QSR October 2022

THOUGHT LEADERSHIPFOR25YEARS

OCTOBER 2022 / NO. 296

®

FEATURING: QSR ® DRIVE- THRU REPORT

TACO BELL DEFIES GRAVITY One of the most

ambitious designs in fast-food history is hardly a blip on the radar. / P. 26

An era of innovation has created a more demanding consumer than ever— and that’s a great sign for quick-service restaurants. / P. 38

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Menuboards Get a Makeover P.15 Pickup Lanes Hit High Gear P. 64

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October

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S O C T O B E R

2 0 2 2 # 2 9 6

QSR / LIMITED-SERVICE , UNLIMITED POSSIBILITIES

D E P A R T M E N T S

F E A T U R E S

N E W S 9 SHORT ORDER 22 FRANCHISE FORWARD A Path of Differentiation The road to growth doesn’t always follow the playbook. BY CONOR MORRIS 92 INNOVATION The Rise of the Digital Cafe Menuboard Makeover As drive-thrus progress to a digital age, everything still starts at the ordering point. BY BARNEY WOLF 18 ONES TO WATCH PLNT Burger Celebrities get behind the growth of a category-defining upstart. BY BEN COLEY 96 OUTSIDE INSIGHTS Optimization Trilogy Three analytical approaches that improve menuboard performance. BY TOM COOK AND HOWLAND BLACKISTON 104 START TO FINISH Scott Deviney The leader of Chicken Salad Chick shares an inside scoop on one of the category’s rising stars. Evolution these days isn’t confined to off-premises. BY GARY STERN I N S I G H T 15 FRESH IDEAS

26 / THE ONLY THING SLOWING DOWN TACO BELL’S DEFY SO FAR IS CUSTOMERS STOPPING AND TAKING PICTURES FOR SOCIAL MEDIA.

TACO BELL / GRAPEVYNE MEDIA

26 Defying Gravity BY DANNY KLEIN Taco Bell’s most ambitious prototype in brand history isn’t just a sign of things to come; it’s a signal the industry has evolved into something far more dynamic.

38 The QSR ® Drive-Thru Report BY DANNY KLEIN Technology and

64 Lane Shift Ahead BY DANIEL P. SMITH A look inside the rise of the pickup window— and how it’s emboldened and empowered a wave of fast casuals.

innovation inspired by COVID-19 have turned quick service’s biggest category into something hardly recognizable.

4 BRANDED CONTENT

6 EDITOR’S LETTER

103 ADVERTISER INDEX

O N T H E C O V E R Defy adds another layer to Taco Bell’s rich drive-thru history. PHOTOGRAPHY: TACO BELL / GRAPEVYNE MEDIA

QSR is a registered trademark ® of WTWH Media LLC. QSR is copyright © 2022 WTWH Media LLC. All rights reserved. 1111 Superior Ave., Suite 12600, Cleveland, OH. Printed in USA. The opinions of columnists are their own. Publication of their writing does not imply endorsement by WTWH Media LLC. QSR (ISSN 1093-7994) is published monthly. Periodicals postage paid at Cleveland, OH, and additional entry points. Subscriptions: (800) 662-4834, www.qsrmagazine.com/subscribe. QSR is provided without charge upon request to individuals residing in the U.S. meeting subscription criteria as set forth by the publisher. AAM member. Postmaster: Send address changes to QSR, 101 Europa Drive, Suite 150, Chapel Hill, NC 27517-2380. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any fashion without the expressed written consent of WTWH Media LLC.

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www.qsrmagazine.com | QSR | OCTOBER 2022

3

BRANDED CONTENT

E D I T O R I A L EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Danny Klein dklein@wtwhmedia.com MANAGING EDITOR Nicole Duncan nduncan@wtwhmedia.com SENIOR EDITOR Ben Coley bcoley@wtwhmedia.com

IN THIS ISSUE BRAND STORIES FROM QSR

12 To Retain the Best Employees, Exceed Their Expectations Better benefits,

24

C U S T O M M E D I A S T U D I O DIRECTOR OF CUSTOM CONTENT Peggy Carouthers pcarouthers@wtwhmedia.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR , CUSTOM CONTENT Charlie Pogacar cpogacar@wtwhmedia.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR , CUSTOM CONTENT Kara Phelps kphelps@wtwhmedia.com

RELLEVATE

including faster pay, show employees they’re respected and understood. SPONSORED BY RELLEVATE

A R T & P R O D U C T I O N ART DIRECTOR Tory Bartelt tbartelt@wtwhmedia.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Erica Naftolowitz enaftolowitz@wtwhmedia.com PRODUCTION MANAGER Mitch Avery mavery@wtwhmedia.com

16 The Loyalty Blind Spot: How to Capture the “Other”

ENVYSION

How This Franchise Group Measurably Improved Operations in Real Time Video surveillance can improve operational e ciency—and provide brand protection. SPONSORED BY ENVYSION

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S A L E S & B U S I N E S S D E V E L O P M E N T GROUP PUBLISHER Greg Sanders gsanders@wtwhmedia.com NATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR Eugene Drezner edrezner@wtwhmedia.com 919-945-0705 NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Edward Richards erichards@wtwhmedia.com 919-945-0714 NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Amber Dobsovic adobsovic@wtwhmedia.com 919-945-0712 NATIONAL SALES MANAGER John Krueger jkrueger@wtwhmedia.com 919-945-0728 SALES SUPPORT AND DIRECTORY SALES Tracy Doubts tdoubts@wtwhmedia.com 919-945-0704

20 From Timer to Headset: Integrated Alerts Maximize E ciency and Profitability Deliver actionable

36 DoorDash Revamps Its Merchant Suite to Help Restaurants Grow The platform empowers operators to

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performance insights to key sta when it matters most. SPONSORED BY HME HOSPITALITY AND SPECIALTY COMMUNICATIONS

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boost business. SPONSORED BY DOORDASH

F O U N D E R Webb C. Howell

SmartChain / p.75

THE NEW ERA OF FOOD SAFETY / RESTAURANTS ARE DIFFERENTIATING THEMSELVES IN NEW WAYS.

SmartChain V E N D O R R E S O U R C E S / T R E N D S / N E W P R O D U C T S

A D M I N I S T R A T I O N 919-945-0700 / www.qsrmagazine.com/subscribe QSR is provided without charge upon request to individuals residing in the U.S. who meet subscription criteria as set forth by the publisher.

OCTOBER 2022

76 A Team E ort Sta training holds the line against food safety disasters. 80 Innovative Ideas Labor-saving food safety solutions are critical today.

83 Prevent and Communicate Customer

Staff Training P. 76 Creative Solutions P. 80 Fresh Demands P. 83 Key Players P. 88

®

R E P R I N T S The YGS Group 800-290-5460 FAX: 717-825-2150

and employee expectations have shifted. 88 Key Players

qsrmagazine@theygsgroup.com www.qsrmagazine.com/reprints Sponsored content in this magazine is provided to the represented company for a fee. Such content is written to be informational and non-promotional. Comments welcomed at sponsoredcontent@qsrmagazine.com.

Here’s how restaurants can differentiate themselves.

THE NEW ERA OF FOOD SAFETY BY KARA PHELPS

WTWH MEDIA LLC RETAIL, HOSPITALITY, AND FOOD GROUP

Here are the biggest names in the world of food safety.

GOJO INDUSTRIES, INC. / KP PHOTOGRAPHER & RETOUCHING

SPONSORED SECTION | OCTOBER 2022

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OCTOBER 2022 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com

E D I T O R ’ S L E T T E R

For Tacos, the Sky’s Hardly the Limit Welcome to a

I was sitting at my desk one June morning when a Twitter notification popped in with the all-seeing blue check mark. Their expert take? “ QSR ’s breathless coverage of … a Taco Bell … is pretty over the top. ‘Arguably the most ambitious prototype’ in restau rant history, it says.” Firstly, let me say this: If there is somebody out there who is going to provide “breathless coverage” of a Taco Bell, it’s going to be us. I wear that as a badge of honor. But I think it’s worth talking about the broader concept here. One of the most worn lines I’ve heard over my time covering restaurants is that it’s historically behind the tech train. Really, food and food delivery in particular, entered the pandemic playing catch-up in terms of digital integration. Change has come so fast since, though, we might not realize what the present view feels like. The idea you can read about a two-story drive-thru where tacos drop down from the sky (this analogy will make sense after you read the article on page 26 ) and roll through an entire process in under 2 minutes without ever speaking to somebody is nothing shy of remarkable. Was it on the radar a couple of years ago? I think so. There was sim ply no rush to bring that contactless ideal to market on a streamlined scale such as what Taco Bell is doing. So this Twit ter interaction, to me, felt a lot like what much of social media has become, not to jump on a soap box. You either celebrate or become a contrarian—there’s not a ton of reaction in the middle. How ever, the way I’ll choose to embrace this point is by grasping what it represents on a large scale; that opening such a restaurant (which, by the way, is the

most ambitious prototype in Taco Bell’s history, I’ll stand by that ) has become a part of the quick-service story. There is still a lot of innovation left on the plate, as we’ll get into in this year’s Drive-Thru Report; order confirmation boards; reconfigured kitchen f low; double lanes; and AI—there isn’t a large-scale quick serve in America that hasn’t at least had discussions on one, if not all, of these topics of late. Something I would suggest for anybody who remains a skeptic is to drive through a Chick-fil-A setup, but look at the experience through a different lens. What the brand has done perhaps better than any chain is take its in-store hospitality and extrapolate that to a line of cars. Yet the misconception is that they’ve done so as some anti-technology mindset rooted in the “old ways.” That is nowhere near accurate. Chick-fil-A is fine-tuning what the industry as a whole is barreling toward—the notion innovation can now enhance a brand’s core traits rather than replace them. And you’re seeing that unfold everywhere you look. We’ve gone past the stage of digital adoption for the sake of survival and into a world where guests are dictating the terms. No place is that more vivid than the drive-thru. And yes, expect no short age of “over-the-top” coverage as we keep learning more.

new age of drive thru, where past expectations can be left at the speakerbox.

DANNY@QSRMAGAZINE.COM QSR MAGAZINE

Danny Klein, Editorial Director

ROSIE ROSENBROCK

6

OCTOBER 2022 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com

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SHORT ORDER

Time toGet Knotty Auntie Anne’s new collaboration made guests feel like they

were biting into a warm pretzel with every sip.

Not just a beer that tastes like pretzels, but one that’s actually brewed with them, too.

IS BUTTER A CARB? Auntie Anne’s and Philadelphia-based Evil Ge nius Beer Company put the answer in the hands of customers with an Oktoberfest-style lager released in time for the beer-centric celebration. The new brew was an innovative riff on the Oktoberfest beer style; brewed not only with imported German hops and malts, but also with fresh-baked Auntie Anne’s soft pretzels. The release marked the first time Auntie Anne’s pretzels were used as an ingredient to develop and

create a unique beer available for purchase. The flavor profile featured all the makings of a classic Oktoberfest, such as a rich malt backbone balanced by delicate hop character, and a prominent toasty flavor profile rounded out with pleasant salinity. "It was important to us to not only create a beer made with our iconic pret zels, but also a beer that could be enjoyed alongside our pretzels,” says Danika Brown, director of brandmarketing at Auntie Anne’s.

AUNTIE ANNE’S Got timelyandnewsworthyphotos?Submit themtoShortOrder@qsrmagazine.com.

www.qsrmagazine.com | QSR | OCTOBER 2022

9

SHORT ORDER

The

industry was one the pandemic’s early rocket ships. Guests raced to comfort food and categories they were familiar ordering o -premises from. Tack on technology and systems these brands nurtured for years and you had a tailwind few segments could compete with. But the pizza world has undergone its share of disruption of late. The

hunt for delivery drivers and a suddenly bursting field of delivery and pickup options has forced industry power players and upstarts alike to shift tack. Direct mail marketing company Mail Shark launched a “Cracking the Code” report for the pizzeria industry. Here were some of the findings:

A CUSTOMER SNAPSHOT:

87 %

50 %

Would sign up for a loyalty plan if one was available.

OUT OF 9,161 RESPONDENTS, 82 PERCENT REPORTED ANYTHING BEYOND AN HOUR WAIT WAS NOT ACCEPTABLE.

HOW LONG ARE MOST CUSTOMERS ACTUALLY WILLING TO WAIT FOR FOOD WHEN ORDERING DELIVERY?

64 %

32 %

Prefer using Facebook when selecting a social platform to follow their favorite restaurants.

14 %

63 %

1 % 2 HOURS OR MORE

1 % 90 MINUTES

Would not consider choosing a restaurant with a rating below 4 stars.

60 MINUTES

45 MINUTES

30 MINUTES

55 %

Report their favorite pizza is from a national chain.

52 %

49 %

52 %

WHAT IS YOUR PREFERRED METHOD OF PLACING ORDERS FROM RESTAURANTS FOR DELIVERY PICKUP?

Prefer calling their order in over the phone for takeout/delivery orders.

30 %

51 %

Use coupons at restaurants they frequent.

50 %

Feel 30 minutes is an acceptable wait time when ordering food for delivery.

THROUGH A THIRD-PARTY SITE

DIRECT ON THE RESTAURANT’S WEBSITE

PHONE ORDER

40 %

Regularly order pizza from two different restaurants.

55 %

36 %

Do not feel comfortable going to restaurants where employees don’t wear masks.

MAKE YOUR PIZZA PICK:

27 %

35 %

Of your loyal customers want to hear from you at least once a week.

10 %

5 %

27 %

SUPERMARKET

HOMEMADE

LOCAL OR MOM-AND-POP

A NATIONAL CHAIN

Leave a 10 percent tip on delivery orders.

26 %

Do not leave tips for pickup orders.

HAND WRITTEN PIZZA: ADOBE STOCK / POLYGRAPHUS, PEPPERONI PIZZA: ADOBE STOCK / ALEXANDER KAZHARSKI

10

OCTOBER 2022 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com

S P ON S O R E D B Y R E L L E VAT E

To Retain the Best

T he backbone of the restaurant industry is its workers. That’s a reality the CO VID-19 pandemic and the subsequent labor shortage drove home to any operators whomay have been reluctant to acknowledge it beforehand. “It’s time for employers tocatchupwith the times and start treating front-line associates likekings andqueens,” says Stewart Stockdale, co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Rellevate, a digital banking services platform. “I’ve run Fortune 500companies, andwe’ve always said hourly employees need to be at the top of the pyramid.” Restaurants depend on their employees bringing their best every day. To do so, people need to feel safe, empowered, and valued. What’s more—if they aren’t getting those needs met, they’ll take their work to the next company or industry. As the gig economy grows stronger, theflexibilityofworkingonan as-needed basis is drawingmany people away from shift-based work—and replacements aren’t so easy to come by anymore. The U.S. BureauofLaborStatistics recently foundthere are 1 million fewer workers in the hospitality industry today than in2019. “The world is changing, and the quick service industryhas torethink itsemployment practices,”Stockdale says. “To say that ‘people don’twant towork’ is shortsighted. Peoplehave Employees, Exceed Their Expectations Better benefits, including faster pay, show that your brand understands and respects its hourly associates. / BY KARA PHELPS

real reasons theystoppedworkingor switched industries—fromnot wanting to get sick from face-to-face interactions and covering child care needs to needing more flexible hours, benefits, andon-demandpay.” Replacing former employees is a costly line item. Arecent casestudy fromRellevate found eachnewhourlyquick-servicehire is a$2,000 expense. With turnover rates in the quick service industry exceeding 100 percent, that compounds quickly. So restaurants are raising pay, improving benefits, and getting creativewithother perks. Formany lower- andmiddle-incomeworkers, higher wages make a big difference—and so does faster pay. According toCareerBuilder, 78 percentofAmericanslivepaychecktopaycheck, and44percent havenot beenable to save$400 in case of an emergency. If theseworkers have a single unforeseen expense, like a car break ing down or a child getting sick, theymay have

nowhere to turn. Predatory payday loans can charge250percent interest. “If youwant to retainyour best employees, you have to offer better benefits, including fasterpay,”Stockdalesays. “Asenseof urgency in terms of pay is extremely important. If I’m an employee, I want to get paid right away—I don’t want to wait two weeks. It’s not just the amount of pay that counts, but also when and howI get paid.” Rellevate’s Pay Any-Day and the Rellevate Digital Account allow employees to receive pay on their terms without taking out a loan. It is an advance. For employers, it is zero-cost to execute, and provides employees security withinuncertaintybyo eringafinancialwell ness benefitwithminimal fees. “If you reallywant toattract and retain the best and brightest, you need to go above and beyond,” Stockdale says. “Rellevate can help quick-service brands get there.” ◗

To learnmore, visit rellevate.com.

RELLEVATE

12

OCTOBER 2022 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com

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$ Based on a company with around 500 employees

          € ‚ ƒ„…  ‚  ‚ † ‡ˆ 

COMPETE WITH COFFEE AND TEA In today's environment, foodservice operators are facing ongoing challenges like inflation, labor shortages, and supply chain issues - just to name a few. According to Cleveland Research Company in their recent “State of the Foodservice Industry" webinar, research shows that despite inflation, consumer demand for restaurants looks to remain strong and the outlook for dining out is optimistic. However, with growing competition to win consumer loyalty, how do you ensure you're standing out? By providing a full-scale, top-quality coffee and tea program, you are laying the foundation to greatly enhance your food offerings! By upgrading your coffee and tea programs, your establishment can become a destination for hot and iced coffee and tea all day long!

wmf-coffeemachines.com • schaererusa.com • wilburcurtis.com

| T H E D R I V E - T H R U M E N U B O A R D | fresh ideas

Digital menuboards are the future at fast casual gusto! And the brand is hardly alone in that directive.

Menuboard Makeover As drive-thrus evolve for a digital age, everything still starts at the ordering point. / B Y B A R N E Y W O L F

A s any quick-service restaurant operator—and customer— knows, drive-thru menuboards come in all sizes, shapes, colors, and capabilities. Increasingly, the emphasis is on the last of those attributes, as devices become more technologically adept and, as a result, pro gressively efficient and effective. Menuboards are better and smarter than ever, whether it is through visual upgrades, with eye-popping animation and colorful digital displays; auditory advances, thanks to speaker and micro phone upgrades; or artificial intelligence developments. “Any innovations in menuboards that I’ve been aware of have to do with technology,” says Tom Cook, principal at King-Casey, a restaurant and foodservice business improvement firm based in

Westport, Connecticut. “[The future] is not in static boards,” he says. A simple way to think about it is in terms of smartphone evolu tion. “First you had flip phones where all you could do was make calls” he explains. “Now, just think about what smartphones can do [as refinements and new options are added every year].” “It’s pretty clear for innovative brands, like ours, that digital boards are the future,” says Nate Nybl, chief executive of burgeon ing Atlanta-area fast casual gusto! The chain will be switching to those boards, featuring “amazing and crispmotion graphics” over the next few years. Technological advances can make a drive-thru experience more natural, but “you have to be careful,” notes Sean Thompson, information technology director at Wichita, CONTINUED AFTER INSERT

GUSTO!

www.qsrmagazine.com | QSR | OCTOBER 2022

15

S P ON S O R E D B Y L E D G E R PAY

The Loyalty Blind Spot: How to Capture the “Other” 60 Percent of Your Customers A new solution helps engage every patron—without any extra work. /BY PEGGY CAROUTHERS

16

OCTOBER 2022 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com

72 PERCENT OF CONSUMERS CLAIM THEY RESPOND TO MARKETING MESSAGES EXCLUSIVELY CRAFTED TO THEIR CHOICES.

majority of consumer data—and the valuable insights they provide onhowto engage them more e ectively—on the table. “Quick-service restaurants provide their customerswith good service and great food,” says Jana Schmidt, president of LedgerPay. “Butwithout access to consumer data, these brands arehamstrung and are unable to el evate that good experience into a great one.” Compare the traditional restaurant experiencewithwhatmost customers have becomeused towhen shopping online. Whena customer uses a retailer’swebsite, that company knows exactlywhich items are in that person’s digital basketwhether they buy the itemor not through a combinationof digital tracking tools that seamlessly build online profiles. Additionally, the e-tailer can use previous purchasehistory todetermine what a customermight be interested inbuy ing in the future. This allows themto tailor recommendations ando ers tokeep the customer engaged, drive sales, and to ensure a personalized shopping experience that’s more satisfying andmore profitable. While restaurants have beenable todo the samewith their loyaltymembers, they havemissedout on the valuable trove of first-party data frompatronswhodonot use these programs, aswell as consumerswho simply fail to log in. “Loyaltyprograms certainlyhavea place and are an important part of the restaurant ecosystem,” Schmidt says. “But they present hurdles for customers, whohave todown load the app, create a profile, attach a credit card, and then remember to log inand scan the app every time they visit a restaurant. Sometimes they forget, but if they are buying a low-ticket itemlike a soft drink, theymay not bother.” Eliminating the Blind Spot This is a critical blind spot for quick-service restaurants because consumers overwhelm inglywant their experiences tobe person alized. LedgerPay data reports 80percent of customers aremore likely tobuy from a company that provides a personalized experience, while 72percent of consumers claimthey respond tomarketingmessages exclusively crafted to their choices. This iswhereLedgerPay’s Payments Intelligence® solution comes in. Rather than

B etweenhigh labor, real estate, and supply costs,margins in the foodser vice industry are incredibly thin. It comes as no surprise thatmost restaurants have adopted loyalty programs to increase customer retention. Though restaurants have seen loyaltyhelpdrive sales and tra c by o ering returning customers incentives to visitmore frequently or add items onto their usual orders, loyaltyprograms aren’t without their challenges. For starters, LedgerPay, Quisitive’s Global Payment Solutions company, reports thatwhilenearly 60percent of all restaurants o er loyalty programs, only 41.6percent of all quick-service customers actually belong toone, and they are often a restaurant’s best andhighest-frequency customers. Thatmeans that quick-service brands have beenunable to track the behaviors andpurchasing preferences of nearly 60percent of their customer base, and restaurants are leaving the vast

LEDGERPAY / ISTOCK

work in conjunctionwithexist ing loyalty programs, which canenricha customer’s profile by fusing individual purchase patternswith their priorhistory. When combinedwithdetails suchas a patron’s email address or phonenumber, chains can bring anentirelynew level of targeting and effectiveness to theirmarketing offers. Even if a customer fails toopt induring a visit, Payments Intelligence still captures and adds that purchase in that patron’s profile based solely onmatching payment card information. “We’re also able towork with any loyalty system, pay ment processor, ormarketing platform,” Schmidt says. “This means restaurants can increase the value of any software or hardware they’ve already installed.” Another benefit, Schmidt says, is LedgerPay’s ability to relieve the burdenonemployees when restaurants are facing la bor shortages andhigh turnover. WithLedgerPay, crewmembers no longer have to thinkof the right add-on for anorder, con vince consumers todownload and register for apps, or remind consumers to log into those apps, which can slowdown lines when the restaurant is busy. “We’re really about remov ing friction fromthe process for customers and employees,” Schmidt says. “LedgerPay opens access to a vast trove of valuable first-party data toquick-service restaurants by transforming

requiring customers to create their own profiles and remember touse the app, LedgerPay allows restaurants to collect 100percent of a patron’s first-party data about preferences andpurchas ing behaviors all while requiring zero additional work fromrestaurant staffor the customer. “WithLedgerPay, we’re able to capture truefirst-party data—not data that’s beenpurchasedormodeled—di rectly fromcustomers simply by se curely and anonymously tracking their credit or debit purchases and creating individual profileswithout any extra effort fromthe customer.” Schmidt says. “Then, that data canbe segmentedby the restaurant sopersonalizedoffers canbe pushed to the customer at the POS in real-time.” For example, she says, if a customer previously visited andbought a kid’s meal, LedgerPaywould recognize that patron’s credit card informationand enable the operator to generate a prompt at thePOS—whether it appears on the kiosk, the receipt, the terminal, or on the register so the cashier can read it—for a treat thatwould appeal to a child. “Without knowing these transaction details, brick-and-mortar businesses suchas restaurants, can’t provide the same elevated experience anonline retailer can,” Schmidt adds. “These offers aren’t just about getting someone to add another itemonto their purchase; they are also about getting that person to come back a second, third, or tenth time throughpersonalizedoffers that resonatewitha customer’s unique preferences rather than just a generic, one-size-fits-all free cookie. Best of all, chains have access to the same data across all locations,meaning patrons get the same personalized experience whether they visit a store inAtlanta, Georgia, orDenver, Colorado.” Consumer preferences are deter mined solely by their buying habits within that specific restaurant brand, and eachprofile evolves over time,

LEDGERPAY / ISTOCK LEDGERPAY / ISTOCK

becoming richer andmore detailedwith every order that patronplaces. Ledger Pay alsoprovides conversionand track ing analytics so restaurants can seehow those offers performin real time. Schmidt notes that LedgerPay can LedgerPay data reports 80 percent of customers are more likely to buy from a company that provides a personalized experience

everyday transactions into action ablefirst-party datawithout requiring customers or employees todo anything so restaurants can focus onwhat they do best: Providing service and food, while creating a better guest experience.” ◗

To learn how LedgerPay can help your restaurant capture 100 percent of its first-party data, visit ledgerpay.com.

Turbocharge Your Loyalty Program with Personalization

LedgerPay’s new Payments Intelligence ® solution transforms everyday payment transactions into first-party data on every customer that pays with a card. You can now track all previously unknown customers and engage them with personalized oers and messages to drive loyalty at scale without requiring enrollment. Engage 100% of Your Customers with No Extra E€ort

• Operates seamlessly in background

• Delivers personalized o€ers while still in the restaurant • Allows you to capture buying behaviors and menu preferences

• Builds detailed customer profiles over time

• Enables segmentation and promotional campaigns to drive revenue

• Tracks and measures every campaign

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| T H E D R I V E - T H R U M E N U B O A R D | fresh ideas

Kansas-based Freddy’s Frozen Custards & Steakburgers. The goal is for a board to be “cool versus creepy.” Animation alone in the past few years has moved beyond menuboards showing, for instance, steam rising from a cup of coffee to a video display of how coffee or any other menu item is created. Zoom-like video can show an eatery employee speaking to a guest in the drive-thru. Meanwhile, upgraded speaker systems linked to menuboards are not only seeing improved voice recognition, like Siri or Alexa, but they can rely on artificial intelligence to learn how to differentiate a customer’s voice fromback ground noise or to adapt to different accents. “Microphones in the past recorded everything, and it would have been hard for a system to adapt to that,” says Minh Le, chief information officer at Checkers and Rally’s. “Now you can tell a human voice versus cars or street noise or birds.” Artificial intelligence ( ai ), or machine learning, is key to future quick-service menuboards. It will allow operators to change their boards—even automati cally— “depending on factors like weather or product availability,” Cook says. And by learningwhat customers are order ing, “the menuboard can customize itself to that. It’s all about capturing data and using analytics.” The use of AI can provide operators a deep dive into what makes their customers tick and goes beyond the individualization that already occurs through tying the guest ordering experience— including menuboards interaction—to mobile apps and loyalty programs. Examples of these advances can be found across the quick-ser vice restaurant firmament. Starbucks rolled out the digital barista camera in 2015 to bring the employee-customer personal connection to the drive-thru lane. The screens can showthebarista takingaguest’s order, themenu item, and the cost. Customers can also viewAI-drivenbeverage and food recommendations, basedonweather, relevant beverages and food for the daypart, product availability, or popular items other customers at the store have ordered, says a spokesperson for the Seattle-based giant. Not only does the barista camera bring a more personal touch to the drive-thru, but there have been instances where hearing impaired guests in their cars have been able to order a menu item through sign language or other means. Early this year, the chain began rolling out a redesigned digital order screen layout at U.S. drive-thrus. The appearance is similar to Starbucks’ mobile app, builds on existing features like the barista camera, and has a visual order confirmation that mirrors the app ordering experience. Gathering data and putting it to work is key to expanding dig ital drive-through menuboards beyond pretty pictures and nifty graphics, Freddy’s Thompson says. The idea is to reduce order and fulfillment times and make menu choices easier through a data driven design strategy. “Most peoplewho come up to amenuboardmake their decision in a few seconds,” he says. “So, you have to be quick, but tell the

entire story.” Static menuboards change slowly, and even manual entry on digital boards—from pricing to popular items—may lag. Freddy’s new system was built using more than 3 million lines of data to see what guest behavior was saying. Testing added a million more lines. For gusto!, moving to a new systemmeans the chain’s unique menu requires order confirmation needs to be stronglywoven into the drive-through lane’s digital technology. “Managing that will help

CHECKERS & RALLY’S IS AMONG THE BRANDS BRINGING AI INTO THE DRIVE-THRU ORDERING LANE.

us to be more nimble on changes and allow the messaging to be more dynamic,” Nybl says. “It’s where art meets engineering from a communications standpoint,” he notes. At the same time, the chain intends to com plement its upgraded menuboard with a human connection by continuing to have an employee in the drive-thru lane during busy times to help guests. Checkers andRally’s newvoice assistant has proven to be highly precise—clocking in at 98 percent accuracy rate overall and nearly 100 percent at some locations. The systemis triggeredwhenaguest drives up to themenuboard, and the customer is greeted in real timeby a femalehuman-sounding voice connected to the cloud. The voice will respond to the visitor by not only taking the order but by suggesting a combo or other menu item, answering consumer queries, making any corrections, and then providing the payment amount. Most of the time, an employee in the restaurant “is not involved,” Le says. Instead, the less-pressured worker at the pick-up window is filling drinks, making fries, and accepting payment. In the more than 170 restaurants where the system is installed, “the employ ees love it.” The assistant continues to learn. “The longer it works at a store, the more the machine learns and builds up its dictionary,” the CIO notes. At most Checkers and Rally’s units, the new voice assistant involves minimal cost for franchises that had updated their over all timer and headset systems over the past five years. Certainly, cost is a factor as technology continues to move forward. “As we roll out all these things out, we have to be sensi tive to the needs of our franchise community,” Thompson says. These devices are not free, “so let’s do it where it makes sense, for us and for franchisees.” q

BarneyWolf is a regular contributor to Food News Media and is based in Ohio.

CHECKERS AND RALLY’S

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DEPARTMENT ONES TO WATCH

PLNTBurger Celebrities get behind the growth of a category-defining upstart. B Y B E N C O L E Y

had at least one vegan option. “The interest and willingness is there,” Mendelsohn says. “I think we’re experi encing a shift in our system from what we grow and how it travels and what we eat, and people are becoming a lot more edu cated about it. From that stance, I see it as very popular and moving quite quickly.” “… One of the things that we’re also doing with our brand is really democratizing plant-based foods because that’s where the importance is for the diets, wherever people need to eat less meat and salt and suffer from obesity or things like that,” he continues. Global retail sales of plant-based foods are predicted to reach as high as $162 billion by 2030, an increase from $29.4 billion in 2020, according to the Bloomberg Group. At that level, the segment would take up 7.7 percent of the global food market. PLNT Burger aims to be a part of that signif icant runway. The concept owes its beginnings to a conference panel discussion in 2017 where Goldman and Mendelsohn were speakers. Goldman placed a cooler of Beyond Meat under Mendelsohn’s chair, which he took home and cooked for his vegan wife. “I saw how excited that burger made my wife, and to me, I was like, ‘This is just good as anything that’s out there,’” Men delsohn says. “my wife was the one that was like, ‘No, this is legendary.’ So I followed up with an email to Seth the next day.” PLNT Burger’s menu is simple, with the PLNT Cheeseburger, PLNT Burger, MushroomBBQBacon Burger, DBL PLNT Burger, Baja Burger, Crispy CHIK’N Sandwich, and Spicy CHIK’N Sandwich. Mendelsohn says there are plenty of oppor tunities for innovation within the space, as well. PLNT Burger previously had a chicken sandwich made from parts of a mushroom that were originally labeled as food waste. The restaurant sourced CONTINUED ON PAGE 102

FOUNDERS: Spike Mendelsohn, Seth Goldman HEADQUARTERS: Bethesda, MD

aware of. Since, trial has been massive, espe cially from some of the biggest brands in fast food—Burger King ( Impossible Whopper), McDonald’s (McPlant) , KFC ( plant-based nuggets) , and more. The demand is clearly present, Goldman says, which is why PLNT Burger has grown from one to 12 restau rants after starting in 2019. Spike Mendelsohn, cofounder and chef, shares his partner’s sentiment, saying culi nary leaders have spent years transforming vegetables into center-of-the-plate products. The movement has been backed by a num ber of celebrities; Beyond Meat’s roster of ambassadors includes Kim Kardashian, Kevin Hart, and Snoop Dogg. And the impact is worldwide. Mendelsohn remem bers traveling to Greece this past summer and being amazed at how many restaurants

YEAR STARTED: 2019 ANNUAL SALES: N/A TOTAL UNITS: 12 FRANCHISED UNITS: 0

THE RISE OF PLANTBASED MENUS CAN BE described as nothing short of “incredibly quick,” says Seth Goldman, cofounder of fast casual PLNT Burger and chair of Beyond Meat. From what he recalls, three years ago, the segment nearly didn’t exist. It was on the cusp of being something people were

PLNT BURGER

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S P ON S O R E D B Y HME HO S P I TA L I T Y AND S P E C I A LT Y C OMMUN I C AT I ON S

FROM TIMER TO HEADSET: INTEGRATED ALERTS MAXIMIZE EFFICIENCY AND PROFITABILITY Deliver actionable performance insights to key staff when it matters most. / BY JOCELYN WINN

M aintaining efficiency can be an uphill battle, creating a snowball e ect.With the industry experiencing extreme loadsonitsoperational systems, lackof sta leads toworking with smaller teams and shorterhours,whichcanresult in lags indrive thru services and extending crews acrossmul tiple locations. The key is towork smarterwith the right technologies toprevent teamburnout andalleviate laborandoperational pressures. The path to relief begins with the HME NEXEO|HDXCrewCommunicationplatform, whichintegrateswithHMEZOOMNitroTimer with video detection to enhance operational efficiency. Integration of these powerful plat forms empowers key staff with critical alerts delivered to the employee through the headset inreal time, likewhenacararrives inacurbside pickupparkingspace, enablingtheteamtotake immediateactionandimprovecustomerservice on the spot. This integration gives employees the freedomtomove about the restaurant and multitaskwhile always being aware of critical service events. “Crews andmanagersmove about the res taurant all day,” says ScottMullica, director of productmanagement atHMEHospitalityand SpecialtyCommunications. “Whether they’re inthekitchen, coachinganewemployee, help ing a mobile guest, or just busy in the hustle and bustle of the restaurant, ZOOM Nitro timer alerts to your NEXEO | HDX headset enable your team to prevent issues or correct somethingbefore itbecomesamajorproblem.” With crews serving more customers than everbeforeatmultiple touchpoints—thedrive thru,mobileorders, curbside, anddine-in—and operators navigating a labor shortage unlike anything the industry has experienced in a long time, restaurants need technologies that

order groups without interrupting drive-thru communication. HME CLOUD connectivity keeps the NEXEO platform up-to-date and prepared for the future of the industry. Plus, theplatformis ready to integratewithvoiceAI providers for automatedorder taking. “Even with a smaller team, you can reach your operational and service goals if you have the right technologies,” Mullica says. “The NEXEO | HDX platform provides industry leading patented HD wideband audio with moreflexibility thanother systems. Plus, with actionable insightsdeliveredtokeysta inreal time, your crew is empowered tomake a posi tive impactoncustomer serviceandrestaurant performancewhen itmattersmost.” ◗

help them improve workflows and increase productivity. “Drive thrus have evolved into operations withmultiple order and pickup points,”Mul lica says. “Restaurants needa communication solution that seamlessly connects drive-thru and crew communication, enabling customer service that exceedsexpectationsat everyarea of your operation.” NEXEO | HDX is the total communication platform that connects crews to drive-thru customers and other order pickup locations, ensuringcompletecoverage insideandoutside the restaurant. Because of its multiple chan nels, theplatformalsoenables dedicatedcom municationforoutsideorder takersandmobile

To see and hear the NEXEO | HDX experience, visit hme.com/nexeo.

HME

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FINALLY! Integration Between Drive-Thru Headset andTimer.

4:46:20

DAYPART - 3 SNACK

2:00 PM 5:00 PM

SHIFT - 2 CLOSING

12:00 PM 8:00 PM

JUNE 23 WEDNESDAY

HMEats’ #4321

1:42

1:25

1:22

1:12

SERVICE

CASHIER

0:45

0:55

0:20 Menu1Time

0:28 Menu2Time 0:42 HourAVG

0:40 Goal 0:42 CashierTime 38 CarsCount 0:45 HourAVG

MERGE 1

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0:42 HourAVG 0:40 Goal 0:14 3 ServiceTime DriveOffs 0:12 HourAVG ThisHour 0:15 Goal

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DRIVE OFF DETECTED

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125 Best

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PRE-MENU

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“Drive off has occurred. * ”

“A mobile order is waiting.”

“Drive-thru danger zone alert. * ”

“Pull-forward time has been exceeded.”

*requires ZOOM Nitro with video detection.

NEXEO | HDX TM integrates with ZOOM Nitro® Timer to deliver actionable insights to key staff when it matters most. Maximize efficiency and stay on top of your operation’s performance even as you move around the restaurant. Notifications from ZOOM Nitro to the right employee’s headset provide critical information that enables immediate action and helps you improve performance on the spot. Actionable Insights to the Right Person at the Right Time

The Total Solution for Restaurant Communication 866.577.6721 | www.hme.com/nexeo

© 2022 HM Electronics, Inc. The HME logo and product names are registered trademarks of HM Electronics, Inc. All rights reserved.

DEPARTMENT FRANCHISE FORWARD

APathof Differentiation Sometimes, the road to franchise success doesn’t follow the classic playbook. B Y C O N O R M O R R I S

“I think it’s just that the public wants some thing different,” Wyland adds. “I think we just need more unique items out there that are readily available, and with franchising, the whole key is being able to replicate your brand or menu throughout the country in dif ferent markets.” New York City restaurateur Stratis Mor fogen similarly has seen ample interest from franchisees in Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, which he founded in January 2020. It’s a fast-growing quick-serve that opened six new franchise stores in August alone, and is on track to open 10 more in 2022, and poten tially at least one shop per week by 2023, Morfogen says. “We’re the only one in our lane,” he says. “And what we’ve done, we’re basically redefin ing or re-imagining two lanes into one. We’re re-imagining the sandwich and we’re re-imag ining the dumpling.” Brooklyn Dumpling Shop boasts all sorts of f lavors wrapped up in an appealing, easy-to eat package with classic sandwich f lavors, like buffalo chicken, reuben, and a bacon, egg and cheese “cro’sumpling” ( like a breakfast croissant ).

Roll-Em-Up Taquitos has a pipeline nearing 500 units.

F rom taquitos to dumplings to vegan versions of American fast-food classics, a growing number of fast-casual and quick service concepts are turning to atypical menu items to entice customers and franchisees alike. California-based Roll-Em-Up Taquitos is one example. The brand has five stores, all based in Southern California, but since opening up for franchising roughly a year ago, has added 480 new franchise units to its development schedule. Chris Wyland, chief development off icer, says the sky’s the limit for Roll-Em-Up, partially due to the unique niche the con cept occupies. “We have this saying, that everyone else in the country is fight ing over chicken sandwiches, cheeseburgers and pizza, and we’re in this category by ourselves,” Wyland says. “As of today, we’re still the only taquito-focused multi-unit brand in the world so we’re in this little market niche by ourselves.” While Roll-Em-Up is currently focused on franchising stores in the western part of the U.S., Wyland says there’s been a ton of interest from franchisees across the country.

“I believe the dumpling market could get as big as the sand wich market,” Morfogen says. “Who the hell doesn’t like a 2-ounce sandwich? And that’s what a dumpling is.” Morfogen says the success of the concept shows consumers need to be “mentally and culinarily” stimulated with fresh new ideas, and notes customers—and franchisees—are especially interested in concepts that can do that with fusion-style cuisine. But having a great, unique product is only part of the battle. Morfogen says franchisees are really looking for fully formed con cepts that aren’t too expensive to open up, and have easy-to-prepare products, and dumplings fit that role perfectly. Low payroll costs help, too, especially in a time where restaurants are having trou ble finding workers; Brooklyn Dumpling boasts an automat style of service that reduces the number of staff needed per location. “You can open up a dumpling shop for $300,000 to $400,000, although it can be as low as $150,000 on the low end and you’re in business with a product with no assembly, no product waste, and no ingredients that come in non-frozen,” Morfogen says. Wyland agrees; for franchisors in this space to be suc CONTINUED ON PAGE 102

ROLL-EM-UP TAQUITOS

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S P ON S O R E D B Y E N V Y S I ON

How This Franchise Group Measurably Improved Operations in Real Time Video surveillance can improve operational efficiency—and provide brand protection.

a concept to focus on and targeted 80 restaurants for review. “Out of a quarter where we had 80 restaurants being au dited,wewouldhaveanywhere froma25 –35percenthit rateonidentifyingbehav iors thatwewanted to address,”Magana says. “We were able to use Envysion’s softwareasa teaching tool, not topunish anyonebut toprovideactionable insights tomanagement. We were able to proac tively identifybehaviorsandtrends, even downto the level of aparticulardaypart. Maybe yourmorning crewdid great, but maybe you had a weaker staff at night, and that’swhereyoustarted to see those opportunities for improvement.Wewere able tohelp the generalmanager and the districtmanagerbetter facilitateandrun their restaurants.” Behavioral audits reviewed specific behaviors likeadherence todresscodeas well asstateandcountyCOVID-19proto cols. “We were able to correct behaviors inreal timeduring theheightof themask mandates and coach throughout our restaurants,”Maganasays. “Wewerealso

R isks to a brand’s reputation are everywhere, especially in the wakeof thepandemic. Customers aremoreawareof securityand hygiene issues thanever before, evenas the restaurant industry’s labor shortage has made it harder for many brands to train new em ployees fast enough. When Chris Magana, director of risk management at WKS Res taurantGroup, decided to integrate security cameraswithEnvysion’s managed video solution across his group’s restaurants, he wanted his teams tounderstandthat itwasmorethanatheftdeterrent. “Itwasabig goal togetmy teamsonboardwiththe idea that theEnvysionplatform is aboutmore thancatchingpeople stealingordoing thewrong thing,” he says. “Wewanted to use it to better control howwe take care of our guests andbetter instill a safety culture inour restaurants.” WKShasmore than300restaurantsacrossfivedi erent concepts, andMagana implemented audits of their operational practices using Envysion’s managed video solution. Each quarter, the group chose

able to improve our drive-thru times by ensuring the prep work was doneaheadof time, andthatwehadenoughpeopledeployedtocertain stations toensureourguestswerebeingservedquicklyande ectively.” Safety audits looked for situations that could lead toworkers’ com pensationclaims, suchas lingering spills on thefloor or blockedemer gencyexits. “Wewerereallyable tohone inonbehaviorsandoversights that were leading to opportunities within our restaurants,”Magana says. “We used these audits as training for the entire enterprise.” Intheend, it’saboutbrandprotection. “Wehavefivedi erentbrand images we want to protect, but ultimately, they all fall under the one franchise logo ofWKS, which stands for ‘WeKnowSuccess,’”Magana says. “We want to be better than what we were yesterday. Envysion helps us see howwe as leaders can do better to truly understand the needs of our employees and the business.” ◗

To learn more, visit envysion.com.

ENVYSION

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