QSR August 2022

SmartChain Kitchen Equipment

Henny Penny

nearly 40 percent of all consumers say they get food delivery at least weekly. It’s clear that consumers have grown accustomed to out-of-house dining. In fact, 38 percent of operators believe their business wouldn’t be viable WRGD\ ZLWKRXW Rਬ SUHPLVH VDOHV 2QO\ SHUFHQW VDLG WKLV SUH &29,' 2SHUDWRUV DUH PDNLQJ DGMXVW ments to their kitchen setups to accommodate this long-term trend. “To allow more pickup and deliv ery areas, back-of-house kitchens DUH JHि LQJ VPDOOHU ە VD\V &KHI 0Dि Rigney of Panasonic . “Newer tech nologies have allowed operators to do more with less space, and new tech is enabling one piece of equip PHQW WR SHUIRUP PXOWLSOH MREV ە Ghost kitchens were a fringe idea not too long ago, but with the sus WDLQHG ULVH LQ Rਬ SUHPLVH GLQLQJ PRUH EUDQGV DUH WDNLQJ D VHFRQG ORRN ۔2QH RI the biggest lessons operators have taken away from the pandemic might be that JKRVW NLWFKHQV FDQ EH D SURਭ WDEOH VXV WDLQDEOH EXVLQHVV PRGHO ە VD\V *LRYDQQL Brienza, senior vice president of Frontline International . “If fewer people are din ing out, but the demand for away-from home food remains, then why not prepare food for takeout or delivery from a smaller, lower-cost space that has a dramatically UHGXFHG RU HYHQ HOLPLQDWHG GLQLQJ URRP" ە With a smaller footprint, more auto PDWLRQ DQG PRUH ਮ H[LELOLW\ JKRVW NLWFK ens could become a new standard for res WDXUDQW NLWFKHQ VHWXSV 2QJRLQJ VWDਬ ing shortages and retention struggles have created situations where invest LQJ LQ QHZ HTXLSPHQW PD\ KDYH D EHि HU long-term return on investment than hir LQJ QHZ VWDਬ $XWRPDWHG WHFKQRORJ\ LQ WKH NLWFKHQ KHOSV H[LVWLQJ HPSOR\HHV VDYH time and allows them to rotate stations ZLWK PLQLPDO RU QR H[WUD WUDLQLQJ “It’s all about time savings in this labor market—the more operators can auto mate and take non-value-added tasks out of employees’ hands, like manual oil han dling, the simpler and faster the process gets to serve great-tasting food consis WHQWO\ ە VD\V &KDG 0RUULVRQ VHQLRU VDOHV H[HFXWLYH DW Restaurant Technologies .

met, whether the food was deliv ered in the dining room or across WRZQ ە VD\V -RVK )UDQN GLUHFWRU RI product strategy at Henny Penny . 2I FRXUVH FXVWRPHUV DUH PRUH aware than ever before of labor shortages, supply chain challenges, dated infrastructure, and poor kitchen design. Sometimes, this knowledge makes them more for JLYLQJ EXW PRUH R़ HQ WKDQ QRW LW MXVW PHDQV WKH UHYLHZV WKH\ OHDYH RQ *RRJOH RU

“The more operators can implement fully or partially automated systems in their restaurants, the more they can standardize their operations.”

“Because of the continuing labor short DJHV DQG VKL़ LQJ RI WKH PDUNHW WKH PRUH operators can implement fully or partially automated systems in their restaurants, the more they can standardize their oper ations, which in turn will create a consis WHQW H[SHULHQFH IRU WKHLU JXHVWV ە &29,' KDV HYHQ FKDOOHQJHG WKH norm in terms of the ways restaurants interact with guests. Brands were tasked ZLWK ਭ QGLQJ QHZ ZD\V WR UHDFK FXVWRP HUV DV WKH\ OHYHUDJHG WKH GHPDQG IRU Rਬ SUHPLVH GLQLQJ ौ LV R़ HQ PHDQW DGG ing new channels and relying more heav ily on third-party services while keeping D MXGLFLRXV H\H RQ EDFN RI KRXVH FDSDFLW\ ۔2SHUDWRUV KDG WR PDNH VXUH WKH\ FRXOG keep up with takeout, dining room, and delivery orders—and make sure that cus WRPHU TXDOLW\ H[SHFWDWLRQV ZHUH EHLQJ

HENNY PENNY

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AUGUST 2022 | SPONSORED SECTION