QSR #302 April 2023

SUCCESS WITH MULTI-UNIT FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITIES

BUILD NEW OR ACQUIRE EXISTING LOCATIONS

INVEST IN MODERN, FRESH FORWARD RESTAURANT DESIGNS

LEVERAGE MULTIPLE REVENUE STREAMS

ENGAGE WITH BRAND LEADERSHIP FOCUSED ON FRANCHISEE PROFITABILITY

12.5%

SAME SALES GROWTH

7.8% FULL SYSTEM GROWTH 2021

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D E PARTM E NTS

20

FRANCHISE FORWARD

Lessons from a Young Operator

How a rising Inspire Brands franchisee is changing the game. BY CALLIE EVERGREEN

67

OPERATIONS

The Real Price of Real Estate

While there’s space to grow on the backend of COVID, doing so can come at a cost. BY BARNEY WOLF

FRESH IDEAS

The Great Value Proposition

Offering consumers more for less is an easy way to bring them through your doors.

BY AMANDA BALTAZAR

18

ONES TO WATCH

Killer Burger

The growing franchise stands apart using party vibes and creative signature burgers. BY BEN COLEY

69

OUTSIDE INSIGHTS

The Design of Inflation

Menus are hardly free and clear of the impact. Here’s where to start. BY TOM COOK

88

START TO FINISH

Jane Abell Grote

As Donatos continues to innovate, its philanthropy has followed suit.

16

This Massive Korean Fried Chicken Concept is Catching Fire in the U.S. bb.q Chicken continues to grow rapidly across American markets. SPONSORED BY bb.q

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Restart the Connection

Afew weeks back, I made the (maybe ill-advised) decision to share two charts on social media. Both were maps of America you often see where each state gets highlighted by a winner. In this case, a breakdown of which casual-dining chain was America’s favorite, marketby-market. That one stirred light-hearted debate. But then, came the fast-food one. Comment after comment everyone disagreed—except for In-N-Out in California—with roughly 97 percent of people informing me I was personally off-base, despite a disclaimer I had no stake in this data. “There’s no chance Chick-fil-A doesn’t win Georgia!” “How can Whataburger not reign in Texas!” And on it went. Ultimately, I deleted the post to save some shred of sanity after somebody suggested that, even for an exsportswriter, I should of known better.

Once that combative dust settled, though, I think you’re left with some important takeaways. For one, as somebody told me years ago, fast food is the heartbeat of the American consumer, and you can’t tell me otherwise. But it is interesting to watch how regional bias has evolved as scale has. It’s one reason I’m not sure In-N-Out or White Castle will ever try to become truly national. There’s upside in exclusivity. Or why a brand like Whataburger can be so well received in Florida (a state the chart claimed it won) as demographic migration connects markets. Are younger consumers as tied to brands as older ones were? In other words, many of us, at least in my generation, favored restaurant chains our parents brought us to as we grew up. Yet will we now take our children there? I’m not sure it’s so simple. This was a topic that came up recently

when I was chatting with Duncan Smith, the U.S. CEO of Journey Further, a brand agency working alongside Sizzler on revamping its media. It’s a story this industry has witnessed on repeat. Sizzler was a 700-unit-plus brand globally. There’s now about 73 in the U.S. When it arrived in the late 1950s, this accessible and affordable service model was a trailblazer that drew a roadmap competitors would follow for decades. However, these same markets and communities the chain planted flags in changed around Sizzler faster than Sizzler could adapt. Everything from the makeup of local diners to how they access information (and restaurants) And so, the task of taking Sizzler from memory bank, “our parents took us here when we were kids” to action—“and now I’ll take my kids here, too” is a multifaceted journey a lot of legacy chains find themselves on. The good news is the industry has more connective tissue than ever. We’re well past just broadcast TV, radio, posters, and placing coupons in the mailbox—not that these don’t still work. But the ability now to find and speak to guests where they are is broader than even pre-COVID days. And the channels are more accountable. Digital media can tailor toward users, and restaurants have the power to tap CRM for things like reorders, one-toone offers, and really the ability to anticipate when people are going to want to connect and, in turn, data to capitalize on that moment. For generations old and new, familiar and discovery, it’s a chance to bring them all in.

Danny Klein, Editorial Director

Brand loyalty is hardly dead. Yet activating it might need a second look.

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SHORT ORDER

For Sheel Mohnot and Amruta Godbole, one of their first dates took place over a romantic beachfront meal at Taco Bell’s famed Pacifica location.

Vows in the Metaverse

LIFELONG TACO BELL CUSTOMERS Sheel Mohnot and Amruta Godbole said “I do” in late February with an out-of-this-realm wedding celebration in “Decentraland,” a 3D browser-based platform that allows for shared virtual exploration.

Winning out over 300 couples who applied to win the Taco Bell metaverse wedding of their dreams, Sheel, a co-founder of Better Tomorrow Ventures, a venture capital firm and Amruta, a lawyer at Instagram, worked closely with Taco Bell and their partners to plan an other-worldly event.

Organizing a wedding in the metaverse allowed for the maximum level of creativity and customization to authentically tailor the event to the couple, Taco Bell said. This included a special “Master of Ceremonies” to facilitate the wedding. Kal Penn, an American actor who shares the couple’s Indian heritage, joined in.

Taco Bells were ringing for one lucky couple.

As of Q1 2022, Starbucks had more than $3.3 billion loaded onto “Starbucks Cards” across the U.S,exceeding a company record.

In fact, the java giant’s gifting business was so strong the unit sales of Starbucks Cards were greater than the next four brands of gift cards combined, executives said.

Paytronix recently released its Restaurant Gift Card Report: 2023, which found restaurants have moved on from the pandemic, yet still face challenges thanks to inflation. Those changes a ect both how operators sell cards and how consumers purchase them.

The Big Point:

In 2022, dollars spent on gift cards rose 6 percent over 2021, a high-water mark for gift card value. But, the overall number of gift cards sold fell.

Why? People loaded on more value, choosing more cards of over $25 and fewer that are under $10. Consumers also showed a preference for digital gift cards, not only by purchasing more, but loading them with higher values than on their physical counterparts.

It’s Not Just About Guests

Restaurant marketers are targeting this behavior, too. “Brands themselves may be influencing the trend of higher-value cards by only selling higher-value cards or by making lower value cards less available,” Lynch adds.

The Analysis:

“Gift card purchasing appears to mirror that of loyalty guests. Our research shows that loyalty guests’ checks match inflation. From the beginning of 2020 to the present day, restaurant loyalty guest check size grew in tandem with menu prices,” says Kirstin Lynch, Paytronix’s strategy and analytics director.

Other Findings:

Average dollars loaded per gift card increased 8 percent from 2021.

Digital cards outperformed physical cards in terms of value, with the average digital card loaded $82 more at a fine-dining establishment than a comparable physical card.

Third-party retail sales grew, while in-store sales dropped, indicating a channel shift.

A Final Point

Card sales also showed a shift toward full-service restaurants, with that segment showing significant growth, even as quick-serves, the segment that best weathered the pandemic, showed a 5 percent drop in revenue. This trend was particularly apparent for fine-dining restaurants.

“Fine-dining gift card sales have not only recovered completely from the pandemic, they’ve also been the only concept to see an increase over 2019 numbers. This indicates a channel shift in consumer preferences—as guests emerge from the pandemic, they prefer to gift experiences at fine-dining establishments,” Lynch says.

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The Great Value Proposition

Offering

Higher prices or shakiness of the economy notwithstanding, people still have to eat. But quick-serve and fast-casual restaurants have had to rethink the definition of “value" against the ever-evolving backdrop.

“Both guests and restaurateurs alike are price sensitive at this moment, so everyone is looking to create and communicate value, and bundled or value meals make that possible,” says Sean Willard, a menu engineering specialist in San Diego, California.

Del Taco is one brand that welcomed 2023 by offering more value. Every day in January, the brand presented a “20 under $2” menu, featuring items like Chicken Tacos Del Carbon and 3

BY AMANDA BALTAZAR

Layer Queso Nachos. And in case that wasn’t enough, the 600unit chain also offered a free item from that menu to any of its Del Yeah! Rewards members with a $3 purchase through its app, which helps encourage consumers to sign up.

“We know when inflation is coming and we saw this and said here’s a really great opportunity for us,” chief marketing officer Tim Hackbardt says.

While historic value menus focused on the $1 mark, Del Taco decided to make its slightly more expensive “to offer products with a little more flavor or were a little more interesting,” Hackbardt says. “We know consumers tend to think value menus are less exciting menu items.”

Mendocino Farms has introduced group deals to entice at-home diners.

consumers more for less is an easy way to bring them through your doors

Along with food choices, Del Taco displayed iced drinks, mini shakes, and dessert items like churros. “We knew if you could deliver variety for the consumer, they liked it. What they didn’t like was a value menu with just a couple of items. They would frequent a brand with variety and decent quality much more often,” Hackbardt says.

Del Taco’s 20 for $2 menu has a very high take rate, he says. “It’s a good portion of our menu so we know it’s popular. This also works well to make the brand more appealing for your meal occasion. And it’s interesting because every time you come in you can pick something different off this menu.”

Subscription drops

Urban Plates also decided to start 2023 with a value bang, upgrading its signature Plate Pass program to include more savings on additional menu items. The program offers 20 percent off a guest’s entire check; it includes purchases made on the company’s app and at the cash register; and the new subscription price was sliced in half, to $5 a month.

“People are cutting back. And we want to make Urban Plates an easy choice; we don’t want them to feel they have to cut back on our food,” says Steve Greer, the fast casual’s chief marketing officer. “It’s better that they come with a discount than they don’t come.”

To raise awareness, Urban Plates relied heavily on in-store signage. Customers can make back the $5 subscription cost in one trip if they’re buying more than two entrees, Greer explains.

And it’s easy to sign up new members in the store—they can join while buying a meal and start saving immediately.

Information on the program is also disseminated on social media. “We want it to be across the brand story,” Greer says.

The specials are not valid for delivery due to the hefty commissions third-party companies charge. “It would be really hard and not financially feasible to make Plate Pass available for delivery,” he adds.

Focus on large orders

Other restaurant operators are focusing on offering value to larger groups.

“Offering complete meals including side dishes, bread, beverages, and dessert for a fixed price is extremely appealing,” says Arlene Spiegel, a restaurant consultant in New York City. “It also helps the homemaker feel less guilty for not cooking from scratch

while providing a home cooked-style meal for the household.”

These meals are beneficial for operators, too, she adds. “Large orders have a higher ticket average than single-serve. With the curation of a fixed-price menu, with limited choices, operators can control and predict their food costs and associated delivery fees.”

Fazoli’s is focusing its value menu toward family bundles, notes Tisha Bartlett, its vice president of marketing.

“Bundles are a great value but we also have a la carte so they can add pasta or a salad which are great for add-ons,” she says. The most popular offering is the Super Family Meal ($30), which serves eight people and includes two pasta dishes, a pizza, lemonade or tea, and breadsticks. “That’s a differentiator for us,” she says. “Most [quick-service restaurants] serve four. Ours is a hearty meal plus leftovers. And we do have different levels so they can pick and choose what they want.” The biggest one is Super Family Meal that serves eight.

Family meals are 6–7 percent of Fazoli’s menu mix, so it makes sense to offer something that caters to this group.

Mendocino Farms rolled out group order deals starting on Super Bowl Sunday, which offered 25 percent off catering orders of $100 or more.

“Super Bowl Sunday is not a big day for us but it is a big gathering day,” COO Steve Mintzer says. “But how do we get into their houses? Pre-COVID catering was a significant part of our business and during COVID it was zero but we’ve been climbing back into it. We have always been recognized for great value so how do we get people to think of Mendocino Farms when they’re outside the restaurant?”

As an added plus, Mintzer says, catering consumers often convert to in-store guests.

Mendocino Farms is featuring something for individual orders, too, menuing the reformulated Countryside Cobb Salad for $8 (normally $13.95) to its My Mendo members. “It’s important right now for people to focus on value and we wanted to surprise and delight our My Mendo members,” Mintzer says.

The company is promoting both of its value offerings on social media, with some in-store signage. It also sends out email blasts to My Mendo members, which, Mintzer says, “is our way to stay connected.” q

Amanda Baltazar is a regular contributor to QSR and is based in Washington.

Del Taco (above), Urban Plates (middle), and Fazoli’s continue to engage customers through multi-faceted value—not just price.

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This Massive Korean Fried Chicken Concept is Catching Fire in the U.S.

/ BY CHARLIE POGACAR

South Korean-based franchise bb.q Chicken

is widely known on an international level. Now, the brand is making a name for itself in the U.S., too. The Korean Fried Chicken brand has over 3,500 locations across 57 countries worldwide and has grown to 160 stateside locations.

The brand has forged a unique identity by leaning into its authenticity. At bb.q (pronounced bee-bee-que), marinades arrive directly from Seoul. All recipes, processes, and ingredients are exactly the same in the U.S. as they are in South Korea, which means the food eaten at a local bb.q in the U.S. tastes exactly the same as it does in Seoul.

“Our brand is authentic as it gets,” says bb.q Chicken USA CEO Hyongbong Kim. “We don’t try to ‘Americanize’ our food in the way other international brands do. We stay true to our Korean traditions because we want the dining experience to be as consistent and authentic as possible.”

The menu boasts fried chicken marinated in a unique blend of spices, fried in a way that makes it lighter, less greasy, and crispier than other fried-chicken alternatives. bb.q customers can choose to have their chicken tossed in an array of bold signature sauces, o ering a great degree of customization. Other menu favorites include tteokbokki and kimchi fried rice.

The brand has four different service models with something for every type of consumer—or franchisee. The original and core concept is bb.q Chicken Express, which focuses on takeout and delivery channels. This model has floor plans between 1,000–1,500 square feet, making it ideal for urban areas.

The bb.q Chicken & Beer full-service model has floor plans that range from 2,500–5,000 square feet. Customers can order chicken and other Korean food, as well as drinks from a full bar. Also a full-service model, the bb.q Chicken Cafe o ers beer and the entire menu, with layouts ranging from 1,500–5,000 square feet.

The brand’s newest model is the tech-forward bb.q Smart Kitchen (bsk), o ering electronic ordering and carryout orders fulfilled using

touchless lockers. BSK locations can be built into spaces as small as 800 square feet and require only a handful of employees per shift.

“The new BSK concept will be perfect for high-density areas where square footage is more expensive but foot traffic is high,” Kim says. “It’s a streamlined way of doing things, allowing for faster service and helping sta focus on fulfilling orders instead of managing the takeout counter.”

The Korean brand is looking for franchisees to incrementally grow a portfolio. “We hope franchisees start with a location in a metro area and then grow to two, three, or more locations after each successful launch,” Kim says. “We are interested in working with all franchisee types—from those who are deeply experienced to those who are new to restaurant franchising.”

Those interested can look for the bb.q Chicken booth at both the Multi-Unit Franchising Conference in Las Vegas in late April, as well as the International Franchise Expo in New York in early June. ◗

“Our brand is authentic as it gets.”

FOUNDERS: TJ Southard

HEADQUARTERS: Portland, Oregon

YEAR STARTED: 2010

ANNUAL SALES: $21.96M, 2023 system sales projected at $26M

TOTAL UNITS 20

FRANCHISED UNITS: 8

Killer Burger

six openings, which would put Killer Burger at around 25 locations.

Additionally, this is the year of the chain’s first leadership summit since preCOVID. Dikos says the meeting is crucial for alignment purposes. Executives can discuss goals and meet inside restaurants, but nothing compares to getting an entire group together to digest the long-term roadmap. The highlight of the meeting is returning to hospitality, the CEO says. Pandemicforced circumstances pushed Killer Burger to be more of a digital business, but at its core, serving a customer face-to-face is in its DNA. The concept wants to elevate execution and develop team members so it can drive that point home to new and existing guests.

The momentum is already present. Same-store sales were positive to end 2022, and that continued into the early part of this year. Sanders expects high single digits to low double digits.

“It helps us get to a point of better financial stability and the ability to start growing organically a lot faster,” Sanders says.

FOR KILLER BURGER, 2022 SET UP THINGS TO COME in

the next five to seven years.

The fast casual significantly upgraded its tech stack, including a transition to Olo for online ordering and Paytronix for loyalty membership. It also switched its accounting software and began using a new real estate analytics tool for more predictable

growth. CEO John Dikos and vice president of finance Adam Sanders are fairly new to the brand as well, with Dikos joining in July 2021 and Sanders following in December of that same year.

“Across the board, everything’s been upgraded, so really putting all the systems in place and team in place to let us grow going forward and facilitate that growth,” Sanders says. “I mean financially it was a challenging year a little bit because of that, but I think a necessary step.”

After making those investments in systems and people, Dikos says 2023 is the year to start showing improvement in terms of efficient processes and unit economics. After jumping from 50 percent staffing levels to 80 percent and opening three restaurants in 2022, the goal is to double development to

Killer Burger is part of a swiftly growing fast-casual burger segment—one in which differentiation is table stakes. The box is typically 2,400 square feet, but the brand can dial that down to 1,500-1,800 square feet for its digital-centric, pickup locations with fewer tables and chairs. Although Killer Burger’s unit count is small, it’s already demonstrated success in multiple venues, including two locations in prominent professional sports facilities ( Moda Center and Providence Park), a freestanding unit with a drive-thru pickup window, and a handful in high-end suburban neighborhoods, urban locations, endcaps, and inlines.

One of the first things Dikos did when he joined Killer Burger was move to an architectural company

The growing franchise stands apart using party vibes and creative signature burgers.

Lessons from a Young Operator

How a rising Inspire Brands franchisee is changing the game

very competitive segment. Typically, we see the ones that cannot staff delivery employees are the ones that don’t offer competitive wages.”

Though raising wages can be expensive upfront, having a higher percentage of delivery roles staffed allows restaurants to be able to handle a greater volume of delivery sales, versus having to shut off delivery because of staffing shortages, Fulton explains.

“People in this industry constantly highlight how tough staffing is, but is your franchise appealing to be employed at?” Fulton says. “I think people have to look in the back lens and look at their business and employees and say, ‘Would I want to have a job here? And what can I do to make it appealing from a benefits, from a life-balance perspective, and from a compensation perspective.’”

Fulton knew he had more to learn before becoming a franchisee himself, so he became a franchise operations consultant for Burger King’s parent company, Restaurant Brands International, in the U.S. southeastern division for 250 locations.

As a 24-year-old Jimmy John’s franchisee with eight restaurants and counting, Maxwell Fulton doesn’t want anyone to think he simply inherited his success.  “Sometimes people think, ‘Oh it’s a young franchisee, he must have been handed this,’” he explains. But Fulton’s experience says otherwise.

When Fulton became a general manager at Taco Bell at 18 years old, he already had his career path mapped out. He knew he wanted to “be in this business and make something of myself” as a future franchise owner, and he knew he had to align himself with the right leaders to help get him there.

After joining Domino’s in 2020 as a district manager, Fulton quickly rose through the ranks and began running stores in the Washington, D.C. area as manager of corporate operations. There, he learned the important skill (alongside the rest of the restaurant industry) of managing staff during a global pandemic and subsequent tough labor market.

“[Concepts] in the pizza segment are some of the ones having the toughest time staffing delivery,” Fulton says. “A lot of it comes down to what kind of schedules and wages you can offer them, as it’s a

“From that point, taking that step into franchising is not as challenging as it seems, and I always had people who wanted to back me financially, who wanted to back restaurants but remain absentee,” he says.

While looking into opportunities towards the end of 2021, Fulton came across Jimmy John’s, which he saw a lot of potential in to grow across the East Coast.

“I wanted to join a concept that had a solid backing, and I liked it was owned by Inspire,” Fulton says. “I wanted the Inspire family and beliefs, advantages from a tech standpoint, and leading the competition in a sense.”

So in an impressive roll-up acquisition that took about five months, Fulton consolidated seven Jimmy John’s units—six in Maryland, and one in York, Pennsylvania—from three franchisees, which meant adjusting three separate teams to one set of systems, a challenge for even the most seasoned entrepreneur.

“It was definitely unique and challenging to consolidate three franchisees and close them. We bought all of them on the same day, so that was fun,” Fulton says. “But it’s definitely paid off, and we’re seeing quick positive movement. We’ll be a success story when it comes to Jimmy John’s in this section of Mary-

Jimmy John's has room to grow across the East Coast.

Join the Family

Be part of a brand and community built through earned experience with a culture of strong leadership, innovation, operations, and growth.

We have opportunities in select, prime markets and non-traditional venues for qualified restaurant operators and developers with varied incentives for development.*

• Part of Dine Brands Global, a publicly traded company and one of the largest full-service restaurant groups in the U.S.

• An iconic brand with an integrated franchise support system—operations, training, new restaurant openings, marketing, site selection, design, food innovation, and technology*

• Strong franchisee collaboration and feedback in various corporate committees to keep the brand relevant

*Subject to Franchise Agreement and Development Agreement Terms © 2023 IHOP Franchisor LLC. This is not an offer to sell a franchise. An offer can be made only by means of a Franchise Disclosure Document that has been registered and approved by the appropriate agency in your state, if your state requires such registration, or pursuant to availability and satisfaction of any exemptions from registration.

Katie Fogertey didn’t take your typical journey to Shake Shack’s C-suite. It might just be why the CFO has made such an impact during one of the most transformative times in brand history.

/ BY DANNY KLEIN

Shaking the Statu s Quo

KATIE FOGERTEY WAS ALREADY WELL KNOWN WITHIN SHAKE SHACK CIRCLES. As Goldman Sachs’ lead analyst covering restaurants, she wrote a bull report for the fast casual during a time when few pundits agreed. How investors saw the company, Fogertey felt, wasn’t reflective of Shake Shack’s unicorn position among quick-serves, or its growth potential. ¶ There were 297 systemwide Shacks at this time—end of Q2 2019. Today, there’s more than 430. ¶ Going back, Fogertey held a number of “big conversations,” she says, about how she came to that conviction and buy rating. It earned her a measure of notoriety. ¶ But soon enough, Fogertey was having an entirely different discussion around Shake Shack’s prospects. ¶ When COVID-19 arrived (good luck trying to model sales), Fogertey decided she wanted to get off the sidelines. “I wanted to be part of the solution and the path forward,” she says. “It felt like it was just something that was inside of me.”

Shake Shack’s chief financial officer positioned opened and Fogertey told her husband, “That’s the job I want.”

She called the next day and pitched herself.

For a brand founded in 2004 as a hot dog cart to benefit New York City’s Madison Square Park, spearheaded by hospitality guru Danny Meyer, Shake Shack has never quite operated within fast-food convention. Its original openings catered toward younger consumers and a vibe inclusive of a changing generation. The food took longer to come out. Quality, ethos, and experience were placed out front from the initial step to the first bite.

So the idea of tapping a CFO who had spent more than 15 years at Goldman Sachs and wasn’t carousel-ing around the industry C-suite ranks, fit Shake Shack’s disruptor DNA. “I have this very different background than others do, but coming in and them really embracing my ability to—and my desire— to statistically model out sales in a company that, frankly, is not very well understood by investors, there’s a lot of different drivers out there,” says Fogertey, who has a bachelor’s degree of business administration in accounting, finance, and international business from Washington University in St. Louis ( Meyer’s hometown, fittingly). “It’s been really exciting.”

And perhaps it was destined. Fogertey was a colicky baby growing up in St. Louis. The only song that calmed her? Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York.” She came up to the Big Apple in high school for an internship, took a college course at The New School, and knew exactly where she’d move when she got the chance.

Now, stepping into the CFO role in June of 2021, New York City—and Shake Shake—had a COVID crater to climb out of. The brand’s average weekly sales sunk to $32,000 out of the pandemic gates, in April 2020. They were now up $69,000. It was a fast evolution. If you took all 126 locations in the company’s comp base at the time and removed the bottom 25 performers, the brand’s same-store sales in April 2021 improved from negative 15 percent to just under 3 percent. Simply, the urban footprint presented major challenges. Its Theater District and Herald Square locations—two of the busiest stores ever opened—were fractions of themselves. Shake Shack’s Grand Central unit remained closed. Q1 comp sales, year-over-year, were up 5.7 percent overall; in April, they boomed 86 percent off the pandemic floor.

However, to get a sense of the full picture Fogertey took her skillset to, Shake Shack’s April performance was 15 percent lower than 2019 as suburban stores were flat. The brand hadn't quite yet recovered.

Meanwhile, an interesting dynamic was taking shape industry-wide.

By mid-May 2020, 25 of the largest public restaurant chains more than doubled aggregator cash holdings, from $9.4 billion pre-pandemic to nearly $20 billion, according to financial services company Rabobank. All of them carried more cash suddenly than pre-virus.

Shake Shack was definitely one of those. CEO Randy Garutti described the industry’s stock-piling as a “moment where no company was unsinkable.”

Shake Shack conducted an equity transaction and brought in a significant sum. The brand saw the convertible debt market reach “incredible opportunities,” Garruti said, and issue debt for $250 million at a zero percent coupon for seven years. As Garruti noted, “we may never see numbers like that in our lifetime.”

The result was Shake Shack fortressed its balance sheet in a way it never had before. Come May 2021, the brand had more than $400 million in cash. In Baird analyst David Tarantino’s words, it represented “probably more than [Shake Shack will] ever need to grow the business.”

Yet it was impossible for Tarantino, or any analyst for that matter, to guess just what Fogertey and Shake Shack had in store.

DEEP IMPACT

“They needed somebody who had a very strategic mindset,” Fogertey says of those early days on the job. “Having your classic CFO who might not be as strategic minded wasn’t going to do anybody any favors.”

Sure, Shake Shack could use more support and rigor in defining its finance function overall. But when Fogertey looked at the wider opportunity, there were ample places her forwardthinking vision could be levered at Shake Shack. She jumped into stores and spent weeks working with employees. “Getting to understand the company,” Fogertey says, “from soup to nuts.”

It was clear to Fogertey Shake Shack’s culture was its launch pad. “Thinking about the long-term growth trajectory, what we’re doing every day is not just providing great experiences,” she says. “We’re really building up our people from the ground up.”

We’ll get more into the labor side of Shake Shack later, but the operational transformation locked into place quickly. The brand’s omnichannel efforts predated COVID, as was the case for a plethora of quick-serves. However, the gravity of digital infrastructure was muted in comparison, to put it lightly. In addition to the chain’s heavy urban base, one of the reasons Shake Shack’s battle out the pandemic trough was so steep owed to many of its differentiators. The brand debuted as a social, hospitality-forward concept that encouraged guests to stick around. It wasn’t as transactional as some of its peers, or as streamlined across channels—core traits you might expect from a fast casual founded by a Michelin-starred restaurateur.

That urban drag coupled with a lack of drive-thrus plunged Shake Shack’s U.S. sales as much as 90 percent at some U.S. venues in the opening COVID weeks. The average of 70 percent felt closer to full-service counterparts than counter-service ones.

Beyond an easing in regulations and improved mobility as recovery progressed, Shake Shack turned course by finding its customers. And few have done it better. In March 2020, digital sales mixed 23 percent of the business. That climbed to 81 percent by May and settled to 59–62 percent by the final six months of 2020.

Of late, much of the chain’s gains result from in-store dining flooding back. People want to hang out in Shake Shacks again. And yet, this increased foot traffic layering on top of “dig-

ital channels that never existed a few years ago,” Garutti said in December, pushing the brand to optimistic heights. Shake Shack’s total revenue in Q4 rose 17.4 percent, year-over-year, to $238.5 million as same-store sales upped 5.1 percent.

Shake Shack’s future unfolds across new, dynamic buckets— the expansion of its delivery services, kiosk, digital, drive-thru,

and multiple format investments. The total addressable market for Shake Shack today versus 2019, frankly, isn’t comparable.

Digital and kiosk sales are up 330 percent since 2019, from $147 million to $494 million. Digital guests spend 20 percent more than traditional ones. They boast higher frequency and offer Shake Shack access to new occasions.

Fogertey refers to the movement as “migrating people into the omnichannel.”

“We want to make sure what we’re seeing is that they might be coming to the app sometimes, they might be coming into the Shack at other times, and we want to meet them wherever they are,” she says.

For Shake Shack, this meant leveraging and improving what was already built to provide a compelling guest experience. In Q3 of fiscal 2022, Shake Shack ballooned digital app purchasers by 40 percent, year-over-year ( more than a million app installs since the beginning of the calendar) From March 2022 forward, it gathered more than 4.5 million unique first-time digital app purchasers, feeding the base with offers like giving digital users first access to LTOs. Shake Shack’s digital guests spent, average, 25 percent more per visit than non-digital users that quarter, and digital mix was 36 percent of sales.

Switching lanes, Shake Shack launched direct delivery in March 21—a decision that triggered a 70 percent increase in delivery order volume through its app in one year. Also, going native allowed Shake Shack to put its best brand foot forward. “Our strategy in the delivery wars is to own the guest ordering, regardless of pickup or delivery mode, and ensure our guests have a uniquely Shake Shack experience, even if they order delivery and never walk into our Shack. The guest ordering experience is the best presentation of our full menu—we highlight imagery, descriptions and modifications a way that provides the optimal guest experience,” says Steph So, head of digital experience. “While third-party apps offer a wide range of restaurant choices and are a great way for guests to try Shake Shack the first time, they create a ‘sea of sameness’ with the number of restaurants surfaced to a user, and our unique brand voice and interactions are not able to shine through. We also want to offer our guests the best value, which we can control most directly on our channels, and be transparent with fees.”

Shake Shack first piloted nationwide delivery via its iOS app

“We want to make sure what we’re seeing is that they might be coming to the app sometimes, they might be coming into the Shack at other times, and we want to meet them wherever they are.”

in New York City and Miami. It then rolled nationwide as part of an exclusive deal with Uber Eats. That’s when the jump in delivery order volume took shape and led Shake Shack to plant firmer roots. The brand built out its technology development team in collaboration with Uber Eats fulfillment, allowing for more direct contact with guests, So says, and “ensuring the ultimate, frictionless experience.” Alongside, Shake Shack launched a mobile-first web redesign and introduced delivery in the Android Shake app as well as new payment options, including Apple Pay, Google Pay, and contactless options. The overall value proposition was a lure, too. “Our app menu is our lowest price menu compared to all nationwide delivery apps, and we don’t require subscription fees to access our low delivery fees,” So says. Fees don’t change, there’s no surge pricing, or menu markups. Shake Shack is rewarding direct guests in an effort to bolster its base and get personal. “We’ll regionalize their experience and target offers based on their behavior, which we cannot see if guests are ordering via third party,” So says.

For instance, if a guest is based in New York City, Shake Shack can share local events and relevant news, everything from chef collaborations, events, and new openings.

GETTING PHYSICAL

Returning to the point of in-store traffic, this might be where Shake Shack is most visibly evolving—inside and outside. Starting with the former, the brand in November committed to retrofitting all locations with kiosks by the end of 2023. At that point, roughly half of units had them. Fogertey says kiosks “are a really important part of our story right now,” and it’s easy to grasp where she’s coming from. On paper, they’re a great

the merchandising is. “We’re selling more LTOs,” Fogertey says. “We have more of a higher premium attach rate on those [ kiosk] channels.”

Spun another way, kiosks empower Shake Shack to optimize labor to other parts of its guest journey. They provide operators flexibility during peak traffic and staffing challenges.

Additionally, kiosks represent Shake Shack’s highest-margin channel, which doesn’t hurt, either. In restaurants where it has kiosks, about 75 percent of sales flow through kiosk and digital channels. As noted, digital plus kiosk mix 57 percent of total sales today for Shake Shack. In 2019, the figure was 26 percent. “We have the ‘Stand For Something Good [mantra],’” Fogertey says. “We’re hopeful the kiosks will make you stand not as long for something good.”

Shake Shack doesn’t generally lack for buzz. One trip to the Times Square store and the boisterous lines that wrap around, will prove that. But the reality is Shake Shack remains a brand relatively young in its growth journey.

Back in January 2020, ahead of the crisis, 60 percent of the burger chain’s domestic units were less than 3 years old. Twentyfour percent had been on the market for 12 months or less. The average age of restaurants across 163 U.S. corporate venues was 2.9 years. Twenty-three of Shake Shack’s 31 markets at the time boasted five or fewer locations. And this isn’t even getting into the global and licensing picture (the brand ended 2022 with 182 licensed Shacks and expects 25–30 openings in 2023)

The 430-plus global locations today cover 32 states, plus Washington, D.C., and 16 countries. Shake Shack opened 36 new domestic corporate stores last fiscal year, 22 of which landed in Q3. It debuted 33 licensed Shacks, 13 in the final period. There are 23 airport Shakes open worldwide; four roadside travel plaza spots, with three to five more on deck for this year. Ahead as well is Shake Shack’s first licensed opening with a resort partner in the Bahamas, at the Atlantis Resort.

In all, Shake Shack’s roadmap has a vast Atlas in front of it. Fogertey says the kiosks play a key role here as well, given they visually lay out the brand’s differentiators from the outset. What makes Shake Shack’s menu unique? Guests can see instead of read it.

A recent note from Fogertey’s past shop in Goldman Sachs expressed excitement over the brand’s “diversification of store formats and think this will be key in driving unit growth for the company.”

This sentiment, as much as any, illuminates Shake Shack’s promise. COVID and all of its disruption, as well as the brand’s relatively small footprint compared to its overall projection, means the future is rife for innovation.

return on capital. You can put four to five-plus in each location and take out cash registers (there will always be at least one of those, Fogertey says, for guests who use cash or for the sake of alcohol purchases). The brand can redirect labor within stores and appreciate a nice lift on ticket sales given how superior

The fast casual launched “Shack Track” at the start of the pandemic in response to the digital boom. “Many of the fast pivots in the early days of the pandemic soon became permanent functions,” Fogertey says. And this included implementing multi-channel delivery, enhancing digital pre-ordering, and expanding Shake Shack’s fulfillment capabilities. Shack Track, dressed down, is the brand’s digital pre-ordering and fulfillment experience. It manifests across pickup shelves, curbside pickup, pickup windows, and more. The need to enhance the physi-

SHAKE SHACK'S ASSET EVOLUTION MIGHT BE THE MOST VIVID PART OF ITS JOURNEY FORWARD.

cal restaurant to meet the needs of digital was so important to Shake Shack, Fogertey says, that all new restaurants the company opens now have some aspect of Shack Track.

A resounding illustration is Shake Shack’s drive-thrus. There were 11 open to start 2023, nine of which arrived in 2022. Ten to 15 more are expected for 2023.

Shake Shack is targeting drive-thru economics of $4 million-plus average-unit volumes, $2.4–$3 million build costs, and store-level operating profit margin on par or better than company averages. The higher development cost of drive-thrus, coupled with inflationary pressures, drove Shake Shack’s 2022 class up about 15 percent, year-over-year. Last year, total Shack net build costs were an estimated $2.4 million, above the historical $2–2.1 million.

Garutti, however, wasn’t fazed. “Some of the best sites we’ve ever had will be there for decades to come because we chose to invest. That’s how we’re thinking about drive-thru,” he said in January.

Shake Shack generally grows across three buckets: the standard that’s been erected hundreds of times at around $2 million; small-format units under 3,000 square feet that target dense urban environments, food courts, and higher traffic suburban locations (this is where the nontraditional business is unfolding); and now, drive-thrus.

What’s intriguing about the drive-thru is how it’s enabled Shake Shack to rethink its market density. Since 2021, the company opened two stores in Orlando less than a mile apart—a drive-thru in Vineland Pointe and a food court in Orlando Premium Outlets. The drive-thru served an audience where 45 percent of guests were local, living within 10 miles. It generated $86,000 in average weekly sales and $4.5 AUV. The location recorded about 20 percent store-level operating profit margin in Q4 as well.

The food court spot, however, greeted less than 15 percent of guests who lived within that same radius. Still, the store turned in average-weekly sales of $75,000 and $3.9 million AUV. Operating profit margin was 35 percent.

Simply, having a drive-thru format in the arsenal offered Shake Shack the chance to serve a new guest and increase the sales opportunity for a small target area. It’s representative, Fogertey says, of how the brand views ultimate market expansion as it right-sizes formats to each location.

The final calculation: Shake Shack pulled $8.5 million of sales in less than a mile.

Fogertey adds the roadside angle is one that shouldn’t be slept on. They’ve given Shake Shack another chance to steamroll the status quo. “People are so excited when they’re going to the Jersey Shore, or wherever they’re going, and they stop and they say, ‘oh my gosh, I can eat at Shake Shack here?’” she says. “The lines at these places are really, really big, and we’re just providing them an elevated experience that they wouldn’t be able to get otherwise.”

One of Fogertey’s first decisions as CFO was to set up a business intelligence unit so Shake Shack could study and analyze factors driving success, not just in sales, but also in real estate. “That’s just an important element, baseline, for scale,” she says.

The result is what you’re seeing across all of these designs—a deliberate, data-driven approach to fitting Shake Shack where it wants to expand. And when the brand gets there, it’s going to deploy customer relationships and tools, like kiosks, to get the message across.

“We’re going to be leaning on those kinds of things that make us truly differentiated and special,” she says, referencing the brand’s premium, no hormone, no antibiotic products and culinary spins, like white truffle, “because I think that’s the key to continuing to grow our sales. And make sure we stay relevant and that consumers keep us in their mindset.”

BUILDING FROM WITHIN

Shake Shack raised its starting wages more than 20 percent since 2019. The company earned a 100 percent score on Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index (fourth straight year) and hosted a biannual leadership retreat in May to develop more than 1,000 employees. This past year, 52 percent of overall hires were women; 81 percent people of color. Fifty-five percent of promotions were women and 77 percent people of color.

Over the past couple of years, Shake Shack expanded its Shift Up platform, which is a leadership development initiative that provides shift managers with tools to advance to managers. The brand doubled the number of graduates from the ongoing cohort. Additionally, GMs are offered equity grants.

There’s a lot going on behind the curtain, Fogertey says.

On a granular level, the brand offers about $15 per hour as an average national starting wage and invests in diversity and inclusion in part through a formal program called, “All In,” which housed Shake Shack’s “Stand Together Series in June 2020.” The online platform enabled employees to share stories and included 36 independent speakers at all levels. More than 2,000 people participated as the company addressed social issues and broader themes, such as how to overcome dependencies and racial issues. Shift Up is a pillar of All In. Employees asked for a more defined career ladder and the skills to climb it, so Shake Shack invented the 18-week paid development option with the goal of eventual promotion within Shake Shack’s corporate structure.

Shake Shack recently expanded benefits to include mental health resources and now provides access to an Employee Assistance Program (eap) to the entire company upon hire. Shake Shack also continues to explore alternatives to a traditional workweek. Throughout 2018 and 2019, it launched and piloted a four-day setup in select stores. It’s currently testing with hourly employees and managers along the West Coast.

All of these efforts, Fogertey said, are what struck her most coming over. “The thought of what Shake Shack was from the outside looking in, you think about this great growth opportunity, you think of amazing burgers, amazing shakes, and everything, but when you’re there, and you see the magic of how this company really supports its people,” she says, “that’s eye-opening.” q

Danny Klein is the editorial director of QSR and FSR. He can be reached at dklein@wtwhmedia.com

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OPERATORS ARE CLAMORING TO CUT EXPENSES THROUGH VALUE ENGINEERING MENU ITEMS, LEVERAGING SUPPLIER RELATIONSHIPS, AND MORE.

The restaurant industry continues to prove how resilient it is in tumultuous climates, most recently (and obviously) during the pandemic. From COVID-mandated closures and labor shortages to beefing up off-premises channels, operators have navigated a seemingly never-ending cascade of hurdles—a trend that appears to be continuing. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?

But when the U.S. inflation rate hit 9.1 percent in June 2022, even non-alarmists took note and began to panic. For context, the average inflation rate in 2021 was about 4.7 percent. Consumer prices for all items rose 6.5 percent from December 2021 to December 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, with food categories experiencing even higher inflation.

Prices for food at home increased 13.5 percent for the year ended August 2022—the largest 12-month percentage increase since the period ending March 1979. Meanwhile, prices for food away from home increased 8 percent in

the period ended August 2022, the largest over-the-year percentage increase since an 8.4-percent jump in October 1981. And with a looming economic downturn, consumers began cutting back on restaurant spending, all while restaurants continued dealing with headwinds coming from all directions.

For example, restaurants experienced supply chain shortages in core items such as eggs and poultry in 2022, but niche items were also disrupted, leaving restaurants scrambling to find cost-effective menu item replacements, says Zach Goldstein, CEO of restaurant loyalty platform Thanx.

“The restaurant industry supply chain faced critical disruptions which resulted in huge COGS [cost of goods sold ] increases, requiring upheavals in operations including changes in suppliers and price increases at the customer level,” he adds.

Yet, passing those costs along to customers by increasing menu prices should be a restaurant’s last resort, says Paul Reynish, CEO of Gong cha. The bubble tea brand managed to keep prices stable in 2022 by leveraging volume growth to negotiate lower costs with suppliers. Gong cha grew its store count by 17 percent yearly since 2020, adding nearly 750 stores globally, and increased its revenue by 20 percent last year alone, selling 108 million bubble teas.

LEVERAGING SUPPLIERS AND VALUE ENGINEERING MENUS

For Reynish, it boils down to the brand’s long-term relationships with suppliers, many of which have partnered with the brand since it had 50 stores. “Now we have 2,000 [stores], and they’ve grown their factories, lines, and teams, and we’ve seen that loyalty over time as they’ve helped us keep our wholesale prices low, for the most part,” Reynish says.

While fuel, transportation, and labor costs have inevitably trended higher during the last couple years, the value discounts Gong cha has received allowed the brand to offer consistent wholesale prices to franchisees.

Another key to Gong cha’s success is value engineering new products at strategic price points. Can a new menu item main-

tain high quality, but use one less ingredient and have the same flavor impact?

“Menu innovation has been huge for us. We make sure we have a menu that is balanced to maintain profitability, and therefore not put prices up,” Reynish says.

For example, the brand’s new peach-based tea can be served in various formats: A regular tea, a frozen beverage, and a smoothie. Using one flavor profile in three different ways spreads out the daypart impact, he notes.

“Peach is not really well known or a high-index flavor, but we managed to work with suppliers and get real fruit by going to them, and we said, ‘How do we invent something we haven’t been doing before using peach as our core flavor?’” says Reynish, plus it’s a good way to increase volume while exciting customers with new products.

At the same time, promoting value beverages within stores and in the media—such as ice-based drinks—also helps maintain lower prices, he adds.

Maximizing every dollar spent on food costs has become more important than ever, and restaurants should keep an eye on food waste and cross-utilize products whenever possible, adds Yury Krasilosky, executive chef of Barilla America’s Foodservice R&D. “These days, operators have to make every ounce of protein and produce count [ by] using what’s in season in the produce category and other items across the menu.”

For example, adding steak cuts and chops on winter menus and braising cuts in the summer can reduce costs and decrease the likelihood of product delays or shortages, notes Doug McNicholl, North America regional manager for Australian Beef & Lamb. “Consider cuts ‘outside the middle’ for both lamb and beef, where supplies are more available and operators can find value,” he says.

A word of caution: Beef supply from the U.S. will likely be constrained in 2023 and 2024, a leftover impact from droughts across the middle and midwestern parts of the U.S., which caused ranchers to offload cattle due to lack of grass, McNicholl says. Wise operators will keep alternatives in mind.

GONG CHA MANAGED TO KEEP PRICES STABLE BY LEVERAGING VOLUME GROWTH TO NEGOTIATE LOWER COSTS WITH SUPPLIERS.

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DRIVING SALES WITH LOYALTY AND DATA

If increasing menu item prices is unavoidable, restaurants can choose to offer a loyalty perk to offset the impact for customers, Goldstein says, or place at-risk menu items on a “VIP-only” menu—but it all depends on knowing who your guest is and what kinds of rewards they value most.

Analyzing guest behaviors and tracking that data has become a crucial way many restaurants make decisions. Tailoring loyalty programs to individual guests’ behaviors is the next step.

“Customers have come to expect hyper-personalization, so rewarding vegan guests with a free meat item or gluten-free guests with a bread-based item are mistakes brands cannot

afford to make to retain customers,” Goldstein advises.

“Giving guests options in how they can redeem accrued loyalty progress allows customers to choose perks that they value the most,” he continues. “For some guests, that may be a free item or dollar-off discount. However, for customers who value their time or the feeling of exclusivity, a ‘skip the line’ pass or access to a hidden menu item rewards customers without overdiscounting.”

Restaurant brands, as well as operators, should test all offers and incentives to make sure they’re not losing money. “You could be giving away a $5 off promotion when a $3 off works just as effectively, or perhaps a campaign does not need a discount attached at all to drive engagement,” he says.

Additionally, integrating non-discount rewards into loyalty programs can have a significant impact. After launching a VIP hidden menu, one of Thanx’s restaurant clients experienced a 275 percent increase in customer engagement, Goldstein notes.

Meanwhile, Gong cha began rolling out ordering kiosks in South Korea that allow the brand to efficiently track what products guests are ordering most, plus how often guests are coming in and their average tickets.

The company also recently introduced a metric tool called CUPS, which stands for cleanliness, will “you” come back, product quality and presentation, and service. A QR code on receipts leads customers to a simple eight-question survey and rewards them for completing the task with a free topping on their next drink.

The brand receives more than 200 CUPS customer feedback datasets per month, per store in Japan, where there are 130 Gong cha stores.

“Best-in-class restaurants do maybe two mystery shops per week per store, which is eight data points,” Reynish says. “With such a dipstick analysis, it’s hard to drive any true trends you can act on. Whereas if you listen to customers and get that many people, you can really create macro trends and use that data to become a bigger business and brand.”

The brand plans to roll CUPS out to Australia, the U.K, California, Mexico, and more regions in the near future, Reynish says. But, he adds, there’s nothing worse than getting bogged down with a lot of data and not knowing what to do with it.

“At their core, the value of loyalty programs is to capture and activate guest data at scale, helping to identify your most valuable customers and what their behaviors are. If you know who these guests are and what they are most likely to order, you can take action in the face of supply chain disruptions,” Goldstein adds. q

Callie Evergreen is a Senior Editor at QSR. She can be reached at cevergreen@ wtwhmedia.com TECH, LIKE KIOSKS AND QR CODES ON RECEIPTS, CAN HELP BRANDS BALANCE COSTS.

/ BY SHERRI KIMES

buzzing

polled yet surface—the Perhaps has happy hour. Dressed down, restaurants adjust pricing based on a specific ( the bar ) the reality of dynamic

But pricing is a lot more nuanced, and far more vital today given what’s taking shape exter-

it’s

nally from an inflation angle.

All said, we wanted to know how operators defined the method, where they saw potential, and what challenges they foresaw. Do they find it likely dynamic pricing is headed for widespread adoption?

Before getting into results, let’s start with the bigger picture. Dynamic pricing has become quite the hot term, but what exactly is it (beyond happy hour)?

topic plenty but also no shortage opportunity.

When I go back and look at pricing from a revenue management perspective—something I’ve been doing for over 30 years—there are two fundamental pricing questions that need to be addressed: One, what prices should be charged? And two, how to determine who pays what prices? Answers to both are equally important, but I would argue that even if the prices aren’t exactly optimal, a company can achieve significant revenue increases from having a reasonable (as in OK ) set of prices if they’re able to do a good job of segmenting their customers, as in determining who gets which price.

Let’s begin with what prices should be charged. That’s essentially what dynamic pricing is all about. So, what is it? We asked just that question. Pretty much everyone thought that dynamic pricing means prices vary based on demand, but they had all sorts of thoughts on what that meant. The responses ranged from quite general (“changing prices based on a number of factors”) to quite specific (“personalized prices … served up to a consumer.”)

I decided to ask some of the dynamic pricing companies what their definitions were. Carl Orsbourn and Ashwin Kamlani of Juicer told me “dynamic pricing is ensuring the right price at the right time for each sales channel to optimize a restaurant’s profitability and the guest experience,” while Colin Webb, from Sauce, explained “dynamic pricing is the practice of updating prices in response to variable inputs.” Revenue Management Solutions’ Jana Zschieschang stated, “dynamic pricing is the process of adjusting prices based on customer demand.” Javier Espinosa of DynamEat said they consider dynamic pricing to be a strategy in which every item on the menu is priced differently “depending on factors like demand level or customer profile in order to obtain the maximum profitability while driving demand.”

Axel Hellman told me Priceff considers dynamic pricing to be “fully automated pricing based on real time demand and available capacity.”

Essentially, dynamic pricing is all about prices varying based on demand. The concept makes sense, but how is it done? Specifically, one, how are the prices determined, two, how frequently do they change, and three, how are they communicated to customers?

HOW ARE PRICES DETERMINED?

The dynamic pricing companies mentioned above tend to use a combination of forecasting and price elasticity to determine the “optimal” price for each menu item.

That being said, it’s not always 100 percent necessary to have the “optimal” prices. For example, up until a few years ago, hotels and airlines didn’t even have optimal prices, but instead had a range of prices they systematically opened and closed based on demand. They were also extremely effective at using rate fences to segment their customers.

HOW FREQUENTLY ARE PRICES CHANGED?

Opinion on the frequency of changes also varied. For example, in a LinkedIn poll we conducted, 35 percent of 274 respondents opted for hourly price changes, about a quarter for daily changes, about a sixth for weekly changes, and another quarter for monthly price changes. Similarly, in the survey, clearly, there’s a variety of opinion.

Theoretically, prices can be changed as frequently as a restaurant wants to change them, but in practice, they’re usually changing at most a few times a day. For example, with DynamEat, restaurants can change prices as many times as they want, but most opt to change them by meal period. At Juicer, prices change at most a few times a day, while at Sauce it largely depends on what the restaurant group wants. Priceff changes their delivery prices every 10 minutes while at Revenue Management Solutions, they typically change prices several times a year.

HOW ARE PRICES COMMUNICATED TO CUSTOMERS?

Let’s go back to the fundamental pricing questions of revenue management. The first question was about determining which prices to charge and the second is on determining which customers pay the different prices.

The answer to the first is more based on math (forecasting, elasticity, and the like) while the answer to the second is more based on market segmentation and consumer psychology. This segmentation can be done by things like day of week, time of day, by meal period, by loyalty status, and by frequency of purchase. Essentially these are the reasons why customers pay different prices (in revenue management, we refer to these as rate fences). When there isn’t a particular reason—other than high or low demand—why customers pay different prices, customers may view the prices as unfair and choose not to patronize that restaurant. As the airline and hotel industries have learned, the way different prices are communicated to their customers so that guests have some control over the price they pay is crucial for the success of dynamic pricing and revenue management.

THE WHY OF DYNAMIC PRICING

So, in general, dynamic pricing is all about prices varying based on demand. OK, but why would a restaurant adopt the approach? Given my experience in the hotel and other industries, I can think of many reasons, but decided to ask the survey respondents what they thought. Not surprisingly, the top reason (92 percent of respondents) was to increase revenue. But reasons No. 2 and No. 3 might surprise you.

The second-most chosen response (82 percent) was to spread demand to slower periods, while the third was to better manage capacity (70 percent). To me, this indicates a good understanding of the fact dynamic pricing is not just about increasing prices during busy periods.

REASON NO. 1: INCREASE REVENUE

The hotel and airline industries typically achieve 3–5 percent revenue gains with revenue management and dynamic pricing. Dolan and Simon, in their cross-industry study on pricing,

DYNAMIC PRICING IS ALL ABOUT PRICES VARYING BASED ON DEMAND

found a 1 percent increase in price led to a 12 percent increase in profit. If you can maintain your current sales volume, the profit potential is even higher.

Let’s take a look at the revenue gains some of the pricing companies have been able to achieve. Koti Pizza achieved 6 percent increase in revenue by using Priceff’s dynamic pricing for delivery. DynamEat, in its work with a multi-unit restaurant chain, was able to increase the margin for dinner by about 15 percent without reducing volume. Similarly, Piada was able to double delivery margins by using Sauce Pricing.

Given the experience of the airline, hotel, cruise line, and multiple other industries, I am confident that appropriate use of dynamic pricing will lead to increased revenue and profit. Please note my use of the term “appropriate.” Appropriate entails increasing profit without affecting customer satisfaction. As Orsbourn of Juicer states, “surge pricing is not the best way to describe how dynamic pricing can help restaurants. Setting guard-rails on upper and lower thresholds for prices is important so that the guest experience isn’t impacted negatively through the introduction of this functionality.”

REASONS NO. 2 AND 3: USE PRICE TO HELP SPREAD DEMAND

I’ve lumped reasons No. 2 (spread demand to slow periods) and No. 3 ( better capacity management) together since they are essentially the same. For instance, as one respondent stated, “dynamic pricing changes based on a range of factors selected by management to take advantage of high demand and also generate increased interest in low demand. This could relate to times of day, menu items, seating locations or more.” Similarly, another respondent said, “pricing that fluctuates according to demand. Lower prices when demand is low. Higher pricing when demand is high.”

Restaurant demand varies wildly throughout the day and by day of week. At times, demand is so high the kitchen can’t keep up. Rather than taking the risk of dissatisfying customers whose orders can’t be fulfilled in a timely fashion, some operators turn off, or throttle, some of their distribution channels (i.e. online orders, takeout orders) to reduce demand to a manageable level. Throttling has become so widespread it’s even offered by providers such as Olo, Toast, and QSR Automations. Think about it. By throttling, we’re turning away customers who obviously want to patronize our business. As Orsbourn says, “Most restaurants don’t know their optimal capacity. It is left to throttling switches which may not be as informed in their level setting as they should be. Even more concerning, is when throttling switches don’t get switched back on. There has to be a better way to curtail orders than to just switch off entire sales channels—we believe dynamic price changes are one such approach.”

I agree, as do the survey respondents, that this is an area where dynamic pricing can help with.

What can we do to get them to dine with us during slower periods? Isn’t that exactly what restaurants have been doing with happy hour and early bird specials for years? Dynamic pricing is just adding a twist—think of it as “happy hour on steroids.” Happy hours and early bird specials work, but what about

TOP REASONS RESPONDENTS GAVE:

92 % say increased revenue

other slow periods. Would dynamic pricing work? The answer is a resounding “yes.” In a 2004 study, Alex Susskind and his colleagues found 75 percent of customers were willing to switch to an off-peak demand if given an incentive to do so. The question then becomes one of what that incentive should be. That’s where dynamic pricing arrives.

Another question is whether dynamic pricing can actually help spread out demand. At Koti Pizza, a Harvard study showed the brand was able to reduce within-week demand variation by 10 percent while achieving a 6 percent revenue increase along with a 10 percent increase in transaction orders.

AVOIDING CANNIBALIZATION

82 % to spread demand to slower periods

How can you make sure that you don’t cannibalize your business during busy periods?

One of the concerns operators often have with dynamic pricing is whether offering lower prices to certain customers or at certain times will cause customers who would normally be willing to dine at full price to avail themselves of the discounts.

The hotel and airline industries have faced a similar issue and use rate fences to help distinguish which customers can get the lower prices. With Marriott, customers have to either “do” something or “be” something in order to get a lower rate. Examples of “doing” something might be things like booking for a slow night or opting for a non-refundable reservation. On the other hand, “being” something might include things like being a member of the loyalty program, being over 60 or working for a certain company. By using these rate fences, they have been able to effectively reduce cannibalization. Rate fences can not only help to reduce cannibalization, but can also answer the second fundamental pricing question: how should you determine which customers pay which price?

70 % say to manage capacity

Restaurants can adopt a similar strategy. “Doing” something might be placing an order ahead of time or choosing to dine during a slow period. “Being” something could be being

a member of the restaurant’s loyalty program or be using a targeted promotion.

BACK TO THE WHY?

So, why should restaurants adopt dynamic pricing? The survey respondents have spoken: one, so you can increase revenue and two, so you can better spread demand to your off-peak periods. By doing so, you will be able to increase revenue and profit for your restaurant.

THE WHERE OF DYNAMIC PRICING

I wanted to know which ordering channels respondents thought had the most potential for dynamic pricing as well as which revenue streams they considered to be the most likely.

ORDERING CHANNELS

Not surprisingly, digital orders led the way for ordering methods (89 percent of respondents), followed by kiosks (51 percent), and menuboards (42 percent). Why do I say not surprisingly? Well, according to the Square 2022 Future of Restaurants report, 88 percent of operators would consider exchanging physical menus for digital and according to The National Restaurant Association, operators in all six segments think digital and QR menus will become more common in the future.

Why the interest in digital? The answer is pretty straightforward. Depending on the POS system used, it can be relatively straightforward for a restaurant to change prices. But, it’s more than that. By having the wealth of data digital menus can provide, operators can more clearly understand demand variations and be able to quickly react to these variations by changing prices. As mentioned before, it’s not always just about raising prices, but lowering prices may attract customers to slower periods. This coupled with an effective loyalty program and/or messaging platform can make it even more successful.

Another interesting trend is the growth in digital orders. During the pandemic, digital orders more than doubled until they accounted for about a third of all orders. Lest you think that was a short-term phenomenon, digital orders still account for about a third of all orders. I saw a similar trend in Singapore.

Would digital menus work for all segments? Well, it depends. According to the Association, two-thirds of consumers prefer paper menus in a table-service menu. But, in Europe, a large percentage of menus in full-service restaurants are digital.

Yet what about consumers and digital menus? What do customers think of digital menus? Per the Association study, 58 percent of consumers said they would access a menu with a QR code and 64 percent would order using an app. Not surprisingly, younger people are even more open to this tech-driven approach. And, according to Square, 11 percent of consumers would avoid a restaurant without a digital menu.

Based on all of this, it makes sense digital would be considered the most likely ordering channel for dynamic pricing.

Kiosks and menuboards were also commonly mentioned areas. Again, depending upon the POS system, it’s possible to change prices on kiosks and electronic menuboards. Addi-

tionally, kiosks are popular with consumers. Paytronix says 79 percent of customers prefer to order from kiosks or online rather than from staff. It’s not just for fast food, either. About half of customers prefer this for casual dining and about 20 percent prefer it for fine dining.

REVENUE STREAMS

We asked a similar question about which revenue streams held the most potential for dynamic pricing. Again, not surprisingly, delivery was top (86 percent) followed by curbside and drivethru (62 percent each)

This makes sense since the majority of delivery orders are made digitally. In addition, delivery customers tend to be driven by their desire for convenience and as a result are often less price sensitive. But, other than for the pizza segment, delivery is not the dominant revenue stream for most restaurants. In fact, it only accounts for about 10 percent of the overall restaurant market. Still, it’s a great place to start. It’s not surprising that many of the dynamic pricing providers have focused in on this area.

Curbside and drive-thru were also considered to be promising channels. Interestingly, of the 33 percent of orders that were digital, over half were for takeout as opposed to delivery and curbside.

THE TOP THREE

We also asked respondents to rank the areas they felt had the most potential for dynamic pricing. Delivery was No. 1 (42 percent of respondents ranked it first), followed closely by digital (40 percent) and menuboards (12 percent)

Digital ordering is definitely not limited to delivery. In fact, in much of Europa and Asia, digital menus are quite commonplace, even in full-service restaurants. Are digital menus likely to be more widely adopted in the U.S.? Well, according to recent studies, the trend has already started. While I’m talking about digital menus, I want to emphasize that given some customers prefer paper menus, it’s important to give them a choice. For those customers who don’t want to order digitally, have traditional menus available.

Digital menus not only allow you to vary prices, but also give you the opportunity to dynamically change your menu. Think about this. During busy periods, you might be able to reduce the menu size so that you are better able to leverage your kitchen capacity and also use some simple menu design tools to help drive customers to your more profitable items. DynamEat does just this. During busy periods, an operator can choose to offer a reduced menu with an emphasis on high margin items and on menu items that don’t take too long to prepare.

The net result of this is not only one of increased profit, but also allowing the restaurant to more effectively leverage their availability capacity.

In sum, there’s a lot to consider in regard to dynamic pricing. It’s complexity, however, shouldn’t limit its potential. But there is a thoughtful place to begin and no one way to go about it. You just have to get started. q

Sherri Kimes is an Emeritus Professor at Hotel School at Cornell and specializes in pricing and revenue management. She is passionate about helping restaurants increase profitability.

Off-premises and drive-thru programs are changing quickly.

■ BY KARA PHELPS

Expanding Off-Premises Options

To stay competitive, operators are adapting to new guest behavior.

On top of that, some restaurants dealing with current ongoing labor shortages have gone off-premises only—appealing to diners looking to get meals quickly without the additional obstacles of a shortstaffed location. “Recent data reveals that

The last few years saw an explosion of growth in off-premises dining. According to The NPD Group, drive-thru orders increased by 20 percent from February 2020 through February 2022. The onset of COVID-19 and related lockdowns no doubt contributed to this behavior—after all, many locations saw dining rooms close and 100 percent of traffic routed through the drive thru. The pandemic also increased the demand for other ways to order and dine, from graband-go meals and mobile ordering to third-party delivery, fast lanes, and AI recognition. Today’s guest behavior patterns continue to shift.

“Customers have incorporated off-premise dining into their regular habits, and restaurants have evolved their operations accordingly to meet customer needs by increasing how customers can interact with their concepts and emphasizing operational quality,” says Ryan Parietti, head of U.S. restaurants at DoorDash

Even though restrictions on indoor gathering have subsided and consumers have returned to the dining room, the offpremise dining experience is still an enticing one. “Many consumers still expect the flexibility of off-site dining to remain an option,” says Matthew Dieden, director of product marketing at HungerRush .

79 percent of customers say they should be able to use technology to place food orders to lessen the labor burden for restaurants,” Dieden says. “Whether or not the labor shortage improves, online ordering has become an expected feature of modern restaurants, and those who have invested in a tech stack enabling off-premises ordering will generate significantly more revenue than those that haven’t.”

Consumers appreciate—and expect— a wide variety of options for ordering, pickup, and dining. Restaurant operators are searching for ways to optimize their businesses for higher volumes of traffic in certain areas. “Operators are striving to be better, faster, and friendlier, while managing significantly higher volumes and more touchpoints than ever before,” says Jason Bertellotti, president of HME Hospitality & Specialty Communications.

“It’s no longer just about serving customers in the lane quickly and efficiently, but also about meeting service expectations at every additional touchpoint like curbside and mobile pickup spots.” Before 2020, these curbside and mobile pickup spots were less common—if a restaurant brand

“Many consumers still expect the flexibility of off-site dining to remain an option.”

DoorDash

decided to implement them, they were often considered an optional perk for customers. Today, however, curbside and mobile pickup spots—and even secure food lockers—play a critical role in successful drive-thru operations.

The pandemic also saw the meteoric rise of third-party delivery services, which consumers have also folded into their everyday lives. As the use of thirdparty delivery increases, restaurants are adapting to better serve their customers. “If delivery service provider (DSP) pickups are done at the drive thru, as opposed to in-store, this can increase drive-thru wait times for drive-thru customers,” says Jay Burdette, senior director at Panasonic Connect of North America . “At the drive thru, it’s all about wait time and order accuracy. Automation, AI augmentation, and effective line-busting are ways to handle DSP pickups, separately, and they can all be part of a successful operation.”

To accommodate higher traffic, many restaurant locations are adding new drivethru windows. “I believe the big story with drive-thru windows since COVID is the addition of additional windows per store to accommodate delivery services and customers ordering through apps. Both of these ordering platforms increased dramatically during COVID,” says Anna Ellis, sales and marketing manager at Ready Access. “Inline concepts that didn’t have a drive thru are adding walkup service. Drive-thru concepts that had one window are now adding two, three, or even four.”

Ellis says the additional windows take pressure off traffic in the drive thru. They also allow restaurants to close the dining room if staffing is limited.

“Many of our clients are investing more in the drive thru, dedicating room for online orders, adding technology, finding opportunities to speed up service, and prioritizing their core products,” says Doug Watson, president and CEO of The Howard Company. “In addition, almost every restaurant is considering a drive thru even if they never have before.”

New store design is also changing as consumer behavior evolves. “Building on lessons learned from the pandemic,

stores are being designed with a smaller footprint than pre-COVID, and the area that is being removed is the dine-in area,” says Hector Vallejo, chief revenue officer, Specialty Fenestration Group at Quikserv. “Off-site and modular construction is allowing brands to accelerate store growth by expanding quickly. A compact drive-thru only location maximizes profit per square foot with multiple delivery points, including double drive-thru lanes and double pick-up windows.”

Smaller stores with a drive-thru and pickup window also allow more flexibility in terms of their location, especially in areas with limited real estate. In fact, several chains have restaurants that are walkup and drive-thru-only with no dining areas. Chipotle’s Chipotlanes, for example, do not have menuboards. Instead, customers order through the app and simply pick up their food at the window.

“Whether customers are ordering on

an app to retrieve their order at a designated pickup lane, or a DSP is utilizing the drive thru to deliver the order in a timely manner, the key component is still convenience and efficiency,” says Megan Zeller, senior director of business development at Peerless-AV. “This also increases the need for quick-service restaurants to be quick and accurate, as they are now juggling multiple sources of order placement. However, the use of mobile or DSP ordering has the additional advantage of orders being placed ahead of pickup, giving quickservice restaurants more capacity to take orders from the drive-thru or inside the establishment since they have the ability to prepare pickup requests ahead of time.”

As consumers experience the more frictionless and personalized elements of mobile and third-party ordering, they expect to see the same in the drive thru. “These order journeys should maintain the same levels of ease and convenience by leveraging technology at key touchpoints,” says Matthew Simpson, head of new product and design at Coates Group “A dynamic CMS that allows for targeted messaging, identification through loyalty, and contactless payment are just a few ways in which the drive-thru can offer the same conveniences of a mobile order-

“Almost every restaurant is considering a drive thru even if they never have before.”

NEXEO takes communication beyond the drive-thru and into key areas of your restaurant, increases efficiency with voice commands and group conversations, and seamlessly supports voice AI ordering. And that’s just the beginning.

ing experience.”

Mobile ordering can also be leveraged to improve in-store wait times. “There is a need to enhance technology to facilitate mobile orders in a drive-thru lane and instore pickup,” Simpson says. “This eliminates the frustration of ordering ahead and still facing extended wait times during pickup.”

Consumers are now accustomed to entering stores for a short period of time, picking up their order, and leaving. They expect their order to be ready and accurate before they arrive, without waiting in the drive-thru lane. “Drive thrus are no longer the only option for rapid order delivery, and quick-service restaurant brands have had to contend with investing resources in making sure that online orders and deliveries are equally as efficient for customers,” says Chloé Bisiaux, director of products at Acrelec.

With the high level of efficiency required in the front of the house, topnotch back-of-house execution is more important than ever. Staff won’t have an

opportunity to fix an incorrect order if it’s routed through a third-party service, or if the customer grabs it and immediately leaves the premises. Customer satisfaction takes a dive, and the customer may request a full refund. “Restaurants have the opportunity to make errors right immediately within the dining room, but with takeout, everything needs to be right before an order leaves the kitchen,” Parietti says. “There are a number of steps that restaurants are taking to ensure this, including checking off items on receipts as they’re packaged, confirming drinks and desserts are included with pickup, experimenting with different packaging options, and ensuring that orders are fulfilled within the target wait time.”

Today’s variety of off-premises order-

ing options add operational complexity, but they also create new opportunities for brands to interact with customers. Even when customers don’t want to leave the comfort of their home or vehicle—or when they’re simply too busy to eat in the dining room—they can still enjoy a meal from their favorite restaurant. “Mobile ordering and third-party delivery are here to stay,” says Scott Mullica, director of product management at HME Hospitality & Specialty Communications. “It’s important to track and measure these touchpoints like we do with other areas of the drivethru. Designate waiting areas for delivery drivers, track their wait times, and set up timer-to-headset alerts to notify your crew when the delivery driver arrives. The faster you’re able to get delivery drivers on their way, the better the experience for your customers and the better your reputation with delivery services. Adapting to these channels of service can be intimidating, but when executed well, it gives you an opportunity to reach more customers and connect with them in a new way.” SC

Acrelec

“Mobile ordering and third-party delivery are here to stay.”

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MORE revenue. MORE upsell. MORE expertise.

Bring operational efficiencies to your restaurant and elevate your self-ordering experience with ACRELEC’s kiosk solutions, equipped with Glory Cash Payment Systems. The industry leader with over 80,000 installations worldwide, ACRELEC’s innovative technology and personalized AI-driven ordering optimizes your customer journey while increasing the average check by up to 30% more.

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Copyright 2021 Acrelec. All rights reserved.

Better Tech, Better Data

New innovations are improving efficiency, order accuracy, and overall success.

The success of a drive-thru or offpremises program has always hinged on efficiency and order accuracy. Guests need to receive their order quickly, and it needs to be correct. These basics have only become more critical in recent years—and with the growth of contactless customer interaction, operations continue to get more complex, even as customers expect more seamless, per-

sonalized experiences. Quick-service restaurant operators are rising to these challenges with the support of innovative technology.

“User experience is a core driver of investment, with complementary technology playing a crucial role in reducing friction in the customer journey as people return to the same drive-thru environment but with new expectations following the pandemic,” says Matthew Simpson, head of new product and design at Coates Group “To keep up with consumer demands for speed and convenience, it is important to invest in online platforms and develop a technology set for the drive thru or pickup that removes bottlenecks.”

Digital menuboards play a key role in a tech-forward drive-thru or off-premises program. They can help operators present a cohesive brand experience, promote limited-time offers, and more easily transition dayparts and price adjust-

ments. As consumers across every demographic become more tech-savvy, digital menuboards are also becoming a musthave. “Digital menuboards raise the bar among all generations because technology-based experiences have become the norm—and expected,” say Rodrick Glass, executive vice president of business development and subject-matter expert in food

and beverage for Creative Realities and Beth Warren, senior vice president of marketing and subject-matter expert in retail for Creative Realities and executive board member of the Digital Signage Federation.

Having signage that is simple and quick to update also ensures that restaurants can notify customers of out-of-stock items or menu changes instantly, rather

Creative Realities

“Technology-based experiences have become the norm— and expected.”

than asking employees to verbally relay this information each time. “According to Databeat.net, digital displays capture 400 percent more views than static displays,” says Megan Zeller, senior director of business development at Peerless-AV “With the increase in traffic in quick-service restaurant drive thrus, a crucial part of keeping up with this trend is creating a vibrant, easy-to-read, and appealing menuboard for customers.”

Digital signage can also expand beyond menus to relay other types of brand messaging to customers. It can, for example, provide in-store entertainment media while customers wait for their meals to help pass the time. “Additionally, having digital menuboards past the ordering point in the drive thru can be another way to increase advertising, like sharing content on the history of the brand or how certain products are made,” says Chloé Bisiaux, director of products at Acrelec.

While digital signage is a critical part of the equation to maintain efficiency and accuracy, a successful drive-thru or offpremises program needs an entire ecosystem of digital content to support it. Content management systems can tie into

loyalty programs to create personalized experiences for customers—while minimizing their contact with employees, as many consumers now prefer.

“Acknowledge that the average customer is more ‘digital’ than the business,” says Jeremy Brazeal, executive creative director of Reality Interactive. “Implement technology to use this insight to limit employee interaction to one touch.”

The data created through loyalty programs, POS systems, and other sources can also help operators gain insights into customer trends. “Customer data is a precious commodity,” says Matthew Dieden, director of product marketing at HungerRush . “Collecting customer data from online orders can drive new ways to connect with your customers, encouraging repeat orders and increased frequency of visits. This information can reveal what time your customers usually place online orders, how much they typically spend, which promotions are most likely to reso-

nate with them, and so on. By leveraging data, restaurants can effectively and efficiently reach their customer base.” Brands can strengthen connections with their customers by understanding how a customer prefers to be reached, at what time, and with what promotion or marketing technique—while encouraging them to visit more frequently.

It used to be much more difficult to capture and leverage off-premises customer data at the store level, given that delivery customers historically didn’t provide the same level of information needed to understand their behavior that dine-in guests supplied over time. Today, however, customers are used to providing data in the digital world, and that extends to loyalty apps, online ordering, and third-party delivery services. Operators now have an opportunity to learn much more about their customers and optimize their businesses based on their findings.

“As operators are looking for additional insights, technology platforms are adapting to meet those needs,” says Ryan Parietti, head of U.S. restaurants at DoorDash . “This includes access to a variety of items including customizable store reports, operational reports, information about orders like average ticket size and most popular items, details on customer reviews, or even intel on which zip codes are the most popular for their delivery business.”

Operational data is equally valuable to operators, highlighting business successes to double down on as well as opportunities for improvement that might otherwise have been overlooked. In the drive thru, for example, capturing data is about more than just tracking wait times for the sake of speed of service. “If operators have the right technologies, they can gather an abundance of actionable insights from their drive thru to enhance their operation beyond service times,” says Scott Mullica, director of product management at HME Hospitality & Specialty Communications. “For example, historical drive-thru reports provide a better understanding of your store’s volume trends, which can be used to determine staffing plans. Knowing volume trends can also HungerRush

“It’s all about wait times and order accuracy.”

SmartChain Drive Thru/Off Premises

help operators identify specific days or dayparts when they’ll need to turn on and staff a second or third drive-thru lane.”

Comprehensive reporting offers visibility into high-performing and lowperforming stores and staff, opening up opportunities for staff recognition and identifying areas of improvement. Operators can also better understand how seasonality, local events, weather patterns, and traffic patterns affect drive-thru demand. “Use detection methods beyond wired loops to expand vehicle tracking and gain a complete view of your operation in real time and in historical reports,” Mullica says. “When you have complete visibility into what’s happening in your drive thru—from parking lot entry to exit with order in hand—you gain a better understanding of your operation and of your customers’ journey.”

“It’s all about wait times and order accuracy,” says Jay Burdette, senior director at Panasonic Connect of North America “Integrated timers with both loop and camera-based capabilities can provide data as far as total wait times, time from station to station, bailouts, and so on. AI-based systems can take this data in and help the owner-operator find ways to meet the increased demand.”

Artificial intelligence (AI) is also beginning to appear at the point of sale, interfacing with customers and automating the order-taking process. Del Taco, for example, recently announced it will use AI-powered voice bots at several drivethru locations to help decrease customer wait time and provide employees more time to focus on accuracy when bagging up orders.

“We’re already seeing the use of AI technology and more advanced monitoring systems to help identify where gaps in drive-thru and off-premises service are and how to best improve,” Bisiaux says. “AI is also used to enhance the customer journey with product recommendation, customer identification, and AI voice ordering.”

In the aftermath of pandemic lockdowns and the pressures they placed on restaurants, many chains have taken the time to review every facet of their opera-

tions and explore different ways to save costs and improve efficiencies. “As a result of these efforts, there has been a broader interest in the adoption of air curtains for all building openings, from the front and back door to the drive-thru windows,” says Hector Vallejo, chief revenue officer,

Specialty Fenestration Group at Quikserv.

(Air curtains are an invisible climate barrier installed to keep the outside air out and improve HVAC efficiency.)

A well-run off-premises program or drive thru is a finely tuned operation supported by the right equipment and technology. “Cameras can recognize when cars are in the dedicated offpremise ordering spots and which order it relates to, notifying staff to expedite the order—and the next generation of headset systems will enable multi-lane capabilities,” says Joe Gierut, president of R. F. Technologies. “The result will be customers ordering by their preferred method, staff being ready to respond, and the most efficient operators gaining local mar-

ket share. For now, it’s important to make sure the systems being used are scalable platforms to incorporate these rapidly advancing technologies.”

The future of the drive thru and offpremises dining will be rich in innovation. “Technology is enabling restaurant operators to improve off-premises dining while also streamlining internal workflows,” Dieden says. “The key for restaurants embracing technology is to ensure it all works together to create frictionless experiences. When technology is integrated correctly, it builds a connected restaurant experience that leads truly exceptional customer interactions.” SC

“The next generation of headset systems will enable multi-lane capabilities.”

R. F. Technologies

Panasonic Connect of North America

Engagement in Line

What’s the best approach to engage customers while they wait?

Operators can also use signage to continue brand awareness campaigns after a customer orders. “Operators can educate on their offering, brand ethos, commitment to sustainability, or other important factors that key targets like Gen Z will affiliate with,” say Rodrick Glass, executive vice president of business development and subject-matter expert in food and beverage for Creative Realities and Beth Warren, senior vice president of marketing and subject-matter expert in retail for Creative Realities and executive board member of the Digital Signage Federation. “Inspire the basket with new LTOs to try, and offer an incentive to do so. Remind customers of other locations that might be convenient. Offer them incentives to have other people in the car or carpool order, engage, download the app, and so on.”

Customers who use the drive-thru lane, pickup window, or another offpremises dining program have distinct preferences and needs. To increase profitability, quick-service restaurant operators are searching for different ways to serve these customers—and to drive engagement and repeat traffic. Many brands are reaching customers while they wait for their orders, opening up new opportunities for positive experiences.

After a customer places an order in the drive thru or for in-store pickup, operators can start by using the wait time to confirm order accuracy. “Something operators should consider is adding order confirmation boards for customers to receive reassurance that their order has been

recorded correctly, while also giving them the chance to place additional requests if they forgot to order something,” says Megan Zeller, senior director of business development at Peerless-AV. “According to Converse Now, digital order confirmation boards improve the average drive-thru wait time by 34 seconds by giving customers this opportunity to review their orders and allow staff to deliver an accurate order every time.”

The mobile app experience can be another productive channel to develop. Brands can use loyalty apps to engage offpremises customers even while they’re on the go. “We’re seeing customer engagement and loyalty programs come into play as customers are continuing to interact with restaurants they love in new ways,” says Ryan Parietti, head of U.S. restaurants at DoorDash . “This is one way restaurants are looking to recognize, reward, and incentivize customers to come back time and time again.”

It’s clear that customers want apps, especially if they’re easy to use and accurately reflect everything on the menu. “A recent survey revealed that 51 percent of online orders are placed through a restaurant’s app, higher than those placed with a third-party app (38 percent),” says Matthew Dieden, director of product marketing at HungerRush . Security for customer information is also a key consider-

Peerless-AV

“Customers are continuing to interact with restaurants they love in new ways.”

ation in order to protect brand reputation and maintain customer loyalty.

Apps help keep brands top-of-mind among their customers, and customers enjoy using them. Through in-app activities, loyalty apps can even help keep customers from getting bored while they wait for their orders in-store or in the drive thru. “I believe that engagement with customers remotely through in-app content can be a great way to keep them entertained and preoccupied while they wait

for their orders,” says Chloé Bisiaux, director of products at Acrelec. “Mini-games, brand-specific advertising, reward lotteries, or free entertainment media that is provided to customers through quickservice restaurant loyalty apps would increase brand awareness, allow for greater advertising partnerships, and make their wait times less burdensome.”

Jeremy Brazeal, executive creative director of Reality Interactive, recommends quick-service restaurant operators consider building an engaging mobile experience and then pushing it heavily in their branding and brand marketing. “The key is to get the customer to link their phone into the process of fulfilling the order—from getting updates on the journey and each stage of it to watching their food get prepared in a fun, entertaining, and engaging way,” Brazeal says. “Ideally though, the priority of any technology implementation should be speeding up the food ordering process so there is very little need to engage off-premises customers. Their whole purpose for ordering food this way is so they do not have to wait, so success is enabling this wherever possible.”

Savvy operators should be able to mea-

sure the ROI and the overall effectiveness of their investments in this content. “Operators should adopt Build-MeasureLearn feedback loops to expand programs and content that are effective while abandoning those which are not,” says Scot Begovich, marketing director of R.F. Technologies “A key to success in this area is keeping the content fresh. Stale content only makes the customer think it’s time for a change in their dining habits.” Effective communication—including being able to clearly speak with and hear the customer—is also critical.

In terms of branding, customers waiting for their orders are a captive audience.

Indoors and outdoors, opportunities for custom branding can be found on every piece of equipment, in addition to digital signage and employee uniforms. But customer engagement may suffer if it doesn’t prioritize efficiency. All content and communications directed toward off-premises and drive-thru customers ideally serves— or at least doesn’t stand in the way of—the end goal of helping them get their orders quickly.

While any wait can be made more engaging, customers recognize and appreciate when the priority stays on managing traffic volumes and improving service times. If customer engagement leads to slower times, especially in the drive thru, the effort becomes counter-productive. “If you determine that you want to engage customers as they wait—whether it be through a survey, loyalty program, or hard-to-pass promotions—make sure it doesn’t interrupt or slow down the customer journey,” says Scott Mullica,

director of product management at HME

Hospitality & Specialty Communications

Ultimately, customer satisfaction will always be what matters most. “One thing has not changed—customers want great service,” says Doug Watson, president and CEO of The Howard Company. “That is not just about how quickly they get through the line and whether the team was polite. It is about the entire experience.” SC

“[The customers’] whole purpose for ordering food this way is so they do not have to wait, so success is enabling this wherever possible.”

Quikserv

SmartChain Key players

Acrelec

1327 W. Washington Blvd. Chicago, IL 60607 877-334-9737 acrelec.com/odmb

Acrelec is a global technology company focused on reinventing the customer experience for restaurant and retail brands. Leveraging decades of software, hardware, and service expertise, we develop and integrate new platforms that increase customer engagement, optimize efficiency, and improve operations for the world’s leading smart stores.

DoorDash

303 2nd St., Floor 8 San Francisco, CA 94107 855-431-0459 get.doordash.com

DoorDash is a technology company that connects consumers to local businesses. By building products and services that enable businesses to innovate and reach more customers, DoorDash is enabling merchants to thrive in the convenience economy, giving consumers access to more of their communities, and providing work that empowers.

HungerRush

1315 West Sam Houston Pkwy., Suite 100 Houston, TX 77043 877-738-7444 hungerrush.com

HungerRush is a leading provider of integrated restaurant solutions that make it easier to delight guests and manage restaurants from anywhere. The company’s flagship product, HungerRush 360, provides a natively integrated cloud POS system that enables restaurants to handle orders, drive loyalty, track deliveries, manage inventory and labor, and more.

Coates Group

112 N. May St. Chicago, IL 60611 312-374-1365 coatesgroup.com

Coates Group is a global technology and digital merchandising solutions provider creating immersive experiences for some of the world’s leading brands. Our proprietary content management system, Switchboard, enables dynamic and personalized customer journeys across our range of innovative hardware products—a suite of indoor and outdoor digital solutions, self-order kiosks, and more.

HME Hospitality & Specialty Communications

2848 Whiptail Loop, Carlsbad, CA 92010 858-535-6000 hme.com/qsr

HME was the first to introduce the wireless drive-thru headset system to the restaurant industry over 40 years ago. Today, our patented Wideband HD Audio delivers an unmatched voice clarity for drive-thru communication. Every day, restaurants in over 140 countries fulfill more than 30 million orders using HME systems.

Panasonic Connect

2 Riverfront Plaza Newark, NJ 07102 201-392-4181

na.panasonic.com/us/clearconnect

Panasonic Connect is a B2B company offering device hardware and professional services for the connected enterprise. Our diverse portfolio includes self-ordering kiosk, POS hardware, BOH solutions, and drive-thru communication systems. By working with our customers and ecosystem of partners, we provide the right technologies to address our customers’ needs.

Creative Realities, Inc.

888-323-3633 cri.com

Whether it’s at the drive thru, a kiosk, or at the counter—at Creative Realities, we integrate hardware, CMS software, and content for exceptional guest ordering and digital signage experiences. Flexible, purpose-built end-to-end solutions that can scale as you grow. Let your journey begin with a partner you can trust.

The Howard Company

1375 N. Barker Road Brookfield, WI 53045 262-782-6000 howardcompany.com

The Howard Company is the nation’s leader in drivethru equipment and digital menuboards, providing end-to-end solutions, including equipment, installation, graphic design, digital support, and content management. We also offer printed graphics. Through our products and services, we connect our customers with their customers.

Peerless-AV

2300 White Oak Circle Aurora, IL 60502 630-375-5100

peerless-av.com

For over 80 years, passion and innovation continue to drive Peerless-AV forward. We proudly design and manufacture the highest-quality products ideal for restaurant applications, including outdoor displays and digital menu boards, dvLED and LCD video wall systems, complete integrated kiosks, and more. Peerless-AV develops meaningful relationships and delivers world-class service.

SmartChain Key players

Quikserv

11441 Brittmoore Park Drive

Houston, TX 77041

800-388-8307

quikserv.com

Quikserv is the leading manufacturer of drive-thru windows, ticket windows, and secure transaction systems. Quikserv supplies 45 of the top 50 global quick-serve restaurant brands with a large selection of in-stock windows, the fastest lead time in the industry, and a variety of custom options to suit every need and application.

R.F. Technologies

330 Lexington Drive Buffalo Grove, IL 60089 800-598-2370

rfdrivethru.com

Over the past 34 years, R.F. Technologies has become the full-service solutions provider to the restaurant industry, performing equipment repairs for all leading brands, maintaining a nationwide network of service technicians, and becoming a leading reseller of drive-thru equipment. Our Apex brand headset systems offer great value to chains large and small.

Ready Access

800-621-5045

ready-access.com

Ready Access is your go-to source for drive-thru/ walk-up service windows and air curtains. Designed with the largest restaurant chains for a perfect balance of durability, value, and function! Trusted market leader for over 50 years. Let our experts help find the best configuration for your restaurant.

Reality Interactive

213 Court St., Floors 2 and 10 Middletown, CT 06457 860-346-2700

realityi.com

Reality Interactive is a multi-award-winning retail technology and design agency. The firm specializes in creating and managing innovative retail experiences using touchscreen displays, digital signage, digital media, and a full suite of interactive and creative technologies. Over the past 18 years, Reality has created hundreds of dynamic experiences partnering with some of the world’s bigger brands and their agencies.

The Real Price of Real Estate

While there’s space to grow on the backend of COVID, doing so can come at a cost.

Amajor real-estate industry slogan since the early 20th century has been “location, location, location.” But these days, it easily could be recast as “inflation, inflation, inflation.”

Location certainly remains key to most types of real estate, including for quick-service restaurant operators making decisions to locate new stores or retain existing ones. Rising prices, however, on everything from land and rents to borrowing money, are now playing just as important a role.

The soaring costs and longer lead times for construction—both in materials and labor—is having a major impact on development. Add in restaurant equipment supply chain issues, plus margin-based pressures from commodity, staffing, and utility inflation, and the dilemma only grows. The enthusiasm for development is definitely lower than a year or 18 months ago due to inflation and margin contraction, says Peter Saleh, managing director and restaurant analyst for financial services firm BTIG. “[Operators] lost a lot of margin in 2022,” he says. Saleh adds margins always return to historical levels due to factors such as pricing, commodity deflation, and efficiencies, but recovery takes time. “Development tends to follow the same directional trend as margins and unit economics,” he says, so even as margins likely improve this year, there’s “not much hope for a decisive snapback” in store growth.

Despite the headwinds—and, perhaps, in some cases because of them— “there is more demand for good sites, especially in [quick service], with a drive-thru and perhaps double or triple drive-thrus,” says Barry M. Wolfe, a Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based senior managing director of investment at national real estate firm Marcus & Millichap. Of course, he notes, demand for top-notch sites in turn pushes the cost higher. “Everyone is looking for unicorn, drive-thru locations,” says Sam Fonseca, chief operating officer at Roll-EmUp Taquitos. Rather than compete with deep-pocketed big players, his chain seeks sites that help franchisees pay less rent.

For many operators in various parts of America, “land costs really need to come down,” Wolfe says. “It is a challenge for developers or owners to find land that works for them.” At the same time, “we’ve kind of maxed out on the rental rates,” which, he

notes, need to move downward some to work for most operators. A related issue, he adds, is an increasingly lengthy permitting process for constructing new or renovating older restaurants. “It’s even worse now in some places than it was during COVID,” Wolfe says. Both Saleh and Wolfe believe the continuing impact of inflationary pressures hit franchisees harder than big companies that are able to self-finance development, rather than worrying about conventional loans that have elevated interest rates.

“We expect 2023 to be a reset year, with franchisees of most concepts opting to slow development, reprioritizing their focus on existing units and recovering some of the margin lost last year,” Saleh wrote in a research note. In checking with franchisees in the back half of 2022, a recurring theme was “waning enthusiasm for new unit development.” That seems to match up with results of a survey of 3,000 restaurants conducted late last year by The National Restaurant Association, which found most limited-service operators said food, labor, and utility costs remained a serious challenge, and nearly half postponed expansion plans.

Some operators have located in food halls

Captain D's has a new prototype, and plenty of fresh whitespace to target.

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The Design of Inflation

Menus are hardly free and clear of the impact. Here’s where to start.

It’s no secret inflation coupled with subsequent menu price increases are having a negative impact on restaurants. This is a result of consumer reaction and changes in their behavior. Consumer traffic is declining and guests are trading down, creating less expensive orders. The result: slowing industry sales.

There’s no silver bullet to remedy this situation. However, one way to blunt the negative impact of inflation and higher menu prices is through smart menu design. Specifically, in times like this, it is critical your menu strongly communicates value. A menu that clearly and compellingly explains value will help attract consumer interest in and attention to the quality of your menu items, and away from ordering by price.

TURF Analysis. TURF, an acronym for Total Unduplicated Reach and Frequency, is a notable research instrument that provides two important types of consumer information:

The shortest lists of menu items needed to satisfy the vast majority of your customers.

Inflation isn't just hitting guests' wallets; it's changing how operators present value on their menus.

The average number of items that each of your customers would find on that list that they might like to order. By understanding this information, you can simplify your menu by deleting some of your less popular items. This can benefit your menu design by freeing up valuable real estate for your more popular menu items. Here again, is where TURF comes into play. It can determine which of your core menu items drive customer loyalty. Conversely, TURF can identify your menu items that have little consumer appeal and affinity.

Price Value Analysis. This analysis will determine consumer attitudes toward the pricing of every item on your menu. It will identify the extent to which some of your items or categories of items are perceived to be overpriced, reasonably priced, or great values for the money. You can use this data strategically to emphasize or deemphasize menu items and specific categories.

As to menu design, your items that are considered great values for the money should be given more space on the menu and placed in the “hot spots” on the menu. Hot spots are where customers tend to look first and most frequently. To note, the hot spots are different on an interior menu than on a drive-thru menu. “Signature”

Items. Place emphasis on impactfully communicating your proprietary menu items. Consumers will be less price sensitive to your menu items that they can’t get anywhere else.

Menu Recipes and Ingredients. These are another way to communicate value with your menu. Consumers view avocado, bacon, kale, aioli, etc. as premium quality ingredients that are worth paying extra for. Capitalize on consumer perceptions of these through impactful and appetizing visuals, copy and product descriptions, such as thick-cut maple cured bacon, hand-torn baby kale, and freshly made chipotle aioli.

Brand It. Integrating your brand positioning and identity into your menu design is another means of strengthening your communication of value. By integrating branding elements, customers will easily be able to differentiate your brand from your competitors. q

Tom Cook is a Principal of King-Casey. Established in 1953, King-Casey is a restaurant and foodservice business improvement firm. King-Casey provides strategic menu optimization advice and a range of services to help clients manage overall food and beverage offerings affecting their positioning, reputation, and business growth.

with experience in designing and developing restaurants across the country. More importantly, everyone—company and franchisees—is using the same architect. As Dikos explains, this allows the concept to evolve the prototype in the same direction with every store it builds. This makes it easier to perform follow-ups and work with the ops excellence team to explore what could’ve been done differently. Time and motion studies are completed to ensure employees aren’t taking too many steps.

“What can we do to make the next prototype a little bit better? We’re all chasing the same footprint in fast casual these days,” Dikos says. “We’ve got a lot that we’re learning from, and I think the goal is making sure we know exactly how to take our approach to real estate portfolio development and test and learn a little bit

We’ve got a lot of exposure in the portfolio today to learn from so that when we build these next six to eight restaurants we have really nailed the best unit economics and guest experience.”

Dikos describes Killer Burger’s atmosphere as “a little bit more of a party vibe.” Employees and the menu have a rebellious streak, like the company’s name suggests. The motif, whether it’s the color, fixtures, or furniture, is reminiscent of a watering hole. Dikos wants to be clear, it’s still a fast-casual restaurant and family-friendly. But as a result of its approach, some stores have bars and alcohol mixes 4 percent. The brand has a campaign that refers to its food as “the burger your momma warned you about.”

The menu was engineered to create burgers that don’t fall apart when you eat. And while other concepts have build-yourown options, Killer Burger has 10 crafted signature creations. One of its best sellers is the Peanut Butter Pickle Bacon Burger. Killer Burger has become more PG lately, but historically, the operations manual said if a guest asks to turn the music down, the instruction was to turn it up. And when a customer ordered a salad, employees responded with an over-the-top burger.

“Maybe we go back and find some of our roots and get a little bit more edgy that way, but that’s a little bit about how we’re different,” Dikos says.

land and what’s possible.”

The deal, which closed in November 2022, also included a development agreement to build five additional locations in the Baltimore area. As of press time, Fulton had two locations in development in Eldersburg, Maryland, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with eight more in the pipeline.

“The main selling point was having delivery in-house instead of using DoorDash and Uber Eats, which is a significant advantage on competition from a financial standpoint,” he says. “While most competition is challenged by high delivery fees, with an in-house program, we have the advantage to push that and still have a decent EBITDA line on it, as well.”

Plus, there’s also the potential to expand outside of Jimmy John’s and become a franchisee of other concepts, Fulton adds; Inspire Brands’ portfolio also includes Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Sonic, Dunkin’, and Baskin-Robbins.

When entering the Jimmy John’s system, Fulton noticed a plethora of franchisees with one or two units wanting to exit—so Fulton plans to continue acquiring more Jimmy John’s in the Mid-Atlantic region under Fulton Holdings.

“Like any concept, COVID has been very challenging on the smallest operators, which has allowed us to expand and buy out these one-to-two unit franchisees,” he says. And buying seven units at one time enabled Fulton the bandwidth to pay workers a higher base salary, compared to starting with one or two units.

In a unique move, Fulton eliminated the tipped wage and pays delivery drivers a $15 minimum wage, the same as all his other employees—which has resulted in their restaurants being 107 percent staffed recently, he says. The higher cost of labor to keep drivers in-house is preferable and is still feasible from a financial standpoint versus paying third-party delivery app fees. It also allows them to be an employer of choice.

As for the future, Fulton plans on opening two units a year through 2026, starting in 2023. Unsurprisingly, Fulton’s ambitious nature means he entered into the system with the goal of quickly becoming a franchisee with more than 20 locations. q

as a means to lower rental costs. Others, however, decided to go small: Creating compact restaurants that have less of a footprint than typical limited-service boxes.

Thanks to changes in customer behavior, operators are developing units that feature smaller dining areas, less parking, better use of kitchen space and technology, and additional drive-thru lanes. The moves reduce land and construction costs, and also lessen rental space needed by franchisees who lease.

Many of the nation’s big chains already have begun experimenting with this concept. Captain D’s started looking in that direction several years ago because “we found where the industry was headed,” says Phil Russo, vice president of real estate for the Nashville, Tennessee-based chain, which has about 540 restaurants in 23 states. More expensive materials and construction, plus fewer customers dining in, “all painted a picture” of the future, a direction accelerated by COVID, he points out. The chain developed a smaller restaurant that omits dining in and instead opts for walkup windows, drive-thru, a streamlined kitchen, and a limited menu that “still delivers our world-famous product.”

The result: Captain D’s Express, a 960 square-foot prototype. These units are among several store builds offering different seating sizes and features like double drive-thrus, all suited for competitive and expensive real estate markets, Russo states.

Real estate is important at Captain D’s because it buys all its company-operated restaurants, and “the cost of real estate, depending on where you are in the country, is bordering on crazy,” he adds.

Express units can be constructed on tiny parcels. One new unit, in Whitehall, Ohio, is on about a quarter acre at the edge of a shopping center. Roll-Em-Up Taqutos is also going small. Rather than using 2,800 square feet, as it did when the upstart began, it is now eyeing 1,200- to 1,400-square-foot sites. Dining rooms are smaller in newer units and kitchen space has become more efficient. So far, all of the chain’s franchise sites are leased, and higher interest and rental rates are a continuing concern. “We are trying to be a little bit patient,” Fonseca says. q

Barry Wolfe is a regular contributor to QSR and is based in Ohio.

Callie Evergreen is the editor of FSR. She can be reached at cevergreen@wtwhmedia.com.

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

AD INDEX

Anchor Packaging .................................... 7 anchorpac.com

bb.q Chicken ...................................16, 17 bbqchicken.com

ERC BottomLine Concepts ....................45 212-668-1111 | tryerc.com

FatzFoodz Delivery ................................8 202-840-8958 | fatzfoodzrunners.com

FIFO Innovations ..................................29 800-453-3436 | fifobottle.com

Ghirardelli ...................Inside Front Cover 888-970-6970 | ghirardelli.com

GT Living Foods .............................22, 23 877-735-8423 | sales@drinkgts.com

IHOP ....................................................21 866-444-5144 | ihop.com

Inline Plastics ......................................31 800-826-5567 | InlinePlastics.com/hot

Inspire Brands ......................................... 5 inspirebrands.com/franchising

Intellihot .............................................33 877-835-1705 | intellihot.com

J&J Snack ..............................................2 Churros.com/ideas-guide

Jimmy John’s ................Inside Back Cover jimmyjohnsfranchising.com

Lamb Weston .......................................12 800-766-7783 go.lambweston.com/simplifry

Nationwide ..........................................19 800-730-8347 nationwide.com/restaurantprotection

NorthAmerican Bancard .......................43 866-481-4604 | NYNAB.com

NRA .....................................................37 864-699-6435 nationalrestaurantshow.com

Red Gold ..............................................27 866-729-7187

Redgoldfoodservice.com/sample-requests

RF Technologies ...............................11, 71 800-598-2370 | rfdrivethru.com

Slim Chickens ..........................Back Cover slimchickens.com

Subway ..................................................1 subwayfranchise.com

Texas Pete ...........................................15 texaspete.com

Vito Fryfilter ........................................39 847-859-0398 | vitofryfilter.com

SMART CHAIN ....................................................47-66 Acrelec ..............................................53 877-334-9737 | acrelec.com/kiosk

Berner ...............................................65 844-708-2500 | berneraircurtains.com

Coates Group .....................................49 312-374-1365 | CoatesGroup.com

Creative Realities ...............................55 888-323-3633 | Cri.com

HME ...................................................51 866-577-6721 | hme.com/nexeo

HungerRush .......................................57 877-738-7444 pos.hungerrush.com/ORDERAI

QuikServ ............................................66 800-388-8307 | quikserv.com

Ready Access .....................................65 800-621-5045 | ready-access.com

RF Technologies .................................59 800-598-2370 | rfdrivethru.com

The Howard Company .........................63 800-782-6222 | howardcompany.com

ONESOURCE ......................................................72-87

Food Safety Services & Products ....................80

Franchise Growth & Opportunity ...................80

Franchise Management ...................................81

Franchise Opportunities...................................81

Fruits & Vegetables ..........................................81

Frying Equipment.............................................81

Furnishings & Fixtures .....................................81

Furniture & Seating .........................................82

Gift Card Services ............................................82

Grounds Maintenance .....................................82

Headsets & Timers ..........................................82

HVAC Food Temperature.................................82

Insurance .........................................................82

Interior Decor & Design ...................................82

Internet Service Provider/Wi-fi/Broadband ..82

ADVERTISING & MARKETING

Blaze PR

1427 Third Street Promenade, Suite 201 | Santa Monica, CA 90401

Menu Express Restaurant Delivery Service, LLC 985-875-7700

310-395-5050

949-274-9651 318 West Katella Avenue B | Orange, CA 92867

Bob Bradley

DynamiCard

810 Los Vallecitos Boulevard, #202 | San Marcos, CA 92069

Franchise Business Review603-433-2270 155 Brewery Lane, #201 | Portsmouth, NH 03801

800-928-7670 ext. 10

800-289-4232 ext. 20 P.O. Box 20547 | San Jose, CA 95160

Franchise Update Media

Franchise Ventures Group

150 Granby Street | Norfolk, VA 23510

888-363-3390

985-377-7165 4250 Hwy 22, Suite 7 | Mandeville, LA 70471

Fridge

GiftAMeal

4240 Duncan Avenue, #200 | St. Louis, MO 63110

314-656-6244

708-836-1100 10555 West Cermak Road, Suite 3 | Westchester, IL 60154

Hanna, Zappa & Polz, Inc

IN4MATION INSIGHTS

140 Gould Street, Suite 280 | Needham, MA 02494 www.in4ins.com info@in4ins.com

Marketing Analytics company focused on Marketing/Media Mix analyses with deep expertise in the QSR space.

Ink Link Marketing

6073 Northwest 167th Street, Suite C-18 | Hialeah, FL 33015 www.inklinkmarketing.com info@inklinkmarketing.com

305-333-2209

Full-service communications and PR agency specializing in the Restaurant and Hospitality space. Experts in Media Relations, Crisis Communications, Executive and Employee Communication, LSM, Grand Openings, and Reputation Management.

InnoVision Marketing Group

5961 Kearny Villa Road | San Diego, CA 92123 https://teaminnovision.com info@teaminnovision.com

America’s only full-service Anti-Agency® serving clients nationally in QSR, fast-casual and other industries.

619-356-3020

| Chicago, IL 60659

North Ashley Drive, Suite 600 | Tampa, FL 33602

jventura@core-states.com

K R Y P T O Marketing & Advertising 317-749-8204 9646 Bradford Knoll Drive, Suite 100 | Fishers, IN 46037

Kerry Ford Communications

231 Rocky Ridge Road, Suite 7 | Bethel Park, PA 15102

412-831-8995

Local Marketing Pro, LLC 313-643-5391

513

461

Euclid Avenue | Cleveland, OH 44115

ASBUILT SITE SURVEYS AND DIGITAL TWINS

AS-BUILT SITE SURVEYS AND DIGITAL TWINS

SCENA

4880 Lower Roswell Road, Suite 165- 614 | Marietta, GA 30068 scenaind.com corporate@scenavr.com

Since 2015, Scena has provided as-built digital twin services to restaurants for renovations, maintenance, compliance, and legal purposes. From 3D models, we generate CAD, Revit, and Sketchup plans for design teams, architects, and engineering.

ASSOCIATION

Univex Corporation 603-893-6191

3 Old Rockingham Road | Salem, NH 03079

BEEF, POULTRY, SEAFOOD & PORK

Branding Iron Holdings 314-452-9642

1682 Sauget Business Boulevard | Sauget, IL 62206-1454

Crimson Coward 214-407-8323

3246 Preston Road, 510-A| Frisco, TX 75034

JOHNSONVILLE

53085

AWNINGS/SIGNAGE

EVERBRITE, LLC

4949 South 110th Street | Green eld, WI 53228 www.everbrite.com sales@everbrite.com

For over 95 years, Everbrite has provided innovative visual identification, outdoor signage, indoor signs & displays, menu systems, architectural & drive-thru elements, electronic displays, scoreboards, and LED lighting solutions to leading companies worldwide.

Blue Mound Road, West | Haslet, TX 76052

BAKED GOODS, GRAINS & CEREAL

145 Valle Vista Avenue | Vallejo,, CA 94590 thegracefulcookie.com rep@thegracefulcookie.com Cookie Dough - Clean Label. Serving the west coast for over 25 years!

Manufacturer of better than national brand quality juices, beverages, smoothies and bar mixers for Foodservice. Extensive packaging options from frozen and refrigerated to shelf stable and bib. Custom product and private brand development expertise. Our own brands include Tropics and Dr. Smoothie. All supported by our nationwide Beverage Dispensing Equipment and Service network. Manufacturing facilities in FL, IL and CA.

Channel Drive | Port Washington, NY 11050

1502 North Central Avenue | Humboldt, TN 38343 www.cmbakeware.com customerservice@cmbakeware.com

The Hudson-Leramo Beverage Group supplies the QSR & convenience channels with high quality, private labeled dispensed beverages; both hot and cold. We specialize in cold brew coffee programs, signature and estate coffees, frozen carbonated and un-carbonated drinks, proprietary B-I-B craft sodas, fresh brewed teas and sweeteners. Hudson-Leramo provides their customers with a unique equipment installation and store level training program. All our products are produced SQF certified. Call us for a tour and to discuss how we can customize a program for you!

LaCroix Sparkling Water

8100 SW 10th Stree, Suite 4000 | Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33324

Oregon Fruit Products

3180 22nd Street | Salem, OR 97302 www.oregonfruit.com/foodservice foodservice@oregonfruit.com

EASY AS THAW & POUR - Oregon Fruit In

Hand is made from high quality real fruit, quick-frozen at peak ripeness. Enhance beverages, like adding real strawberries to lemonade. Choose Original which is diced fruit in a pourable texture, Velvet, a smooth variety, Compote, whole fruit identity, or Lemonade, four plus one, the perfect complement to our fruit.

763-242-1823

877-773-7848

Atlantic Commercial Real Estate LLC

123 Washington Street, Suite 7 | Foxborough, MA 02035

B.Komplete

340 Haddon Avenue | Haddon Township, NJ 08108

Bizgrouplink LLC

4701 Devonshire Road, Suite106 | Harrisburg, PA 17109

Business Service Associates

117 Five Fields | Madison, CT 06443

CTM CPAs & Business Advisors

1 Overlook Point, Suite 190 | Lincolnshire, IL 60069 www.ctm-cpa.com domalley@ctm-cpa.com

781-551-8888

215-764-9651

717-379-0097

203-530-9982

847-405-0944

CTM provides generations of QSR franchise owner-operators with a full suite of tax, accounting & consulting services, including payroll & bill pay solutions, financial statement and income tax preparation, business valuations, succession planning and much more! Call us today! Owner Only Benefits LLC

334 Leeward Walk Lane | Alpharetta, GA 30005

Red Diamond Coffee & Tea

630-366-7507 400 Park Avenue | Moody, AL 35004

THE COCACOLA COMPANY

1 Coca Cola Plaza, Southeast | Atlanta, GA 30313 www.coca-colacompany.com industrycomm@coca-cola.com

8004382653

4930 North Executive Drive | Peoria, IL 61614

A searchable directory bringing together food allergy and gluten free folks of all ages with vetted restaurants, bakeries and more! Over 5000 current listings and more being added!

Winfull Corporation

15320 Park Row Drive | Houston, TX 77084

BUILDING MATERIALS

832-808-1508

778-825-0197 120-1777 Clearbrook Road | Abbotsford, BC V2T 5X5

Longboard Architectural Products

BUSINESS SERVICES

ADP

1 ADP Boulevard | Roseland, NJ 07068 www.adp.com/qsr lisa.skelly@adp.com

Running a restaurant is hard work and requires long hours. Add the day-to-day tasks of managing shift changes, multiple locations and job types, tips and legal requirements — and there just aren’t enough hours in the day. ADP can help you find time again with easy-to-use solutions, so you can focus on what matters most — your business.

Ampar Distribution LLC

1815 Treseder Circle | El Cajon, CA 92019

9734044360

813-240-2221

COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

COMMUNICATION

13280 Evening Creek Drive South, Suite 225 | San Diego, CA 92128 get.reachify.io/os

Focus on the food, not the phone call. Let phone automations take care of all your callers.

COMPUTERIZED

CONDIMENT DISPENSERS

B&M Builders

11330 Sunrise Park Drive, Suite C | Rancho Cordova, CA 95742

Boiler & Property Consulting, LLC

5018 Bristol Industrial Way, Suite 203 | Buford, GA 30518

Cocca Development

100 DeBartolo Place, Suite 400 | Youngstown, OH 44512

GCM, Inc.

1150 West Main Street | Mount Joy, PA 17552 www.gcmbuilt.com info@gcmbuilt.com

916-350-1992

770-614-3111

330-729-1010

717-278-5627

CONDIMENTS, SAUCES

West Las Positas, Suite 200 | Pleasanton, CA 94588 armaninofoods.com cwhitmore@armaninofoods.com

CONSTRUCTION/BUILDING

LadderPort

7081 Dan McGuire Drive | Brighton, MI 48116 ladderport.com michele@ladderport.com

You want me on that wall - You need me on that wall.

LadderPort Ladder Receiver Meets OSHA Requirements

800-770-8851

Kellie Renovations LTD Company.

281-352-0635 7118 Halfpenny Road | Houston, TX 77095

Royalty Roofing

800-303-8392 2099 East Tipton Street | Seymour, IN 47274

Westmoreland Builders, LLC.

817-416-4741 1597 Hart Street | Southlake, TX 76092

WYATT MANAGEMENT

25227 Grogans Mill Road, Suite 230 | The Woodlands, TX 77380 WyattMngt.com info@wyattmngt.com

Specializing in fast-casual and QSR TI’s, remodels and ground-ups through-out the state of Texas.

CONSULTANTS

AAJJ FOOD MANAGEMENT, INC

300 Pepes Farms Road, 3664 | Milford, CT 06460

40 + year Industry Executive that helps develop your Franchise business to new heights of growth and profitability. We turn your problems into opportunities and then to solutions. Domestic and International experience.

Freedom Food Sales

27 Eckernkamp Drive | Smithtown, NY 11787

Goldco Realty

708 Main Street | Bradley Beach, NJ 07720

631-637-9805

Supply America

1969 South Alafaya Trail PMB 187 | Orlando, FL 32828

917-902-1154

Tuxton Pro Cookware

21011 Commerce Pointe Drive | Walnut, CA 91789

888-270-1107

909-595-2510

Goliath Consulting Group

404-384-9465 6001 Live Oak Parkway | Norcross, GA 30093 www.goliathconsulting.com getresults@goliathconsulting.com

IN4MATION INSIGHTS

140 Gould Street, Suite 280 | Needham, MA 02494 www.in4ins.com info@in4ins.com

7814441237 EXT. 16

Marketing Analytics company focused on Marketing/Media Mix analyses with deep expertise in the QSR space.

Iris Pricing Solutions

25 Burlington Mall Road | Boston, MA 01803

COOKING OIL MANAGEMENT

647-572-4873

513-484-8609 6505 Park Lane | Cincinnati, OH 45227

Location Decision Advisors

229-420-1144 2419 Westgate Drive | Albany, GA 31707

University of GA Small Business Development Center

408-784-7371 1430 Norman Avenue | San Jose, CA 95125-5217 www.whbender.com whb@whbender.com

W.H. Bender & Associates

FCSI Restaurant Consultant delivering Management Advisory Services, Design Services, Management Coaching, Team Training, Expert Witness, and Litigation Support to all sectors of the Foodservice Industry. We serve all regions.

COOKING & PREP EQUIPMENT

AyrKing LLC

2013 Cobalt Drive | Louisville, KY 40299 www.ayrking.com/ miked@ayrking.com

502-266-6270

AyrKing is a team of food preparation specialists committed to the idea that quality, consistency and profitability all start at the very beginning. We understand that optimizing the food preparation process is the key to reducing costs and perfecting the final product.

Cadco, Ltd.

200 International Way | Winsted, CT 06098

860-738-2500

503-225-0900 PO Box 10947 | Portland, OR 97296

CDN

Ignite Foodservice Solutions

3700 Havana Street, Suite 208 | Denver, CO 80239

Marra Forni

10310 Southard Drive | Beltsville, MD 20705

Metris Instruments East, LLC

25 Longmeadow Place 21 | South Setauket, NY 11720

www.metrisinst.com

bobogden2005@gmail.com

530-440-4014

888-239-0575

631-451-0063

A GREAT Line for independent SALES REP - 20 years in business - SHIP in 48 hours. We comply/meet/exceed NSF - FDA - HACCP - NIST options

Gycor International

630-754-8070 10216 Werch Drive, Suite 108 | Woodridge, IL 60517 www.gycor lters.com drogers@gycor lters.com

Manufacturer of shortening/oil filtration products, including our revolutionary Filter Powder Pad which has our custom filter media built into the filter paper.

Restaurant Technologies 651-796-1605 2250 Pilot Knob Road | Mendota Heights, MN 55120

CUPS

Stanpac 905-957-3326 10 West End Road | Totowa, NJ 07512 www.stanpacnet.com foodservice@stanpacnet.com

paper hot cups, take out packaging, ice cream cups and lids

CUSTOMER ORDER SYSTEMS

CardFree, Inc.

415-237-1618 655 Redwood Highway, 102 | Mill Valley, CA 94941 cardfree.com info@cardfree.com

CardFree provides a suite of end-to-end mobile order & payment solutions, including Apps, Pay/Order@Table, Text-To-Pay, EMV, kiosks, and more.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Atel Communications

245-800-00 6 Avenue 2-73, Zone 4, Edi cio Cordón Horjales | Guatemala, Guatemala 01004

Hangzhou Downtown Information Technology Co. LTD +86

158-691-570-75 Room 1002, eShine Building,Gongshu District, HZ,CN | Hangzhou, , 310015

Reachify 800-215-0522 13280 Evening Creek Drive South, Suite 225 | San Diego, CA 92128 get.reachify.io/os sales@reachify.io

Focus on the food, not the phone call. Let phone automations take care of all your callers.

Transcom Contact Center Services

303-952-3235 4700 South Syracuse Street, #100 | Denver, CO 80237

DAIRY PRODUCTS

DRIVE THRU

Global Display Solutions, Inc.

815-282-2328 5217 28th Avenue | Rockford, IL 61109 displays.gds.com america@gds.com

Highmark Communications

888-963-9696 5961 E. 38th Ave | Denver, CO 80207 www.CallHighMark.com marketing@highmarkcomm.com

Elevate your Drive Thru and hitting your Highmark will be simple!

Mvix

866-310-4923 23475 Rock Haven Way, Suite 125 | Sterling, VA 20166 mvix.com pstamos@mvix.com

Mvix is a leading digital signage company with over 17 years of experience providing full-service digital signage solutions and services to QSR & Fast Casual Restaurants. This includes our award-winning digital signage software with 150+ content apps and data integrations, robust digital signage players, professional project management services, managed service plans, and support packages.

DRIVE THRU INSTALLATION & REPAIR

FLUID AUDIO COMMUNICATIONS, INC.

6105854910 960 Rittenhouse Road | Audubon, PA 19403 www. uidaudioinc.com steven.seiden@ uidaudioinc.com

Audio/Visual Master Design, Sales and Installation Systems Integrator. Drive-Thru Systems (HME, PAR, Panasonic) Sales, Service, HEADSET REPAIRS. CCTV, AV Systems, Music, Structured Cabling and Digital Signage. Operating across the US.

LSI Industries

330-499-2800 ext. 20 5127 Boyer Parkway | Akron, OH 44312

R.F. Technologies, Inc.

800-598-2370 330 Lexington Drive | Bu alo Grove, IL 60089 www.rfdrivethru.com sales@rftechno.com

Wayne Communications, Inc.

855-471-9730 6612 Chancellor Drive | Cedar Falls, IA 50613 waynecomm.com service@waynecomm.com

A national QSR and fast casual logistics company.

DRIVE THRU SYSTEMS

EVERBRITE, LLC

4949 South 110th Street | Green eld, WI 53228 www.everbrite.com sales@everbrite.com

4145293500

For over 95 years, Everbrite has provided innovative visual identification, outdoor signage, indoor signs & displays, menu systems, architectural & drive-thru elements, electronic displays, scoreboards, and LED lighting solutions to leading companies worldwide.

FLUID AUDIO COMMUNICATIONS, INC.

960 Rittenhouse Road | Audubon, PA 19403 www. uidaudioinc.com steven.seiden@ uidaudioinc.com

6105854910

Audio/Visual Master Design, Sales and Installation Systems Integrator. Drive-Thru Systems (HME, PAR, Panasonic) Sales, Service, HEADSET REPAIRS. CCTV, AV Systems, Music, Structured Cabling and Digital Signage. Operating across the US.

EDUCATION & TRAINING

Jewell Unlimited LLC

500 College Hill | Liberty, MO 64068 www.jewellunlimited.com conner@jewellunlimited.com

816-244-5828

Jewell Unlimited is a Learning Agency that delivers fast, focused videos tailored to your business goals for employees. Learning opportunities range from your directors down to your crew with our library of over 1800 micro-learnings.

Food Safety Consultation

440 East Centennial Street | Rapid City, SD 57701 EMPLOYMENT & STAFFING

A Good Employee

Highmark Communications

888-963-9696 5961 E. 38th Ave | Denver, CO 80207 www.CallHighMark.com marketing@highmarkcomm.com

Elevate your Drive Thru and hitting your Highmark will be simple!

HME | Hospitality & Specialty Communications

2848 Whiptail Loop | Carlsbad, CA 92010 www.hme.com/qsr dept-sales@hme.com

800-848-4468

Founded in 1971, HME was the first to introduce the wireless drive-thru headset system to the restaurant industry. Today, our solutions are paving the way for a new era of restaurant operations and redefining the customer experience. Our patented Wideband HD Audio continues to deliver an unmatched voice clarity for drive-thru communication. HME drive-thru optimization systems are reenergizing crews and maximizing business growth worldwide with innovative game-based engagement. Every day, restaurants in over 140 countries fulfill more than 30 million orders using our systems. HME offers a wide range of quality solutions for drive-thru, in-store, curbside pickup, and retail operations backed by full services and support.

R.F. Technologies, Inc.

330 Lexington Drive | Bu alo Grove, IL 60089 www.rfdrivethru.com sales@rftechno.com

Ready Access

1815 Arthur Drive | West Chicago, IL 60185 www.ready-access.com ready@ready-access.com

800-598-2370

23801 Calabasas Road, Suite 1022 | Calabasas, CA 91302

Cypress Hospitality Group 904-813-5294 38 Phillips Avenue | Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082 WRAY EXECUTIVE SEARCH

111 2nd Avenue Northeast |

• 50 years of proven executive search and advisory services

• Building impressive leadership teams industry wide

800-621-5045

Your go-to source for self-closing drive-thru / walk-up service windows and air curtains designed to meet health code. Trusted by the largest QSRs for over 50 years. Patented technology, economical and dependable. View our website to find the configuration that best fits your project!

EQUIPMENT LIQUIDATIONS

EQUIPMENT LIQUIDATIONS

US Equipment Company

2045 North Preakness Drive | Nixa, MO 65714 www.usequipmentcompany.com info@usequipmentcompany.com

417-725-5645

Receive a net of 50-160% more money for your equipment, than auctions, dealers and “selling-it-yourself.” Eliminate stress and headaches before they begin. For absolute best results, call us 2-3 months in advance of planned closing. Often, buyer is in place by closing date, for a simple, seamless process. No fees or commissions. Our compensation is through value-added process, with buyers.

ETHNIC FOODS

Kontos Foods, Inc.

PO Box 628 | Paterson, NJ 07544 www.kontos.com info@kontos.com

973-278-2800

Manufacturer and distributor of Pita, Naan and Flatbreads; Baklava, Spanakopita. Distributor of other fine Mediterranean foods.

FINANCIAL ADVISORY SERVICES

Bodine Perry

7620 Olentangy River Road | Columbus, OH 43235

DCI Solutions

1505 North Evergreen Street, #15 | Chandler, AZ 85225

FINANCIAL PRODUCTS

CapitalSpring

3100 West End Avenue, Suite 940 | Nashville, TN 37203 capitalspring.com learnmore@capitalspring.com

FOOD SAFETY SERVICES & PRODUCTS

Spoiler Alert Food Safety

34299 Center Ridge Road | North Ridgeville, OH 44039 www.spoileralertfoodsafety.com info@spoileralertfoodsafety.com

800-284-3096

Spoiler Alert! Food Safety is the premier cloud based food safety app. This powerful yet simple to use food rotation/tracking/labeling system tracks product life cycle with easy to read trackable labels that alert you along the way. Our washaway labels rinse safely down the drain. Starting at just $9.99/mo. Start your 30-day FREE trial today.

614-431-1040

928-710-1463

310-693-0476

CapitalSpring is a leading institutional investor with deep expertise in foodservice, multi-location business models and related industries. For over 17 years, we have supported proven management teams with financial, strategic, and operational resources to accelerate growth and to realize the full potential of their businesses. CapitalSpring offers one-stop solutions for a broad range of investments including, private equity, mezzanine capital and senior lending.

FIRST HORIZON BANK, RESTAURANT FINANCE

17851 North 85th Street, Suite 155 | Scottsdale, AZ 85255

4803759892

First Horizon Bank, Restaurant Finance is dedicated to serving operators across the country, whether franchisee, franchisor or chain. Together, we achieve your goals and financial success while helping you navigate through changing operating environments. We listen to you and deliver solutions.

Star Hill Financial LLC

21 Main Street, Suite 204 | Hackensack, NJ 07601 www.starhill nancial.com mail@starhill nancial.com

203-883-6060

SH Franchise Finance is an independent finance company, so we know what it is like to run your own business. Since 2006, we’ve been helping franchisees structure and finance growth. We specialize in tier 1 and tier 2 quick service restaurants and personal services franchisees structuring transactions from $5 00,000 to $40 million.

Eagle Protect PBC

800-384-3905 3079 Harrison Avenue, #21 | South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150

Jolt

877-396-4112 2901 Ashton Boulevard, Suite #300 | Lehi, UT 84043

Metris Instruments East, LLC

631-451-0063 25 Longmeadow Place 21 | South Setauket, NY 11720 www.metrisinst.com bobogden2005@gmail.com

A GREAT Line for independent SALES REP - 20 years in business - SHIP in 48 hours. We comply/meet/exceed NSF - FDA - HACCP - NIST options

RYTEC CORPORATION

262-677-6271 One Cedar Parkway | Jackson, WI 53037

SGS North America, Inc.

201-508-3000 201 Route 17 North | Rutherford, NJ 07070

FRANCHISE GROWTH & OPPORTUNITY

MACQUE’S BBQ INTL

1855445RIBS

D’Angelo Grilled Sandwiches is looking to expand, with exceptional franchise opportunities in New England and beyond. With nearly 100 locations in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine

New England brand hopes to add a significant number of new franchise locations

the next couple of years and is open to all interested parties.

Juicy Burgers Restaurants

7582 Las Vegas Blvd. S #455 | Las Vegas, NV 89120

wPeachwave Frozen Yogurt & Gelato

6 W. 8th St | Holland, MI 49423

FRANCHISE MANAGEMENT

MACQUE’S BBQ INTL

8517 ELK GROVE BLVD | ELK GROVE, CA 95624 https://macquesbbq.com info@macquesbbq.net

855-Try-JuicyBurgers

D’Angelo Grilled Sandwiches Franchisee

600 Providence Highway | Dedham, MA 02026 https://dangelos.com/franchising/ franchise@dangelos.com

405-607-8201

D’Angelo Grilled Sandwiches Franchisee

600 Providence Highway | Dedham, MA 02026 https://dangelos.com/franchising/ franchise@dangelos.com

1855445RIBS

781-275-4400

D’Angelo Grilled Sandwiches is looking to expand, with exceptional franchise opportunities in New England and beyond. With nearly 100 locations in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine and Connecticut, the iconic New England brand hopes to add a significant number of new franchise locations in the next couple of years and is open to all interested parties.

Savvy Sliders

30955 northwestern hwy | Farmington Hills, MI 48334

FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITIES

Aloha Poke Co.

445 W Erie Street, Suite 200 | Chicago, IL 60654

Bread Zeppelin Salads Elevated

25 Highland Park Village, Suite 100 #309 | Dallas, TX 75205

CHOP5 Salad Kitchen

6011 Brownsboro Park Blvd. Suite F | Louisville, KY 40207 https://chop5.com/franchising franchising@CHOP5.com

248-210-5588

312-248-3267

214-495-1939

858-717-5200

CHOP5 Salad Kitchen is more than a restaurant or a brand. We’re a movement— and we’re on a mission to change the way that our communities view and experience healthy food. We are doing this by offering exceptional chopped salads, wraps, and cravea-bowls, and other health-inspired menu items that explode with flavor, fresh ingredients and chef-inspired taste.

781-275-4400

D’Angelo Grilled Sandwiches is looking to expand, with exceptional franchise opportunities in New England and beyond. With nearly 100 locations in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine and Connecticut, the iconic New England brand hopes to add a significant number of new franchise locations in the next couple of years and is open to all interested parties.

GoodLife Organic Kitchen

484-757-0175 2395 Lancaster Pike | Reading, PA 19335

Pixie Franchising, LLC

989-817-4790 555 South Mission Street | Mount Pleasant MI 48858

Vetted Biz

786-310-1773 560 Lincoln Rd | Miami, FL 33139 www.vettedbiz.com info@vettedbiz.com

FRUITS & VEGETABLES

Garfield Produce Company

312-401-1534 401 N. Trumbull, Unit B | Chicago, IL 60624

Oregon Fruit Products

877-773-7848 3180 22nd St. | Salem, OR 97302 www.oregonfruit.com/foodservice foodservice@oregonfruit.com

EASY AS THAW & POUR - Oregon Fruit In Hand is made from high quality real fruit, quick-frozen at peak ripeness. Enhance beverages, like adding real strawberries to lemonade. Choose Original which is diced fruit in a pourable texture, Velvet, a smooth variety, Compote, whole fruit identity, or Lemonade, four plus one, the perfect complement to our fruit.

FRYING EQUIPMENT

VITO Fryfilter Inc.

847-859-0398 5422 Carrier Drive , Suite 102 | Orlando, FL 32819

FURNISHINGS & FIXTURES

Wisconsin Built

877-928-4589 400 Interpane Lane | Deer eld, WI 53531 www.wisconsin-built.com contact@wisconsin-built.com

Architectural woodwork and restaurant interior casework, booths,& banquettes

FURNITURE & SEATING

1900 East Golf Road, Suite 950 | Schaumburg, IL 60173 www. attech.com

7137 Remmet Ave. | Canoga Park, CA 91303 watsondistributing.com arwa@watsondistributing.com

GROUNDS

P.O. Box 104 | Spencer, OH 44275

HEADSETS

960 Rittenhouse Road | Audubon, PA 19403 www. uidaudioinc.com steven.seiden@ uidaudioinc.com

Audio/Visual Master Design, Sales and Installation Systems Integrator. Drive-Thru Systems (HME, PAR, Panasonic) Sales, Service, HEADSET REPAIRS. CCTV, AV Systems, Music, Structured Cabling and Digital Signage. Operating across the US.

Quail Digital

2929 Carlisle Street, Suite 373 | Dallas, TX 75204

QUAIL DIGITAL

2929 Carlisle Street, Suite 373 | Dallas, TX 75204 www.quaildigital.com

sales@QuailDigital.com

Quail Digital Pro 9, ultimate drive-thru wireless headset. One touch registration, single, dual lane and unique 3rd channel for curbside and table service. Proprietary digital noise cancelling technology, exceptional range, lightweight design for comfort.

888-575-1016

8885751010

Mvix is a leading digital signage company with over 17 years of experience providing full-service digital signage solutions and services to QSR & Fast Casual Restaurants. This includes our award-winning digital signage software with 150+ content apps and data integrations, robust digital signage players, professional project management services, managed service plans, and support packages.

Ordering Stack

Jelinka Street 32 | Warsaw, --- 02-323

Reachify - Automated Restaurant Phones

13280 Evening Creek Drive South, Suite 225 | San Diego, CA 92128 get.reachify.io/os sales@reachify.io

Focus on the food, not the phone call. Let phone automations take care of all your callers.

KITCHEN EQUIPMENT, WORKSPACE EQUIPMENT & COMPONENTS

+48607288412

Univex Corporation

3 Old Rockingham Rd | salem, NH 03079

800-215-0522

LAW FIRMS

603-893-6191

954-204-0393 3111 N University Drive Suite 403 | Coral Springs, FL 33065

Castro Legal Group - Immigration Law

312-382-8327 30 South Wacker Drive 22nd Floor #3341 | Chicago, IL 60606 https://www.goldlawgroup.com jgoldstein@goldlawgroup.com

Goldstein Law Firm, PLLC

QSR SUPPLY

7322896500 3600 NJ-66, Ste. 150 | Neptune, NJ 07753 www.QSRsupply.com info@QSRsupply.com

QSR Supply is the next generation in Consulting, Planning, Procurement, Distribution, Parts and Service for the Quick Service Restaurant, Fast Casual Restaurant and Hospitality Industry. Coupled with our innovative platform and technology, is 30 years of industry experience that cements QSR Supply as a leader in the Foodservice Equipment, Supply and Design industry.

CHICAGO FAUCETS

2100 S. Clearwater Drive | Des Plaines, IL 60018 www.chicagofaucets.com/foodservice customerservice.us@chicagofaucets.com

8478035000

Chicago Faucets supplies quality products from the front to the back of the house. Since 1901 Chicago Faucets has been the US leader in durable commercial plumbing fittings and in recent years the most advanced touchless faucets for restrooms. For over 50 years the company has been dedicated to a food service line of kitchen, bar, pantry, workboard and service faucets, valves, and hoses: from pot fillers, pre-rinse, washdown fittings, dipperwell, glass fillers, to janitorial products. Its food service line is known for solid brass construction and options including wall or deck mounting, interchangeable parts and adjustable centers.

Crest Foodservice Equipment Co.

5929 School Avenue | Richmond, VA 23228

Drain-Net Technologies

185 Industrial Pkwy, Site H | Branchburg, NJ 08876 www.drain-tech.com/ sales@drain-tech.com

804-266-9200

908-236-0277

Franchise attorney Jeff Goldstein represents clients nationwide on various franchise legal matters including franchise termination, renewal, encroachment claims and other similar disputes.

Medalist Legal PLC

602-767-0050 3133 W Frye Rd suite 101 | Chandler, AZ 85226

LIGHTING & ELECTRICAL

Hermitage Lighting National Accounts

224-250-1561 3640 Trousdale Drive | Nashville, TN 37204

SashaLighting.com

312-409-9191 401 N. Michigan Avenue Suite 1200 | Chicago, IL 60611

LOSS PREVENTION

Cashmaster USA Inc.

447-531-6079 ext. 14 9665 Tradeport Drive | Orlando, FL 32827 www.cashmaster.com inquiriesusa@cashmaster.com

Cashmaster has over 40 years of experience supporting businesses to achieve their loss prevention goals and reducing labor efficiencies by streamlining cash handling, counting and reconciliation.

Envysion, Inc.

877-258-9441 7237 Church Ranch Blvd, Suite 406 | Westminster, CO 80021 https://envysion.com info@envysion.com

Haynes Lubricants

440-871-2188 24142 Detroit Road | Westlake, OH 44145 www.haynesmfg.com tdoctor@haynesmfg.com

Haynes manufactures premium food grade lubricants for all types of food service equipment.

Robot Coupe U.S.A., Inc.

264 Perkins Street | Ridgeland, MS 39157 www.robot-coupe.com info@robotcoupeusa.com

T&S Brass and Bronze Works Incorporated

2 Saddleback Cove | Travelers Rest, SC 29690

Taylor Design Group

1940 Fountain View Dr #156 | Houston, TX 77057

800-824-1646

Envysion is a loss prevention platform designed to protect businesses, brands, people, and profits within the restaurant, convenience store, and retail industries. Transform your video security systems into a customizable and strategic operational management tool, driving actionable insights by integrating video, audio, and transactional POS data into a managed video software.

864-331-1291

713-447-4999

HS Brands Global

702-802-1162 4055 Spencer St #102 | Las Vegas, NV 89119 https://hsbrands.com/ michael.mills@hsbrands.com

Elite International Mystery Shopping & Loss Prevention Solutions Company with a Database of 2m strong. Contact Us Today to Design Your Program!

MARKETING & PROMOTIONAL ITEMS

Brandman 847-721-9337

1104 S outh Tumbleweed Lane | Chandler, AZ 85286

Kidz Menuz LLC

5900 Wade Lane | Knoxville, TN 37912

Per Caroe

1375 Burlingame Avenue, Suite 201 | Burlingame, CA 94010

PROFORMA SURF CITY PROMO

7561 Center Avenue, unit 44b | Huntington Beach, CA 92647

Orda

199 Orchard Street | New York, NY 10002

https://getorda.com sales@getorda.com

865-805-0719

415-260-1696

657-227-3068

929-277-8399

Your all in one digital ordering solution with branded mobile ordering app, web ordering, self-ordering kiosks, and automated marketing with Orda.

Tillster

10960 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 400 | Los Angeles, CA 90024

Tillster

10960 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 400 | Los Angeles, CA 90024

OUTDOOR MENUBOARDS

858-784-0800

858-784-0800

610-513-0900 1055 Westlakes Drive, Suite 300 | Berwyn, PA 19312

Purplegator

SocialStreamingTV.com

2525 Arapahoe Suite E4-313 | Boulder, CO 80302

MUSIC

FLUID AUDIO COMMUNICATIONS, INC.

960 Rittenhouse Road | Audubon, PA 19403 www. uidaudioinc.com steven.seiden@ uidaudioinc.com

303-594-1694

EVERBRITE, LLC

4949 South 110th Street | Green eld, WI 53228

http://www.everbrite.com

sales@everbrite.com

6105854910

Audio/Visual Master Design, Sales and Installation Systems Integrator. Drive-Thru Systems (HME, PAR, Panasonic) Sales, Service, HEADSET REPAIRS. CCTV, AV Systems, Music, Structured Cabling and Digital Signage. Operating across the US.

MYSTERY

SHOPPING

4145293500

For over 95 years, Everbrite has provided innovative visual identification, outdoor signage, indoor signs & displays, menu systems, architectural & drive-thru elements, electronic displays, scoreboards, and LED lighting solutions to leading companies worldwide.

Mvix

23475 Rock Haven Way, Suite 125 | Sterling, VA 20166 https://mvix.com pstamos@mvix.com

866-310-4923

702-802-1162 4055 Spencer Street #102 | Las Vegas, NV 89119 https://hsbrands.com michael.mills@hsbrands.com

HS Brands Global

Elite International Mystery Shopping & Loss Prevention Solutions Company with a Database of 2m strong. Contact Us Today to Design Your Program!

Mvix is a leading digital signage company with over 17 years of experience providing full-service digital signage solutions and services to QSR & Fast Casual Restaurants. This includes our award-winning digital signage software with 150+ content apps and data integrations, robust digital signage players, professional project management services, managed service plans, and support packages.

OVENS, GRIDDLES & RANGES

EARTHSTONE OVENS INC

Sinclair Customer Metrics

800-600-3871 ext. 33 18911 Hardy Oak Boulevard Suite141 | San Antonio, TX 78258 www.sinclaircustomermetrics.com info@emailsinclair.com

Over 30 years of experience in mystery shopping and site audits of restaurants across the US and Canada. Our programs provide the objective, quantitative data needed to make targeted improvements in your operations and customer service.

ONLINE & REMOTE ORDERING

App4.co.uk

Sadler Bridge Studios Bold Lane | Derby, Derbyshire DE13NT

BookingTek

700 12th Street, NW Suite 700 | Washington DC, DC 20005

01332418573

202-904-2492

8185531134 6717 San Fernando Road | Glendale, CA 91201 www.earthstoneovens.com info@earthstoneovens.com

Wood and gas fire brick pizza ovens for Indoor and outdoor use. Great for baking, grilling and roasting, Also doubles as a fireplace.

260-428-2535 4418 New Haven Avenue | Fort Wayne, IN 46803

Thermodyne Foodservice Products

PACKAGING

Accurate Box Company

86 5th Avenue | Paterson, NJ 07524

Ahlstrom

PO Box 600 | Kaukauna, WI 54130 www.Ahlstrom.com

Bonnie.Ermers@Ahlstrom-Munksjo.com

973-345-2000

920-766-8579

Ahlstrom has an extensive history of providing sustainable food packaging papers to the Quick Service Restaurant industry. Our QSR product range includes FluoroFree® grease resistant papers, ParaFree™ wax free papers, CelluStraw™ products for paper straws, and Cristal™ transparent packaging - all carrying BPI® Compostability Certification. In addition, we offer a wide range of products used in lamination and baking applications.

ANCHOR PACKAGING

13515 Barrett Parkway #100 | St. Louis, MO 63021-5870 www.anchorpackaging.com info@anchorpac.com

3143943735

PIZZA PANS

LloydPans

3808 North Sullivan Road Bldg 25-J | Spokane Valley, WA 99216 https://lloydpans.com sales@lloydpans.com

US manufacturer of bakeware for the pizza, restaurant, foodservice and bakery industries. Franchises and companies praise us for the quality of our products, our innovation in solving their custom projects and the honesty of our customer service.

Quality by reputation since 1989.

PLASTIC, PAPER & FOAM PRODUCTS

509-869-0227

Keeps Food Hot & Crispy for Delivery & Takeout. Innovative award-winning packaging protects hot and cold foods. Clear lids prevent errors. Cling film wraps.

Back to Nature Tableware

Prime Tower, Business Bay | Dubai, Dubai 34031

Great Lakes Label, LLC

910 Metzgar Court| Comstock Park, MI 49321

Inno-Pak

1932 Pittsburgh Dive | Delaware, OH 43015

MrTakeOutBags.com

855 South Canal Street | Pittsburgh, PA 15212

Pratt Industries - Pizza Boxes

1975 Sarasota Business Parkway | Conyers, GA 30013

Stanpac

10 West End Road | Totowa, NJ 07512 www.stanpacnet.com foodservice@stanpacnet.com

paper hot cups, take out packaging, ice cream cups and lids

042225532

ANCHOR PACKAGING 3143943735 13515 Barrett Parkway #100 | St. Louis, MO 63021-5870 www.anchorpackaging.com info@anchorpac.com

Keeps Food Hot & Crispy for Delivery & Takeout. Innovative award-winning packaging protects hot and cold foods. Clear lids prevent errors. Cling film wraps.

EVERBRITE, LLC 4145293500

412-482-3002

770-861-6128

905-957-3326

4949 South 110th Street | Green eld, WI 53228 www.everbrite.com sales@everbrite.com

For over 95 years, Everbrite has provided innovative visual identification, outdoor signage, indoor signs & displays, menu systems, architectural & drive-thru elements, electronic displays, scoreboards, and LED lighting solutions to leading companies worldwide.

Orora Visual

3210 Innovative Way | Mesquite, TX 75149 www.ororavisual.com solutions@ororavisual.com

317-979-8608

404-433-8133 2310 Towneheights Terrace SE | Atlanta, GA 30339

Unicorn Design and Mock Ups.

PAYMENT PROCESSORS

ACI Worldwide 305-894-2200 2811 Ponce de Leon Boulevard PH1 | Coral Gables, FL 33134

Coast-to-coast in-store marketing supply chain partner:

Creative Services | POP Print | Menuboards | Store Décor | Signage | Fulfillment

‘47Concepts 281-599-5900 21202 Park Row | Katy, TX 77449 www.47concepts.com 47Cmarketing@47concepts.com

Join industry leaders who rely on our technology to streamline their local store marketing complexities. Now Serving 80,000+ locations.

ViewSonic 909-444-8888 10 Pointe Dr., #200 | Brea, CA 92821

POS SYSTEMS & EQUIPMENT

POS SYSTEMS & EQUIPMENT

AURES

1671 Fenton Business Park Court | Fenton, MO 63026 eShine

323 1st Avenue South | Seattle, WA 98104

3240 Scott Boulevard | Santa Clara, CA 95054 MAXStick Products

2360 Dairy Rd | Lancaster, PA 17601 MTI

12724 Gran Bay Parkway | Jacksonville, FL 32258

REAL ESTATE/SITE SELECTION

Crossman - Ecuyer

1444 Andover Road | Charlotte, NC 28211

Dewey Property Advisors

1 Page Avenue, Suite 240 | Asheville, NC 28801

Ground Lease

3705 Massillon Road | Green, OH 44685

Hamal Enterprises/MIGSIF LLC

2100 Alamo Road Suite T | Plano, TX 75094 https://youtu.be/CnOUKmgkdBQ john@hamalenterprises.com

Great Opportunity to Expand Your Brand In Hurst, Tx

Stand Alone Drive Thru- 2051 SF Building, half Acre pad

Reach Out to Discuss terms

Google maps Location: https://goo.gl/maps/ZbVVq82jCHaoG5f36

704-609-0010

828-548-0090

815-501-7364

972-670-5044

7137 Remmet Ave. | Canoga Park, CA 91303 watsondistributing.com arwa@watsondistributing.com

PROMOTIONAL MENUBOARDS

EVERBRITE,

4949 South 110th Street | Green eld, WI 53228 www.everbrite.com sales@everbrite.com

For over 95 years, Everbrite has provided innovative visual identification, outdoor signage, indoor signs & displays, menu systems, architectural & drive-thru elements, electronic displays, scoreboards, and LED lighting solutions to leading companies worldwide.

Epicure Digital Systems

269 S. Beverly Drive, #541 | Beverly Hills, CA 90212

Epicure Digital Systems

269 S. Beverly Drive, #541 | Beverly Hills, CA 90212

Mvix

23475 Rock Haven Way, STE 125 | Sterling, VA 20166 https://mvix.com

pstamos@mvix.com

310-652-8246 ext. 7

877-553-6314

866-310-4923

Mvix is a leading digital signage company with over 17 years of experience providing full-service digital signage solutions and services to QSR & Fast Casual Restaurants. This includes our award-winning digital signage software with 150+ content apps and data integrations, robust digital signage players, professional project management services, managed service plans, and support packages.

Keller Williams Elite Realtors

917-609-0778 481

SANITATION EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES

EvaClean Infection Prevention Solutions

145 Wood Road | Braintree, MA 02184

SATELLITE TV & ENTERTAINMENT

Loop Media

700 North Central Avenue, Suite 430 | Glendale, CA 91203

R.F. Technologies, Inc.

330 Lexington Drive | Bu alo Grove, IL 60089 www.rfdrivethru.com sales@rftechno.com

SECURITY SYSTEMS & SERVICES

Envysion, Inc.

7237 Church Ranch Boulevard, Suite 406 | Westminster, CO 80021 https://envysion.com info@envysion.com

TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT

866-666-2305

ArgonDigital

3575 Far West Boulevard #26544 | Austin, TX 78731

Concept Communications - Your QSR Solution

2945 Bell Road, Building #120 | Auburn, CA 95603

773-983-5350

800-598-2370

Lineup.ai

1 Park Circle | West eld Center, OH 44251 www.lineup.a getstarted@lineup.ai

Lineup.ai is a cutting-edge software solution that uses AI to generate accurate sales forecasts and suggests optimized schedules.

512-527-9952

916-652-2399

386-214-2126

877-258-9441

Envysion is a loss prevention platform designed to protect businesses, brands, people, and profits within the restaurant, convenience store, and retail industries. Transform your video security systems into a customizable and strategic operational management tool, driving actionable insights by integrating video, audio, and transactional POS data into a managed video software.

R.F. Technologies, Inc.

330 Lexington Drive | Bu alo Grove, IL 60089 https://www.rfdrivethru.com/ sales@rftechno.com

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

GEP

100 Walnut Avenue | Clark, NJ 07066

800-598-2370

919-860-9059 ext. 58

845-469-1000 173 Black Meadow Road | Chester, NY 10918 tradetranscorp.com llholmbo@tradetranscorp.com

TradeTrans Corp

From purchasing to export/import distribution to warehousing, TradeTrans simplifies the complexities of running your business.

Panacea Capital Advisors, Inc.

301-961-1592 3 Bethesda Metro Center, Suite 700 | BETHESDA, MD 20814

R.F. Technologies, Inc.

800-598-2370 330 Lexington Drive | Bu alo Grove, IL 60089 www.rfdrivethru.com sales@rftechno.com

WINDOWS

Quikserv

11441 Brittmoore Park Drive | Houston, TX 77041 www.quikserv.com sales@quikserv.com

800-388-8307

Quikserv is the industry leader for drive thru windows, ticket windows, drawers and all types of secure transaction systems. Quikserv supplies to 45 of the top 50 global quick serve restaurant brands with a large selection of in-stock windows for quick delivery and custom options to suit every need and application. Contact us to speak to us about your project!

Ready Access

1815 Arthur Drive | West Chicago, IL 60185 www.ready-access.com ready@ready-access.com

800-621-5045

Your go-to source for self-closing drive-thru / walk-up service windows and air curtains designed to meet health code. Trusted by the largest QSRs for over 50 years. Patented technology, economical and dependable. View our website to find the configuration that best fits your project!

Jane Abell

Grote

Executive Chairwoman of the Board and Chief Purpose Officer

DONATOS PIZZA

What was your first job?

My first job was working along with my grandma and grandpa to make our pizza dough. I was 11 years old at the time, but since it’s a family business I was allowed to work at that young age.

What’s your favorite menu item at Donatos?

I will always love our original pepperoni pizza topped with 100 pieces of crispy heritage pepperoni, aged smoked Provolone, and Romano on our famous thin crust covered Edge to Edge.

What’s your favorite cuisine aside from pizza? Is there any other cuisine?

Pizza has been at the center of my family and brought so many communities together.

Who inspires you as a leader? Our restaurant associates and managers inspire me every day with their hard work and dedication to making each community we serve a better place. Additionally, our teachers and healthcare providers.

What’s the best piece of advice that other restaurant executives should hear? Find your purpose first and never let your plans become bigger than your purpose. Plans change but your purpose is your real power.

What are some of your interests outside of work? It doesn’t feel like work when it’s a family business, so most of my interest is building our legacy by having our third generation join Donatos. When I’m not doing that or making pizzas, my interest is working with our non-profit, the Reeb Avenue Center.

Donatos was founded in 1963 when my father, Jim Grote, bought a small pizza shop in Columbus, Ohio, as a sophomore at Ohio State University for $1,300 from a young seminarian. Growing up, my dad was advised to be tough in business and nice at home. However, he knew that when he started a business of his own that he was determined to stray from that outdated idea and choose a new path: to treat others the way he wanted to be treated and to lead with love in every decision that was made. 60 years later, Donatos continues to live out Our Promise to serve the best pizza and make your day a little better, all from those humble beginnings on the south side of Columbus to now over more than half the U.S. with 429 locations serving Donatos pizza in traditional restaurants, sports and entertainment venues, one REEF Kitchen, and a partnership with Red Robin that continues to grow. Dad’s insistence on serving a consistent outstanding product and doing business in a way that has become known as Agape

capitalism has propelled our brand to tremendous success and the ability to give back in the communities that we serve in a very meaningful way. Since getting involved in the family business, I have served in many different roles at Donatos. Currently, I am the Executive Chairwoman of the Board and Chief Purpose Officer for the brand.  In addition, I am an ambassador for the brand and responsible for the overall strategic direction of our almost 60-year-old family-owned company. As an author and expert in the field of culture, I have frequent opportunities to speak at both industry conferences and universities. In 2015, I released my first book “THE MISSING PIECE: Doing Business the Donatos Way,” the story of a classic American family business that includes an in-depth account of my lifelong education in leadership. Along with serving our high-quality food like our famous Edge to Edge pizza and providing top-tier customer service, community giveback is deeply rooted in the Donatos business model. q

We’re taking over. There’s so much fresh territory to set up fresh franchises with the freshest sandwiches in the game. We’re ready to roll, are you?

Why Franchise:

We're Simple

Everything about Jimmy John's - the menu, the marketing, franchise management - is simple. No games. No gimmicks.

We're Honest

We promise an honestly good sandwich and deliver on that promise. That's why customers have come to trust us.

We Make it Happen

When you start a business in a garage and nurture it into a nation-wide franchise, that's ass-kickin' execution.

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