FSR March 2023

F U T U R E O F QU I C K S E R V I C E

what their need is on a given occasion, time of day, lunch or dinner.” A melding of two worlds is taking shape across quick service. Restaurants are rewiring their dig ital ecosystems and building infrastructure to manage order f low. CAVA directs its own digi tal order platforms that it built internally. There are capabilities now to throttle so restaurants can serve howmany orders they’ve received in a given timeframe, “so that they’re not just drinking from a firehouse,” Schulman says. Simply, the ability to put a time of pickup on an order confirmation for guests and actually deliver against that promise. And where this is connecting coming out of COVID is from a format perspective; how brands are orienting their kitchen production to meet physical and digital demand catered to whatever the trade area requires. “That can come to life in many ways,” Schulman says. Imagine New York City CAVAs without in dining seats, but with multiple digital makelines alongside an in-restaurant serving one. Or a sub urban venue with 80 seats, two makelines, and a pickup shelf. Even more, a digital drive-thru pickup lane with a dining room. CAVA has taken things a step further, testing a “digital kitchen” and a “hybrid kitchen.” The latter, slated to open in Vienna, Virginia, serves dine-in guests (there’s a big office market there) and also touts expanded catering production and digital order capabilities. CAVA’s digital kitchen is strictly for digital order pickup as well as catering—a channel the brand has been building behind the scenes recently. “This format diversif ication and optionality gives us increased f lexibility from a real estate standpoint to f lex up and f lex down depending on the needs of the trade area,” Schulman says. THE NEXT GEN OF DESIGN Over the summer, Wendy’s CFOGunther Plosch relayed a story to investors. He had just walked through the brand’s “Global Next Gen” proto type. “Finally,” he said, “we are embracing digital in our design.” Wendy’s began building traditional units under this banner last fall. Arguably, the blockbuster feature was a delivery pickup window built on the outside of the unit. It’s a feature that doesn’t replace the drive-thru (that’s still live ) but rather creates a dedicated handoff point, complemented with paired parking, for order-ahead customers to grab food to go. Namely, the window will keep

 WENDY’S GLOBAL NEXT GEN MODEL FLOWS TECH THROUGH THE DINING EXPERIENCE.

delivery couriers out of the dining room and shift traffic from the drive-thru line. In addition, Wen dy’s devised dedicated mobile order pickup spots, with mobile pickup shelving inside. In-store, Wendy’s built a galley style kitchen that runs from the front to the back of the res taurant and increases oversight for employees regardless of what channel they’re working on; better efficiency at the point of sale and the abil ity for workers to slide between positions. Or, as Plosch put it, “way less steps to get all of your tasks done.” In essence, Wendy’s goal mirrored CAVA’s in many ways: Reduce friction for consumers and crews, and develop an experience where digital and in-store don’t detract from each other. It’s not so much about creating harmony between the two as it’s providing tools for each to oper ate seamlessly. Wendy’s president, international and chief development off icer, Abigail Pringle, says the Global Next Gen restaurant is conceptualized to handle 400 times the digital capacity of the chain’s current volume. “Technology powers everything from the point of sale, grills, to the new back-office platform designed to streamline general manager tasks,” she says. On the grill note, she’s referenc ing Wendy’s DSG 2.0 grills that speed cook times from 155 to 80 seconds and provide even cooking. The exterior walk-up window, Pringle adds, will address Wendy’s off-premises and digital growth. In Q2, digital comprised just over 9 percent of overall domestic sales, up 2.5 per

Wendy’s goal mirrored CAVA’s in many ways: Reduce friction for consumers and crews, and develop an experience where digital and

in-store don’t detract from each other.

WENDY’S

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INDUSTRY-WIDE ISSUE

MARCH 2023