QSR May 2023

DEPARTMENT OUTSIDE INSIGHTS

See You in Chicago! The restaurant industry’s biggest show offers a chance to reconnect, discover, and find inspiration once again. BY DON FOX

single best place to find innovation on display. Conversation with vendors may unveil oppor tunities for your business that you didn’t even know existed prior to the show. Innovation is not a word commonly associ ated with restaurants. I think most would agree that the industry has had a reputation for being slow to develop or adopt new technology. It’s not that we aren’t a creative bunch; just look at our ideation around cuisine. On that front, there is a never-ending stream of experimen tation by chefs that perpetually test the public’s threshold for embracing new flavors and tex tures. If there is a limit placed on creativity, it is not on the part of the food artist, but rather, the culinary proclivities of patrons.

While we may excel at creating new menu items that appeal to the palate, our collective penchant for invention hasn’t often extended into the realm of technology. Other than per haps the basic concept of the drive-thru (which is far from inconsequential, by the way), I’m hard pressed to think of an invention that was birthed by the restaurant industry and then adopted in an impactful way by our broader society. Even when it comes to repurposing technology born in other corners of the economy, we have earned a reputation as laggards. Is this reputation deserved in 2023? Perhaps, but increasingly, this is more a matter of perception than reality. Embracing digital interaction with the guest is the most salient arena for the indus try’s adoption of new technology. While much of this involves work on the customer-facing side of technology, applications behind the counter and in the kitchen are increasing. The forecasting of demand and queuing of production are front in center of the needs of our industry. Any slowness in adopting solutions on this front is not a matter of lack of desire to do so, but rather, the inherent diffi culty in inventing a solution that adequately addresses the challenge. In many respects, operating a restaurant day-to-day is more diffi cult than a lot of other businesses. The flow and complexity of our business is greater than most. Indeed, using robotics to build a car that is comprised of finite components with tight, absolute specifi cations can be easier than trying to build a hamburger. When we arrive in Chicago and walk the showroom floor, we see the diversity of suppliers and thought leadership serving our Former Firehouse Subs CEO Don Fox says the National Restaurant Association Show is full of discoveries.

T he month of May and the restaurant industry’s premier event are inextricably linked. This year’s National Restau rant Association Show runs from May 20–23. If you only manage to break free for one industry experience in 2023, this is the one to have on your calendar. If you want to see the latest and greatest that the industry has to offer, Chicago is the place to be. When you walk the show floor, you’ll have the opportunity to look at our industry from every angle. If you attend with specific interests in mind, such as discovering options for a particular menu ingredient or sourcing a new piece of equipment, odds are you are going to find something of interest. Sure, you can browse websites to your heart’s content from the comfort of home, but at least for this restaurant veteran, being able to engage all your senses trumps the internet. Suppliers will be eager to hear about the challenges you have in your business or the opportunities you are attempting to exploit. They won’t hesitate to sow seeds for how they can help you achieve your goals. Even if you aren’t in search of specific solutions, you should still attend and simply walk the floor for the sake of discovery. It’s the

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MAY 2023 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com