QSR June 2022

CLIMATE RESPONSIBILITY / CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14

ONES TO WATCH / CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

OUTSIDE INSIGHTS / CONTINUED FROM PAGE 61

with a lower AUV than fellow quick-ser vice players because of lower costs, like not requiring a kitchen. The brand has presences in the largest metro markets the U.S. has to offer, such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, and Washington, D.C. There is precedent for Joe & the Juice to move out of bigger cities, however. The brand has been in the Danish market for multiple decades and eventually moved to rural locales, and Nørøxe thinks something similar could hap pen domestically with the chain entering Midwestern towns. But that would take about 10 years, the CEO says. Because of Joe & the Juice’s portability, the brand also plays well in nontraditional travel outlets like airports and railway stations. The chain’s ability to provide con venience led to a number of conversations around drive-thru, which is a channel the concept is currently experimenting with. To build culture and leverage supply chain benefits, Joe & the Juice will con tinue to build inside existing markets. Nørøxe says the idea is to cherry pick the best sites in Chicago and Southern Cali fornia instead of being in a situation where the company needs to find 20 new sites in a certain region. “We can pick up some of the trends on the West Coast and then take them with us to New York, to London, thereby getting impressions from many different trends out there to really ensure that we also have the fresh new products for tomorrow,” Nørøxe says. “… If for one reason or the other many people are focusing on Chicago and driv ing up rents, then OK, let’s focus on New York the next 18 months,” he adds. Although units are thousands of miles apart, Nørøxe says the company digitally manages operations from headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark, whether the loca tions are nearby or on the West or East Coast. Also, the most talented employees will travel between stores to ensure align ment of culture and find the best workers in the area. The goal for 2022 is to build between 35–40 units and increase that pace for 2023. At press time, Nørøxe called March the best month in history, despite Q1 typi cally being a low-performing season. q

an extra penny per dollar on each customer purchase. For Wes Rowe, who owns and operates Wesburger, a San Francisco chain that serves up classic burgers and fries, integrating Zero Foodprint’s 1 percent upcharge into operations was a no-brainer. “It can be financially prohibitive to give back," Rowe says. "In our case, switching to grass-fed beef is an extreme measure; our costs would go up and the customers would not appreciate that for the most part." Signs are placed within Wesburger that include information about Zero Foodprint and the upcharge, but Rowe says customers typically do not seem to read the signs or ask about the extra 1 percent. Like Rowe, Boulder, Colorado, Subway franchisee Tim Schiel says customers are typically willing to pay an extra penny on the dollar for Zero Foodprint’s efforts. Despite signage that explains the pro gram as well as highlights the customer’s option to refuse the extra charge, he has not yet encountered a customer across his five stores who has opted out in the year since he integrated Zero Foodprint into his operations. While Schiel’s units have actively composted and recycled for over a decade, he says Zero Foodprint offers a less intensive way to boost the sustainabil ity of his units. “In restaurants you’ll see a trash can, a recycling can, and a compost bin, and then you figure out what’s going where,” Schiel says. “And this is where that customer edu cation comes in; the hardest part of the whole process of sustainability is educat ing the general public." Schiel says he would like to see Zero Foodprint integrated into Subway locations across Colorado and the nation—a senti ment in line with Myint’s own optimism. Myint is hopeful a national fast casual such as Chipotle or Shake Shack will apply the 1 percent upcharge for sustainability in the future, even if they choose to channel the earned funds back into causes indepen dently of Zero Foodprint. “You’re taking climate action,” Myint says. “You’re doing it not by planting a tree in Ethiopia, but by helping a local farm grow better food. So that should resonate. It’s almost like a table-to-farm movement instead of a farm-to-table movement.” q

Once financial needs are met, employee performance comes down to three major elements: Purpose: Employees have to be able to answer the question, “Why am I here?” beyond a paycheck. Quick service may not be as high-touch as full-service hos pitality, but there’s still an element of great service—and enabling tipping allows your team to draw the connec tion between what they do and what they earn. Autonomy: Employees who feel a sense of ownership and accountability over their role are much more likely to stay. Unlike hourly wages, tips revolve around how they show up to work each day, giving them more autonomy and authority over their performance. Value: Every teammate wants to know that they’re valued by their company and that they have a path toward long-term career growth. Whether that’s moving from working on the line to managing a restaurant location or helping them start their own business someday, they can take more pride in their work when they know that how they perform ties back to what they earn. Considerations for quick-service tip programs Increasing take-home pay through tip enablement represents a major opportu nity for employers. And it doesn’t have to look like a tip jar: Increasingly, it’s possi ble to use digital payout solutions and other technology that integrates directly with your payroll or POS to make cashless tip ping and tip distribution easier than ever. While tip enablement programs might look different from one chain to the next, what matters most is that they are secure, compliant with complex tipping regula tions—and most importantly, structured in a way that benefits essential, frontline hospitality workers. Restaurants struggled to hire and retain employees for years pre pandemic. There isn’t a silver bullet—but quick serves need to come up with long term, financially viable solutions. Digital tipping, enabled by technology solutions and the rise of mobile applications, could be an integral piece of the puzzle. q

Ben Coley is Food News Media's content editor. He can be reached at Ben@QSRmagazine.com .

Rachel Pittman is a regular contributor to Food News Media and is based in North Carolina.

Justin Roberts is the co-founder and co-CEO of Kickfin, a leading gratuity management platform.

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JUNE 2022 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com