSRs are increasingly adopting voice AI technology to streamline operations and improve the experience for both guests and employees.

The technology automates the ordering process, freeing up staff for other tasks while offering operators a tool to tackle labor challenges. Beyond that, tech vendors often highlight AI’s potential to boost sales through automated upselling—an area where human employees, especially after long shifts, may be inconsistent.

Quick-service customers are increasingly encountering voice AI at the drive-thru, but it’s also making a splash over the phone, offering a much-needed improvement over the frustrating automated systems of the past.

“Today, AI is at the point where we’re able to create a very clean, frictionless, uninterrupted experience for the guest,” says Vinay Shukla, cofounder and CEO of ConverseNow, a voice AI technology platform for restaurants. “It engages with the customer and naturally navigates with them throughout the conversation— discussing the menu, answering questions, and validating the delivery address. It’s able to take complex orders and it’s able to get more upsell.”

When ConverseNow first launched its voice AI in 2019, both operators and customers were hesitant about speaking to a machine instead of a live person, he adds. But times have changed. The rise of ChatGPT and other AI tools has boosted awareness and made consumers more comfortable with the technology. As

ConverseNow launched its voice AI in 2019.

people become more familiar with AI, their willingness to interact with it has grown significantly.

And it’s not just customer attitudes that have evolved—the technology itself is now far more advanced. Early voice AI relied on rigid, rules-based systems that mimicked a flowchart, handling conversations with fixed logic. Today’s large language models (LLMs) are a game changer. Instead of following strict rules, LLMs are trained on massive datasets, allowing them to understand and generate complex language. This flexibility means they

can respond more naturally, making interactions smoother and more personalized.

Thanks to this sophistication, voice AI can now manage more complicated interactions. Shukla points to phone orders as an example. Customers often don’t have a full menu in front of them and ask lots of questions about meal sizes, discounts, specific ingredients, and the delivery or pickup process. With AI, these inquiries are handled effortlessly, guiding the customer through the process in a way that once required human intervention.

For restaurants considering voice AI, Shukla has a few tips. First, make sure your POS system can handle AI integration—many older systems don’t have the necessary APIs to work smoothly with newer technology. Second, don’t just cut staff after adopting AI. Instead, reassign them to roles that enhance the guest experience. Finally, remember that some customers will still prefer talking to a human, so don’t expect to immediately rely solely on AI.

Shukla also emphasizes the importance of educating staff on what to expect from AI and allowing customers to adjust to the technology at their own pace, rather than forcing it on them. Allen Beck, director of off-premises and catering at Costa Vida, notes that patience is key during the implementation phase.

“When you start, you have to understand that there’s a learning curve, just like there is when a human comes into the call center,” he says. “Just because it’s this awesome artificial intelligence with a complex algorithm doesn’t mean that it knows your business. But the more calls that come in, the more it’s learning, and the more questions it can answer.”

Staff should be taught on what to expect from AI.

AI has advanced significantly in recent years.

Costa Vida rolled out voice AI in its call center earlier this year. Staffing shortages drove the decision—hiring and training call center agents in Utah, where the company is based, has been increasingly difficult due to competition from other call centers. Voice AI presented a solution to that problem that could also help reduce labor costs.

Roughly 75 percent of the calls coming into Costa Vida’s call center were generic inquiries about things like store hours, drive-thru availability, patio seating, and food allergens. Beck recognized these as prime opportunities for AI to step in. By offloading the frequently asked questions, Costa Vida was able to reduce the number of human agents required.

Over time, the system has become more adept at managing complex interactions.

“Before, it was the basics,” Beck says. “Now, it’s adapted and it can do more. If someone calls in and says they’d like to apply to work at this location, the AI confirms the phone number and shoots them a text message with the application. That wasn’t possible six months ago.”

Looking ahead, Costa Vida plans to deepen its investment in voice AI. The plan is to expand its use in the call center by fully automating the ordering process. Beck sees this as a way to improve accuracy while further cutting down on labor costs, but he still advises operators to approach AI adoption thoughtfully.

“AI is such a hot buzzword right now,” he says. “So many people want to get into it, but they don’t know what they want to get into it for. Just like with anything else, you want to make sure you know what you want to do before you go out and start looking for solutions.”

Austin Titus, president of Cannoli Kitchen Pizza, echoes this cautious approach when evaluating voice AI for restaurants. He advises restaurants to carefully weigh their options before diving in. Titus hasn’t implemented AI for phone orders yet, but he’s done his homework—researching the technology extensively and speaking with vendors at industry events.

“Busy pizzerias that do a lot of delivery have to have one or sometimes even two full-time staff on a Friday and Saturday night just to answer the phones,” Titus explains. “It’s a lot of man hours that have to be put in for something that’s a very simple task.”

At some Cannoli Kitchen Pizza locations, anywhere from 40 to 70 percent of orders come in by phone, which makes the potential

for AI significant. But Titus remains cautious, knowing that one bad experience can lead a customer to hang up and call a competitor.

“I always say to walk and not run to these things,” he says. “They could blow up your business in a great way, but they could also blow up your business in a bad way if you’re not careful.”

Sam Danley is the associate editor of QSR. He can be reached at sdanley@wthwmedia.com

Operators should cautiously weigh their options before diving into AI, according to Austin Titus, president of Cannoli Kitchen Pizza.

AI has become better at managing complex interactions.

Capturing

Gen Z’s $360 billion buying power for your restaurant.

How to Target 85 Percent of Gen Z

Attracting Gen Z is crucial for quickservice restaurants as driving new tra c is a top priority. Traditionally the focus was on customer loyalty, but with increasing competition, revenue has leveled o . To stay ahead, businesses need to reach young generations, who have $360 billion in disposable income and significant buying power thanks to technology, according to Bloomberg.

To understand the younger crowd, operators should know social media has essentially replaced traditional search engines. Instead of Googling for new restaurants, they go straight to TikTok or Instagram to get ideas on where to eat. Recent data from ICSC shows that 85 percent of Gen Z shoppers say social media influences their purchasing choices. Influencers are also the primary product discovery channel for this demographic.

on being visible and appealing on social media platforms where real-time viral marketing happens.

Rubix Foods connects quick-service restaurants with Gen Z using its NEXT Flavor Network to tap into real-time social media conversations and understand consumer preferences. “Gen Z is less likely to take surveys, so we engage them where they naturally express themselves,” says Shannon O’Shields, vice president of marketing at Rubix Foods. “This helps us develop concepts based on real consumer insights, allowing us to deliver actionable intel to quick-service restaurants and create pre-vetted menu items.”

Collaborating with influencers, Rubix Foods asks questions through Instagram polls, which often yield tens of thousands of detailed responses. “One big trend we’re following is complex heat,” O’Shields says. “We’ve found that very few enjoy the extreme end of the heat spectrum. Consumers want more than just heat, they want flavors that are layered, like a ghost pepper sauce paired with something sweet or tangy. It’s about more than just being spicy.”

As more restaurants begin to look alike and segments blur, brands must branch out with adventurous, unconventional flavors to stand apart. A popular way to introduce unique flavors is through LTOs. With a product rollout time as short as six weeks, Rubix Foods sees itself as a partner choice for LTOs. “Our goal is to di erentiate between fleeting trends and those with real staying power,” O’Shields says. “We analyze data to minimize the risk of launching something that quickly fades. It’s crucial to ask, ‘Is this still going to be relevant by the time it’s on the menu?’ We help brands assess whether a trend will maintain its appeal and drive sales long after it’s introduced.”

These new behaviors mean restaurants need to rethink advertising strategies. Instead of relying on pay-per-click ads or search engine rankings, quick-service restaurants must focus

Rubix Foods proves tapping into Gen Z’s preferences through social media is key to restaurant success. Using realtime insights instead of just traditional data collection will help create menu items that resonate with the most influential generation. With the ability to identify lasting trends, Rubix Foods ensures restaurants stay competitive and capture Gen Z’s attention and spending power. – By

Olivia Schuster

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Milkshake Factory

A fourth-generation chocolatier, Milkshake Factory founder and CEO Dana Edwards Manatos has dessert-making in her DNA.

BY TALLULAH HAWLEY

HEADQUARTERS: 1705 E Carson St. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15203

YEAR STARTED: 1914

ANNUAL SALES: undisclosed

LOCATIONS: Began franchising in 2023

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• 119 franchise units sold (3 open) x

DANA EDWARDS MANATOS’ GREAT-GRANDPARENTS

Charlie and Orania Sarandou immigrated from Greece in 1914 not knowing English. They found themselves in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood. “The only thing they knew how to do was make candies on the street corner, and they started doing that for a living,” Manatos says.

The Pittsburgh-based business was called Keystone Candies, serving as a soda fountain and chocolate shop downstairs and as the Sarandou’s living quarters upstairs. Now, 110 years later, the legacy is carried on by Manatos under the name Milkshake Factory, which still uses the same recipes.

For Manatos, the child-like dream of growing up in a candy and ice cream store was the reality. As an elementary schooler, she adds, many school field trips included a tour of the Edwards family chocolate factory.

Seeing her parents work at the chocolate and ice cream shop, Manatos says, “It was always something I wanted to be involved in. I love people and I love working with people, love the retail aspect of it, and the manufacturing, and all these dif-

ferent aspects that brought all these people together.”

Spending so much time in the store as a child, Manatos says she grew up “understanding how to manage and how to take care of your team and how to take care of people.”

Over the years, the shop was renovated and menu items were added. While Manatos was in college, her mom ran the shop. Manatos, a business major, wanted to find a way to make the family business gain more year-round sales. In 2003, she created the concept of Milkshake Factory, starting with an overwhelming 55 different flavors.

After graduating from college, she took a job in the White House’s Office of Presidential Advance during the George W. Bush administration. While President Joe Biden is surely vocal about his love for ice cream, Manatos attests, “It’s much sweeter to be on this side of the fence than in politics these days.”

After Manatos and her brothers left the White House, they rejoined their chocolate business, and started selling their chocolates in stores, including several Dean & DeLuca and Saks Fifth Avenue storefronts nearby.

A meeting was arranged with a Costco buyer in 2015, when the family pitched a chocolate caramel pretzel snack, using their great-grandfather’s caramel recipe. Upon their next meeting, “[The Costco buyer] tasted the samples and she got up and left the room,” Manatos recounts. “Well, she came back, and we were trying to get into the three Pittsburgh [Costco] clubs, and she says, on the spot, ‘You were approved for all 81 clubs in the Northeast.’”

The change from a small, family-run, regional chocolate business was huge for sales, but also for the cherished recipes of her ancestors. The home business was taking off, with their chocolate products soon to be sold in all Costco

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Leaping from Law to Food

A spiritual journey to connect with her heritage led to the inspiration behind Denise Tran’s Vietnamese sandwich eatery.

BY SATYNE DONER

Born in Vietnam and raised in New Orleans, Denise Tran overcame the challenges of her early refugee experience. By age 30, she was a thriving lawyer on her way to becoming a firm partner. But an unexpected phone call changed the trajectory of her life forever.

Following her father’s passing, Tran decided to be more intentional about her career path. She asked herself if she was truly following her passions and living fully or just checking a box.

“I am a first-generation immigrant, so I only had two choices for a career, doctor or lawyer,” Tran says. “I felt like I was just checking the box to be an attorney. [Losing my father] gave me a moment to think about curating my life and contemplate going in a direction that served me.”

Her father wished to have his ashes spread in Vietnam, so Tran spent three weeks traversing the region from Saigon to Hanoi on motorbikes and trains, connecting with her late father by soaking in their shared heritage. She would stop at street food vendor stalls and ask about their food, family history, and culture. Unbeknownst to her, this experience would become the genesis of her restaurant concept.

“I met a young mom with a banh mi shop in Hanoi, and she was running this amazing generational business, but she just viewed it as a way to provide for her kids,” Tran recounts.

“She told me she’d always dream about coming to the U.S., and we were the same age when we met, so it was like we were imagining what our lives would be like if the shoe was on the other foot.”

Back in New York, Tran felt like she had started a new life. She remembers standing inside an Italian sandwich shop when she experienced what she calls divine intervention. Fueled by her time in Vietnam and desire to share her culture in the U.S., Tran saw the vision for what would become Bun Mee, a Vietnamese fast-casual eatery.

“I had a flash before my eyes of what I should be doing, what it’s going to look like, and what it’s going to be called. It was like someone opened a portal and I could see into the future,” Tran says. “I felt the energy, and I knew I was going to run a banh mi business for the rest of my life, even with no restaurant experience. I knew it was my calling.”

Tran spent the next year researching and taking a crash course in the hospitality industry. Nothing was out of her scope of study. She took a three-week class making baguettes, although she knew she would specialize in creative banh mi-inspired sandwiches.

In 2011, Bun Mee launched its first location in San Francisco, blending traditional Vietnamese street food with modern twists that reflect Tran’s upbringing. A good example is the brand’s take on a classic sloppy joe sandwich, mixing in the Southeastern Asian flavors of lemongrass and curry.

“I call Bun Mee a chef and mom-driven food concept because I took a few of my food memories and recreated those experiences with a Southeastern Asian twist,” Tran says. “We’re unique because you can’t find these sandwiches anywhere else. We’re continually innovating and trying interesting flavors within a fast-casual sandwich model.”

Targeting busy lunch-goers, travelers, and health-conscious fans of fast-casual fare, Bun Mee quickly expanded to five locations in San Francisco, including two airport iterations. The brand announced its plans to start franchising in late September,

Denise Tran launched Bun Mee in 2011.

SWEETGREEN’S SALAD EMPIRE

How three college friends built a lifestyle brand that provides healthy food at scale.

/ BY SAM DANLEY

Inexperience can be a powerful advantage. Just ask Sweetgreen cofounders Jonathan Neman, Nicolas Jammet, and Nathaniel Ru, who credit much of the chain’s success to their lack of restaurant know-how.

Frustrated with limited options for healthy and affordable food, the three friends hatched the idea to provide fresh salads in a quick-service setting in 2006 as business students at Georgetown University. They signed a lease for their first location during senior year and spent the months leading up to graduation working on the plan while juggling classes.

“We were always complaining about the food in the cafeteria and how we didn’t see anything around us that really fit what we were looking for,” Jammet says. “The places that people craved the most, were the most accessible, and had the coolest

brands were all the least healthy. For us, the friction was around doing all of those things with food that is actually good for you.”

Along with a passion for food and an interest in nutrition, they bonded over their shared experiences as children of immigrant entrepreneurs. That was a big source of inspiration when they decided to strike it on their own instead of pursuing careers in investment banking or financial planning like most of their peers.

“We knew we wanted to be entrepreneurs,” Neman says. “We also knew nothing about restaurants, which was definitely a good thing, because we probably wouldn’t have done it if we knew then what we know now. But at the time, we were like, ‘How hard can it be?’”

It didn’t take long to find out. Signing their first lease and raising money for the first time as college students was a daunting process. It took a full month of cold-calling landlords every day before they finally secured a meeting. And they were met with plenty of raised eyebrows when they started pitching the idea to potential investors. Many people couldn’t quite picture a quickservice concept that focused on bowls of vegetables back then. Some didn’t even consider it a legitimate meal.

“Just running the gauntlet of raising money and convincing people that this was real—we had to have so much conviction in what we were building,” Jammet says. “We were figuring it all out as we went along, everything from fundraising and signing a lease to designing a restaurant. The whole time, we were so confident that this product and this experience should exist in the world. We never worried about that part, even while we were learning everything else about how to actually bring it to life.”

The cofounders managed to scrape together around $350,000 to fund the venture. Two months after graduating in 2007, they

“It started off with wanting to build something for ourselves, our friends, and our community, but as soon as we started to dig in, we were like, ‘This could be much, much bigger,’” Neman says. “I don’t think we ever realized how big it could get. And every year that goes on, the aperture increases of how big the problem is and how great the opportunity is.”

The Digital Pivot

First-principles thinking is about discarding inherited assumptions and norms. It’s a problem-solving approach that involves distilling things down to their most basic parts and building based on those fundamental truths.

Neman, Jammet, and Ru’s inexperience pushed them to adopt this mindset when creating Sweetgreen. It’s why they view their outsider perspective in those early years as a key asset. With no preconceived notions about how things “should” be done, they were free to rewrite the playbook and challenge the legacy model that most quick-service chains were built on.

Case in point? The cofounders admit they “didn’t really know” how traditional supply chains worked when they were starting out. They just wanted to bring a sense of culinary credibility to a category that had largely become commoditized. That meant working with local farmers to secure the best ingredients when they were in season.

“We knew that doing that at scale would have to start with building these regional, sustainable supply chains across the country, but we had no idea how hard it would be or why it was such a crazy, maybe disruptive idea at the time,” Neman says. “It ended up becoming a huge part of the playbook—under-

launched Sweetgreen from a 560-square-foot cottage-style site dubbed the Tavern. The limitations of the space—a small makeline and minimal storage—pushed them to create a simple menu centered around seasonal produce, with an emphasis on the quality and source of the ingredients.

The trio didn’t initially set out to build something that could someday scale from coast to coast. But the scope of their ambition grew as they delved deeper into the project.

standing that if we want to create accessibility and convenience and also leverage local supply chains, it was more about going deep in each region instead of going broad.”

The trio spent the first six years bootstrapping the business and raising small amounts of funds through debt and equity to grow their footprint in Washington, D.C., before expanding to Philadelphia with a handful of stores. They tested and refined just about every tactic during this period, from building supply

MICHAEL MORAN

• SWEETGREEN’S FOUNDERS’ PASSION FOR FOOD MOVITATED THEM TO OPEN THE BETTER-FOR-YOU CONCEPT.

chains to scoping out real estate to embedding the brand in the local community.

A pivotal moment came in 2013 when Sweetgreen started plotting expansion into New York and Boston.

“We realized that we had to step up our game, because the world had already changed a ton from a competition perspective,” Neman says. “It forced us to double down on seasonality and localness with the supply chain, and to improve the food by really thinking about the culinary aspect.”

The world had also changed from a technology perspective. Sweetgreen launched two months after the first iPhone debuted, and by the time expansion entered the picture, smartphones had become a ubiquitous part of daily life.

“Technology wasn’t part of our original vision,” Neman says. “It didn’t really exist in restaurants yet. But we were there right at the very beginning of the world’s mobile transformation, and I think we were lucky that we were still so small when that happened.”

Sweetgreen got in on the ground floor during the early stages of the industry’s digital revolution. In 2013, it became one of the first in its category to create its own app and allow customers to order ahead on its website. The company started building its stores to accommodate higher digital order volume, adding extra salad prep lines in the back and allocating more space in the dining area for dedicated pickup shelving.

“Again, we took a very first-principles approach, saying, “If we want to create an app, that’s fine. But anyone can do that. How do we also build a restaurant that is digitally native in a way to support that omnichannel experience?’” Neman says. “It was almost like a refounding moment. We reimagined the

experience with a digital mindset, and we brought this new idea when we went to New York and Boston with stores 20 and 21. That was really where the brand got to a much larger stage, and when we began to expand pretty rapidly across the Northeast.”

By 2018, orders through the app made up over 25 percent of total revenue. That continued growing as the platform went through a couple of iterations over the next few years to improve the user experience. All the while, the company was building

an internal tech team to create a custom, native app that better reflected the in-store experience. That launched in 2016 and set a foundation on which the brand could further innovate.

The digital milestones piled on from there. The company introduced its B2B “outposts” in 2018, which serve as offsite drop-off points in offices and hospitals. In 2020, it became an early mover in developing its own native delivery experience alongside marketplace options.

Maintaining direct relationships with customers through owned digital channels has long been a key priority for the company. Along with the profitability gain, greater order frequency, larger average order value, and access to data are the core aims. It also helps Sweetgreen convey what makes it different through digital channels and why it stands apart from traditional fast food—all vital as expansion accelerated and the brand grew into new markets.

Scaling Smartly

By 2021, Sweetgreen had expanded to 13 states and Washington, D.C., built up regional supply chains with over 200 food partners, and was earning more than $300 million in annual revenue in 2021. Coming out of the pandemic, more than 70 percent of the business was flowing through digital channels.

That’s where things stood when Sweetgreen filed for an IPO in June 2021. It debuted on the stock market with a valuation of roughly $5.5 billion in November 2021.

One of the cases for going public was the idea that the fast casual’s awareness outsized its unit count. It had expanded fivefold in 15 years, but there were still just 150 units at the end of

2021 and a vision of 1,000 that had one prominent roadblock: profitability.

The topic has weaved through the strategy since then. In Q3 2022, Sweetgreen cut its workforce by 5 percent at the support center. It’s taken a more conservative approach to planting flags in new territories, prioritizing quantity over quality and securing the best available real estate. There’s also been plenty of learnings around in-store operations, staffing, general manag-

ers, training, and the internal promotion focus of bringing along leaders who understand the business and culture, and empowering them to open new stores.

Things have continued evolving on the digital front, too. Sweetgreen ventured into the drive-thru space with its Sweetlane—a pull-thru lane for digital customers who order ahead. The fresh format includes a large observation window, allowing customers to watch food being prepared in the open kitchen, much like in traditional locations. It introduced its first digitalonly restaurant, removing dine-in seating and in-store ordering to focus solely on online and app orders. And last spring saw the launch of Sweetpass, the company’s first loyalty program in years. It features a free component and a paid component where guests receive $3 off daily orders and other exclusive perks for $10 a month.

The cofounders have spent a lot of time reflecting on why quality often declines as brands grow, and how they can avoid the same fate. It’s a central focus that’s unfolding in a few ways as the company learns and navigates from scale.

Jammet notes that preserving the integrity of regional supply chains has been a major part of the conversation since going public.

“If we wanted to, there were some really quick, easy things we could’ve done to change the profitability model just by divesting a bunch of stuff in the supply chain,” he says. “To still be talking about sourcing and seasonality and regionality at our scale is something people told us we shouldn’t and couldn’t do. But for us, the whole value prop of Sweetgreen— of this aspirational and elevated brand—is the quality of our food. There’s nothing more important than maintaining that.”

That constructive pressure is behind many of Sweetgreen’s decisions, including the integration of automation, which has quickly become one of its most talked-about initiatives.

All-In on Automation

the early days of digital ordering and the future potential of automation. And just like before, the company was the right size at the right time to become an early adopter—big enough to make a significant investment in transformative tech, but small enough to envision the future without worrying about a massive current footprint.

“We knew we needed to protect the supply chain and the quality of the food, but then we had this other huge piece of the business with the assembly of the bowls,” Neman says. “As people with not a lot of experience, we were like, ‘Why can’t we just automate this?’ We actually built a team internally and began trying to do it ourselves. Then we realized it is really, really, hard to do that sort of thing.”

The breakthrough came in 2016 when Sweetgreen encountered Spyce, a kitchen robotics startup serving salads and grain bowls in two Boston-based fast-casual restaurants—the first of which opened in 2018—powered by the Infinite Kitchen. Neman, Jammet, and Ru met Spyce’s founders early on, struck up a friendship, and kept

in touch over the years.

Last year, Sweetgreen took a significant step toward the future when it unveiled the Infinite Kitchen, a fully automated assembly line capable of producing up to 500 bowls, plates, and sides per hour. That’s 50 percent more output than a typical restaurant’s front and digital makeline combined.

Employees still handle prep work and finishing touches. Where Sweetgreen sees real value in automation is improving order accuracy, portion control, food safety, and throughput, in addition to the obvious labor savings.

This type of technology has been on Sweetgreen’s radar for a while. Years ago, the cofounders started seeing parallels between

“I think what really brought us together is that they’re mechanical and electrical engineers at MIT, but it wasn’t just about the automation for them,” Neman says. “We were both trying to do the same thing and provide healthy food at scale. They were just using automation to do it. We thought that if we can take their superpower and bring it together with our superpower around the quality of the food, it could be something really special.”

Sweetgreen acquired Spyce in 2021 and began fine-tuning its system for the menu and operations. True to form, the cofounders took a first-principles approach when figuring out how exactly they should go about bringing automation into their kitchens.

Instead of simply layering automation onto the existing model, they reimagined how their restaurants would operate from the ground up. This included introducing kiosks, concierge order

• SWEETGREEN IS BETTING BIG ON THE FUTURE OF AUTOMATION.

ing, and moving food prep to the front of the kitchen.

One thing they wrestled with is the fact that for many people, there’s an ingrained notion that fast casual is synonymous with the customer-facing assembly line. It’s the visual cue that the ingredients are fresh and the food is customizable. What happens when you remove that element?

“What we’re interested in as we think about evolving our classic format is how we’re taking advantage of essentially not having a frontline and using that real estate as an experience, either for conversation, ordering, hospitality, or education,” Ru says. “It’s about giving ourselves the opportunity to create a customer experience that is more consistent and more accurate, but also more educational in nature, and really making it feel like a community space.”

Ultimately, the Infinite Kitchen is designed to optimize human connection, he adds. Sweetgreen even created a new

restaurant host position to ensure automated locations are delivering on that heightened hospitality.

The focus on face-to-face customer interactions has given the cofounders a chance to revisit their hospitality roots by putting themselves back in that first restaurant, when they were working in the Tavern and introducing people to Sweetgreen for the first time.

“We’ve been thinking about what those interactions were like and how to get people excited about it,” Ru says. “We expect everybody to be fast, friendly, and accurate. We also know that it’s really hard to be all of those things at peak lunch rush when there’s a line out the door. What the Infinite Kitchen allows us to do is be friendly all the time because the machine is being fast and accurate. So much of this brand is about how you tell its story and then giving our team members the opportunity to have those moments of

connection. That’s where we’re headed, because that’s really what builds loyalty.”

The first two restaurants equipped with the salad-making robot came online last year, one in Naperville, Illinois, and the other in Huntington Beach, California. Sweetgreen has since ramped up deployment, with the next wave of automated restaurants coming online in the second half of this year. Over a quarter of the company’s 24 to 26 new builds in 2024 incorporated the Infinite Kitchen, and one restaurant has been retrofitted as of October.

Sweetgreen is testing the assembly line engine in a variety of settings, from suburban to urban locations, to see how it performs across different types of real estate. The results have been promising so far. As expected, the automated system is delivering faster throughput, better order accuracy and consistent portions, and minimizing food waste.

Additionally, these locations are experiencing substantially lower employee turnover, with team members noting that the technology has created a more enjoyable and manageable work environment.

“We’ve been very focused on the team member experience,” Jammet says. “What really gets me excited here is that based on the early signs we’re seeing—the turnover, the team member energy, the ability to connect with customers—it just feels like that’s right where things need to be evolving.”

The assembly line engine could be applied to new formats, like digital-only and drive-thru stores, and even to something like an airport location in the future, if the opportunity arises. The idea is to have a standardized back-of-house kitchen that can fit in different geographies and real estate whenever and wherever it’s needed. That could prove especially useful for future Sweetlane sites.

“We only have one today, but we’re going to be experimenting with a few more,” Neman says. “It’s clearly the preferred channel, and it’s rapidly growing. If we want to compete with fast food from a convenience perspective, we know it’s a place we’re going to have to play in, and the Infinite Kitchen could be a huge unlock for that.”

Looking ahead, the pace of deployment is expected to continue accelerating, with the Infinite Kitchen model being used in 50 percent of new stores in the 2025 pipeline. The company expects a majority of new locations will incorporate automation within the next five to seven years. A significant portion of older stores will be remodeled to include the technology, too.

Beyond Salads

Even before the Infinite Kitchen, Sweetgreen had become widely recognized for its extensive use of technology. But it’s all in the name of supporting the brand’s larger mission to make healthy eating convenient and accessible. That can sometimes be overshadowed by the buzz surrounding its tech-forward, digitally-driven restaurants. So while the focus on sourcing isn’t new, it’s become more central in the company’s marketing lately.

“If you zoom out and look at our growth, we were really focused on broadening our channels and adding that digital connection for so many years,” Jammet says. “As we went public and started to look at how we can open up in more communities and reach more types of consumers, broadening the menu

became a huge focus and opportunity.”

This shift has started to take shape over the past year with some notable menu additions. Last fall, the chain introduced a new category of protein plates, which the cofounders describe as “one step beyond the bowl.” Think heaping portions of roasted vegetables and grains topped with proteins like Miso Glazed Salmon and Hot Honey Chicken.

In February, Sweetgreen tested Caramelized Garlic Steak. That marked the first time the chain offered beef. The item was introduced in three forms: a protein plate, a warm bowl, and a salad, each featuring grass-fed, pasture-raised steak seasoned with a garlic spice blend and roasted for a deep caramelized char. Nearly one in five dinner orders during the pilot included the item, and when it launched nationwide a few months later, it resulted in the highestgrossing sales day in Sweetgreen’s history.

The expansion of protein offerings has been highly successful, achieving exactly what the company had hoped: eliminating the “veto vote” and drawing in new guests who don’t want salad for every meal. It’s also been a key driver of same-store sales during the dinner daypart, which grew from approximately a third of sales in Q4 2023 and approached 40 percent by Q2 2024.

There’s plenty of whitespace on the menu to continue moving beyond salads. Sweetgreen plans to accelerate its R&D and do more testing to see how it can broaden its offerings and serve more people while reinforcing the message around its food ethos.

“People are now expecting and excited about seasonal ingredients in a fast-food setting,” Jammet says. “That wasn’t the world we lived in 17 years ago. People told us that this wouldn’t be something you could scale in the beginning. Continuing to create that access and change how people view their relationship with food, and ultimately how it affects their health, is always going to be really, really big for us.”

The impact will only grow as the brand continues evolving and broadening its reach, he adds.

“What we’re doing is creating a brand that can do a lot of good for the individual, but also for the broader food system,” Jammet says. “As our platform gets bigger, we’re going to use not just our weight and our buying power, but also our voices, to continue to shift the conversation.”

Sam Danley is the associate editor of QSR. He can be reached at sdanley@wthwmedia.com

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QS R’s

DIGITAL DISRUPTORS

The annual list celebrates the innovators reshaping the restaurant industry through cutting-edge technology and visionary leadership.

QSR’s Digital Disruptors returns for its fourth year, showcasing trailblazers transforming the quick-service and fast-casual restaurant industries through innovative digital solutions. This list recognizes leaders and companies that are setting new standards in customer experience, operational efficiency, and technological advancement. As the restaurant landscape continues to evolve, particularly in the wake of growing demand for off-premises dining and digital engagement, these disruptors are driving significant change and redefining what’s possible in the industry.

CHRISSY OULLETTE

TOUCHPOINT RESTAURANT SOLUTIONS

VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

WITH OVER 30 YEARS of experience in the restaurant industry, Oullette’s deep-rooted passion began as a carhop on roller skates at Sonic when she was 15, and has evolved into a successful career in restaurant technology. She recently joined Touchpoint Restaurant Solutions to “bring them to market in a big way,” she says, focusing on payment processing, POS systems, and now loyalty integration. “Loyalty has to work seamlessly across all ordering interfaces,” she emphasizes, noting that this is the core of Touchpoint’s platform.

By providing a unified solution, Oullette and her team are trying to help operators reduce vendor fatigue—a growing issue in the restaurant space as operators juggle numerous tech vendors. “Consolidation due to vendor fatigue is a real thing,” she says, predicting that the next six to 12 months will see a shift towards platforms with natively built products, reducing the need for multiple vendors.

A streamlined approach to loyalty not only simplifies operations but also increases efficiency and reduces costs for restaurants overwhelmed by the complexities of managing various tech solutions. Oullette is confi-

dent that consolidation will continue to gain traction as restaurants seek smarter, more efficient ways to integrate technology. “We are looking to target the 50-plus location QSR/FC segment, really doubling down on drive-thru. Right now we are running with a lean team as we build the foundations to put together a rock star sales team,” she says.

CALLIN GODSONGREEN

SMARTSENSE BY DIGI FOOD SAFETY CUSTOMER SUCCESS MANAGER

FROM EARNING HER Master of Science degree in Food Safety Management in Dublin to heading up food safety for a growing fast-casual restaurant brand, Callin Godson-Green is uniquely positioned to shape the future of food safety. Her background also allows her to clearly translate food safety legislation, directives, and initiatives into actionable goals and product functions for the development of compliance solutions. Godson-Green serves as the Food Safety Customer Success Man-

ager at SmartSense by Digi, where she plays a pivotal role in helping foodservice operators automate their food safety protocols. “With today’s capabilities in IoT, AI, and remote management, the scope of impact that techempowered food safety practice can have is growing immensely,” she says.

In her experience, the perception of restaurant technology has shifted positively in recent years. Take the process of creating and maintaining temperature records, for example. In the past, food safety professionals were adept at judging the veracity of written paper records. When automated processes for collecting temperature data first came out, the sentiment was distrust around the new digital records, Godson-Green explains. However, the consistency in record keeping associated with automated records has proven its case. “Not only has IoT-enabled condition monitoring removed redundant tasks from restaurant employees, but the centralized visibility it provides has empowered food safety professionals with management capabilities previously unheard of,” she says. “The role of the COVID-19 pandemic made this even more apparent. Food safety professionals no longer need to physically travel to their store locations to have influence over the steady improvement of food safety practice across the footprint of their brands.”

Looking forward, Godson-Green believes AI-powered cameras that monitor employee food safety behaviors and advanced traceability systems will be the next big tech trends for the restaurant industry. These tools will not only enhance safety protocols but also streamline operations, making food safety practices more efficient and effective for QSR brands.

JEN KERN

QU CMO JEN KERN leads marketing efforts for the company that pioneered the “unified commerce platform” for the fast-casual and quick-service restaurant sectors. Qu provides cloud-native, data-driven solutions designed to streamline restaurant operations across POS, kiosks, drive-thru, kitchen management, direct delivery, and mobile reporting. Kern joined Qu in 2019, just after the company rebranded from Gusto and launched its first unified platform iteration. She played a crucial role in shaping Qu’s positioning to move “Beyond POS,” helping restaurants reduce operational complexities, improve system stability, and fully control their guest data. Despite initial challenges, the company thrived during the pandemic, launched AI-powered products, and expanded partnerships. Today,

Qu supports significant brands like Jack in the Box and GoTo Foods, and Kern is particularly proud of the company’s charitable work with CORE, which supports restaurant employees and their families during difficult times.

Kern has observed the restaurant industry’s transformation, especially regarding digital adoption and the growing role of restaurant marketers in tech strategy. She launched the “Restaurants Reinvented” podcast to give marketers a voice on strategy and brand development, and she’s seen the caliber of industry talent evolve significantly since COVID. For Kern, the future is about exceptional guest experiences that go beyond frictionless interactions, with tech as a supporting element rather than the entire solution. Qu’s latest advancement is its Smart Kitchen platform, which features real-time

order management and AI-driven insights to optimize kitchen efficiency, furthering Qu’s mission to redefine operational excellence in the restaurant industry.

PHILIP McGAHEY

MASTERCARD

VICE PRESIDENT, LOYALTY SALES, ADVISORS BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

THE TEAM LED by Philip McGahey, representing Mastercard’s SessionM, specializes in loyalty program management for some of the largest retail and restaurant brands worldwide. SessionM’s platform enables businesses to create highly personalized loyalty programs that enhance guest experiences and foster customer retention. McGahey’s early restaurant experience highlighted the impact of technology on service, a field in which restaurants historically lagged behind retail. Over time, however, the industry has embraced technology as a tool for delivering seamless, relevant, and personalized experiences similar to those in ecommerce and streaming services.

The evolution of loyalty programs illustrates this shift: where simple points-based systems once dominated, dynamic, customized loyalty programs now allow brands to engage customers on a more personal level, driving long-term relationships rather than transactional interactions. McGahey believes the next tech trend will go beyond tools and platforms to prioritize empathetic, consumercentric engagement strategies. This new era of personalization focuses on understanding customer behavior and context, building loyalty based on connection rather than shortterm incentives.

SessionM is actively advancing in this direction by helping brands unify their data to bridge the gap between in-store and online experiences. With a 360-degree view of the consumer, companies can break down internal silos and provide timely, relevant engagement, leading to improved consumer satisfaction and brand profitability. This holistic approach positions SessionM to help brands maximize each customer interaction, making loyalty the primary metric of success over revenue alone.

RHONDA LEVENE

ZIOSK CEO

RHONDA LEVENE HAD the opportunity to work within the foodservice and hospitality industry throughout her career, including stops at Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. Those F&B roles, as

• JEN KERN

• PHILIP McGAHEY

well as consulting gigs, gave her a close-up of the sector from myriad angles. So when she arrived at Ziosk more than four years ago, evolution had brought restaurants to a place driven out of necessity. Tech was front and center as operators looked to open channels of access to reach customers—although it was still in its infancy compared to where we’re headed, Levene says.

She began her career with Ziosk in 2020 as chief operating officer and president before being appointed CEO this past May. Levene now oversees all facets of the company, especially its innovation pipeline and development. Ziosk creates solutions designed to address pressing issues, including Ziosk’s Pro Server Handheld Tablet to simplify operations for servers, Drop and Pay to streamline payment at the table, AI-powered analytics providing real-time insights, and most recently, DigiSite, a location intelligence solution for on- and off-premises.

While Ziosk is often recognized for its pioneering efforts with pay-at-the-table, the company provides a suite of solutions centered on improving the bottom line by optimizing front-of-house operational efficiencies, such as ordering, payment, guest engagement, and loyalty.

If gathering accurate data is the first step, Levene believes access to actionable intelligence drawn from it will be the key differentiator going forward between restaurants that thrive and those that fall behind. That’s why the company is building a proprietary AI engine called Ziosk Intelligence to turn feedback into implemental insights.

SAVNEET SINGH

PAR TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION PRESIDENT AND CEO

MORE THAN SIX YEARS ago, Savneet Singh joined the board of a sleepy hardware company that sold point-of-sale devices to restaurants. Eight months later, he found himself serving as CEO when it faced a critical juncture. The prior CFO went to jail for stealing money, customers were dissatisfied, employees leaving in droves, and the organization 10 weeks from going bankrupt.

“The acute pain forced me to jump in and try and save the business,” Singh recalls. “And during that time, I learned to love our customers. Restaurants are amazing in that anyone and everyone knows what they do, but few really understand how hard they are to run and how much help they need. I left that experience realizing that in order for this industry to survive, they’d need a partner to find a way to balance being a restaurant of yesterday while becoming a digital business of the future.”

These days, PAR is working to transform

Tech

was front and center as operators looked to open channels of access to reach customers—although it was still in its infancy compared to where we’re headed.

the point of sale into a point of engagement. Wherever transactions happen—in-store, mobile, or online—the company wants to turn payments into an opportunity for deeper guest connection. By embedding payments with POS, loyalty, and engagement tools, Singh says, PAR helps operators elevate every transaction into a personalized interaction. “It’s about more than just processing payments; it’s about using them to drive loyalty, enhance guest experiences, and streamline operations

all at once,” he says.

And looking ahead, Singh believes the big shift coming is that the market can no longer sustain an ever-growing list of tech vendors.

“Franchisees and corporate operators simply won’t keep paying for more and more vendors, especially with rising costs elsewhere with labor and food,” he explains. “The complexity is overwhelming for employees, and it’s expensive to manage. The next trend is vendor consolidation, where restaurants will look to fewer tech providers that offer broader solutions, simplifying operations and cutting costs. Brands are going to demand tech that is extensible and readily integrates more of their needs—streamlining vendor relationships, reducing complexity, and delivering real results.”

MATT TUCKER

TOCK HEAD

AFTER TWO DECADES in e-commerce and enterprise software, Matt Tucker joined Olo as president and COO, guiding the company from a 10-person startup to its public market debut by 2021.

• SAVNEET SINGH

• RHONDA LEVENE

Now, Tucker leads Tock, an all-in-one platform for reservations, events, and table management, serving over 20 million guests in the hospitality space. Tock helps restaurants drive revenue, increase covers, and enhance customer engagement by adapting to the fastevolving needs of the industry.

Tucker has witnessed restaurant technology evolve from basic reservation systems to sophisticated platforms like Tock, which leverage data, AI, and automation to boost customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. Early in his career, POS systems were not cloud-based, and front- and back-of-house solutions were disconnected. Today, integrated tech stacks support restaurant operations, driving sales, margins, and innovation.

Tucker sees personalization as the future of restaurant tech, helping operators use data insights to meet specific goals. He points to intelligent agents, which make decisions based on their environment, as a promising solution for deeper data mining and personalization. Tucker believes this technology will enhance the dining experience by making it more dynamic and customizable, countering the notion that tech detracts from hospitality.

Under Tucker’s leadership, Tock is taking a big-data approach, expanding beyond traditional bookings. Its Multi-Experience Tables (MXT) feature allows restaurants to manage and monetize diverse experiences, maximizing space utilization and revenue potential. He is careful to avoid over-engineering, investing in both tech and user experience to simplify the lives of operators and their guests.

SOPHIA GOLDBERG

ANSA

CEO AND COFOUNDER

SOPHIA GOLDBERG IS a passionate payments professional, helping build solutions at the intersection of merchants’ pain points and better customer experiences. After cofounding Ansa, a modern stored value platform that allows companies to launch branded digital wallets, she dove deep into the restaurant industry to better understand how closed-loop payments can increase the stickiness of their best customers while keeping backend costs down. She says Ansa customers have seen a 30 percent increase in frequency spending from customers who use their digital wallet balance.

The pandemic accelerated the use of digital payments, but it also hiked up costs for operators significantly. Goldberg says it’s getting more difficult for brands to stay on top of customers’ minds, but as restaurants continue to invest heavily in their technical infrastructure, data platforms, and personalization, they are now in a better position to

VISHWA CHANDRA

DOORDASH VICE PRESIDENT OF ENTERPRISE RESTAURANT PARTNERSHIPS

AS AN EXECUTIVE at DoorDash, Vishwa Chandra is no stranger to the advancement of delivery across every category of the restaurant industry as brands embrace and scale their digital offerings.

He has spent his entire career working with food, starting with McKinsey & Company advising restaurants and grocers on strategies to streamline their digital and operational channels. While the industry has evolved significantly, he says one thing remains the same: the ability for brands to foster a trustbased relationship with their customers and positively impact their lives, despite changing needs and behaviors.

Goldberg believes QR codes and scanners may soon be obsolete due to the normalization of contactless payments, providing a pathway for alternative solutions like digital wallets to gain traction and improve the guest experience. As more than half of Americans use alternative payment methods, she expects digital platforms to become more common.

Ansa recently announced its latest product, Ansa Anywhere, which enables brands to accept in-store payments without any new hardware or integrations. This tap-topay solution is currently rolling out across the country, and she is excited to see how it will drive the adoption of digital wallets and increase customer loyalty.

Now more than ever, delivery plays a pivotal role in the guest experience, with first-party delivery becoming the next frontier in building direct relationships with customers. Meeting guests where they are, whether through channel or food innovation, is crucial, and Chandra believes restaurants will need to focus on optimizing engagement across digital platforms and touch points.

Technological advancement at DoorDash includes the DoorDash Commerce Platform, a suite of five new customizable products to help merchants grow their in-store and online channels. Additionally, DoorDash has built a flexible digital ad service that allows restaurant partners to effectively market themselves, regardless of size. Based on customer feedback, DoorDash continues to innovate by leveling the playing field for brands in the digital world and giving them the tools they need to drive sales, improve operations, and meet the needs of today’s customers.

SAVANNAH SCHMIDT

LUNCHBOX VP OF MARKETING

SAVANNAH SCHMIDT, VP OF MARKETING at Lunchbox, has been instrumental in transforming the company from a bold, rebellious startup to a polished leader in the off-premises restaurant technology industry. Since joining the company in its early days, Schmidt has

• MATT TUCKER

• SOPHIA GOLDBERG

guided Lunchbox through a significant pivot. Originally catering to small and medium-sized brands like Bareburger and Foxtail Coffee, the company shifted its focus upmarket, providing enterprise solutions to major brands like Firehouse Subs, Biscuitville, and Paris Baguette.

At just 23, Schmidt was tasked with maturing the Lunchbox brand to appeal to enterprise-level clients. This shift has paid off, positioning Lunchbox as a leader in offpremises solutions, specializing in web, app, catering, aggregator, marketing, and loyalty systems. Schmidt’s strategic leadership has turned Lunchbox into a thought leader within the industry, driving community-focused initiatives like Top 30 Women in Food, Top 30 Movers & Shakers in Catering, and Cater Council Networks, which focus on fostering industry-wide innovation and collaboration.

Under Schmidt’s guidance, Lunchbox has moved away from traditional product marketing, concentrating instead on creating valuable resources for restaurant operators. This emphasis on community and thought leadership has been a key driver of the company’s success, delivering a high ROI while helping enterprise brands expand their off-premises operations. Schmidt’s vision has positioned Lunchbox as a critical partner for restaurants looking to bridge the gap between in-store and off-premises dining, especially in the high-potential catering segment.

JARRETT NASCA

GRUBBRR

CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER

JARRETT NASCA SPENT nearly two decades in the sports and entertainment industry. During that time, one element of the business underwent fast evolution: the venue experience. The cost of going to events continued to rise, yet attendance waned for many. So sports

properties began to evaluate ways to enhance guest experience in an effort to substantiate the exuberant cost of tickets. Food and beverage service was one corner of focus. Operators, Nasca says, recognized if guests were required to pay a premium for F&B, they should also have an enjoyable ordering experience.

“To that end, many venues began to implement kiosks to augment their ordering process to minimize friction and decrease wait times,” he says. “The intent was to supplement traditional food counters with kiosks to increase throughput and expedite order preparation.”

As a result, customers could spend less time in line and more viewing whatever event they opened their wallets for. This trend was becoming prevalent in other industries as well, such as airports, banks, grocers, and, yes, restaurants.

The pandemic validated that business, generally speaking, Nasca continues. But especially in the universe of restaurants, which needed alternative ordering channels to meet guests on their own terms. That reality accelerated the growth of kiosks and other self-ordering solutions.

In 2020, Nasca met the GRUBBRR team, a company specializing in self-ordering and automated solutions that’s ecosystem includes kiosks, kitchen display systems, order progress boards, digital menu signage, mobile ordering, online ordering, and more.

The group was seeking an executive to lead their go-to market strategy. Nasca recalls being impressed by the tech and vision and goal to disrupt the way commerce was conducted.

He entered the fray in the thick of perhaps the industry’s most vivid paradigm shift on record. “The restaurant industry has traditionally been laggards in embracing new technology,” he says. “Restaurants have largely operated in a similar way for years, yet the industry has begun to recognize the importance of embracing technology to create operational efficiencies, drive revenue,

and improve the customer experience. There has been a shift as restaurants are investing in new technology, yet implementing new solutions requires operators to adjust their workflows. Restaurants need to be equally vigilant about modifying their processes to maximize the value of their new technology as they were about deciding which technology to purchase. It’s not enough to merely invest in new solutions, businesses need to ensure they make any necessary operational adjustments to maximize the value of new technology. “

GRUBBRR has since developed an implementation guide that’s nearly 100 pages of key learnings and best practices. It continues to add new integrations and features as it works to help operators best leverage the tools available.

CHRIS CRICHTON

BOUNTEOUS SVP OF GROWTH, RESTAURANT & CONVENIENCE

CHRIS CRICHTON WAS introduced to technology the way many early job hunters are—as a teenager working the drivethru window. Crichton began his foodservice career as a 15-year-old at Taco Bell. He put on an outdated headset and microphone and tried to navigate the line of cars snaking through. Naturally, Crichton has observed significant—to put it lightly—changes in tech since. But the past five years in particular, he says.

“During the pandemic, restaurants made major investments in front-of-house technologies to accommodate the rise of online ordering and curbside pickup,” he notes. “Now, technology is shaping back-of-house restaurant operations, too. Brands are using AI for everything from inventory management to scheduling optimization, analyzing customer feedback, cleaning and maintenance, and more.”

At Bounteous, Crichton witnessed a number of trends across the industries the company serves and is using those captured insights to guide clients. Specific to quick service, he expects restaurants to take a page from retail, where you’ll begin to see more guest-facing experiences that incorporate “store modes,” allowing brands to create targeted experiences for on- and off-premises customers.

Bounteous frames innovation through both “Big I” (doing better things) and Little I” (doing things better) buckets. “We push both forward, and of course, AI plays a big role,” he says.

• SAVANNAH SCHMIDT •

Nilsson has played a pivotal role in driving the company’s remarkable 428 percent digital growth over the past five years.

“We’re working on some exciting AI technology that has ‘little I’ value for QSR brands when it comes to back of house [smoothing operations, empowering crew members with data, training staff, and better managing inventory.] We’ll have more to offer our client partners in these areas soon.”

ALLEN BECK

COSTA VIDA DIRECTOR OF OFF-PREMISE AND

CATERING

ALLEN BECK, DIRECTOR OF OFF-PREMISE and catering, entered the restaurant technology space during the height of the pandemic, a period that demanded immediate digital transformation. Tasked with overseeing Costa Vida’s martech stack, Beck embraced the challenge, quickly adapting to new technologies that would help the brand navigate a rapidly changing industry. Since then, Beck has witnessed the dramatic evolution of restaurant technology, from online ordering systems to customer engagement

tools that have revolutionized how restaurants operate and interact with guests. He’s been at the forefront of leveraging these digital tools to streamline operations and drive growth, creating a more efficient and customer-focused experience for Costa Vida.

Looking ahead, Beck sees AI-driven personalization as the next big tech trend that hasn’t yet been fully explored in the restaurant industry. While AI is already a hot topic, Beck believes its true potential lies in using advanced algorithms to predict individual customer preferences, optimize real-time menu suggestions, and customize promotions based on behavior and context. However, the real challenge for restaurants is understanding how to deploy AI effectively across different areas of their business, from inventory management to guest engagement, to create scalable value.

Currently, Beck and his team are focused on implementing Voice AI in Costa Vida’s call center. This new technology automates responses to common inquiries, freeing up customer service representatives to handle more complex issues. By reducing labor costs and streamlining the ordering process, Costa Vida aims to improve both operational efficiency and the guest experience, ensuring more personalized and effective customer support.

AARON NILSSON

JET’S PIZZA CIO

JET’S PIZZA CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER Aaron Nilsson has played a pivotal role in driving the company’s remarkable 428 percent digital growth over the past five years, combining what he calls a “balance of art and science” to elevate Jet’s technology to match the quality of its famous Detroit Style pizza. With a focus on innovation, Nilsson and his team have implemented cutting-edge technology that has transformed the customer experience. Jet’s was the first restaurant brand to scale customer-facing AI with a text-based ordering platform developed alongside a local startup. This same AI engine powers the brand’s fun and engaging “Jet Man” phone bot, which currently handles 23 percent of all orders.

In addition to AI, Nilsson has overseen major upgrades to Jet’s web presence, customer messaging tools, analytics, and behind-thecounter technologies, creating a seamless and integrated system that has driven impressive business results. Under his leadership, Jet’s has become a pioneer in the restaurant technology space, leveraging advancements that are reshaping the industry.

With a background that includes leading digital transformation efforts at Domino’s, Nilsson has seen firsthand how technology can redefine the customer experience. He believes the next big trend in restaurant tech is moving beyond AI into hyper-personalization—enabling brands to connect directly with individual customers rather than just broad segments. Jet’s is already preparing for this future by overhauling its online ordering, app, loyalty, and CRM platforms to create more personalized and meaningful connections with its customers.

ALLISON PAGE

SEVENROOMS FOUNDER AND CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER

ALLISON PAGE LEADS the development of technology that is reshaping the hospitality industry. SevenRooms is one of the leading CRM, marketing, and operations platforms designed for restaurants, hotels, membership clubs, sports and entertainment venues, wineries, breweries, and more. Serving over 13,000 clients globally, SevenRooms enables businesses to turn every guest interaction into a personalized experience, driving loyalty, increasing

• AARON NILSSON

revenue, and streamlining operations.

As chief product officer, Page is responsible for the company’s product roadmap, focusing on solutions that address the specific challenges of hospitality operators. Her mission is to empower these businesses to deliver hyper-personalized experiences by leveraging data that results in higher guest retention and increased profitability. SevenRooms’ platform collects guest data, automates marketing efforts, and improves operational efficiency through its comprehensive suite of products, including CRM, reservations, waitlist, table management, and revenue management. By offering these tools, SevenRooms helps hospitality operators forge deeper relationships with their guests and create better experiences that keep them coming back.

Page’s path into restaurant technology began when she and her cofounders identified a gap in how restaurants managed guest relationships. They realized that without systems to track guest data, hospitality businesses were missing opportunities to personalize service and build loyalty. Today, the industry has transformed, with data becoming a critical component in optimizing both guest experiences and business outcomes.

Looking ahead, Page believes the next big tech trend will involve AI transforming the in-person dining experience. While AI has been widely discussed for its applications in marketing and digital touchpoints, Page sees tremendous potential in using AI to hyperpersonalize service within the four walls of a restaurant. From anticipating guest preferences to suggesting menu items in real time, AI could fundamentally enhance how restaurants deliver hospitality.

SevenRooms is currently focused on launching its Text Marketing product, which will allow restaurants to engage with guests more effectively while tracking the ROI of each message. This new innovation is just one of the exciting developments in the pipeline as the company continues to drive the future of hospitality technology.

ALICE CHENG

CULINARY AGENTS

FOUNDER AND CEO

ALICE CHENG’S EARLY roles in hospitality ignited a passion for helping others overcome job-seeking and hiring challenges. While attending college, Cheng took a temporary mailroom job at IBM, which launched a 13year career in technology, working across operations, sales, and marketing. Her tenure at IBM included collaborating with Silicon Valley firms like Netflix on tech-driven growth strategies, giving her firsthand experience in driving innovation.

Cheng’s deep connection to both industries inspired the creation of Culinary Agents.

Cheng’s deep connection to both industries inspired the creation of Culinary Agents, a platform that provides hospitality professionals with the career tools and resources they need to succeed. She recognized a gap in the market—while she had access to tools and guidance to build her own career in tech, she felt hospitality workers lacked similar support. Culinary Agents now fills that gap, helping individuals define and navigate their careers in hospitality with the same level of support enjoyed by other industries.

Cheng has witnessed dramatic changes in the restaurant tech space. Where once only a few large companies dominated, providing limited solutions, the landscape has transformed with the rise of startups and disruptors

focused on solving specific challenges. These new players have empowered businesses of all sizes to operate more efficiently, leading to a more innovative and dynamic industry.

Currently, Cheng is excited about AI’s ability to unlock human potential by automating operational tasks, allowing hospitality professionals to focus on elevating guest experiences. Culinary Agents is leveraging this trend with its latest project, HospitalityCareerPaths. com, which offers career insights, skills gap identification, and resources to guide hospitality workers in their growth.

ERIC LAM

BERRY AI CEO

BERRY AI CEO Eric Lam has built his career at the intersection of restaurant technology and AI. He started in POS hardware, gaining insight into the unique challenges operators face, before moving into a Silicon Valley startup that specialized in AI cameras for checkout-free store technology. By combining his expertise in restaurant tech and vision AI, Lam founded Berry AI, which is revolutionizing the way restaurants leverage visual data to improve operations.

The restaurant technology landscape has evolved significantly since Lam entered the field. He notes the biggest shift has been the push toward more integrated, open platforms. Restaurant systems are becoming less siloed,

• ERIC LAM

BERRY AI

• ALICE CHENG

allowing for more data sharing and cooperation between technologies, ultimately creating more value for operators. Lam’s focus with Berry AI is on using vision AI to streamline operations and improve efficiency, especially in the quick-service restaurant space.

Looking ahead, Lam believes vision AI will be the next big trend in restaurant tech, but it’s not being talked about enough. Vision AI has evolved significantly, becoming more accurate and affordable, but many still view it through the outdated lens of facial recognition or its early, less effective applications. Today’s vision AI offers a host of practical, operational use cases that can quietly revolutionize restaurant operations—automating inventory counts, verifying hold times, maintaining store cleanliness, and ensuring compliance with brand standards. Lam envisions this technology as a “visual companion” for store managers, running quietly in the background to enhance operational efficiency.

Berry AI is currently focused on creating more integrations across the restaurant ecosystem. Lam emphasizes that cameras cap ture real-time, unfiltered data that traditional software can’t. By integrating this data with other restaurant systems, Berry AI can unlock immense value for operators. For instance, restaurants can adjust cook quantities, update menu boards, and manage wait times in real time based on actual store congestion levels. This focus on integration allows Berry AI to serve as a “source of truth” for what’s really happening in-store, driving smarter, more ef ficient operations.

KEITH CORREIA

AS CIO, KEITH CORREIA focuses on leveraging innovative technology to elevate operations, streamline processes, and improve the overall guest and team experience. His mis sion is to ensure that technology boosts the essence of the Portillo’s brand, whether customers are dining in or enjoying their meal through off-premises channels.

Correia’s journey into restaurant technol ogy is unconventional, starting with 15 years in restaurant operations before moving into IT. His hands-on experience in the field gave him a deep understanding of what works and what doesn’t in a restaurant setting. While working at Dairy Queen, Correia helped overhaul the company’s sales platform, which led to his

first CIO role. His background in operations made the transition to IT natural. It allowed him to focus on implementing solutions that work for both team members and guests.

Over the past few years, the restaurant technology landscape has changed, particularly during the COVID pandemic. Digital initiatives, such as third-party delivery, have become a core part of the business model. Correia stresses the importance of thoughtfully integrating these digital components without sacrificing the highquality, consistent guest experience that Portillo’s is known for.

Looking ahead, Correia believes drone delivery could revolutionize the food industry and offer a new level of convenience and customer service. While the technology isn’t ready for widespread adoption yet, it’s a trend Portillo’s is closely watching.

Portillo’s is focused on rolling out in-store kiosks across all locations. Correia is proud of how quickly and efficiently the team executed this launch and completed the initial rollout

newer customers to understand and explore Portillo’s offerings. This innovation not only builds the guest experience but also contributes to incremental sales, making it a win-win for both the brand and its customers. The kiosk rollout reflects Portillo’s commitment to innovating quickly while maintaining its high standards.

CRISTAL CRAVEN

SYNERGYSUITE

GLOBAL DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS

SYNERGYSUITE PROVIDES A CLOUD-BASED restaurant management solution that optimizes back-of-house operations for multi-unit restaurants. By helping clients reduce food and labor costs by 2 percent to 8 percent, the company supports restaurants in achieving Craven has seen the industry shift from

ships with key partners, including POS provid ers, suppliers, HRIS platforms, accounting systems, and resource management vendors. Her work helps create a seamless operational ecosystem for clients, allowing them to focus on delivering excellent service and food. Craven often jokes that her role is to “make friends and keep them.”

She didn’t originally plan to work in restaurant technology. Coming from a family in the food business—her grandparents ran a Mexican spice and food company in East L.A. for over 60 years—she initially aimed to pursue a career in law advocating for women’s rights. However, after working in restaurants to support herself through school and later managing a fine-dining chain, she transitioned into restaurant tech. Responding to a job ad for an “Aloha Sales Rep” in San Diego, Cristal capitalized on her experience using the POS system in her own restaurants. Eighteen years later, she’s seen the industry shift from simpler, all-in-one solutions to complex tech ecosystems designed to tackle specific challenges in restaurant operations.

One key trend Craven sees on the rise is AI-powered predictive analytics. While AI chatbots and virtual assistants dominate conversations, predictive analytics is quietly revolutionizing how restaurants function. This technology improves inventory management, menu engineering, and staffing by using datadriven forecasting, creating efficiency and profitability gains behind the scenes.

At SynergySuite, Craven is working with her team to roll out suggestive ordering technology that uses machine learning and real-time data to optimize inventory levels and reduce manual ordering. Launching in 2025, this tool will ensure managers spend less time on administrative tasks while keeping popular menu items in stock. In addition, SynergySuite values partnerships as a core strategy. Craven works closely with tech partners to integrate advanced technologies into the platform, ensuring customers receive top-notch solutions that help them thrive in a constantly evolving industry.

RAY GALLAGHER

OLO ENGAGE, OLO GM

RAY GALLAGHER IS THE GM of Olo Engage, a marketing and engagement platform that’s part of Olo, a leading restaurant technology provider offering ordering, payment, and guest engagement solutions. As VP and GM of the Engage team, Gallagher oversees product vision and collaborates across departments to develop cutting-edge solutions that help restaurants enhance guest interactions. Olo Engage helps restaurants by surfacing guest

insights, enabling personalized experiences, and driving long-term guest value through its comprehensive data-driven approach.

Gallagher’s growth in restaurant technology started early, working in various roles in hospitality, from busser to senior director of operations services for a fast-growing brand. His experience in both back-of-house and guest-facing operations gave him deep insight into the challenges restaurants face and inspired him to pursue tech solutions that improve processes and guest experiences. Over the years, Gallagher has seen a significant shift in restaurant technology, from a focus on operational improvements to today’s emphasis on using data to deliver personalized, seamless guest interactions. The rise of digital ordering, third-party delivery, and AI-driven personalization has fundamentally transformed the industry.

Looking ahead, Gallagher believes the next big trend will be AI-driven real-time guest

interaction. While AI is already being used in chatbots and customer service, the next frontier involves systems that can adapt to a guest’s behavior and preferences in real time. Gallagher envisions a future where a restaurant could dynamically tailor menu suggestions and promotions based on a guest’s previous orders, mood, or even data from wearables (if shared by the guest).

Olo wants to push the limits of its Engage platform. The team is growing tools that enable restaurants to leverage real-time data for strategic decision-making across marketing, operations, and even real estate. The platform’s AI-driven personalization features are proving to be a game-changer, according to Gallagher, and should increase order frequency, guest spending, and overall satisfaction by offering tailored recommendations and promotions that speak directly to individual guest preferences.

CHRISTINE SCHINDLER

PATHSPOT COFOUNDER & CEO

CHRISTINE SCHINDLER COFOUNDED PathSpot in 2017 to address the critical issue of foodborne illnesses in the food service industry, with a suite of products designed to create a holistic hygiene management ecosystem that covers all aspects of safety and operations in the back of house. It started with the PathSpot HandScanner, the first tool to use spectral imaging technology to detect dangerous contaminants on employees’ hands. It is now an entire dashboard built to optimize cleanliness, improve profitability, drive operational efficiencies, and simplify compliance.

When she began diving into restaurant cleanliness habits, food safety measures relied on manual processes like handwritten logs and signs above sinks. Now, she says the pandemic has accelerated the awareness of data-driven approaches, real-time monitoring, and comprehensive digital solutions to create a culture of cleanliness.

Restaurants can’t afford to risk expensive shutdowns, food waste, insurance hikes, or audit failures, so Schindler predicts a move to complete digitization and an integration of their food safety systems.

PathSpot has released its SafetySuite, an interconnected ecosystem that can be easily monitored from a single dashboard to meet operator needs—it is proactive, datadriven, and seamlessly integrated into daily operations. Schindler is also exploring how AI and machine learning can predict potential food safety risks before they occur and train employees to stay compliant as the FDA continues to roll out new regulations and restrictions.

• RAY GALLAGHER

• CHRISTINE SCHINDLER

This year proved competition in the growing pizza segment is as fierce as ever.

QUICK-SERVICE EDITION PMQ’s 2025 PIZZA POWER REPORT

/ BY RICK HYNUM

As economic pressures persist, pizza chains are doubling down on value-driven strategies to attract and retain customers. Brands are finding creative ways to balance affordability with quality, ensuring guests still enjoy a great experience without breaking the bank. Some operators are experimenting with bundled meal deals, loyalty rewards, and limited-time offers to maximize perceived value, while others are leveraging technology to streamline operations and keep costs in check. In a segment known for fierce competition, standing out means offering more than just low prices—it’s about delivering a strong value proposition that resonates with consumers and keeps them coming back for more.

QSR magazine is partnering with its sister publication, PMQ, to provide a holistic deep dive into what pizza restaurateurs are focusing on and where they’re heading next.

Despite a fairly strong economy, many American diners still had the inflation jitters and could not be persuaded to loosen their wallets this year.

But Domino’s, the world’s No. 1 pizza chain, saw that coming and had a plan in place called Hungry for MORE. And to hear CEO Russell Weiner talk about it in a third-quarter earnings call on October 10, that plan worked like a charm.

Weiner said the company launched Hungry for MORE in December 2023 fully expecting that “consumer spending would

be pressured in 2024 and that the QSRs that offered the strongest value would win. That proved to be right, and…leaning into our strategic pillar of renowned value has been key to our success in 2024, especially in the U.S.”

Never mind the “burger wars,” Weiner told investors. “I think we’re in the pizza wars right now, and, again, clearly we are winning that.” To keep up, he added, other pizza chains will have to “continue to lean into value.”

“

I think we’re in the pizza wars right now, and, again, clealy we are winning that.”

RUSSELL WEINER

Just a week into October, Domino’s resurrected its Emergency Pizza plan; with a qualifying digital-only order of $7.99 ( delivery and carryout ), Domino’s Rewards members received an offer for a free medium two-topping pizza to redeem whenever they needed it most. And that was just the latest value offer from the chain. It started in late January with a week-long digital-only special featuring large two-topping pizzas for $6.99 each, a deal that resurfaced as a carryout offer in mid-August. In March, June and October, Domino’s marked down all menu-priced pizzas by 50 percent for a week.

We could go on and on—there were other deals from Domino’s, too—but suffice it to say the chain has seen four straight quarters of same-store sales growth since Hungry for MORE’s debut.

Other pizza chains fought the value wars with less fervor. In August, Donatos debuted its Bakery Crust Pizza—thicker and cut into squares—aimed at budget-conscious families. That same month, Cicis Pizza rolled out a three-month all-you-can-eat buffet deal on Mondays and Tuesdays for $4.99. Even take-and-bake leader Papa Murphy’s joined the fray in September, introducing a new Everyday Value menu with three large pizzas starting at $7.99 apiece. And MOD Pizza, after flirting briefly with bankruptcy and getting acquired by Elite Restaurant Group, came out with its Unlimited Toppings, One Price menu structure.

Papa Johns,, meanwhile, saw its North American same-store sales slide by 4 percent in the second quarter of 2024 (Q3 sales had not been announced as of presstime), suggest-

RESURRECTED ITS EMERGENCY PIZZA PLAN.

WOMEN IN RESTAURANT LEADERSHIP:

TOGETHER SUMMIT

FEBRUARY 19 - 20, 2025 / NASHVILLE, TN

Unite. Elevate. Lead.

Join the movement of women reshaping the future of the restaurant industry at the Women in Restaurant Leadership: Together Summit. This two-day event is all about bold conversations, powerful insights, and purposeful networking that fuels the growth and success of women leaders across the industry.

What to Expect

• Visionary Speakers: Hear from trailblazing women who are changing the restaurant world, sharing strategies and stories that inspire action.

• Hands-On Workshops: Gain practical tools to overcome real challenges, enhance your leadership, and drive business success.

• Next-Level Networking: Connect with driven, like-minded women ready to collaborate and empower each other.

Why Attend?

• Innovative Leadership: Discover fresh perspectives and actionable ideas to enhance your leadership in this evolving industry.

• Empowerment in Action: Engage in meaningful discussions that inspire personal and professional growth.

• Collaborative Impact: Be part of the conversations that tackle today’s challenges— diversity, equity, and work-life balance—and shape tomorrow’s solutions.

FEBRUARY 19 - 20, 2025

Limited seats available—secure your spot today.

Who Should Attend?

If you’re a woman in the restaurant industry— whether you’re an owner, chef, manager, or emerging leader— this summit is for you.

Nashville Awaits

Experience the energy of Nashville while connecting with women leaders who are as passionate and driven as you are.

ARE YOU READY TO LEAD THE CHANGE?

TOP 30 PIZZA CHAINS ( UNITS )

AVERAGE UNIT VOLUME

ing the brand’s continued focus on what it calls “premium ingredients” was the wrong call this year.

As CFO Ravi Thanawala noted in an August earnings call, consumers “have become more deliberate in managing their overall ticket and are showing a preference for brands that are offering compelling value. While we know we offer an attractive value for our customers, our marketing and innovation … have primarily focused on premium product offerings at premium price points. As a result, our price value perception is not as strong as it should be in this unique environment.”

Papa Johns did deepen its Back to Better 2.0 initiative this summer, bringing back the Cheesy Burger Pizza for $9.99 as part of its Cheesy Burger Trio lineup, which included the Cheesy Burger Papadia and Papa Bites priced at $6.99 and $4.99 respectively, while its extra-large New York-style pie returned at a more competitive price point of $10.99.

There will be more deals to come from Papa Johns, Thanawala said in August. “We know that driving trial of our product is critical to winning consumers’ wallets in the future. At our company-owned restaurants, we are also testing various value offers in certain markets to analyze the repeat rates, identify potential basket starters and larger basket motivators.”

The QSR value wars extended to all fronts, not just pizza, of course, from Taco Bell’s new Craving Values menu to McDonald’s $5 value meal and Burger King’s $5 Duo deal. But, aside from Domino’s, there were few clear winners overall.

According to an October report from Black Box Intelligence, quick-service restaurants, despite all the deals, saw a decline of 2.2 percent in same-store traffic in June, 3.4 percent in July, 4 percent in August and 2.5 percent in September, not to mention a decline in same-stores sales in June and July, although those sales were up by 0.8 percent in September.

But at Domino’s, Weiner sounded the bugle for victory—for now anyway. His brand reported same-store sales growth of 3 percent in the third quarter of 2024 and a 5.1 percent increase in global retail sales. “With the slate of initiatives we’ve got out in front of us, I continue to believe that we will deliver U.S. same-store sales growth of 3 percent or more annually,” Weiner told investors. “And that’s why I expect Domino’s to continue to drive additional market share gain.”



PAPA JOHNS CFO

RAVI THANAWALA SAID THE CHAIN HAS FOCUSED ON PREMIUM PRODUCTS.

Boost Restaurant Sales with Instant Text Messaging

Cost-effective marketing with a 90 percent read rate.

The restaurant industry today is chaotic, so cutting through the noise is critical for driving customer engagement. One powerful tool gaining traction is text messaging, which boasts a staggering 90 percent read rate within just 10 minutes–compared to emails, which have an 18 percent open rate and are often ignored for days. “The urgency with text messaging is immediate,” says John Scully, CEO of PizzaCloud and Text.Food. “People read texts right away, whereas, with email, the response is much slower, if it happens at all.”

PizzaCloud, now partnered with nearly 2,000 restaurants, offers a full range of services, including text messaging, IP phone services, and cellular backup. For those not affiliated with the pizza industry or who don’t need these additional services, Text. Food is an ideal fit, as it focuses solely on text messaging for all restaurants.

The instant impact of text message marketing is driving more and more restaurants to adopt it as a tool for connecting with customers. “We saw tremendous success with our PizzaCloud service,” Scully says. “It inspired us to create Text.Food specifically for all restaurants. Our goal is to add 10,000 quick-service and fine-dining restaurants to our text messaging service over the next two years.”

Unlike many other platforms that charge steep prices based on message volume, Text.Food offers volume discounts across chains, regardless of how many locations an owner manages.

“Our pricing starts at 2.2 cents per message for small customers and drops to as low as one cent for large-scale users,” Scully says. This model benefits both small operators and larger chains, ensuring that everyone receives the best rate.

Automated campaigns are another valuable core feature of Text.Food, allowing restaurants to schedule texts based on slow times or special promotions. Some even send humorous, light-hearted messages rather than relying on promoting coupons and sacrificing profits. “One of our users sent a message reading, ‘Did you know it’s not a felony to eat pizza on Monday? Order now!’ These messages are fun and engaging, not overly salesy, and people respond to them just as well as coupon offers,” Scully says.

With Text.Food, flexibility is key to creating campaigns that match a brand’s voice, whether it’s advertising new menu items or encouraging customers to stop in on slower days.

Customer support is another strong suit where Text.Food excels. The platform offers a self-service portal, but for those who need assistance, their team is available 24/7 to help design the most effective campaigns. “We aim to offer the best of both worlds. Restaurants can manage everything on their own, or we can guide them through the process,” Scully says.

One of the significant advantages of Text.Food is the ease of setup. “Once the brand is registered a user can send their first campaign in minutes. We handle the annoying bit, getting the initial approval from the National Campaign Registry,” Scully says. This makes it an attractive option for busy restaurant operators seeking a simple, effective way to boost sales and engage customers.

With affordable pricing, flexible campaigns, and exceptional customer support, Text.Food is positioned to become a leader in text message marketing for restaurants. Whether you’re a small independent operator or part of a larger chain, this service can help increase revenue and customer satisfaction—all with a simple text.

-By Olivia Schuster

Sister brand to PizzaCloud: Same 24/7 support from the same great staff

Price for this service varies based on type of message & volume.

• We apply volume discounts across entire chain, so individual location owners benefit from total chain volume.

As low as $0.01 per message for high volume customers!

Use your Existing Phone Number to send messages!

• Either through direct integration to your POS system, or by exporting lists from the POS to import into our platform, you can schedule & manage outbound text message marketing to increase revenue.

We are fully compliant with CITA/FCC regulations!

Text messages have up to 95% open rate within minutes: push online orders, drive additional revenue, & send upsell messages!

EXAMPLE OF HOW IT WORKS:

1) Send a X Dollars off coupon message to customers who’s last order was more than 90 days ago, with the goal of “re activating” those customers.

2) Send an “upsell” coupon for add on items to more active customers

3) Automated campaign to send a few hundred messages per day, with the goal of adding 10+ additional orders per day. Messages can be coupons, but you can also get great traction with messages such as “Happy Monday. Did you know you are allowed to eat pizza on Monday?” followed by your online ordering link.

Family, Flavor, and Frozen Treats

A

long-time Burger King exec found new life in the restaurant industry as

a franchisee of Rita’s Italian Ice.

BY BEN COLEY

After a 41-year career at Burger King, Jim Myers opened his first Rita’s Italian Ice on December 4, 2023, in Streetsboro, Ohio. It was 15 degrees, but there was a line down the street.

Seasonality didn’t matter on this day. Customers had already been waiting for the opening after the store was delayed due to the county requiring a grease basin to be installed.

“They were waiting for us because we were on Facebook and everything else,” Myers says. “The community embraced it. We had pent-up demand from our consumer base to get us open. So once we opened, we got hammered.”

Myers entered Rita’s system thanks to CEO Linda Chadwick, a good friend and colleague he worked with at Burger King. He eventually saw her on the show “Undercover Boss” and it intrigued him.

“I called her, and she said, ‘You got to come check this out,’” Myers says.

The industry veteran was attracted to the product. The company’s Italian ice is made fresh daily from a rotating selection of over 80 flavors. Other key products include frozen custard, gelati, concretes, frozen coffee, Rita’s Blenders, and milkshakes.

Myers also appreciated the seasonal part of it when it came to employees. Myers hires a lot of teenage employees—as young as 14 and 15 years old—and that labor pool is readily available during Rita’s peak summer season.

“I’ve got over close to 50 employees, and we have people applying all the time,” Myers says. “They love it, and it’s a great atmosphere. That’s really what attracted me is the product and the culture.”

The site he picked sat vacant for two decades. However, Myers knew it had potential because an estimated 50,000 cars drive by every day. It was once a Flowerama, Checkers & Rally’s, and a check cashing store, so he knew it could attract traffic. One challenge was parking, but he made a deal with Chase Bank— who he does business with—to allow customers to use the bank’s parking lot. He also included garage doors that open and add 40 patio seats during the warmer months.

“The city was ecstatic,” Myers says. “This property looked terrible for 20 years. And I’m not exaggerating. It looked terrible and now it’s beautiful. The property turned out beautiful. The site looks nice. The building’s just gorgeous and we’re very proud of it. The community has embraced it and it’s been very good for us.”

Most Rita’s locations only have a walk-up window, but Myers is a firm believer in the power of drive-thru, which he knew a lot about working at Burger King. It’s especially convenient in Ohio because when the weather is cold and harsh, customers don’t want to exit their vehicle. The drive-thru—which accounts for 60 percent of revenue while third-party-delivery mixes 9 percent—allows customers to stay in their car and helps Myers’ location remain open year-round. There’s also space for people to enjoy the treats inside.

“Even in the winter months, people in Ohio love custard, and they’ll come out in the winter time as well to get it,” Myers says.

Typiclly, shops in colder temperatures are open seasonally, but Rita’s has a strategy to maintain sales and traffic within these periods.

Last year, the company launched a peppermint mocha treat during the holidays, and each quarter, the brand releases new promotions. Myers is also mindful about maintaining an online presence. His company is diligent around reaching customers through Facebook, Yelp, and other digital sites and part-

Jim Myers opened his Rita’s location in December 2023.

Sweetening the Menu

Some quick-service chains see the benefit of selling treats from dessert-specific companies in lieu of making products internally.

BY TALLULAH HAWLEY

For established concepts, sometimes the key to prospering and expanding is to seek menu items from another existing brand.

Chicken Salad Chick and HTeaO have their markets covered for customers seeking a hearty lunchtime chicken salad or an on-thego curated iced tea, but what if they want a little treat to go with it?

Founded in 2008 by Stacy and Kevin Brown, Chicken Salad Chick has a menu featuring 12 takes on chicken salad. Based in Atlanta, the brand’s varieties are made from scratch each morning.

As a single mom, Stacy made chicken salad at home and sold it door-to-door.

After her business got too big for her home kitchen, she opened her first restaurant in Auburn, Alabama. As her brand grew, so did her roster of flavors. With names like Kickin’ Kay Lynne and Olivia’s Old South, the title of each dish features an ode to a real “chick” in Stacy’s life.

While the concept of a chicken salad-based restaurant may sound niche, CMO Tom Carr says, “It has a lot to do with knowing who you are—[with] our roots in the South, chicken salad is a staple.”

“Everybody wants a little something sweet at the end of the

meal,” Carr continues. Every plate at Chicken Salad Chick comes with a pickle and a “twobite” cookie. It also offers full-size cookies and pies, but they did not sell as well because they were not in the customers’ view. “So, we knew there was an opportunity for something that’d be aligned with chicken salad, sort of our Southern hospitality roots, and having something more to share as a dessert, or to take out to-go,” Carr says.

Piece of Cake is an Atlanta-based bakery with eight locations around the metropolitan area.

For Atlantans, it’s a chain that families rely on for their birthdays and holidays. Chicken Salad Chick saw no better fit for outsourcing a dessert than one right next door. As Piece of Cake looked to change its business strategy, Chicken Salad Chick saw the opportunity to purchase it, with the deal announced in November 2023.

Since May, every restaurant has been outfitted with cake stands on their counters, displaying a full hand-frosted, preservativefree, white chocolate cake from Piece of Cake. With both being female-founded companies, there is a clear brand connection, but, Carr adds, “For our strategy, it had more to do with the quality of the product. We knew people loved it because we were some of the customers of Piece of Cake, so we knew how good the product was.”

Its decision to purchase Piece of Cake allowed it to control the supply chain flow.

By outsourcing menu items, a brand can focus on its own in-house product flow without the additive slow process of recipe testing, manufacturing, and implementation. It also provides an opportunity to highlight a smaller business.

HTeaO, a Dallas-based iced tea concept, was in a similar situation. HTeaO’s iced tea flavors are desserts themselves, with features like Sweet Peach Cobbler and Sweet Mango Fresco on top of its highly acclaimed regular and unsweet options. The company had been offering ready-to-eat snacks such as chips and chocolate, but lacked a more filling option.

Besides its 26 bubblers each featuring a different flavor of freshly brewed iced tea, president Heath Nielsen says the chain’s “secret menu” and creative combinations are what

HTeaO has used Just Desserts to fill out its menu.

opening up the development pipeline for ambitious entrepreneurs looking for a flexible and distinct concept.

As Bun Mee poises itself for national takeoff through franchising, Tran is focused on streamlining operations and systems for scalability. For the past two years, investments have been made to replace equipment, simplify the menu, and ramp up distribution networks. Tran has also emphasized the importance of strengthening the implementation of the brand’s core values systemwide. As a single mother and business owner, she understands the value employees place on an empathetic, familyorientated work environment. Bun Mee regularly hosts team meals, birthday parties, competitive games, and gift card giveaways for exceptional workers. Tran plans to foster this culture in all of her corporate and franchised locations.

“I want to run my company as if I were an employee of it and that is reflected in our values. I believe in real-time recognition and making sure my staff feels heard,” Tran says. “I know it’s a challenge when you grow, but I want to make sure the Bun Mee culture lives on in every location.”

With the franchise program up and running, Tran envisions Bun Mee as the “Shake Shack of Vietnamese sandwiches.”

Right now, she’s targeting markets within a two to three-hour radius of San Francisco so she can properly support her operators and maintain a strong supply chain. Her next internal investment will focus on systemizing a consistent training program for franchisees and employees, laying the foundation for future growth.

Tran’s journey from refugee to lawyer to culinary mogul was nonlinear and at times discouraging as she navigated the industry as a solo founder and single mom. However, her mission to educate others about her Vietnamese culture pushed her forward toward her goals.

“People are always shocked when I tell them I jumped into this industry,” Tran says.

“There is a misconception that people can only do something if they have experience in it already. But if you’re passionate about something, this shouldn’t be a deterrent.”

nering with local organizations and schools.

“Rita’s does have shops to stay open year-round because in the South they do stay open year-round because they don’t have the weather elements that we do here,” Myers says. “And they do have marketing programs, like I said, per quarter in the winter months to where you have new products introduced. And we change our flavors every day and we post them every day and we change our custard flavors once a week and we get that out there to our consumers too. And they wait for it and they want to know what’s out there when their favorite ice flavors are there.”

It’s a family business. His wife Karen helps with accounting, his youngest son Dan runs operations, and his oldest son Jay takes care of IT and marketing needs.

“I taught [ Dan ] how to develop the shop, build it, do the contracts with the contractors,” Myers says. “ … [ Jay’s] been in fast food as well with a large franchise organization in the Burger King system. So he knows all the marketing stuff pretty well. So he’s been a big help on third party and security systems and the POS that he manages and takes care of for us. … Everybody knows their roles.

“We work well together. Our plan is long term for my wife and I to turn it over to our boys, and they’ll be the owners, and we’ll retire at some point.”

Myers’ group is part of a growing franchise.

The brand has 575 locations worldwide, with more expected to open by the end of 2024.

Some of that will be new markets in Texas and Michigan.

Myers intends to open additional locations himself. As of mid-October, he was scouting future spots. There’s one large building that could be split in half, with Rita’s taking one side and a drive-thru, although the landlord must find another tenant before they agree to it. He’s also hoping to acquire an outlet from a fellow franchisee.

He has meetings twice a month with his broker and Jake Chippas, Rita’s senior director of real estate.

“We look at sites all the time,” Myers says.

it apart from other beverage-led spots. Nielsen has more than 12 years of experience in executive roles at Starbucks and Black Rifle Coffee Company, among other roles, but he was led to join HTeaO due to the “fun and lighthearted” and “human experience”-driven culture he found in stores. “It’s self-serve,” he says, “so you get to create your own journey.”

As the brand sought to further develop its ready-to-eat menu, HTeaO landed upon a collaboration with San Francisco-based bakery Just Desserts, which launched in July. “The reason we partnered [with Just Desserts] is the taste profile of their particular product with our tea was a perfect match.”

HTeaO sells six flavors of Just Desserts’ cupcake lineup: red velvet, carrot cake, cookies and cream, chocolate fudge, and celebration.

HTeaO recently expanded its offerings, with Just Desserts’ cinnamon churro crunch bites and brownies available now in select stores.

By adding Just Desserts to its lineup, Nielsen says sales have “been nothing short of phenomenal.”

The iced tea brand also has another partnership at play—getting its coffee from actor Cole Hauser’s Free Rein Coffee Company.

The choice to distribute and use items from other companies helps to not only boost sales for all included, but also lets brands like HTeaO grow and adapt their menu while keeping focus on enhancing their own product.

“I love the collaborations,” Nielsen says. “When you can get other like-minded brands that fit the same kind of values [and] flavor profile, that’s when you get the best partnership in synergy.”

The hardest part of incorporating items like cupcakes into the HTeaO concept is the newfound distribution factor.

While the beverage chain has locations from New Mexico to Florida, Just Desserts makes everything in-house in its California facility.

However, HTeaO has found the partnership to be worth it, with Nielsen stating the cupcakes are “definitely the fan favorites” of its food offerings.

Tallulah Hawley is a staff writer for QSR magazine. She can be reached at thawley@wtwhmedia.com

Ben Coley is the editor of QSR. He can be reached at bcoley@ wtwhmedia.com

stores (nationally and internationally), major grocery store chains, and convenience stores across North America. At the same time, she says, “The Milkshake Factory was gaining this cult-like following, this place to be when you come to Pittsburgh.”

With the chocolate business continuing to sell in global markets, Milkshake Factory opened its second location in PNC Bank’s global headquarters in downtown Pittsburgh in 2016. “We didn’t announce it, we didn’t talk about it,” Manatos says, “we took the paper off the window and quietly unlocked the door, and there was a line around the block within an hour. It was just something people were excited about.”

The next step was to open six new stores in the suburbs and on college campuses in 2018 to see if the boom could continue: “Every single one was successful. That was really eye-opening about what we were doing,” she says. “It was really exciting to see how the community and the people in each community responded to the Milkshake Factory, which was just chocolate and ice cream. But it was more about an experience, about being a part of the community, and about hospitality than just waiting on customers.”

The expansion continued after the COVID pandemic, with two more locations opening near Pittsburgh. At this point, Manatos realized she had created a great concept for franchising, saying, “We wanted to be part of a community, and what better way to do that than have someone from the community running and operating that store and that location.”

Around 2021, Milkshake Factory brought on John Rotche and Franworth to help execute its franchise strategy. Currently, the brand has 14 currently in operation (11 in Pittsburgh alone), with 116 franchises sold. Its first non-Pittsburgh location opened in June in Salt Lake City. Manatos states, “We could have probably awarded two or three times as many franchises as we did, but we don’t, because you really have to be the right partner for our business.”

“We’re a hospitality-focused business, right behind that in number two is our products,” Manatos says. “We’re fourthgeneration chocolatiers. That is who we are. That is ingrained in us,” Manatos says.

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reliable POS System plays a crucial role in quick-service restaurants operations. From order processing to payment handling, POS Systems allow restaurants to serve customers faster and with fewer errors. For consumers, this means shorter wait times, accurate orders, and flexible payment options, all of which enhance the overall dining experience. In this issue of Smart Chain, we spotlight POS Systems with insights from top industry leaders.

POS Systems continue to advance leading to substantial benefits for quickservice restaurants. According to POS vendor Toast, restaurants that use their mobile ordering and payment system see a 9 percent boost in average check size. These advanced POS Systems also allow restaurants to gather valuable data to personalize service, improve menu o erings, and provide loyalty rewards, ultimately benefiting both the business and its customers.

We’ve gathered insights from leading experts at Oracle, Panasonic, ParTech, Presto, Posiflex, Signature Solutions, Toshiba, and Xenial. Their knowledge reveals how technological advancements, consumer insights, and trusted partnerships are shaping the future of POS Systems in the quick-service restaurant industry.

sure, and roll out at scale, or pivot as needed.

AMBER TRENDELL

Senior Director of Strategy for Oracle

What are the biggest challenges for quick-service restaurants with POS Systems today?

Consumers want complete freedom in how they discover and decide what and where to eat. This leads to brands increasing investment in online channels, as well as across earned, owned, paid, and in-store systems—including kiosks and BYOD. It also increases investment in more intelligent operational systems.

How are these challenges impacting the industry?

Assessing and prioritizing the investments that will drive a return isn’t always easy. That’s why having an open digital transaction platform that allows for the agile implementation of new solutions—whether it’s a new sales channel or new sta experience—is critical. Open APIs and seamless integrations to a broad spectrum of point solutions ensure operators can trial, mea-

What do you think will be the biggest challenges and opportunities for quick-service restaurants in the next 10-20 years?

Retaining talent is a massive challenge in the restaurant industry. Investment in technology and tooling that reduces reliance on manual labor is likely going to be a high-priority investment for the next decade. The good news is consumers are increasingly open to using

self-service kiosks as they’ve become more pervasive throughout all consumer industries, and we’ve consistently seen positive results on order size and speed

of service with these sales channels. The use of embedded AI for consumer interactions, in particular generative AI, will not only address labor shortages but will ultimately improve the working environment for sta .

How should operators communicate to consumers that their needs are being met?

Engagement-based loyalty combined with embedded data science that can tune segments and o ers is critical and is resonating with its customers by helping deliver hyper-personalized experiences.

What misconceptions exist about POS Systems today?

It’s common to relegate POS systems to menu management, and order processing. A modern digital transaction platform is the engine that ultimately manages, informs, and connects every aspect of a restaurant operation, from sales channels and loyalty to kitchen production and delivery forecasting to the back o ce.

MICHELLE CONNOLLY

Director of Sales, Enterprise Product Innovation Center, Panasonic Connect

What are the biggest challenges for quick-service restaurants with POS Systems today?

Consumers demand consistent experiences across all facets of commerce, especially when it comes to digital payments. People want a seamless, quick, and accurate payment experience.

How are these challenges impacting the industry?

POS Systems are a critical touchpoint, and quick-service restaurants are making sure consumers know the business o ers their preferred way to engage. For example, by promoting

self-service options with personalized rewards and multiple ways to pay, a restaurant can draw in new customers and strengthen current loyalty for continued sales.

What do you think will be the biggest challenges and opportunities for quick-service restaurants in the next 10-20 years?

From the drive-thru and selfserve kiosks to the counter, and all touch points in-between, digital, connected, and personalized experiences present the biggest challenge and opportunity. A challenge because res-

taurants need to find a trusted technology provider to connect systems across their ecosystem. An opportunity because every touchpoint presents a chance to upsell and deliver a memorable customer experience.

How are operators addressing these challenges e ectively?

Quick-service restaurants are already seeking digital, connected solutions for personalized experiences. For example, some are deploying touchscreen POS systems at the counter alongside self-serve kiosks to line bust and o er personalized purchasing options. They also use digital menu boards to keep items current and o er opportunities to engage consumers with specials.

What key tasks are being enhanced through POS Systems?

By understanding who is interacting at the point-of-sale, businesses can uniquely engage patrons. When customers agree to share data for a better experience, POS systems can display tailored recommendations.

Why is partnering with a trusted brand more crucial than ever?

Technology partnerships are critical. It’s not just a matter of purchasing hardware, it’s about working with a trusted brand to identify the pre-and post-deployment needs, such as the software, services, and support to maintain the performance of POS systems over time.

AI and automation in ways that enhance e ciency while elevating the guest experience. Another big opportunity is to create the next level of guest personalization. Operators should streamline their tech stack to create unified data systems that capture 100 percent of customer interactions, enabling better customization for loyalty and non-loyalty guests.

OLIVER OSTERTAG

General Manager of Operator Cloud for PAR Technology

What are the biggest challenges or quick-service restaurants with POS Systems today?

One of the biggest challenges for quick-service restaurants with POS systems today is striking the right balance between innovation and integra-

tion. Operators rely on multiple systems to stay competitive, like ordering, delivery, loyalty, back-o ce, and CRM tools. However, managing multiple vendors and ensuring these systems work seamlessly together can be a major hurdle.

How are these challenges impacting the industry today?

When systems don’t communicate e ectively, ine ciencies arise adversely a ecting the bottom line. For example, poor customer experience, increased costs, security risks, and data silos.

What do you think will be the biggest challenges and opportunities for quick-service restaurants in the next 10-20 years?

Quick-service restaurants will face key challenges around integrating

How are operators addressing these challenges e ectively?

Quick-service restaurants are strategically selecting AI use cases that enhance e ciency by automating manual tasks and allowing sta to focus on higher-value activities. Many prioritize AI-powered solutions like inventory management and upselling for improved accuracy and consistency.

What mistakes do operators make with POS Systems?

A common mistake is choosing a system based solely on price without considering the long-term impact. While a cheaper option might seem appealing, it can lack the flexibility or features needed to scale the business. Operators should read the fine print and consider the all-in costs.

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What key tasks are being enhanced through POS Systems?

Some of the key tasks being enhanced include order accuracy and speed, easier decision making, and personalized guest experiences.

How should operators communicate to consumers that their needs are being met?

To ensure consumers feel confident their needs are being met, operators should prioritize transparency by highlighting tangible benefits, setting clear expectations, and maintaining open communication.

DOYLE LEDFORD

Senior Vice President of Posiflex

What are the biggest challenges for quick-service restaurants with POS Systems today?

Trying to meet the ever-chang-

ing demands of customers is a big challenge. Patrons want quick service, but they also want convenience and personal attention.

How are these challenges impacting the industry?

Operators must juggle these demands while watching their bottom line. The many ways their customers interact with them can be costly. Taking shortcuts by relying on lower-cost POS equipment isn’t the answer either, as operators may have to repair or replace their equipment more often, costing them more in the long run.

What do you think will be the biggest challenges and opportunities for quick-service restaurants in the next 10-20 years?

Customers will expect POS to work almost flawlessly since they perceive that automation and AI are supposed to enhance their experience and not impede it. So, operators will need to navigate their POS processes carefully to ensure the new technology is truly better than their current systems.

What mistakes do operators make with POS Systems?

One of the big mistakes is only looking at cost as your decision maker while purchasing a POS system. Other factors need to be considered, including advanced features, compatibility, versatility, and total cost of ownership.

What key tasks are being enhanced through POS Systems?

Inventory, marketing, analysis, e ciency…you name it. POS has become the heartbeat of the restaurant business. One example is operators can track their menu items and identify what’s selling better or worse and they can immediately act on improvements.

The

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How should operators communicate to consumers that their needs are being met?

Operators can easily analyze the data collected from their POS machines to see how items on their menu are performing and make adjustments to the menu to meet patrons’ ordering preferences. Also, operators can analyze foot tra c by what POS devices customers are drawn to, so they can adjust accordingly.

Why is partnering with a trusted brand more crucial now than ever?

A brand with a good track record of satisfied customers, reliable hardware, and excellent service all play a factor in building that trust.

identify partners who can seamlessly integrate with the chosen POS systems.

How are these challenges impacting the industry?

If POS integration is not aligned with all operating systems within the restaurant or with its partner vendors, it can lead to cost discrepancies, system interruptions or crashes, delayed order

How are operators addressing these challenges e ectively?

Some operators are taking a more proactive approach than others by testing new systems and partnering with technology vendors.

What key tasks are being enhanced through POS Systems?

Clocking in and out, managing promotions, enhancing customer interactions, utilizing faster systems, and implementing voice AI are just a few examples of advanced enhancements in POS tasks. Furthermore, modern POS systems are significantly improving inventory tracking and sales forecasting.

What misconceptions exist about POS Systems today?

Many operators assume a more complex POS system is inherently more powerful. However, simplicity often results in superior functionality. A userfriendly interface can significantly improve sta e ciency and enhance customer interactions.

Anything else the QSR audience should know?

Investing in technology goes beyond merely keeping pace with trends. By embracing innovation with an emphasis on integration and training, you can improve operational e ciency and customer satisfaction, setting the stage for long-term success.

What are the biggest challenges for quick-service restaurants with POS Systems today?

POS integration is essential for nearly all systems within a restaurant, including scheduling, food cost management, digital menu boards, and online ordering platforms. Therefore, selecting the right POS system is crucial, as the costs associated with switching can be significant, and restaurants’ POS will serve as a critical factor for many operational initiatives. It is important to

times, and ultimately, frustration among team members, managers, and customers.

What do you think will be the biggest challenges and opportunities for quick-service restaurants in the next 10-20 years?

While integrating technology into quick-service restaurant operations will continue to be challenging, it will also become essential. By leveraging technology, restaurants can drive cost-saving initiatives, enhance team member training and knowledge, and improve the speed and e ciency of service, ultimately elevating the customer experience.

MIKE REINECKER Director of Sales at Signature Solutions

What are the biggest challenges for quick-service restaurants with POS Systems today?

The two biggest challenges for quick-service restaurants are keeping POS costs down and system support. Some companies charge low prices for their POS hardware, but end up charging ballooning monthly fees and sticking customers with low-quality support products that can shut down

their businesses for hours or even days.

How are these challenges impacting the industry?

These challenges are strangling revenue sources for independent restaurants, limiting their ability to grow, while more established franchises or chains are struggling for extended periods to fix even minor issues.

What do you think will be the biggest challenges and opportunities for quick-service restaurants in the next 10-20 years?

Rising costs of equipment and ingredients are slowing, but still rising at a rate that makes operating a restaurant di cult. Labor costs for hourly workers will likely continue to rise sharply over the next decade.

How are operators addressing these challenges e ectively?

Many fast food franchises like McDonald’s and Taco Bell, moved to kiosk ordering and highly customizable menus via their apps years ago.

What key tasks are being enhanced through POS Systems?

POS reporting and integrations have come a long way in the past few years. Operators and managers often have easier access to meaningful and insightful data, making it easier to cut down on waste and sell more of what’s popular faster. As systems have improved in their ability to take in data, they’ve also enhanced their ability to share that data with third-party technologies and software through integrations as well.

How have customer expectations for POS Systems changed in recent years?

Customers now expect to have contactless payment options and

have grown more accustomed to seeing their orders recorded in real-time on a digital display to ensure order accuracy.

How should operators communicate to consumers that their needs are being met?

Operators should take advantage of software that regularly communicates with consumers about their order whether in-person, pickup, or delivery.

YESHAI BOUSKILA

Executive Director of Retail Innovation at Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions

What are the biggest challenges for quick-service restaurants with POS Systems today?

The primary challenge quickservice restaurants face with POS Systems is finding the best system that

aligns with their front-end and userinterface needs. POS systems that are complex and require extensive training or have complicated interfaces can slow down service and lead to lost sales.

POS systems with simple front-end technology and user interface enable quick sta onboarding and easy upselling during transactions. These systems should be intuitive to minimize training time, quickly onboard new employees, and address other labor challenges common in the quick-service industry.

How are these challenges impacting the industry?

The lack of simple, userfriendly interfaces impacts the industry by slowing down onboarding processes, increasing sta training costs, and reducing e ciency, especially in high

Create exceptional experiences today and equip your business for the future.

turnover environments. When POS systems are di cult to use, it takes more time for employees to learn, which can lead to slower service and lower customer satisfaction.

What do you think will be the biggest challenges and opportunities for quick-service restaurants in the next 10-20 years?

The next major challenge and opportunity for quick-service restaurants will be the automation of the entire restaurant environment. AI tools and computer vision (CV) technology will be pivotal in predictive inventory management, sta ng optimization, and prepping processes to minimize waste and improve e ciency.

How are operators addressing these challenges e ectively?

The industry is evolving as operators test new tools to improve the shopping experience. Many are using AI and CV analytics to optimize store layouts, improve customer flow, and reduce bottlenecks for a smoother experience.

What key tasks are being enhanced through POS Systems?

POS systems are significantly enhancing key tasks such as reducing human error during transactions, improving interactive customer engagement and empowerment, and enabling simpler payment processes.

How have customer expectations for POS Systems changed in recent years?

Customer expectations for POS

systems have shifted toward a focus on accuracy, convenience, and speed. Consumers now expect transactions to be processed quickly and without error, with minimal friction for ordering and payment.

ANDY GRINDSTAFF

Senior manager of strategy and technology at Xenial

What do you think will be the biggest challenges and opportunities for quick-service restaurants in the next 10-20 years?

TRACY GALLIMORE

Senior Vice President of Sales at Xenial

What are the biggest challenges for quick-service restaurants with POS Systems today?

One of the biggest challenges for quick-service restaurants is gathering their own data from di erent systems and creating one clean, normalized, usable source. It is hard to make fragmented data usable, and not using data means missing out on critical insights that can impact business decisions.

The biggest challenge the quick-service restaurant industry will face in the next 10-20 years will revolve around labor—the cost and scarcity of labor, the allocation and optimization of labor, and the interaction and intersection of how labor and technology a ect operations.

How are operators addressing these challenges e ectively?

Operators are evaluating their restaurant tech stack and ensuring the foundations are taken care of first by having a cloud POS in place that has exposed APIs that can be built o of to take advantage of new available innovations as well as future unknown innovations down the road.

What mistakes do operators make with POS Systems?

One mistake operators make with their POS systems is they try to figure out how to make it as close to their previous system in terms of operations, configuration, and menu structure. As innovation continues to advance and when transitioning systems, there is always an opportunity to evaluate optimizations that can be made to drive operational e ciency and guest experience wins.

What key tasks are being enhanced through POS Systems?

With advancements made in cloud-based point-of-sale, tablets, and mobile order takers have become a true option for operators to evaluate the impact they could have on operational e ciencies.

How have customer expectations for POS Systems changed in recent years?

Customers increasingly expect less interaction and friction in their transactions and experiences. The POS and its integrated features must continue to evolve to meet those expectations.

START TO FINISH

Daniel Smith

President RUSTY TACO

What do most people not know about you? I have five kids, including identical twin boys who are 20 and attend Texas A&M. My daughter was a coach for the CrossFit Games!

Guilty pleasure?

Ice cream—I don’t eat it often, but when I do, I destroy the lid and commit to finishing the whole container.

What are some of you interests outside of work?

Outside of work, I love surfing and CrossFit. My wife and I even founded a CrossFit gym in San Diego, and it’s something our whole family is passionate about.

How do you maintain a work-life balance?

Balancing life and work isn’t my thing. I think more about work-life integration, blending work and personal time as needed. My family understands that sometimes I work on weekends, and if I need personal time during the week, I make it work.

My journey in the restaurant industry started with washing dishes at a local Clam Jumper on the West Coast. That first job gave me the foundation I needed, allowing me to climb the ladder from various hourly roles to executive positions. Along the way, I’ve been fortunate to build strong teams that have played a significant role in the success of every brand I’ve worked with. At Hopdoddy Burger Bar, I was proud to help expand the brand to multiple locations as COO. My time as a Master Franchisee at Pieology taught me a lot about driving growth through unit sales. And my 26 years at Clam Jumper, where I went from dishwasher to Vice President, really speaks to my dedication and ability to adapt.

Now, as president of Rusty Taco, my focus is on revitalizing the brand and making sure we stand out in the market. It’s a big challenge, but I’m excited about it. My goal is to open 20 stores a year and put Rusty Taco on the map as one of the top Mexican limited-service chains in the country.

One of the best career moves I made was joining Hopdoddy Burger Bar, where I was able to scale the brand from 15 to 48 locations. That experience sharpened my skills in operational excellence, development, and market positioning, which are all things I carry with me into my role at Rusty Taco. I’m also inspired by leaders like Scott McIntosh, who taught me the importance of paying attention to the little things, whether it’s people, restaurants, or food.

When it comes to business, my motto is “Does it taco?” I’m always looking for new things to stuff into a taco! But more seriously, I’m passionate about people and processes. I believe in finding the right people for the right roles and then surrounding them with solid processes because “people drive process, and process drives results.” For me, it’s not just about the food—it’s about having the right teams in place. At my core, I’m an operator, but I’ve learned a lot about finance, marketing, and supply chain over the years.