Special Report

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TeenVision How this generation works, eats and plays A SPECIAL REPORT PAGE 28

2018 Golden Chain Awards WWW.NRN.COM SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

PAGE 63

Mimi Sheraton on The inventive, the little things convenient snack PAGE 20

PAGE 99

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September 24, 2018

“The key to getting people is approachability.” BRIAN NASAJON, BEAKER & GRAY, PAGE 99

6 Editor’s Letter 9 The Roundup

52 54

SPECIAL REPORT 28 30

37 42 44 46 48 50

Teen Vision NRN examines how this generation works, eats and plays. Loving and losing teen labor How teens helped deﬁne fast food, and where the industry is without them. Attracting young workers Restaurants get creative to boost teen job participation rates. Helping at-risk teens Program supports young people launching their culinary careers.

Tech comes naturally Brands capturing teen awe

A peek into the archives

63

OPERATIONS 17

All about the experience Tom’s Urban wants to get consumers off the couch.

20 21

Viewpoint: Mimi Sheraton How do your customers know what you think of them? Commentary: Jim Sullivan 7 habits to make the leap from idea to action.

65 69 73 77 81 85

FINANCE 23

A move to reshape boards California bill would require women on corporate boards.

26

Same-store sales report Del Taco Restaurants’ sales jump; Papa John’s falls.

89

Steve Easterbrook

Denny Marie Post

99 104

John D. Cappasola Todd Burrowes

More than a c-store Dash In is also part restaurant and part grocery.

Fast and fun snacks Diners like treats that are aﬀordable and approachable. Commentary: Nancy Kruse Restaurants are playing up corn’s versatility.

THE LOOK

Paul Brown

Chains tap AI tools Tech Tracker covers automation and third-party delivery.

Fast-casual ‘accelerator’ Venture Kitchen plans Invicto concept, expands Blackwood BBQ.

FOOD & BEVERAGE

Wan Kim

CONCEPTS 93

96

2018 Golden Chain and Norman Award winners NRN recognizes the best in industry leadership.

TECHNOLOGY

Teens by the numbers How they spend their time

LEADERSHIP AWARDS

5 things about teen & food

114

Worker uniformity Breaking down 1950s restaurant staﬀ style. 111 Product showcase 112 Ad index 113 Foodservice mart ON THE COVER: Orchid, worker at White Castle, photo by Jayson Keeling. ABOVE: Cheeseburger croquettes, photo courtesy Beaker & Gray.

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

I NRN.COM

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Editor’s Letter

Notes From the Field

September 24, 2018

THE BUZZ

How we march forward

We have a whole new look. The same Nation’s Restaurant News quality journalism is now brought to you with an airy layout, big beautiful photos, easy-to-read text and modern colors. These changes are part of NRN’s ongoing multi-platform evolution of the website, digital database — and now, the magazine. Our logo is updated, too, and this version takes inspiration from NRN’s 1960s logo. While the ﬁnal logo result is new, I like that it shows where we came from. You’ll notice some new magazine sections: The Roundup: Here you’ll ﬁnd news and trends as well as expanded versions of reader favorites, Menu Tracker and People on the Move. You’ll also ﬁnd Behind the Story essays from our editorial team, and a Told & Overheard section with memorable quotes from the news. Starting on page 9. Technology: Technology is a focus in NRN’s reporting, so it’s about time we gave the topic its own department. Be sure to check out Tech Tracker, senior editor Nancy Luna’s regular roundup of the latest happenings in the technology space, on page 89. Concepts: This is the new home for our regional chains, independents and emerging brands in and around the restaurant industry. Page 93.

Following close of Jamba Juice acquisition by Focus Brands: “Yes! @JambaJuice is now in the @FOCUSBRANDS family. Love having this healthy lifestyle brand in our portfolio. Get ready — this team has already launched less sweet, lower sugar, higher protein, all natural plant based yumminess. The Jamba you love, plus more goodness.”

The Look: This photo page (114) spotlights notable trends in restaurant design and aesthetics. For our ﬁrst installment, we included a 1950s White Castle guide to appropriate restaurant employee dress. The world might not be as diﬀerent now as we think. In our redesign issue where we are marching forward, it’s not a coincidence we chose our to focus on the next generation — teenagers. The Teen Vision special report is a primer on this generation’s preferences and behavior. A feature by senior editor Gloria Dawson investigates teenagers’ role in the changing shape of the restaurant industry labor force. Teen Vision also explores solutions for recruiting this generation, what hobbies they have, their relationship with technology and what culinary trends speak to them. After NRN completed this special report, I turned to my 16-year-old kid brother, Jonah Telesca, for some ﬁrst-person insight into the world of teenagers today. His favorite food: Pizza. Why? “It tastes good. It’s inexpensive.” Dining pet peeve: “When waiters don’t like check up on people and you have to sit there with no reﬁlled drink for a long period of time.” I think it would be tough for anyone from any generation to disagree with his perspective. Perhaps, teenagers, they are just like us? Turn to page 28 for a deep dive on what motivates this next generation of consumers and employees. Like Jonah’s pizza, some teen preferences have stood the test of time while others have shifted signiﬁcantly.

JENNA TELESCA | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF [email protected] | @JENNATELESCA

KAT COLE

Chief operating oﬃcer and North America president, Focus Brands @KatColeATL

Following Hurricane Florence: “Thank you @USArmy for sending your best to help @WCKitchen deliver 1100 meals to Columbus County tonight to feed 5 shelters after the roads ﬂooded!! With your trucks, we can go over water with safety and feed people in need!” #ChefsForCarolinas JOSÉ ANDRÉS

Chef and owner, ThinkFoodGroup founder, World Central Kitchen @chefjoseandres

TOP STORIES ON NRN.COM Week of September 10 • • • • • •

Don’t miss your daily dose of must-read news — NRN’s free newsletter: NRN AM nrn.com 6 NRN.COM

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Chick-ﬁl-A adds call button Chili’s president steps down 8 emergency hurricane tips Taco Bueno shutters 16 units Tech pioneer Stacked acquired Inside Starbuck’s Reserve Roastery in Italy

PHOTO: YVONNE ALBINOWSKI

FEWER HANDS CLEANER ICE

THE OUT-OF-THE-WAY ICE MAKER Improved aesthetics Cleaner dispensers Better customer experience See how at follettice.com/icemaker

News, trends and data from the Nation’s Restaurant News team

The Roundup

TOP 5 BURGER CHAINS

People on the Move

1. McDONALD’S

$37.6 billion

Executive appointees include (left to right) Kelli Valade, Guy Constant, Jack Moran, Jennifer Jaffe, Seth Freeman and Anne Goldman.

2. BURGER KING

$9.6 KELLI VALADE, president of Chili’s Grill & Bar, is leaving the company to become CEO and president of analytics ﬁrm TDn2K LLC. WYMAN ROBERTS, CEO and president of Chili’s parent Brinker International Inc., will return to head the casual-dining brand. He served as Chili’s president for seven years before Valade was promoted to the position.

Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants has named MICHAEL COYNE as chief ﬁnancial ofﬁcer. Coyne most recently served as CFO for Potbelly Corp. and last year acted as interim CEO for that brand.

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. is naming GUY CONSTANT, chief ﬁnancial ofﬁcer, to head the chain’s operations, succeeding Carin Stutz in the position. The brand said Constant will move into the new COO role when a new CFO is hired, and Denny Marie Post, Red Robin CEO, will assume responsibility for operations in the interim. Papa John’s International Inc.’s chief development ofﬁcer and president of its international division, TIM O’HERN, has retired, effective immediately, according to a ﬁling with the Securities and Exchange Commission. His duties will

be performed by existing executives. Paris Baguette USA Inc. has named JOHN BILLINGSLEY as chief development ofﬁcer. Billingsley joins the brand after most recently serving as chief development ofﬁcer at Le Pain Quotidien USA. Paris Baguette USA also named JACK MORAN as chief operating ofﬁcer. Moran, who also comes from Le Pain Quotidien, succeeds Young Jo Choi, who retains his title as COO of Paris Baguette Korea. El Pollo Loco has named Estée Lauder veteran JENNIFER JAFFE to the

newly created role of chief people ofﬁcer. Jaffe will also carry the title of senior vice president. SETH FREEMAN has been appointed to the newly created position of chief marketing ofﬁcer of Buffalo Wild Wings, parent company Inspire Brands said. Freeman previously worked for InterContinental Hotels Group.

Biscuitville Fresh Southern has named ANNE GOLDMAN as its chief development ofﬁcer. Goldman succeeds recently retired Tim Hegarty. Goldman had worked for Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corp.

billion

3. WENDY’S

$9.3 billion

4. SONIC DRIVE-IN

$4.4 billion

5. DAIRY QUEEN

$3.6 billion

SOURCE: NRN TOP 200 DATABASE ALL SALES FIGURES FOR U.S. SYSTEMWIDE SALES IN THE LATEST YEAR

Dinosaurs inspire dessert shop concept Sweetosaur oﬀers decadent desserts of “Jurassic proportions.” The concept ﬁrst opened on May 19 at Galleria at Tyler, a shopping mall in Riverside, Calif., and touts a bevy of dinosaur-themed milkshakes, rolled ice creams and, most recently, versions of the Waﬄesaurus Rex — a patent-pending T-Rex-shaped waﬄe ﬁlled with ice cream. Rachel Kanter and her husband Javier Santos co-founded the dino-centric store, taking inspiration from her family’s shared appreciation for the reptiles. Her mother owns Wonder of Dinosaurs, a dinosaur-themed children’s museum

COMPOSITE PHOTO: SWEETOSAUR

in Redondo, Calif. “Sweetosaur was inspired by my love for dinosaurs and the desire to do a whole themed store,” Kanter said. How has the response to her dino-desserts been? Overwhelmingly positive across all age groups, according to Kanter. “Dinosaurs just fascinate people and almost every age group grew up with some sort of iconic dinosaur-centric show or movie.” Following the success of the ﬁrst store, Kanter and Santos plan to open a second Sweetosaur unit this November in Torrance, Calif. — Anna Kang

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

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The Roundup

DOUBLE WAHLBURGERS COMING UP FOR HY-VEE Following up the spring debut of its ﬁrst Wahlburgers restaurant, Hy-Vee Inc. is opening two new franchise locations: a 7,100-square-foot Wahlburgers in its hometown of West Des Moines, Iowa, and a 5,200-square-foot unit in Olathe, Kan., a Kansas City suburb. Hy-Vee announced last summer that it planned to build, own and operate 26 Wahlburgers locations, which would make it the restaurant chain’s largest franchisee. The grocer opened its ﬁrst Wahlburgers, a 5,500-square-foot location, in May at the Mall of America in

BEHIND THE STORY: SENIOR EDITOR GLORIA DAWSON

NOW HIRING TEENS FOR FAST-FOOD JOBS: IT WAS PLANNED THAT WAY

Supermarket chain Hy-Vee plans to open 26 Wahlburgers. Bloomington, Minn. Hy-Vee is adding Wahlburgers-branded menu items to its 80 Market Grille in-store restaurants. Wahlburgers and partner ARKK Food Co. have rolled out Wahlburgers At Home — a line of beef prod-

ucts, including ground beef, patties, sliders and brick packs — to 1,300 grocery stores. This story was ﬁrst published in NRN’s sister brand Supermarket News.

NPD: Chain units flat as independent numbers fall The number of U.S. restaurants declined 1 percent, to 660,755, in spring 2018, with chain counts remaining ﬂat and independent operations showing a decline, according a recent The NPD Group ReCount census. “The primary source of the decline in U.S. restaurant units was a 2 percent drop in independent restaurant units compared to a stable restaurant chain count,” the Chicago-based information company reported. Chain restaurant counts grew to 307,940 units, which

10 NRN.COM

kept the total chain count ﬂat compared with spring 2017, NPD said. The number of independent restaurants stood at 352,815 units, a decline of 5,719 units from last year. Quick-service restaurant units declined by 1 percent, to 357,766, which NPD said was due to a decrease in QSR independents. Full-service restaurant units, which include casual-dining, family-dining and ﬁne-dining restaurants, stood at 302,989 units in spring 2018, a 1 percent decline, according to

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NPD’s ReCount. The independent restaurant units remaining open still represent more than half of all U.S. commercial restaurants, NPD noted.

Teens and French fries just seem to go together naturally. But what I was struck by when reporting this month’s story on teen labor, “On Loving and Losing Teen Labor,” was how orchestrated the partnership was. Teens didn’t gravitate toward fast-food jobs on a whim. It was a calculated plan. And once the plan got rolling, teen labor became integral to what fast-food restaurants would become — efﬁcient, automated, affordable. “It was intentional,” fast-food historian Andrew Smith told me. It started with the McDonald’s brothers, who hired teens back in the 1950s, and it caused a chain reaction (no pun intended). It was a different time. Labor laws aren’t what they are now, and fast-food restaurants could target not just teens but speciﬁcally male teens. And whatever one might think of the strategy, these restaurants wouldn’t have the same margins and ability to grow if they couldn’t rely on teen labor. “It worked,” Smith said. Plain and simple. “It was a successful model that made huge changes in America,” he added. “It isn’t just going down to get a burger. It’s all the system changes that went on that were associated with the fast-food revolution.” Teen labor was part of this enormous shift in how we eat out. Read story on page 30

“Teens didn’t gravitate toward fast-food jobs on a whim. It was a calculated plan.” — NRN’s Gloria Dawson

TOP: HY-VEE; ABOVE: STEVE DEBENPORT/ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES PLUS

The Roundup

“The top line on our restaurants is good. The bottom line is awful.” LEN RIGGIO founder and chairman of Barnes & Noble Inc., discussing his company’s bookstore restaurant in a recent earnings call

“What an awkward and regrettable — not to mention stinging — sadness for me!” CHEF GABRIELLE HAMILTON letter announcing she would no longer be Ken Friedman’s partner at the Spotted Pig, as reported in Eater

“It feels like we’re coming home again.” DENISE FENTON, Rusty Taco’s brand director on reverting to the brand’s original name PHOTOS: LEFT DOMINO’S; RIGHT DANIEL ZUCHNIK/STRINGER/GETTY IMAGES ENTERTAINMENT

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

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The Roundup

DOUBLE WAHLBURGERS COMING UP FOR HY-VEE Following up the spring debut of its ﬁrst Wahlburgers restaurant, Hy-Vee Inc. is opening two new franchise locations: a 7,100-square-foot Wahlburgers in its hometown of West Des Moines, Iowa, and a 5,200-square-foot unit in Olathe, Kan., a Kansas City suburb. Hy-Vee announced last summer that it planned to build, own and operate 26 Wahlburgers locations, which would make it the restaurant chain’s largest franchisee. The grocer opened its ﬁrst Wahlburgers, a 5,500-square-foot location, in May at the Mall of America in

NPD: Chain units flat as independent numbers fall The number of U.S. restaurants declined 1 percent, to 660,755, in spring 2018, with chain counts remaining ﬂat and independent operations showing a decline, according a recent The NPD Group ReCount census. “The primary source of the decline in U.S. restaurant units was a 2 percent drop in independent restaurant units compared to a stable restaurant chain count,” the Chicago-based information company reported. Chain restaurant counts grew to 307,940 units, which

10 NRN.COM

restaurant units, which include casual-dining, family-dining and ﬁne-dining restaurants, stood at 302,989 units in spring 2018, a 1 percent decline, according to

I SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

The independent restaurant units remaining open still represent more than half of all U.S. commercial restaurants, NPD noted.

“Teens didn’t gravitate toward fast-food jobs on a whim. It was a calculated plan.” — NRN’s Gloria Dawson

TOP: HY-VEE; ABOVE: STEVE DEBENPORT/ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES PLUS

The Roundup Told & Overheard “We knew that people were passionate about pizza, but we discovered that Americans are also very passionate about potholes.” RITCH ALLISON Domino’s CEO

“We want to be the sports bar you can take a date to who will be happy to go.” TOM RYAN CEO of Smashburger on the evolution of the Tom’s Urban brand, see page 17

“There’s a lot of things I could do to help the American people and help people who are not being served by this administration by not running for president.”

“Bad ﬁnancial decisions, insufﬁcient management skills to correct them, a toxic senior management culture, and serious misconduct at the top levels of our leadership team have prompted some in the company to use me as an excuse to distract from those cold realities.”

HOWARD SCHULTZ on CBS This Morning presenting Starbucks’ new Roastery in Italy

“The top line on our restaurants is good. The bottom line is awful.” LEN RIGGIO founder and chairman of Barnes & Noble Inc., discussing his company’s bookstore restaurant in a recent earnings call

“What an awkward and regrettable — not to mention stinging — sadness for me!” CHEF GABRIELLE HAMILTON in a staﬀ letter announcing she would no longer be Ken Friedman’s partner at the Spotted Pig, as reported in Eater

JOHN SCHNATTER former CEO of Papa John’s in a letter to franchisees on his new website

“It feels like we’re coming home again.” DENISE FENTON, Rusty Taco’s brand director on reverting to the brand’s original name PHOTOS: LEFT DOMINO’S; RIGHT DANIEL ZUCHNIK/STRINGER/GETTY IMAGES ENTERTAINMENT

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

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The Roundup Menu Tracker The latest restaurant menu additions Compiled by Bret Thorn

NÉKTER JUICE BAR

NEWK’S EATERY

Pumpkin Almond Bowl Thai Chicken Soup

Pumpkin, banana, almond butter, autumn spices and cashew milk blended and topped with seasoned pumpkin granola, roasted pumpkin seeds, coconut ﬂake and strawberries. Available through Nov. 4.

Chicken soup with mushrooms, carrots, bell pepper, chicken, coconut milk, lemon grass, garlic, Sriracha sauce, turmeric, curry powder and cilantro, Through March 2019.

$8.25

$4.19 average price

SALADWORKS

SWEETFIN POKE BRIXX WOOD FIRED PIZZA Garden Eggs Pizza Olive oil base topped with spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, scrambled eggs, mushrooms, mozzarella and feta. Permanent Sunday brunch item. $10.95

Merriman’s Bowl Ahi tuna poke on udon noodles with shredded daikon and carrots topped with green onions, sesame seeds and taro chips, made in collaboration with chef Peter Merriman. Availability: Through Oct. 31

Bacon and Blue Salad

$14.70

Romaine, bacon, roasted potatoes, grape tomatoes, roasted onion, avocado, roasted broccoli and blue cheese with onion-blue cheese dressing. Available Sept. 10-Nov. 11.

JUST SALAD

$7.99

Watchlist Trends to watch for:

DOG HAUS

Chef collaborations Plant-based meat substitutes Middle Eastern spice blends Potato tots

T-Mex Sausage

$7.99 suggested price 12 NRN.COM

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Golden Glow Salad

Sausage of beef chorizo and pepper Jack cheese topped with chipotle aïoli and spicy slaw on grilled King’s Hawaiian rolls, created in collaboration with Dallas chef and restaurateur Dean Fearing, $1 goes to Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry initiative. Available through Oct. 31.

Romaine and kale topped with hemp hearts, beets, carrots, chickpeas, pickled red onions and grilled chicken with lemon basil vinaigrette. Availability: Through Oct. 5.

$9.49 PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE RESPECTIVE RESTAURANT COMPANIES

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Operations

20

21

Mimi Sheraton on caring for customers

Habits to make the leap from idea to action

Tom’s Urban wants consumers off the couch Smashburger sister brand emphasizes ‘lifestyle’ experiences by Lisa Jennings

PHOTO: TOM’S URBAN

W

hen the Philippines-based Jollibee Food Corp. bought a majority stake in the Smashburger chain earlier this year, that left investment ﬁrm Consumer Concept Group with a 15-percent stake in the fast-casual chain, as well as ownership of the four-unit eatertainment concept Tom’s Urban. Consumer Concept Group rebranded as Black Shamrock Partners in August, and now the investment and operating company has plans for expansion, said Tom Ryan, partner in Black Shamrock and CEO

of Smashburger. Ryan — who is partnered in Black Shamrock with Quiznos-founder Rick Schaden, the investment ﬁrm’s chairman, and his cousin Brooks Schaden — sees opportunity in the sort of lifestyle experiences that will get consumers oﬀ their couches and out to dine, drink and play — and watching other people play, too. Since Ryan founded it in 2012, Tom’s Urban has evolved into a restaurant and interactive sports bar with “big watch opportunities,” one where guests would gather to watch various events, from

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

I NRN.COM 17

Operations

Tom’s Urban wants consumers off the couch

Tom’s Urban plans a mix of casinos, airports and hotels in future expansion.

professional and college sports or the Kentucky Derby, to live music or possibly e-sports, Ryan said. “The big opportunity here is to make those types of game situations more valuable than watching them at home,” he said. “We’ll also broaden the appeal to make them not necessarily so male dominated. We want to be the sports bar you can take a date to who will be happy to go.” Tom’s Urban locations are high-proﬁle and high-trafﬁc, including Los Angeles’ LA Live complex near the Staples Center; on the strip in Las Vegas; and in casinos in Connecticut and near Portland, Ore. This fall, the ﬁfth unit is scheduled to open at the

Westin Hotel at Denver International Airport, said Ryan, and the group plans to do more in casinos, airports and hotels. The original Tom’s Urban prototype, on Denver’s Larimer Square, recently closed, Ryan said. Originally designed to be a 24/7 operation, that location wasn’t a good ﬁt for what Tom’s Urban has become, he said. “There were both trafﬁc-based issues — like not having any — as well as management issues doing that,” he said. Black Shamrock also owns Motiv Group, an “experiential company” that operates sports-and-entertainment events, such as triathlons and festivals. Motiv puts on PHOTOS: TOM’S URBAN

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2014 = 9.19%; 2015 = 9.79%; 2016 = 9.38%; 2017 = 1.23% This information is based on a comparison of Net Sales for franchised units open for a comparable period in both years. Partial years are included in the calculation. For the year ending: December 31, 2016 – of the 585 franchised units included in the comparison, 275 units (47%) met or exceeded the average annual Net Sales percentage increase; December 31, 2015 – of the 520 franchised units included in the comparison, 260 units (50%) met or exceeded the average annual Net Sales percentage increase; and December 31, 2014 – of the 476 franchised units included in the comparison, 242 units (51%) met or exceeded the average annual Net Sales percentage increase. There is no assurance, however, that you will do as well. See Item 19 of the Smoothie King® Franchise Disclosure Document dated April 10, 2017, for more information.

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Tom’s Urban is a combination restaurant and interactive sports bar with “big watch opportunities.”

the Oktoberfest in Denver, for example, as well as the Sydney Marathon, the Napato-Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon and the Malibu Triathlon. “As we build that portfolio out, you’ll see more of a balance between sporting-based and entertainment-based events,” said Ryan. Rick Schaden, in a statement, said the group will drive growth in the “experience-based lifestyle economy” with plans to add new capital partners, increase investment capital and bring in experienced entrepreneurial executives to accelerate growth of such brands. Smashburger, meanwhile, has slowed growth somewhat to focus on food quality and execution, Ryan said. Last year, the nearly 400-unit chain added 31 locations, including six corporate and 20-plus franchised units, along with some nontraditional sites, Ryan said. Smashburger also last year introduced a line of burgers called “Triple Double,” with “triple the cheese and double the meat in every bite.”

The move prompted a lawsuit from Irvine, Calif.-based In-N-Out Burger. The California chain argued the name was too similar to its trademarked “Double Double.” Ryan wouldn’t comment on the lawsuit, which is ongoing, but he said the burger and various line extensions at Smashburger have been a top seller. “It’s our No. 1 selling burger in the history of Smash-

“The big opportunity here is to make those types of game situations more valuable than watching from home.” — Tom Ryan, Black Shamrock

burger, and it’s set every sales and mix record we had when we launched it just over a year ago,” he said. “So we’re continuing to promote it.” Smashburger has also added turkey burgers into the mix nationally, along with crispy Brussels sprouts and cold-brew coﬀee shakes. The chain has opened one of what will be two ﬂagship units at Denver International Airport that will be full service, oﬀering “three-plus dayparts,” and also a full bar. “It’s probably the highest performing restaurant in our system,” said Ryan. A second full-service/ full-bar location — this one a two-story unit — within another terminal at Denver airport is scheduled to open next year. Ryan said he expects to see the chain experiment with full-service/ full-bar units on the street in future, but it’s too early to say where. Ryan said he can’t yet share detailed plans, but “expect to see an accelerated focal point on concept and distribution growth from us over the next 18 to 24 months.”

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Operations

Guest Viewpoint: Mimi Sheraton

The little things count

T

here could probably have been no better training for a restaurant critic than to have spent ﬁve years as a recipe and menu consultant for the original Restaurant Associates where I worked for the legendary taskmaster Joseph Baum. In addition to being there for the creation of the luxuriously innovative Four Seasons, I later worked on several of their other creations including a fast-food German-style hot dog chain, and it was there that I learned this lesson: Everything that goes into a restaurant — from the food to the forks, knives, napkins, salt and pepper shakers, chairs and tables, lighting and menus — represents a choice. At Restaurant Associates the entire staﬀ took part in dry runs to test everything at every level. Later, as a critic, I found myself evaluating such elements almost as seriously as I did the food. Everything chosen says something about management’s concern for its customers, whether for the fastest of fast-food chains or the most seriously expensive white tablecloth dining temples. Sitting in a chair too low or too high for a table or counter I wonder if top and middle management had ever sat there and if so, did they ﬁnd it comfortable? If at a counter, is there a place for handbags or packages? And how hard are the actual seats — very hard being perhaps the house’s way of assuring that customers will not linger — or perhaps not return? Trying to cut through a very crisp and savory pizza slice, I am often thwarted by an unnecessarily cheap plastic knife with a “blade” that bends at its task, even as blades of steak knives might falter in some top steak houses. For the pizza slice that I fancy in my neighborhood, I bring a knife from home, always worried I may be arrested for carrying a concealed weapon. Pepper mills should work perfectly, grinding to desired texture, and salt cellars should reliably sprinkle salt, which might mean that both shakers are kept full and clean. Lighting is a constant problem challenging customers to read the menu or, even more importantly perhaps, the check. And table menus too often are designed with very small type printed in a shade of ink much too close to the background color of the page. Other concerns for customers’ comfort include noise levels(!), a whole agonizing subject of its own

20 NRN.COM

I SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

How do your customers know what you think of them?

along with pros and cons of background music: when, how and at what volume. As though the above is not a challenging enough list, current requirements for restaurants seem even more daunting. Thinking back on life as a critic, I am happy not to be in the forefront today and for reasons that perhaps also indicate new and challenging dilemmas to restaurateurs. For one thing there is the proliferation of critical voices of non-professionals, consumers who may never have been to the places they recommend, or who are favorites of the house returning favors. In addition there are well-justiﬁed ethical and practical matters such as promoting local, sustainable and organic foods, accommodating dietary wishes whether based on health or philosophy, all concerns that are harder to deal with at all levels. Perhaps the biggest and, to me, the most discouraging change is the dwindling role of the simple, pleasantly serviceable neighborhood restaurant where locals might drop in two or three times a week. At the level of their food, the neighborhood restaurants cannot command prices high enough to cover costs of rising rents, fees to reservation sites and salaries with fringe beneﬁts to the delivery staﬀs servicing takeout business. With risks greater than ever in this already risky business, it is hard to imagine why anyone would enter it. Thankfully many brave souls do, and I keep ﬁngers crossed for all.

“Everything that goes into a restaurant represents a choice.”

Mimi Sheraton is a pioneering food writer and former restaurant critic for the New York Times, Cue and the Village Voice. She is a columnist for the Daily Beast and host of the Ask Mimi podcast for Sporkful. She has written 16 books, including “The German Cookbook,” which was reissued last year in a 50th anniversary edition, and a memoir, “Eating My Words: An Appetite for Life.” Her book, “The Whole World Loves Chicken Soup,” won both the International Association of Culinary Professionals and James Beard awards, and she won a James Beard journalism award for her article on the Four Seasons’ 40th anniversary in Vanity Fair. She was born in Brooklyn and is a 73-year resident of Greenwich Village. Her latest book, “1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die,” was published in 2015.

Operations

Commentary: Jim Sullivan

7 habits to make the leap from idea to action

1. SERVANT LEADERSHIP. You have a customer that comes in once a week. You also have the world’s best host or greeter. Let’s say that tomorrow, one of them has to go. Who do you vote to save? I’d choose the greeter every time because her actions generate multiples of repeat business. Successful managers know

the importance of Multiplying Yourself Through Other People. And you’re not serving the customer directly; you should be serving someone who is.

2. STRATEGIC CLARITY. Leadership is pointless without purpose. As Lewis Carroll famously wrote: “If you don’t know where you’re going, any path will take you there.” Teams execute when they’re clear on what goal achievement looks like and how achieving those goals will positively impact both the team member and the customer.

3. BRILLIANCE AT THE BASICS. Never get bored with the basics. Coach and direct your teams to master the fundamentals and then inspire them to go beyond. Be maladjusted to mediocrity.

4. DEFINE SUCCESS ROUTINES. Customer experience is an outcome that you can inﬂuence but never guarantee. So focus on proven success routines, like pre-shift meetings, that align the crew’s actions (cause) with a positive guest experience (eﬀect).

5. OVER-TEACH. Explanation gaps are the most common cause of execution gaps. A restaurant manager can never communicate enough, and they usually communicate way less than

they think they do. Document and share best practices; pursue and replicate bright spots. Cascade knowledge every day: Each one teach one.

relative to service, selling and cost-control? What tools or resources do they need?

6. SIZE UP/WISE UP.

Focus on why we serve, not how to serve. Teach teams ﬁrst the value of the money guests spend at your restau-

Assess your talent gaps and training gaps every 30 days. Where could teams improve

©2016 Firehouse Subs

J

eﬀ Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon may have said it best: “Ideas are easy. Execution is hard.” This gap is common among leaders at every level. I like to frame the failure-to-execute challenge with three simple questions: If everyone agrees that service, selling, quality, value, cleanliness and friendliness are important, then why are they executed on some shifts and not others? If every restaurant in your company has identical standards and systems, then why do some outperform others? How can we become the kind of company that would put us out of business? These questions — and their answers — are at the core of what separates successful brands from mediocre or failing ones. Restaurant managers who consistently execute understand that you don’t have to be perfect every shift, just better than yesterday. Here are seven focal points for better results:

Build these skills to bridge the gap between knowledge and execution

7. TRANSFORMATION, NOT TRANSACTION.

rant relative to their total earnings. Connect that sacriﬁce to the value of getting great service in return. Jim Sullivan is a popular speaker at leadership events worldwide. Follow him on LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter @Sullivision.

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S I N C E 19 91

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RISING INTEREST. GOOD IF IT’S CUSTOMERS. BAD IF IT’S RATES. WE HAVE IDEAS.™

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Finance

26 Del Taco same-store sales up, Papa John’s down

California bill puts women on corporate boards

Most restaurant companies fall short of proposed mandate by Lisa Jennings

C

alifornia lawmakers have sent a bill to Gov. Jerry Brown that would require publicly traded corporations based in the state to put women on their boards of directors. The governor has until Sept. 30 to sign or veto the measure, and he has not indicated his position, according to The Wall Street Journal. The bill would require a publicly held domestic general corporation or foreign corporation based in California to have at least one female board member by the close of the 2019 calendar year. Companies with boards of directors with ﬁve members must have two female directors by the close of 2021, and three female directors if the board includes six or more members. The bill would also require the secretary of state to publish reports documenting compliance, and violators will potentially face ﬁnes, with a ﬁrst violation starting at $100,000. Opponents of the bill have argued that a gender quota could violate the U.S. and state constitutions because it could put companies in a position of turning down a male board candidate solely because of his sex. In a letter to lawmakers earlier this year, the state’s Chamber of Commerce agreed with the intent of

The bill’s authors say it would help California’s economy, while opponents warn it could violate the U.S. and state constitutions.

the bill, which is to create more diversity on corporate boards, but disagreed with the mandate. “Many of our companies are making signiﬁcant eﬀorts to address and improve diversity in the workforce by focusing on their hiring practices, training, promotion, retention, etc.” the Chamber wrote. “Our companies are not focused on only one particular classiﬁcation, but rather all classiﬁcations. We believe

MONKEYBUSINESSIMAGES/ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES PLUS

this comprehensive approach is more productive in addressing diversity than a mandated quota that only focuses on one aspect of diversity.” Authors of the legislation contend the move will boost California’s economy and improve opportunities for women in the workplace. California in 2013 became the ﬁrst state to adopt a resolution calling for more female representation on corporate boards of directors,

The measure would require publicly traded corporations to have at least one woman on their boards by the end of 2019.

and ﬁve other states have followed suit, according to the bill. A 2017 report by Board Governance Research LLC found that one-fourth of California’s public companies in the Russell 3000 index have no women on their boards. For the rest, women only hold 15.5 percent of board seats. The legislation also cites a number of reports indicating that publicly held companies perform better when women are fairly represented in the

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

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Finance

California bill puts women on corporate boards

boardroom. Research by Credit Suisse, for example, looking at more than 2,000 companies worldwide found that those with women on the board outperformed comparable businesses with all-male boards by 26 percent on key metrics, including stock performance. Of publicly traded restaurant companies in California, Jack in the Box Inc. would meet the proposed mandate’s standards currently. The San Diego-based company has three women on its nine-member board, including Sharon John, CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc.; Madeleine Kleiner, a former Hilton Hotels Corp. executive; and Vivien Yeung, general manager, venture at Lululemon Athletica Inc.

Jack in the Box already fulﬁlls the legislation’s intent, with three women on its nine-member board. Dine Brands Global, parent of Applebee’s and IHOP, and The Cheesecake Factory and Chipotle all have women on their boards, but fall short of the bill’s 2021 target.

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Most publicly traded restaurant companies based in California, however, currently fall short of the bill’s mandate, at least according to listings of their board members on company websites. The Habit Restaurants Inc., based in Irvine, Calif., has an all-male seven-member board, for example. Russ Bendel, Habit’s CEO and president, noted that the company has hired a search ﬁrm that specializes in board members to add a “high-quality individual” to the current board. The Cheesecake Factory Inc., based in Calabasas Hills, Calif., has a seven-member board with one female director: Edie Ames, CEO of The Pie Hole chain in Los Angeles. Dine Brands Global, the Glendale, Calif.-based parent to the Applebee’s and IHOP chains, has a nine-member board with two women: Caroline Nahas, vice chair of Korn/ Ferry International, and Lilian Tomovich, chief experience oﬃcer and chief marketing oﬃcer for MGM Resorts Inter-

national. The eight-member board at BJ’s Restaurants, based in Huntington Beach, Calif., includes one woman: Lea Anne Ottinger, managing partner for LMR Advisors. Eileen Aptman, chief investment oﬃcer for Belfer Management LLC, is the sole female on Del Taco’s seven-member board. Del Taco is based in Lake Forest, Calif. Costa Mesa, Calif.-based El Pollo Loco Inc.’s nine-member board includes one woman: Lili Lynton, co-founder and operating partner of The Dinex Group. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., which has already endured a board shakeup at the hands of activist investors in recent years, recently completed the relocation of its corporate headquarters from Denver to Newport Beach, Calif. The company has a nine-member board that includes one woman: Robin Hickenlooper, senior vice president of corporate development at Liberty Media and the wife of Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper.

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Finance

Same-store sales report

Limited-service brands had the top three rates of two-year “stacked” quarterly growth. Casualdining brands saw the bottom three declines. by Alan J. Liddle

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS

V

Del Taco Restaurants Inc.’s 3.3-percent 2018 second-quarter same-store-sales gain helped the chain — which is adding “Fresh Mexican Grill” as a marketing tagline — score the highest two-year “stacked”-quarter increase among NRN-tracked quickservice systems. With second-quarter 2017 comparable-sales growth of 7.1 percent included, Del Taco’s two-year stack of 10.4 percent edged out McDonald’s global system’s 10.3-percent bump and handily beat the quick-service average of 3.0 percent.

W

Papa John’s International Inc.’s North America same-storesales decline of 6.1 percent for the second quarter ended July 1 compared with 5.3-percent and 3.9-percent decreases in the ﬁrst and fourth quarters, respectively. The timeframe of those sequentially worsening negative quarterly results roughly coincides with fallout from a controversial statement in November by founder and then-CEO John Schnatter regarding sales challenges tied to NFL player protests about the treatment of black people in America, as well as a subsequent reported racial epithet by Schnatter. He resigned as chairman in July.

HIGHS & LOWS: Quarterly same-store sales TOP 3 GROWERS TWO-QUARTER STACKED*

16.4% 11.4% 10.4% DOMINO’S PIZZA INC.: U.S.

CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL INC.

DEL TACO RESTAURANTS INC.

BOTTOM 3 DECLINERS TWO-QUARTER STACKED*

HIGHEST QUARTERLY CHANGE BY SEGMENT

FAMOUS DAVE’S OF AMERICA INC., FRANCHISED

-7.0% DEL FRISCO RESTAURANTS INC.: SULLIVAN’S STEAKHOUSE

PIZZA Domino’s Pizza Inc.: U.S. 6.9%

CASUAL DINING Dine Brands Global Inc: Applebee’s 5.7%

FAST CASUAL Noodles & Company 5.4%

QUICK SERVICE* Del Taco Restaurants Inc. 3.3%

FAMILY DINING Luby’s Inc.: Luby’s Cafeterias 2.4%

COFFEE & SNACK Jamba Inc., Domestic System** 2.2%

Most recent reported quarter ended closest to June 30, 2018, or between May 27 and July 15, 2018. *Excludes McDonald’s and Popeyes global results. **Excluding Express format

Quick Service Biglari Holdings Inc.: Steak ’n Shake (company restaurants) Bojangles’ Inc. Del Taco Restaurants Inc. El Pollo Loco Inc. Jack in the Box Inc.: Jack in the Box McDonald’s Corp., Global McDonald’s Corp., U.S. Restaurant Brands International Inc.: Burger King, Global Burger King, U.S. Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Global Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, U.S. Sonic Corp. The Wendy’s Co. (North America) Yum! Brands Inc.: KFC Division Taco Bell Division KFC U.S.

PERIOD END DATE Q2, 6/30 Q2, 7/1

QUARTER % CHANGE -3.4 -0.2

YEAR-AGO % CHANGE -3.1 -1.4

YEAR-TO-DATE % CHANGE -2.5 -0.4

PRECEDING FULL FISCAL YEAR % CHG. -1.8 -2.1

Q2, 6/19 Q2, 6/27 Q3, 7/8 Q2, 6/30 Q2, 6/30

3.3 -0.9 0.5 4.0 2.6

7.1 2.9 -0.2 6.3 3.9

3.5 -1.0 0.0 4.7 2.7

4.3 1.5 0.5 5.3 3.6

Q2, 6/30 Q2, 6/30 Q2, 6/30 Q2, 6/30 Q3, 5/31 Q2, 7/1

1.8 1.8 2.9 1.8 -0.2 1.9

3.9 3.0 -2.7 -3.3 -1.2 3.2

2.8 2.9 3.1 2.0 -1.5 1.8

3.1 2.5 -1.5 -2.2 -3.3 2.0

Q2, 6/30 Q2, 6/30 Q2, 6/30

2.0 2.0 1.0

3.0 4.0 2.0

2.0 1.0 0.0

3.0 4.0 1.0

SOURCE: NRN RESTAURANT AND FOOD GROUP RESEARCH / COMPANY REPORTS

26 NRN.COM

I SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

-11.2% -17.4% KONA GRILL INC.

*Combination of most recent reported quarter ended closest to June 30, 2018, or between May 27 and July 15, 2018, and same year-earlier quarter. Excludes McDonald’s and Popeyes Global results.

Two-year stacked average across all segments

1.0%

PERIOD END DATE Q2, 7/3

QUARTER % CHANGE 5.6

YEAR-AGO % CHANGE -1.4

YEAR-TO-DATE % CHANGE 4.9

PRECEDING FULL FISCAL YEAR % CHG. -0.7

Q2, 7/1 Q2, 7/1 Q2, 7/1 Q2, 7/1

1.5 -0.6 0.3 4.0

-2.6 0.4 -1.3 0.3

-0.7 -1.3 -0.4 2.8

-1.7 -1.2 -0.4 1.8

Q4, 6/27 Q4, 6/27 Q2, 7/3 Q2, 6/1

0.6 0.3 1.4 1.0

-2.2 0.5 -0.5 -1.0

-1.1 0.1 1.7 0.3

-2.3 -0.6 -0.8 -0.7

Q4, 5/27 Q4, 5/27 Q4, 5/27 Q4, 5/27 Q4, 5/27 Q4, 5/27 Q4, 5/27 Q4, 5/27 Q1, 5/6

0.6 2.6 3.6 2.4 2.4 -4.7 0.4 1.4 -4.9

1.4 0.5 3.3 3.5 4.4 N/A -1.3 0.1 2.2

1.1 2.8 4.1 2.7 2.4 -2.0 -0.6 1.1 -4.9

2.2 0.4 1.5 1.2 2.6 N/A 0.0 -0.2 -0.9

Q2, 6/26 Q2, 6/26 Q2, 6/26 Q2, 6/30 Q2, 7/1 Q2, 7/1 Q2, 6/30 Q2, 7/15 Q2, 7/1 Q2, 6/26 Q2, 6/26

-1.2 -6.0 0.7 5.7 1.2 -1.9 -12.1 -2.6 1.3 5.6 3.9

-0.5 -5.2 -3.2 -6.2 -2.2 -5.1 -5.3 0.5 2.9 4.1 3.6

-2.0 -8.1 -0.3 4.5 3.2 -1.6 -10.3 -1.7 1.2 5.2 4.0

-0.1 -6.3 -1.9 -5.3 2.4 -2.3 -5.9 0.6 1.0 4.5 4.2

PERIOD END DATE Q2, 6/30

QUARTER % CHANGE 3.3

YEAR-AGO % CHANGE 8.1

YEAR-TO-DATE % CHANGE 2.8

PRECEDING FULL FISCAL YEAR % CHG. 6.4

Q2, 7/1 Q2, 7/1 Q2, 7/1 Q2, 6/26 Q2, 7/3 Q2, 7/1 Q2, 6/27 Q2, 6/30 Q2, 7/9 Q3, 6/6

3.4 3.1 0.9 1.2 5.4 -0.2 1.1 4.3 -2.5 -5.8

-7.7 -4.7 4.2 0.1 -3.4 -4.9 -1.8 2.0 -3.8 -0.9

2.2 0.7 1.2 0.0 2.7 -1.8 1.3 6.8 -2.4 -3.6

-6.5 -7.3 5.5 -0.1 -2.4 -3.8 -1.2 2.6 -2.0 -1.8

PERIOD END DATE Q2, 6/17 Q2, 6/17 Q2, 7/1 Q2, 7/1 Q2, 7/2

QUARTER % CHANGE 6.9 4.0 -6.1 -0.8 -2.4

YEAR-AGO % CHANGE 9.5 2.6 1.4 3.9 -4.2

YEAR-TO-DATE % CHANGE 7.6 4.4 -5.7 -0.3 -3.2

PRECEDING FULL FISCAL YEAR % CHG. 7.7 3.4 0.1 4.4 -4.0

Q2, 6/30 Q2, 6/30

-1.0 0.0

-1.0 -3.0

0.0 2.0

0.0 -2.0

Q3, 3/25 Q3, 3/25

2.3 -12.6

0.1 -15.8

2.0 -14.9

0.1 -16.0

Coffee & Snack

PERIOD END DATE

QUARTER % CHANGE

YEAR-AGO % CHANGE

YEAR-TO-DATE % CHANGE

PRECEDING FULL FISCAL YEAR % CHG.

Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc.: Baskin-Robbins, U.S. Dunkin’ Donuts, U.S. Jamba Inc. (domestic system, excluding express format) Starbucks Corp., Americas Restaurant Brands International Inc.: Tim Hortons, Global

Q2, 6/30 Q2, 6/30 Q2, 7/3 Q3, 7/1 Q2, 6/30

-0.4 1.4 2.2 1.0 0.0

-0.9 0.8 0.0 5.0 -0.8

-0.8 0.5 2.2 2.0 -0.1

0.0 0.6 -0.5 3.0 -0.1

PERIOD END DATE Q3, 4/27 Q2, 6/27 Q2, 6/27 Q2, 6/30 Q3, 6/6

QUARTER % CHANGE 1.5 -0.1 -0.8 0.7 2.4

YEAR-AGO % CHANGE -0.4 2.7 2.6 -2.6 -2.5

YEAR-TO-DATE % CHANGE 1.0 1.5 0.2 0.9 0.8

PRECEDING FULL FISCAL YEAR % CHG. 0.2 1.0 1.1 -1.9 -3.3

Casual Dining BJ’s Restaurants Inc. Bloomin’ Brands Inc.: Boneﬁsh Grill Carrabba’s Italian Grill Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar Outback Steakhouse (corporate, U.S.) Brinker International Inc.: Chili’s Grill & Bar (corporate) Maggiano’s Little Italy The Cheesecake Factory Inc. (corporate, primary brand) Chuy’s Holdings Inc. Darden Restaurants Inc.: Bahama Breeze The Capital Grille Eddie V’s LongHorn Steakhouse Olive Garden Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Seasons 52 Yard House Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc. Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group Inc.: Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House Sullivan’s Steakhouse Del Frisco’s Grille Dine Brands Global Inc.: Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar, U.S. Famous Dave’s of America Inc. (corporate) Famous Dave’s of America Inc. (franchised) Kona Grill Inc. Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. (North America, corporate, constant currency) Ruth’s Hospitality Group Inc.: Ruth’s Chris Steak House (corporate, calendar-shift) Texas Roadhouse Inc. (corporate, Texas Roadhouse brand) Texas Roadhouse Inc. (franchised, U.S.)

Fast Casual Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. Fiesta Restaurant Group Inc.: Pollo Tropical Taco Cabana Freshii, Global Habit Restaurants Inc. (corporate) Noodles & Company Potbelly Corp. (corporate) Shake Shack Inc. (corporate) Wingstop Inc. (U.S.) Zoe’s Kitchen Inc. Luby’s Inc.: Fuddruckers

Pizza Domino’s Pizza Inc., U.S. Domino’s Pizza Inc., International Papa John’s International Inc., North America Papa John’s International Inc., International Papa Murphy’s Holdings Inc. (worldwide system, vs. domestic, as of 2018) Yum! Brands Inc.: Pizza Hut Division Pizza Hut U.S. Rave Restaurant Group Inc.: Pizza Inn (domestic) Pie Five Pizza Co.

Family Dining Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. (restaurant sales, excludes retail) Denny’s Corp. (corporate) Denny’s Corp. (domestic franchised) Dine Brands Global Inc.: IHOP Luby’s Inc.: Luby’s Cafeterias

TREND: Full Service

Casual dining average yearto-date growth:

+0.4% Family dining & buffet average year-to-date growth:

+0.1% Year-to-date average growth across all segments

+0.6% Cumulative same-store-sales results for two or three consecutive quarters ended closest to June 30, 2018, or between May 27 and July 15, 2018; Excludes McDonald’s and Popeyes Global results.

SOURCE: NRN RESTAURANT AND FOOD GROUP RESEARCH / COMPANY REPORTS

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

I NRN.COM 27

Special Report

Teen Vision

How this generation works, eats and plays If there’s one thing that ties all teenagers together throughout history, it’s that they are often misunderstood. Teens may very well resemble adults in appearance, but the sum of their parts is not the same. In this special report, NRN takes a data-based look at this generation and their inﬂuence on the restaurant industry. Teens touch restaurants in two ways — as customers and as employees. There are rumors that teenagers aren’t interested in working in restaurants anymore. That’s not exactly true, but what is true is that the landscape of the young workforce has evolved into something new. These digital natives also act very diﬀerently as consumers. They never lived in a world without mobile phones. They would not recognize the sound of a dial-up modem. Let’s face it, these young consumers are growing up in the next industrial revolution. Read on to ﬁnd out how to attract teen workers and how they act and eat in this brave new world.

I

28 NRN.COM SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

The number of teenagers in the restaurant workforce may have fallen dramatically in recent years, but there’s still much that restaurants can do to recruit this demographic — and there’s plenty to do for teens who want to get into foodservice.

PHOTO COURTESY OF TACO BELL

Special Report

TEEN VISION WORKFORCE

Loving & losing teen labor W

hen the McDonald’s brothers surveyed their restaurant, they saw ineﬃciencies and lost opportunities. Their chefs cost them too much. Their carhops where bringing in the wrong crowd — teenage boys who ogled the youthful, female skaters and didn’t purchase much. Making burgers the traditional way and skating meals out to customers was just too slow. “They decided to dump the carhops and dump the cooks, created very simple tasks that anybody could do, and they targeted teenagers in particular because they were low cost,” said Andrew Smith, the author of numerous books on the history of food including “Fast Food: The Good, the Bad and the Hungry.” Teenagers were part of Dick and Mac McDonald’s plan for eﬃcient, inexpensive meals. They could work the assembly line with minimal training and at minimal cost, said Smith. These changes were made way back in the late 1940s, but, Smith points out, the economy didn’t look too different from today — unemployment was low and many young people were attending college. At the time, college students were frequently servicemen returning from World War II. Today, nearly 70 percent of high school graduates age 16 to 24 are enrolled in colleges or universities. McDonald’s led the “fast food revolution,” employing young, unskilled workers and developing automation and eﬃciencies. Other fast-food restaurants were quick to follow, said Smith. There was an obvious reason for this switch to younger workers, he said — it was a successful labor model, and it was cheap. For decades, fast-food restaurants relied on teenagers to take orders, ﬂip burgers and generally run much of the day-to-day operations of the restaurant. Working with teens had its beneﬁts and problems,

I

30 NRN.COM SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

but the cost beneﬁts couldn’t be denied. But today, teenagers’ lives have become increasingly complicated and loaded with pressures. For many young people, traditional fast-food restaurants no longer appeal to them as a job opportunity. While some fast-food brands have found ways to keep teenagers excited about positions at their restaurants, many struggle with the new reality.

Fast food and the teenage employee “Fast food has always relied on the lowest possible cost of service,” said Rosemary Batt, a professor at

How teens helped define fast food, and where the industry is without them by Gloria Dawson

Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Fast-food restaurants could pay teens less than adults with the understanding that they were not raising a family. “They view teens as kind of earning what we used to call pin money, supplemental income for incidentals,” said Batt. The arrangement between fast-food workers and teens was often mutually beneﬁcial. Teens were generally available part-time and over the summers, which was perfect for the dinner rush and high-volume warmer months. And teens are often energetic and able to perform restaurant work, which can be physically demanding, said Jerry Newman, a professor of organization and human resources at the School of Management, University at Buﬀalo. Newman knows something about this kind of hard work. He wrote the book “My Secret Life on the McJob: Lessons in Leadership Guaranteed to Supersize Any Management Style” and worked in quick-service restaurants as part of his research. “When I did the work, I was in my 50s. I would go home I’d take a long shower, and I’d be exhausted.” Fast-food work is a tough job, but historically, at least, teens wanted a job. Teen labor, deﬁned as 16-to-19-year-olds by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), reached its peak in 1979 with over 57 percent of teens in the labor force. Participation has declined over the years, but even as recently as 2000, over 50 percent of teens participated in the workforce. Today that number is around 30 percent. The BLS expects the downward trend to continue. Summer jobs were particularly popular with teens and the fast-food restaurants that employed them. Today when teens do take summer jobs, 34 percent still work in “accommodation and food services,”

34%

The percentage of teens employed during the summer who work in “accommodation and food services”

“Fast food has always relied on the lowest possible cost of service.” — Rosemary Batt, Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations

124%

according to a Pew Research Center analysis of BLS data. But the declining number of overall teens working during the summer has caused a downturn in applications.

What teenagers (and their parents) want now “The image of fast food as being a job for teenagers is long gone,” said Batt. Her own national data shows that the average age of a fast-food employee is 24 years old. So, what are these teenagers doing if not working the register at their local fast-food joint? Video gaming? Snapchatting? Actually, research shows that they’ve got loftier ambitions. “In a teenager’s 24-hour day, except for sleeping, school activities take up the largest amount of time,” according to a BLS article on teen labor from last year.

The turnover rate for restaurantlevel employees of limited-service operations

Skaters still deliver the goods at Sonic Drive-In, where teens can now take a leave of absence for the school year.

Summers are packed with summer school and college prep. In fact, 40 percent of students were enrolled in school during the summer in 2016, compared with about 10 percent in 1985. “My observation is that increasingly teens have wanted to get jobs that would prepare them for college or give them better experiences, and that their parents want that too,” Batt said. “Rather than having a 17- or 18-year-old work at McDonald’s just to make money for the summer, those parents want to see their kids get the kind of experience that will help them enter into college or get a job out of college.” Batt doesn’t see the pressure on teens going away, or the pressure on fast-food restaurants to

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SONIC DRIVE-IN

Special Report

TEEN VISION WORKFORCE

MY FIRST JOB: Paul Macaluso, President and CEO, Krystal

Little Caesars, making pizzas at 15

“It was close to my house, and they were willing to hire someone with no experience…. It opened my eyes to what it was like to work in a restaurant. And I had a lot of fun and made a lot of friends. It inﬂuenced me in a lot of ways.”

MY FIRST JOB: Liz Williams, President, Taco Bell International

Waited tables at Cheddar’s in West Des Moines, Iowa

“A fast-food job is not their ﬁnal destination; it’s not their ﬁnal inspiration.”

find alternative labor. “The move away from teenage fast-food jobs is related to the fact that there’s an ongoing increase in the competition for good jobs and the competition to get into colleges, so it’s driven by those external factors, not just if a teenager feels like working at McDonald’s or not,” she said.

The wage wars: No longer working for “pin” money As Newman sees it, fast-food executives were looking for an alternative to teenage labor for at least a decade. There’s a “systemic unemployment” when it comes to hiring teens. They go back to school after summer break, or they’re ultimately looking for something else. “A fast-food job is not their ﬁnal destination; it’s not their ﬁnal inspiration,” he said. At this point, only 18 percent of restaurant-level employees at limited-service brands are younger than 18 years old, according to Tdn2K. At full-service brands, only 5 percent. Whether fast-food brands moved away from hiring teens out of necessity or desire, these older employees have diﬀerent needs — health care, days oﬀ, income that wasn’t for incidentals. “These individuals are working there with some continuity, they talk to each other, they express dissatisfaction,” said Newman. “Now [fast food is] facing workers who are a lot more strident about getting better wages. Fast food doesn’t object to giving higher compensation, but they’ve got to keep their cost down for their food because the major competition for them is against fast casual and other kinds of dining. The major point [of fast food] is lower cost. So, the more they have to pay in wages the tougher it becomes to compete against other kinds of chains.” As employees became more mature, Service Employees International Union and the Fight for $15 stepped in to organize employees and work toward

— Jerry Newman, University at Buffalo higher wages. So far, they’ve seen a fair share of successes. Wages for fast-food workers are on their way to $15 an hour in New York, California, Seattle, Minneapolis and Washington, D.C. Their eﬀorts have brought to light workers’ limited bargaining power and low wages. With a rise in wages, higher prices might be passed on to consumers, as has been seen in cities that have made wage increases but, Batt argued, these prices will be small and palatable, particularly if the increases happen over time. The wage increases would help with employee retention. “The idea is that you invest in the workforce that you have, and you reduce turnover, so you don’t have to go on the labor market as often,” she said. According to restaurant analytics ﬁrm TDn2K, the latest turnover numbers for the restaurant-level employees is 124 percent for limited-service brands and 100 percent for full-service. To illustrate that simply, if you had 50 workers at the start of the year, all of them will have quit by the end. Some of their replacements will have quit, too, if you’re a limited-service brand.

Data Snapshot

RESTAURANT EMPLOYEES GET OLDER

“Working at Cheddar’s as a hostess and waitress was a terriﬁc experience where I learned early on about working together as a team to deliver great customer service.”

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32 NRN.COM SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

By far, the largest age segment in restaurant work is 18 to 24 years old. Younger teens still ﬁll a signiﬁcant role in limitedbrand stafﬁng, but register only 5 percent in full service.

• • • •

Limited-service brands

Full-service brands 5%

17% 24% 49%

17%

Younger than 18 18-24 25-34 35 and older

SOURCE: TDn2K

18%

27%

44%

Special Report

TEEN VISION WORKFORCE

MY FIRST JOB: Todd Burrowes, LongHorn Steakhouse, president

Birra Poretti’s, Houston, while attending college

“I thought it was a fun way of helping me to get my degree in history and then go on to law school. I never thought it would be career. When I started managing the restaurant, I thought: ‘I think I have a really cool career here.’”

MY FIRST JOB: Paul Brown, CEO, Inspire Brands

Worked the grill at McDonald’s, age 15

Where the carhops still skate and the uniforms look great Some fast-food brands have turned toward automation and technology, like kiosk ordering, to reduce the number of employees they have to hire. Others have boosted their teen employee rate and retention with incentives that appeal to young employees and their parents like tuition reimbursement. But some quick-service brands haven’t seen a decline in younger workers at all. At White Castle, almost half of their employees are under 23, said Jamie Richardson, White Castle’s vice president of government and shareholder relations. Richardson credits this to the brand being established in neighborhoods that have higher underemployment. And the fun environment and cool new uniforms designed by popular fashion brand Telfar don’t hurt either. “We think when you’re 17 or 18 everyone wants to be treated like an adult,” said Richardson. According to internal surveys, over 90 percent of employees who are 25 or younger have a good understanding of what White Castle’s business goals are. The brand also rates at almost 90 percent in its engagement score with these employees. It’s possible, too, that teens want to be treated like teens. “We have a lot of 16-, 17-, 18-year-olds that love to be on skates,” said Anita Vanderveer, the vice president of people at Sonic Drive-In where carhops still reign. “They love listening to music, and they feel like they’re working out.” The carhops at Sonic might be a throwback from

White Castle gets high ratings from its employees, about half of whom are under 23 years of age.

another time, but how the company hires and retains these employees has undoubtedly changed. There’s a student leave of absence program so teens can take the school year oﬀ and head back to Sonic and to their skates every summer without missing a beat. Sonic has been very strategic with recruitment, Vanderveer said, including a “text to apply” option so applicants can apply for the job from their phones. “As you can imagine, tech not only attracts the consumer but over the years we’ve had to get wise to attract the candidates as well.”

Teen employment in the U.S. below pre-2000 levels, despite post-recession gains PERCENT OF 16-TO-19-YEAR-OLDS WHO ARE EMPLOYED

GREAT RECESSION 1948:

56.5%

Summer average

1978:

58.0%

1989:

57.0% 2000:

51.7% 1978:

45.1% 1963:

1989:

44.3%

46.3% 1948:

2000:

44.7%

2017:

43.0%

35.0% 2010:

1963:

“I learned that no matter how tired I was or what was going on, I needed to show up on time for work.”

34.4%

Rest of year average

29.6%

2010:

24.7%

2017:

28.7%

NOTE: DATA NOT SEASONALLY ADJUSTED. FOR EACH YEAR, “SUMMER AVERAGE” WAS CALCULATED AS THE AVERAGE OF EMPLOYMENT-POPULATION RATIOS IN JUNE, JULY AND AUGUST; “REST OF YEAR AVERAGE” WAS BASED ON THE AVERAGE FOR THE OTHER NINE MONTHS OF EACH YEAR. SOURCE: PEW RESEARCH CENTER ANALYSIS OF U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS DATA

I

34 NRN.COM SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

ABOVE: JAYSON KEELING

y p , or visit www.cokesolutions.com/want-to-serve-coke

*CREST and KO Estimates, June 2018 ©2018 The Coca-Cola Company

,

Special Report

TEEN VISION RECRUITMENT

Throwing parties to attract teens

T

aco Bell franchisee Steve Smith always looked forward to Memorial Day when dozens of teenagers would start applying for summer jobs. During a large chunk of his 30-year franchisee career, 80 percent of his year-round Southern California fast-food employees were teenagers. Today, Smith’s seven Taco Bell restaurants employ about 5 percent teenagers — mostly high schoolers ages 16 and 17. The majority of his employees are now adults and seniors seeking full-time hours and beneﬁts.

PHOTO COURTESY OF McDONALD’S

“For some reason, high school kids don’t seem to be working as much as they did in the 1980s and ’90s — even early 2000s,” said Smith. “Now, most of our employees — this is their primary job, which is not what fast food was ever designed for.” The demographic shift at Smith’s Taco Bell restaurants shines a light on the industry’s biggest challenge: a crippling labor shortage. Over decades, and even through economic downturns, the fastfood industry could always rely on a steady pool of

Restaurants get creative as teen job participation rates continue to plunge by Nancy Luna

McDonald’s and other chains are reinventing how they recruit, hire and train teen employees.

teen applicants to take on entry-level positions from cashiers to burger ﬂippers. But in many U.S. markets, teens are simply not showing up. According to the Pew Research Center, “even though there are more working-age teens today than in 2000, far fewer of them are in the labor force.” In

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

I NRN.COM 37

Special Report

TEEN VISION RECRUITMENT

Taco Bell throws “hiring parties” to attract potential employees, including younger workers, who are “the heart and soul” of the chain.

a July 2018 report, the center estimated roughly 5.7 million teens working in June, down from 8.1 million in May 2000. In a separate report by outplacement ﬁrm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., the Chicago-based consultancy found that summer jobs held by teens are plunging dramatically. In 2000, the teen participation rate was 52 percent, with 1.5 million jobs added. In the summer of 2017, the teen participation rate averaged 35 percent, with nearly 1.3 million jobs added, according to the Challenger report, which was based on an analysis of job data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Teens are opting out of the job market, as other avenues for development, like volunteering, summer school, hobbies, or travel, take priority,” the Challenger report stated. Still, Pew’s research of Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that foodservice is still the top employer for teens looking for summer jobs. Last July, nearly 2.1 million teens worked in “accommodations and foodservice,” up from 1.9 million in July 2000, according to BLS data.

Attracting teens As teens look for jobs in foodservice, restaurant chains are scrambling to grab their attention. And, once they’ve nabbed them, they’re drastically altering training methods to ensure their success. Some like Irvine, Calif.-based Taco Bell are being creative when it comes to hiring. The Millennial-friendly quick-service company recently threw “hiring parties” in the Midwest where

38 NRN.COM

I SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

tunities, tuition assistance and educational counseling. Those that applied were given on-the-spot interviews. About half of the 40 hires made at the parties were teens. That falls in line with the chain’s company unit average. More than 55 percent of employees at Taco Bell corporate stores are ages 15 to 24, Erland said. “For us, young people have always been the heart and soul of Taco Bell. They are the next generation of leaders,” Erland said during a recent interview with NRN. Based on the success of the Indianapolis hiring parties, Taco Bell plans to do more next year. Smith, a Taco Bell franchisee for 32 years, said he’d like to see Taco Bell hold parties near his restaurants because the snazzy job fairs appear to attract better job candidates. Oftentimes, his managers end up settling on teens who are disinterested in work and lack basic soft and hard skills. “They don’t want to wash dishes. They don’t want to clean bathrooms,” he said. “They can’t ﬁgure out how to give back the change.”

Training: Gamiﬁcation over manuals

free swag and food were given to potential applicants. Others, like McDonald’s, Starbucks and Chickﬁl-A, are pushing student perks such as education assistance programs and scholarships for eligible employees. Bjorn Erland, Taco Bell’s vice president of people and experience, said the Indianapolis hiring parties over the summer were especially enticing to teens. Over two days, four Taco Bell restaurants treated potential hires to free Nacho Fries and Watermelon Freezes. They were told about the perks associated with working at Taco Bell such as scholarship oppor-

Smith isn’t the only operator facing training issues. Melissa Kersey, McDonald’s USA chief people oﬃcer, said the nation is facing a seismic shift in the workplace — one that will require all businesses to take a fresh look at employee training and development. “As employers, we should re-examine which skills matter most, especially for the next generation entering the workforce. We should lay that foundation for employees to build the soft skills they need that will serve them throughout their career,” she said. That’s why many chains like McDonald’s have tossed out dated training manuals and replaced them with sophisticated and playful digital training programs. They’re also incorporating philanthropy. In late August, McDonald’s said training youth is so important that it plans to oﬀer a new pre-employment training program for disadvantaged youth in Chicago. The program is part of a larger $2 million investment McDonald’s is making in programs that provide youth the kind of skills employers are looking for in entry-level employees. Kersey said relevant youth training is important for McDonald’s because 50 percent of employees working at company-owned stores are ages 16 to 19. As a result, the brand is evolving its training to be more mobile-centric with employees learning from mobile phones and iPads. The training taps into teen fascination with mobile games, giving points and rewards for learning certain skills. Some games show

PHOTOS COURTESY OF TACO BELL

Special Report

TEEN VISION RECRUITMENT

MY FIRST JOB: Bret Thorn, Senior food and beverage editor

Cook at Pizza Bug, a three-unit pizza delivery chain in Denver, age 18

“I worked with punk rockers, blue-collar drivers and college students and still use my understanding of back-of-the-house culture from those days.”

MY FIRST JOB: Lisa Jennings, Senior editor

Working the snack bar off the 9th hole of Congressional Country Club, age 17

“Hospitality is about more than just supplying food and drink — or in this case, hot dogs and martinis. Guests want to engage and be seen. The interaction was a big part of the job.” 40 NRN.COM

I SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

McDonald’s is investing $2 million in programs that prepare youth with entry-level skills. how one trainee stacks up against another. Learning by “gamiﬁcation” runs the gamut — from teaching the importance of washing hands to cooking burgers to solutions for dealing with angry customers, Kersey said. “You have to make it interactive and fun,” Kersey said. Del Taco CEO John D. Cappasola Jr. agrees. He said manuals and online testing are things of the past. He said Del Taco training is digitized and geared for teens. It’s short and succinct — for two reasons, he said: “These guys pick things up really quick — and they lose interest really quick as well.” At KFC, the chicken chain is taking training to a new level with the use of Amazon Echo Show devices. Ryan Ostrom, global chief digital oﬃcer for KFC, said the company is testing “voice training” with Echo devices in a small number of restaurants in the U.S., Canada and Australia. KFC’s information technology department has programmed the Echo devices, which look like upright tablets, with various tutorial videos. So, if a worker is frying chicken and needs help with the breading or frying process, he or she can ask Echo for a quick tutorial without thumbing through a manual or asking someone else for help. Though testing is in its early stages, Ostrom said the results of the hands-free visual tutorials are promising. He said it normally takes about four to eight weeks for an employee to become eﬃcient on back-of-thehouse duties. With the Echo Show training, workers

“As employers, we should re-examine which skills matter most, especially for the next generation entering the workforce.” — Melissa Kersey, McDonald’s USA become competent in one week. That’s crucial for KFC. By 2020, Millennials will make up 80 percent of KFC’s 300,000-strong global workforce. “We have to train them in more relevant and authentic ways,” he said. For Smith, he hopes to get back to the days where more teenagers are working at his restaurants and blossoming into great leaders. “I think that part of our role in society is giving people their ﬁrst job opportunity,” Smith said. “You can mold a young person into a productive employee.”

ABOVE: McDONALD’S

SIMPLICIOUS

Special Report

TEEN VISION VOICES

Helping at-risk teenagers get their start

W

hen teens and young adults aren’t enrolled in school or the workforce they often have limited options. But a new program is designed to prepare these at-risk youths for jobs and careers in the restaurant industry. Sixteen-to-24-year-olds are the targeted participants of Restaurant Ready, a new program by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF). The program aims to prepare participants for work and gives them the support they need once they enter the workforce.

I

42 NRN.COM SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

“One in three young people get their ﬁrst job in restaurants,” NRAEF Executive Vice President Rob Giﬀord told Nation’s Restaurant News, “at the same time that there was a societal problem with young people who are no longer in the educational system.” In collaboration with community-based organizations that work with at-risk youth, the NRAEF is beginning the larger rollout of the program. Restaurant Ready is currently in its pilot stages in ﬁve cities across the country in Louisiana, Texas, California, Colorado and Washington D.C.

A new program aims to support young people launching their culinary careers by Holly Petre

Additional support systems are needed for participants — more than the average high school student. “They may need counseling, they may need help with transportation, they may need legal or other assistance, and community-based organizations are well equipped to provide that,” said Giﬀord. The NRAEF uses a list of 13 “restaurant-ready” competencies that were compiled in collaboration with restaurant industry leaders as a guide for the skills the participants should learn before leaving the program. They range from coming to work on time and prepared for work to working as part of a team

PHOTO: DC CENTRAL KITCHEN

to responding appropriately to positive and negative feedback, and are used at each of the community-based organizations working in collaboration with the NRAEF. Additionally, there is an assessment rubric that includes a checklist of certiﬁcation requirements, such as a self-assessment, role playing and scenarios, and an observation of the participant in order to ensure that they are at a competency level comparable to others entering the workforce. Despite all of the assessments, the NRAEF does not force any of the community-based organizations to conform to their style of teaching. On the contrary, Giﬀord believes the program is successful because each organization has a diﬀerent style of teaching, an important part of the shared network of communication among all participants. This “knowledge-sharing network” is an essential part of the program and its growth. Each city can share their success and failures with each other and the NRAEF to improve the program country-wide both in the moment and in preparation for the future. “The problem that we had faced was that many employers were interested in hiring from this demographic, but didn’t know how,” said Giﬀord. Not only did the employers face problems ﬁnding young employees but the community-based organizations had problems in cultivating relationships; this is where the NRAEF knew its expertise would help. The NRAEF has relationships with restaurants through its main organization, but also has extensive relationships with the industry associations in each state in the United States. However, it isn’t as simple as connecting with employers. There is also the hurdle of ensuring that employers know how to support these participants. Part of the program is continued assistance once a participant completes the course and enters the workforce and the NRAEF only partners with community-based organizations that provide “ongoing check-ins, support and interaction once [the participants] leave this place,” according to Giﬀord.

In Their Own Words KRISTINE, FIRST FEMALE GRADUATE AT CAFÉ MOMENTUM, A COMMUNITY-BASED PARTNER ORGANIZATION

Dallas

“

Café Momentum helped me open up and see something inside of me that I never saw before.

’’

AMY, PARTICIPANT AT THE MATTHEWS HOUSE, A COMMUNITY-BASED PARTNER ORGANIZATION

Fort Collins, Colo.

“

The program has given me great exposure to the culinary world and has given me exciting opportunities. It helped me build my confidence to get a job.

’’

GROOMING THE NEXT GENERATION OF RESTAURANT MANAGERS If the National Restaurant Association’s apprentice program is any indication, in the future, restaurant managers will defy the industry’s high turnover rate. The program, run by the NRA’s Educational Foundation (NRAEF), boasts a 94 percent retention rate. As it turns out, 414027-Aplenty Jersey Mikes.indd 1 of restaurant workers see themselves on the managerial track. While most apprentice programs address the culinary aspect, National Hospitality Sector Registered Appren-

TOP: CAFE MOMENTUM; RIGHT: THE MATTHEWS HOUSE

ticeship Project, a partnership between the NRAEF, the American Hotel & Lodging Association and the Department of Labor, focuses on the managerial aspect of the industry. Designed to address the managerial aspect of the hospitality industry, the program works with restaurants to ready their current workers to move from entry level to managers. When the program began just over two years ago, the NRAEF initially intended to train 400 workers. Now, there

are 1,200 people who have enrolled. “While the average age of restaurant manager apprentices is currently 29, we’re still in the early stages of the program. We believe the average age will trend younger as the program grows, but it’s important for us to serve people of all ages,” said John Shortt, director of program development, NRAEF. Currently, 22 percent of participants are between 18 and 24 years old. “The apprenticeship program deﬁ-

nitely helped me learn more management skills that made me feel more comfortable with my end goal,” said Cassidy Hubbard, a sous chef at Iron Hill Brewery, Newark, Del., enrolled in the program. “I feel that I can open up my own place down the road. I know 9/10/18 7:47I AM that by the time reach the end of it I will know leaps and bounds more than I gained through my mostly culinary-focused degree.” — Holly Petre

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

I NRN.COM

43

Special Report

TEEN VISION VOICES

Helping at-risk teenagers get their start

W

hen teens and young adults aren’t enrolled in school or the workforce they often have limited options. But a new program is designed to prepare these at-risk youths for jobs and careers in the restaurant industry. Sixteen-to-24-year-olds areJersey the targeted 414027-A Mikes.indd par2 ticipants of Restaurant Ready, a new program by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF). The program aims to prepare participants for work and gives them the support they need once they enter the workforce.

I

42 NRN.COM SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

“One in three young people get their ﬁrst job in restaurants,” NRAEF Executive Vice President Rob Giﬀord told Nation’s Restaurant News, “at the same time that there was a societal problem with young people who are no longer in the educational system.” In collaboration with community-based organizations that work with at-risk youth, the NRAEF is beginning the larger rollout of the program. Restaurant Ready is currently in its pilot stages in ﬁve cities across the country in Louisiana, Texas, California, Colorado and Washington D.C.

A new program aims to support young people launching their culinary careers by Holly Petre

Additional support systems are needed for participants — more than the average high school student. “They may need counseling, they may need help with transportation, they may need legal or other assistance, and community-based organizations are well equipped to provide that,” said Giﬀord. The NRAEF uses a list of 13 “restaurant-ready” 9/10/18 competencies that were compiled in collaboration with restaurant industry leaders as a guide for the skills the participants should learn before leaving the program. They range from coming to work on time and prepared for work to working as part of a team

PHOTO: DC CENTRAL KITCHEN

7:47 AM

to responding appropriately to positive and negative feedback, and are used at each of the community-based organizations working in collaboration with the NRAEF. Additionally, there is an assessment rubric that includes a checklist of certiﬁcation requirements, such as a self-assessment, role playing and scenarios, and an observation of the participant in order to ensure that they are at a competency level comparable to others entering the workforce. Despite all of the assessments, the NRAEF does not force any of the community-based organizations to conform to their style of teaching. On the contrary, Giﬀord believes the program is successful because each organization has a diﬀerent style of teaching, an important part of the shared network of communication among all participants. This “knowledge-sharing network” is an essential part of the program and its growth. Each city can share their success and failures with each other and the NRAEF to improve the program country-wide both in the moment and in preparation for the future. “The problem that we had faced was that many employers were interested in hiring from this demographic, but didn’t know how,” said Giﬀord. Not only did the employers face problems ﬁnding young employees but the community-based organizations had problems in cultivating relationships; this is where the NRAEF knew its expertise would help. The NRAEF has relationships with restaurants through its main organization, but also has extensive relationships with the industry associations in each state in the United States. However, it isn’t as simple as connecting with employers. There is also the hurdle of ensuring that employers know how to support these participants. Part of the program is continued assistance once a participant completes the course and enters the workforce and the NRAEF only partners with community-based organizations that provide “ongoing check-ins, support and interaction once [the participants] leave this place,” according to Giﬀord.

In Their Own Words KRISTINE, FIRST FEMALE GRADUATE AT CAFÉ MOMENTUM, A COMMUNITY-BASED PARTNER ORGANIZATION

Dallas

“

Café Momentum helped me open up and see something inside of me that I never saw before.

’’

AMY, PARTICIPANT AT THE MATTHEWS HOUSE, A COMMUNITY-BASED PARTNER ORGANIZATION

Fort Collins, Colo.

“

The program has given me great exposure to the culinary world and has given me exciting opportunities. It helped me build my confidence to get a job.

’’

GROOMING THE NEXT GENERATION OF RESTAURANT MANAGERS If the National Restaurant Association’s apprentice program is any indication, in the future, restaurant managers will defy the industry’s high turnover rate. The program, run by the NRA’s Educational Foundation (NRAEF), boasts a 94 percent retention rate. As it turns out, plenty of restaurant workers see themselves on the managerial track. While most apprentice programs address the culinary aspect, National Hospitality Sector Registered Appren-

TOP: CAFE MOMENTUM; RIGHT: THE MATTHEWS HOUSE

ticeship Project, a partnership between the NRAEF, the American Hotel & Lodging Association and the Department of Labor, focuses on the managerial aspect of the industry. Designed to address the managerial aspect of the hospitality industry, the program works with restaurants to ready their current workers to move from entry level to managers. When the program began just over two years ago, the NRAEF initially intended to train 400 workers. Now, there

are 1,200 people who have enrolled. “While the average age of restaurant manager apprentices is currently 29, we’re still in the early stages of the program. We believe the average age will trend younger as the program grows, but it’s important for us to serve people of all ages,” said John Shortt, director of program development, NRAEF. Currently, 22 percent of participants are between 18 and 24 years old. “The apprenticeship program deﬁ-

nitely helped me learn more management skills that made me feel more comfortable with my end goal,” said Cassidy Hubbard, a sous chef at Iron Hill Brewery, Newark, Del., enrolled in the program. “I feel that I can open up my own place down the road. I know that by the time I reach the end of it I will know leaps and bounds more than I gained through my mostly culinary-focused degree.” — Holly Petre

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

I NRN.COM

43

Special Report

TEEN VISION WHO THEY ARE

Get to know young consumers A look at demographics and spending power Data research by: Tara Fitzpatrick, Alan Liddle, Ron Ruggless and Jenna Telesca

Demographics (Census isn’t able to track where all teens live.)

Data Snapshot

41 million

More adolescents live in the suburbs than in urban and rural areas combined.

U.S. youth are projected to become increasingly diverse in the coming decades.

IN MILLIONS

Suburban 18.3

This group’s numbers will continue to grow, but this age group will be a smaller part of the total population

• 2014 • 2050 White

Urban

13.1% 11.2%

in 2016

CHANGING RACE/ETHNICITY OF AMERICA’S ADOLESCENTS

WHERE ADOLESCENTS LIVE

The number of kids ages 10-19 in the U.S.

54.1%

11.0

40.3%

Rural 6.1

in 2050

Hispanic

SOURCE: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, CITING CENSUS DATA FROM 2016 AND 2014

22.8% 31.2%

Spending power

Teens spend

$2,600 per year

Black TEEN BOY WALLET SHARE

TEEN GIRL WALLET SHARE

14.0%

Food

Clothing

13.1%

24% Clothing

in sales each year

25%

16%

Video games 13%

3.4% 7.0%

17%

“I’m very optimistic and bullish about Generation Z and future restaurant expenditures.”

— David Portalatin, NPD

I

7.4% Multiracial

Personal care/ accessories

SOURCE: PIPER JAFFRAY

44 NRN.COM SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

Asian 4.7%

Food

They contribute to

$830B

25%

SOURCE: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, CITING CENSUS DATA FROM 2016 AND 2014

17 billion

Estimated number of annual restaurant visits by Generation Z by 2028

SOURCE: THE NPD GROUP, ON CONSUMERS NOW AGE 21 AND YOUNGER

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Special Report

TEEN VISION BEHAVIOR

What teens do

A look at how much trouble today’s youth really is Teenagers have always had the reputation of wild rabble-rousers. A young, dangerous combination of new hormones, energy and no real responsibility. They drink, they have sex, they drive their cars around with reckless abandon — or do they? According to NRN research, today’s teens may be better behaved than past generations.

FOR HIGH SCHOOLERS, LESS DRINKING AND SEX, MORE VAPING THEN (1997)

NOW (2017)

79.1%

60.4%

Ever had sex

48.4%

39.5%

Ever tried cigarettes

70.2%

28.9%

—

42.2%

47.2%

35.6%

Ever drank alcohol

Ever tried vapor product Ever tried marijuana

SOURCE: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION SURVEY OF HIGH SCHOOL TEENS, AGE 13-17, IN THE UNITED STATES AND TERRITORIES

TOP 5 CONCERNS OF TEENS AGES 14-17

Fewer teens get licenses

Education Jobs and unemployment Prejudice and racism The environment Terrorism

While teenagers have sharply increased their reliance on some technologies during the past decade, including smartphones and digital streaming entertainment, it appears that over a longer period a dwindling share of teens has embraced a long-favored device: the automobile. Declining percentages of teens, by age group, acquired a driver’s license between

69%

said they trust a company more if it supports a social cause

68%

said companies have an obligation to solve social issues

67%

said they themselves had the responsibility

1983 and 2014, research by the University of Michigan found. It is not yet clear what that means to the restaurant industry — either in terms of teen participation in the foodservice workforce or how it might boost sales through increased delivery orders or harm the top line because of reduced teen access to far-oﬀ drive-thrus and dining rooms.

Licensed teen drivers decrease (Percentage of licensed drivers by age) AGES

• 16

• 17

• 18

• 19

100

80

60

40

20 1983 SOURCE: FUSE, A BRAND ENGAGEMENT AGENCY FOR YOUNG ADULTS AND TEENS

I

46 NRN.COM SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

2008

2014

SOURCE: MICHAEL SIVAK AND BRANDON SCHOETTLE, THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE, JAN. 2016

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Special Report

TEEN VISION TECHNOLOGY

Technology comes natural Younger consumers don’t know an analog world

ONLINE ALL THE TIME

95%

45%

of teens own or have access to a smartphone

of teens say they are online on a near-constant basis

SOURCE: PEW RESEARCH CENTER

“We’ve found with the older Generation Z users ... they are much more likely to engage with tablets at restaurants or more Percentage of all digital likely to use a kiosk or some other ordering station, as opposed to restaurant orders traditional human interaction.”

VIDEO IS THE ANSWER

5.4% Percentage of digital

Snapchat

WANT TO USE DEVICES FOR RESTAURANT ORDERS

Preferred social platforms for Gen Z

4.5%

restaurant orders made by Generation Z SOURCE: THE NPD GROUP

85% YouTube 72% Instagram 69%

DAVID PORTALATIN, The NPD Group

51% Facebook 32% Twitter 9% Tumbler 7% Reddit SOURCE: PEW RESEARCH CENTER

I

48 NRN.COM SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

TOP: DISOBEYART/ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES PLUS; BOTTOM: WOW BAO

Special Report

TEEN VISION BRANDS

Brands capturing teen awe Case studies on brands attracting young consumers

by Anna Kang

Starbucks shares with social Starbucks has a lot going for it to make the brand attractive to Generation Z. According to Piper Jaﬀray, the Coﬀee, Tea & Bakery category has maintained a dominant position in teen preference since 2009. The brand’s social media savviness also plays into its success. Starbucks’ social reach extends far and wide. The coﬀee chain continues to invest in digital and mobile progress as well. These digital natives continue to show a strong connection to social media platforms. Almost half of teens named Snapchat as their favorite social media platform while a quarter of teens preferred Instagram. These two apps are wholly based on photo- and video-sharing, an aspect Starbucks has been able to capitalize on through eye-catching and shareable limited-time oﬀers, such as the Unicorn, Zombie and Crystal Ball Frappuccinos.

STARBUCKS’ SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWING BY THE NUMBERS: Twitter

11.5M Facebook

37.2M Instagram

16.7M Snapchat: Not reported publicly

Data Snapshot Top restaurants for upper-income teens Household income of $100,000

1. CHICK-FIL-A 2. STARBUCKS 3. CHIPOTLE Nike pushes the envelope Nike continues to be a favorite among teenagers, who have a strong preference for athletic footwear. Considering that 38 percent of teen spending goes to fashion and lifestyle brands, according to Piper Jaﬀray, this is an envious position to hold. Nike continues to show skill leveraging digital innovation and celebrity endorsements to hype up its product releases. The marketing programming

pushes the envelope with younger consumers. The most recent ad campaign features Colin Kaepernick, the football player known for kneeling during the national anthem in protest of racial injustice. Consumers ages 18 to 21, the youngest consumers surveyed, responded most positively to the Kaepernick commercial, according to research company Morning Consult.

I

of products and experts for free consultation, makeovers and beauty classes. While many industries consider brick-and-mortar stores a dying breed, experience matters for teenage consumers, according to

50 NRN.COM SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

Piper Jaffray. An overwhelming 90 percent opt to shop for color cosmetics in-store as opposed to online, the research found. Sephora also has the most preferred loyalty program among upper-income

Household income of $56,000

1. STARBUCKS 2. CHICK-FIL-A

SEPHORA BRINGS TEENS IN STORE With teen beauty spending at an all-time high, Sephora stands out as one of the top destinations within that category. The retailer provides an enhanced in-store experience, with a wide selection

Top restaurants for average-income teens

female teens. The program offers points on each purchase, which members can collect and redeem for free samples. They can also visit a store to receive a complimentary gift during their birthday month.

3. McDONALD’S TOP: JUSTIN SULLIVAN/STAFF/GETTY IMAGES NEWS; CUP: STARBUCKS

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Special Report

TEEN VISION TRENDS

5 things to know about teenagers and food Teenagers may have a reputation for apathy, but the generation is rather opinionated when it comes to what they eat — and how they eat it. On the other hand, they are open to healthier lifestyles. Below are ﬁve takeaways about teen culinary habits, according to a survey by Chicago-based research ﬁrm Datassential.

1. TEENS ARE NOT APATHETIC

2. QUALITY IS NOT SUPER IMPORTANT TO THEM

3. BUT EXPERIENCE IS VERY IMPORTANT

4. TEENS’ FOOD HABITS ARE NOT FULLY SHAPED

57% 19% 43% of teenagers agree of Gen Z compared of teens compared with the statement: “Food gets me excited”

to 31% of the overall population are “quality essentialists”

5. YES, TEENS ARE AT LEAST PARTLY TO BLAME FOR THE RISE OF PUMPKIN SPICE

to 28% of the overall population are “experientialists”

Teens want more Fruit Vegetables Whole grains

Teens want less Candy Carbonated soft drinks/soda Fried foods

Foods that teens like less than the overall population:

Sweet basil

Mustard

Spaghetti sauce

Foods and ﬂavors teens like more than the overall population:

Pumpkin spice

Salt

Chicken nuggets

S’mores

Smoothies

SOURCE: DATASSENTIAL, GENERATIONS OF CHANGE KEYNOTE SERIES. DATA WAS FIELDED IN NOVEMBER 2017 WITH CONSUMERS AGES 13 TO 20.

I

52 NRN.COM SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

PHOTOS CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: ISTOCK/GETTYIMAGES PLUS, AMY_LV, DOMNICKY, JAROMILA, BAIBAZ, VICTORIYA89, SANAPADH, DMITRIYKAZITSYN. EINSTEIN BAGELS

Special Report

TEEN VISION THE ARCHIVES

The more things change

Operators have always worked to figure kids out by Bret Thorn

I

f you think Baby Boomers are square think again. The generation that came of age in the 1960s and ’70s were self-aware enough to work en masse to effect change, and they were arguably the first group of teenagers that were directly marketed to. In 1966, the students weren’t just protesting against the Vietnam War, but against the high cost of dorm food. Nation’s Restaurant News — called National Restaurant News at the time — in 1967 reported “uprisings at San Francisco State College, Cornell University and Utica College” the previous fall that resulted in a steep decline in food and beverage sales in dining halls. San Francisco State reached a compromise by lowering prices by 10 percent. At Cornell, officials waited out what turned out to be mostly a beverage strike, with students selling their own milk and soft drinks on campus at cost. Things escalated when the students burned housing and dining director Milton Shaw in effigy. At Utica, 300 kids threw out food-filled trays in protest of the poor quality. The college “agreed to adjust the portions of meat being served.” Meanwhile, some 100 operators of drive-in restaurants in Seattle reached an accord with teenagers “who spend more time than money in the parking stalls needed by cash customers,” according to an NRN story. The students said they were bored at home, that they liked being among friends and found venues such as theaters too expensive. They also said their communities didn’t provide enough recreational facilities. The agreed upon code of conduct prohibited loitering, disorderly conduct, alcoholic beverages, and back-in parking, squealing tires, unattended cars and speeds of more than 10 miles an hour in drive-ins. Operators tried to better understand young customers much as they try to now. Schrafft’s, a chain based in New York, brought in teenagers for a taste

Back in the day, teens would hang out at the drive-in, work for less than minimum wage — and protest when college food didn’t suit their tastes, or budgets.

“ Teen gals like their hamburgers topped with chow mein, fried noodles and soy sauce. Teen boys prefer theirs with baked beans and ketchup.’’ — NRN report

I

54 NRN.COM SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

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Special Report

TEEN VISION THE ARCHIVES

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test as it worked to develop new menu items. In a Schrafft’s taste-off, the teenage participants had to choose between the Frisco Burger, topped with the crispy noodles, and the Bean Burger. “Teen gals like their hamburgers topped with chow mein, fried noodles and soy sauce. Teen boys prefer theirs with baked beans and ketchup,” NRN reported. The ramen burger of recent years is not as new as we think. Restaurants in 1967 didn’t just see teens as challenging customers, but as possible employees. But operators didn’t want to pay them much: The New York State Restaurant Association and other hospitality groups in the state wrangled a recommendation from the General Industry Minimum Wage Board to reduce pay by 25 cents per hour for youths under the age of 18. The minimum wage was $1.50 at the time, so this would mean $1.25 an hour for teens. However, only 10 percent of their workforce could be hired at that rate. (Tipped employees got $1.05 at the time.) Teens were restaurateurs, too. To keep members of the Mighty Blackstone Rangers gang out of pool halls and oﬀ the streets, Chicagoans set the gang up with restaurants. The gang — “noted for shaking down other boys” — operated a Nicky’s short-order restaurant and a Henry’s hamburger franchise. With 1,500 members, the gang had plenty of former restaurant workers who could staff the restaurants, NRN said. Chicagoans including A.C. Simmons, a consultant for wholesale meat distributors, investment ﬁrm head Stanley McGee, and 10 anonymous donors of $5,000 apiece negotiated to get the gang involved with the restaurants in 1967. Ten years later, and teenagers had apparently moved their loitering activities indoors to quick-service chains such as McDonald’s and Burger King. In 1977, Jay Schloemer, then-marketing vice

Fast food became a learning experience for college students attending class in a Burger King. president of a seven-year-old chain called Wendy’s, told NRN the chain’s broader menu was a move to reach a different audience than McDonald’s and Burger King. Wendy’s had just 530 units at the time. “McD’s and BK aim much of their appeal toward children and young adults, backed up with an invitation to other population segments,” NRN reported. “But Wendy’s is strictly aimed at adults, specifically men and working women from a more affluent income bracket,” Schloemer said. And even in 1977, kids were just moving too darn fast! An opinion piece NRN reprinted from The New York Times by William Zinsser

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56 NRN.COM SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

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Special Report

TEEN VISION THE ARCHIVES

lamented the utterly confusing number of options on menus at quick-service burger chains, and his need to bring his children along to interpret for him. “‘Large fries or regular?’ they ask. I ask what ‘regular’ means. They don’t know how to explain how regular the regular fries are,” he wrote. “I should have been born knowing. Everybody else was.” By the 1980s, teenagers were less of a focus. In 1984, when the Baby Boomers were aged 20-38, the members of what would later be known as Generation X got little mention. Teenagers were tagged in NRN as part of the growing market for decaffeinated coffee, and as potential beneficiaries, or maybe victims, of a proposed youth minimum wage (the one from the 1960s had been scrapped by then). We reported on economists testifying before Congress’ Joint Economic Committee, who argued that a lower minimum wage for people under 18 wouldn’t create enough new jobs to be worthwhile and would punish those who needed the work. Besides, NRN reported later in the year, with unemployment rates so low in the aﬄuent suburbs, local teens didn’t need to take jobs for minimum

As the years go passing by, restaurants have found it harder to ﬁll job openings. wage. Wendy’s had resorted to busing in teenagers from inner cities as far as 20 miles away from their suburban restaurants and raising the bonus for staying on the job for three months from $10 to $50 (the minimum wage at the time was $3.35 per hour). On top of that, far fewer teens were entering the

workforce. NRN said that in the 1970s 300,000 teens joined the working masses each year. The figure was half that in 1983, and they were being absorbed by other industries. Wendy’s director of human resources told NRN: “You have to hustle in a foodservice job, and if you can make more as a data entry clerk and not work as hard, you do it.” Burger King was doing its part to add to the allure of the restaurant industry. It opened a restaurant at the University of Wisconsin-Stout campus in Menomonie that doubled as an educational tool in a course titled Fast-Food Operations. The professor of that class, Jim Buergermeister, told NRN he hoped the course would teach his students that fast-food jobs could become careers. “We’re stressing in this course management kinds of things, not technical skills, involved in running a fast-food operation,” he said. Students would rotate positions at the restaurant during the semester, with each taking a managerial role for part of the course. Limited-menu operations “will dominate a society in the future as people turn to fast food for nourishment,” Buergermeister said.

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From the 30,000 members of the LongHorn Steakhouse family,

Feature

2018

Leadership Awards N

ation’s Restaurant News each year recognizes the best in industry leadership with the Golden Chain and Norman Awards. For more than four decades, the Golden Chain Award has recognized multi-unit restaurant brand executives who exhibit key leadership qualities, including a commitment to excellence, the ability to build strong teams and the foresight to see where the industry is headed. This year’s class of Golden Chain winners is made up of ﬁve exceptional restaurant company executives: Todd Burrowes, president of Darden Restaurants Inc.’s LongHorn Steakhouse division; John Cappasola, president and CEO of Del Taco Holdings Inc.; Steve Easterbrook, president and CEO of McDonald’s Corp.; Wan Kim, CEO of Smoothie King Franchises Inc.; and Denny Marie Post, president and CEO of Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. The honorees will be celebrated at an awards gala Oct. 2 during the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference in Dallas. The Norman Award, now in its ninth year, is named for late industry icon Norman Brinker, who founded Brinker International Inc. and was a pioneer in casual dining, and it honors a restaurant executive who consistently mentors and inspires, as Brinker did, future restaurant brand leaders. The 2018 Norman Award honoree is Paul Brown, CEO of Inspire Brands, the parent company to Arby’s, Buﬀalo Wild Wings and Rusty Taco. Brown also will be honored at the MUFSO awards gala. The recipient is selected annually by an advisory board comprised of previous Norman Award winners. — Ron Ruggless

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

I NRN.COM 63

Feature

2018 GOLDEN CHAIN AWARDS

Steve Easterbrook Turning McDonald’s fortunes around with all-day breakfast and the Experience of the Future initiative by Nancy Luna

I

n his ﬁrst week as CEO of McDonald’s, Steve Easterbrook gathered the company’s top troops to deliver a straightforward message about the slumping chain’s state — both ﬁnancially and culturally. “I wanted to bring a transparent view of the situation that we found ourselves in. I wanted to make sure there wasn’t any form of denial of the urgency of the situation,” said Easterbrook, who took the helm of the multibillion dollar burger brand in early 2015.

The reality was McDonald’s was not moving fast enough to adapt to the rapid changes facing the restaurant industry three years ago. It was an irrelevant brand, and Easterbrook’s job was to make it a powerful leader again in the quick-service sector that it helped create decades earlier. But the climb was steep. During the last full-year of management by Easterbrook’s predecessor, or ﬁscal 2014, McDonald’s worldwide systemwide same-store sales were

down by 1.0 percent from the preceding year, while U.S.-system comps were oﬀ by 2.1 percent. The chain had been slow to react to the changing needs of the next generation of diners. They wanted speed, convenience, customization, higher quality foods, value and something money can’t buy: strong brand loyalty. McDonald’s was falling short on all accounts. “The pace of change outside the business [was] quicker than change within,” Easterbrook told NRN during a recent phone interview. “We were structured in a very old-fashioned way.” Easterbrook’s turnaround plan was simple: Be more nimble and agile. That meant streamlining operations, becoming a more disciplined company and striving to be an industry-leading innovator. “I wanted to bring some conﬁdence into the business,” he said. “The absolute underlying rallying call was to run better restaurants.” In his ﬁrst 24 months, he wasted no time making one move after the other. One of the biggest: adding all-day breakfast in the fall of 2015. McDonald’s had long balked at expanding breakfast for operational reasons. Fast-food kitchens are typically not large enough to cook both breakfast and lunch on the same cooktops all day long. But, taking the customer knows best approach, Easterbrook oﬀered guests a limited portion of breakfast items all day, before expanding to the full menu a year later. The chain immediately discovered customers were hungry for Egg McMuﬃns at lunch and after dark. The following quarter, sales were up. Easterbrook followed up all-day breakfast with a series of other programs geared for pleasing today’s mobile-centric diner. The company is hard at work transforming aging U.S. stores under its new Experience of the Future design. To date, the company has upgraded more than 5,000 restaurants, or a third of the U.S. total. The new look, which oftentimes calls for franchisees to raze and rebuild restaurants, features modern decor, a bank of kiosks for self-serve ordering, Uber

Steve Easterbrook took the helm of McDonald’s in 2015 with a simple philosophy: “Run better restaurants.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF MCDONALD’S

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

I NRN.COM 65

Feature

2018 GOLDEN CHAIN AWARDS STEVE EASTERBROOK

McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook (left) chats with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel at the unveiling of the company’s new corporate headquarters in June.

Eats pickup stations, digital menu boards, McCafe enhancements, curbside pickup parking, wireless charging stations and eco-friendly amenities. The company and its franchisees recently announced plans to invest $6 billion to modernize the next round of restaurants by 2020. Easterbrook has also put a modern spin to the menu. Last year, the brand introduced a burger line called Signature Crafted Recipe. The premium burgers are priced at around $5 and feature fancier accoutrements such as pico de gallo, buttermilk ranch sauce, white cheddar, leaf lettuce, guacamole, grilled and fried onions, and barbecue sauce. In May, McDonald’s also completed the rollout of fresh ground beef patties on its legacy Quarter Pounder, as well as the Signature Crafted burgers. Restaurants have also introduced table-side service. The next-generation restaurants and the menu enhancements are part of Easterbrook’s goal of changing consumer perception about McDonald’s. He said the company is often misunderstood, especially when it comes to food quality. It’s one of the biggest myths he strives to debunk. “We look to address people’s understanding of our food and what’s in it and the quality and standards we put into it,” he said.

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Ultimately, he said, he can’t blame consumers for “their perception” of the brand. The buck stops with McDonald’s. That’s why Easterbrook has pushed the fresh burger platform and launched several animal welfare initiatives such as transitioning to cage-free eggs by 2025. “It’s up to us to make the big moves to catch people’s attention,” he said. Analyst Mark Kalinowski called Easterbrook’s moves bold, but necessary to make the company relevant again. “They are taking a lot items on the menu and making them better. They’re paying attention to details,” said Kalinowski of Kalinowski Equity Research. “He’s

“We look to address people’s understanding of our food and what’s in it and the quality and standards we put into it.”

making McDonald’s a modern progressive burger company.” Investors are seeing results. In 2014, same-store sales at McDonald’s units in the U.S. dropped 2.1 percent. In 2015 — Easterbrook replaced former CEO Don Thompson in March of that year — sales edged up 0.5 percent. The next two years, same-store sales grew even more, increasing 1.7 percent in 2016 and 3.6 percent in 2017. The streak continues in 2018, a challenging year marked by ﬁerce value wars across all sectors. For the second quarter ended June 30, U.S. comparable restaurant sales went up 2.6 percent. The results marked the 12th consecutive quarter of positive comparable sales for the Chicago-based chain. The chain’s recent updates are resonating the most with its most frequent visitors, according to an Earnest Research report. The chain’s heaviest users visited the brand 91.6 times in 2017, compared with an average of 87.5 visits among heaviest users in 2014, Earnest said. Still, Easterbrook knows McDonald’s can do better. But what kind of company the iconic brand will be in 10 years, Easterbrook said he’s not sure. “I don’t know what we’ll be doing in 10 years, but I know we’ll be doing it more than anyone else.”

DAVE KOTINSKY/GETTY IMAGES FOR McDONALD’S

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CONGRATULATIONS

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PAUL BROWN Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Inspire Brands 2018 NORMAN AWARD WINNER Your vision, leadership, and passion inspire us every day as we ignite great brands and transform our industry. On behalf of the entire Inspire family, thank you!

Feature

2018 GOLDEN CHAIN AWARDS

Wan Kim Driving healthy growth at Smoothie King with a wellness-centric message by Bret Thorn

F

or Wan Kim, smoothies aren’t about ﬂavor, but about purpose. “If we are selling strawberry and banana smoothies, then we are competing with McDonald’s, Starbucks, Dunkin’ — so many diﬀerent brands — and I do not think that’s what people want,” said Kim, who is CEO of the Smoothie King chain. Kim started as the chain’s franchisee for South Korea, building it up to more than 100 locations in that country before buying the parent company, Smoothie King Franchises Inc., from founder Steve Kuhnau in July 2012. He later sold his South Korea stores.

Since then, average unit volumes have blossomed from around $340,000 to around $500,000 and the chain has grown from around 500 units to nearly 1,000. That includes 99 new units last year, 130 units to 135 units this year and 160 to 170 planned for next year, Kim told Nation’s Restaurant News. Smoothie King’s U.S. systemwide sales were $376.5 million for the ﬁscal year ended Dec. 17, according to NRN Top 200 data, up 37 percent from $274.2 million two years earlier. Smoothie King’s growth came as Kim and his team reconceptualized what Smoothie King was selling.

“We really want to be an integral part of every health-and-ﬁtness journey,” Kim said. “We don’t deﬁne your journey, but we’re going to have a lot of products so that, whatever you need … it’s your call, but we want to help you.” So he rearranged the menu into four categories: Fitness, Wellness, Slim and Take a Break and his team worked to formulate smoothies that would help people bulk up, slim down, get a lot of nutrition or even enjoy a small indulgence. Fitness smoothies include the Coﬀee High Protein Almond Mocha, with two diﬀerent protein blends, cold brew coﬀee, almonds, non-fat milk, dates and cocoa, and Original High Protein Lemon, with two types of protein supplements, almonds and a lemon juice blend. In the Slim category are drinks like Greek Yogurt Pineapple Mango, a smoothie with those ingredients as well as bananas, passion fruit juice blend, a protein blend, nonfat milk, ﬁber and an electrolyte mix. Take a Break smoothies include the Caribbean Way, with strawberries, bananas, papaya juice blend and turbinado sugar, and Passion Passport with passion fruit juice blend, banana, pineapple mango juice blend, papaya juice blend and cane sugar. Wellness smoothies include drinks with nutrient-dense items and nutraceuticals such as matcha green tea, blueberries and kale, as well as vegan oﬀerings and two smoothies for people in special stages of life. Smoothie King worked with prenatal vitamin company Premama to create the Premama smoothie for pregnant women, made with bananas, raspberries, wild blueberries, apple juice, organic spinach, protein blend, Stevia and a Premama multivitamin. Kim’s team also worked with the American Cancer Society to develop the Daily Warrior smoothie for people undergoing chemotherapy. The nutrient-dense, high-calorie smoothie has wild blueberries, banana, peanut butter, dates, almonds, organic spinach, blueberry juice blend and

Under Wan Kim’s leadership, Smoothie King has recorded impressive ﬁscal numbers, including explosive growth in systemwide sales and average unit volume.

PHOTO: RON RUGGLESS

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

I NRN.COM 69

Feature

2018 GOLDEN CHAIN AWARD WAN KIM

Wan Kim has laid out a vision that is transforming Smoothie King into a company “with a purpose,” including formulating smoothies for special stages of life, such as cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Stevia and is intended to help people achieve their daily nutritional and caloric needs. Kim said the American Cancer Society was skeptical when his team approached them. “From the beginning, not knowing what we’d been doing, they really didn’t like any smoothie concept,” he said. “They said, ‘You guys have a lot of sugar and we don’t think we can come up with a product.’ We told them we now have about 50 smoothies that have no sugar added, and all of our products are all whole fruits and no artiﬁcial stuﬀ. And they went, ‘Wow, really? That’s not what we know about Smoothie King. Let’s talk’.” In June, the chain also began testing a Clean Blending initiative at 76 locations in the Dallas market, where Kim recently moved the chain’s headquarters from the New Orleans area, that removes all added sugars and artiﬁcial ingredients. Smoothie King also has undergone some shifts in its image, including a new logo that emphasizes the brand’s name, with the two words under a crown, and a new store design with a drive-thru and more streamlined space for retail items such as protein powders.

“We really want to be an integral part of every health-and-ﬁtness journey.” 70 NRN.COM

I SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

Kim said some franchisees haven’t been too keen about the brand’s transformation. “They were like, ‘Oh my god, Wan, we need to come up with a new cherry-ﬂavored smoothie,’” he said. “We really have a strong vision, and I think we also have some franchisees who don’t believe in that vision, and we actually told them, ‘It’s time for you to exit,’” he said. “We really want to make sure that we build a strong franchise community [that believes] our future is really achieving our vision.” Besides, he said, six weeks into the Clean Blending test, and tastes scores actually rose. According to customer experience management company InMoment, which Kim hired to measure guest satisfaction, the taste score rose from 80 before the launch to 83. “Our team did a great job,” Kim said. Meanwhile, new franchisees are coming on board, including three Planet Fitness franchisees who want to open Smoothie Kings with drive-thru windows in the gyms’ parking lots. Kim said a couple such locations have already opened, “and they are doing really phenomenal.” Smoothie King’s domestic locations remain primarily in the Southeast, but Kim sees the brand’s footprint expanding. There are around 20 franchise locations in the Washington, D.C., area, as well as one company store open and two more on their way in the area. From there he wants to move up the East Coast to Philadelphia and New York City. “We are also looking at Arizona and Nevada at this moment, New Mexico as well,” he said. Additionally, the chain has secured a 50-unit deal with a Planet

Fitness franchisee in Michigan. But the chain is going to stay out of smoothie-saturated California for now. “I want to make sure when we go in there we are well prepared, and I don’t think we’re ready yet,” he said.

TOP LEFT: SMOOTHIE KING; TOP RIGHT: LAYNE MURDOCH; ABOVE: MICHAEL PALUMBO

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Feature

2018 GOLDEN CHAIN AWARDS

Denny Marie Post Championing women and culture in an increasingly complex industry by Gloria Dawson

D

enny Marie Post, CEO of Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc., faces challenges head-on. She’s tackling traﬃc and turbulence in the casual-dining segment. And she’s helping to reverse the restaurant industry’s historically dismal numbers of women in senior-level positions. She’s doing it all with her signature style and sass — it’s not every CEO who is willing to get a burger tattooed to her upper arm when her team hits its numbers. Of course, it’s not all fun and games. Tough

decisions are part of running a business. “Our mission is to make everyone better for being here, and that includes our team members, our guests and our stockholders. Trying to keep that in my mind at all times requires us to make some pretty careful choices,” Post said Recently, Post removed her long-time chief operating oﬃcer Carin Stutz. She’ll be replaced with current chief ﬁnancial oﬃcer Guy Constant. Post is one of the few women CEOs in the restaurant industry, and the move took the industry by surprise.

Of the decision, Post said, “Our recent COO change reﬂects the need for transformational leadership moving forward to embrace the service model changes ahead and ensure we do so with clarity and consistency. Carin helped us get the kitchen and organizational fundamentals we needed in place. Guy is the perfect choice to move us forward with a focus on strategic growth.” At Red Robin, the board is 50 percent women, and even after Stutz’s departure, the executive team there looks more diverse than most, with three women and four men and one open position. At the senior level, women make up over 60 percent of the team. Still, Post said, “We have the same retention rate issues that everyone does, which is we have a hard time moving women from managing a single unit — managing a restaurant — to moving to multi-unit, because the lifestyle change is so dramatic. Not to say that running a restaurant is easy, but we’re a family-dining restaurant, we don’t have a big bar business, we’re not open late, you can plan your life through the week so that you still have time for family. When you move to multi-unit, to the regional operations director level, it is much more on demand, much more travel. It’s a challenge.” Post said having a woman in the role of CEO helps women visualize an upwardly mobile path. “I think we attract women because they can look up and see that there’s a track for them here,” she said. But Post knows it’s rare to ﬁnd female leadership in her industry. Earlier this year the Women’s Foodservice Forum, of which Post has been an active member for 20 years, partnered with McKinsey and released a ﬁrstof-its-kind study to quantify women in the food and restaurant industry. The numbers were bleak. The research found, for example, that women make up only 32 percent of C-suite roles at restaurant companies. “It was really eye-opening for a lot of us,” Post said. “The business case is out there, that balanced gender organizations are more successful.” More than ever it’s essential to keep all employees, said Post. Annual in-person meetings and quarterly bonuses help. Gestures and initiatives big and small have kept Red Robin’s restaurant manager turnover

Denny Marie Post runs a company where women make up half the board and more than half of the senior executives.

PHOTO: STEPH GRANT

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

I NRN.COM 73

Feature

2018 GOLDEN CHAIN AWARDS DENNY MARIE POST

Denny Marie Post mixes business with pleasure, joining Edna Morris of Axum Capital (above left) and Cathy Cooney, Red Robin’s recently retired chief human rights ofﬁcer, and celebrating success stories with company employees — even getting a burger tattoo to acknowledge guest satisfaction scores.

around 26 percent, quite low for the industry, even, Post notes, as the country posts record high employment levels. “I think our reason for retention is because we’ve got a great culture,” Post said. There’s “integrity and fun in everything we do. I think that makes a diﬀerence in people wanting to be a part of Red Robin, men and women.” As the employment outlook has changed, so has what’s expected of restaurants and even how brands are categorized. “There’s a growing complexity of the business. It used to be fairly discrete. There was quick service, there was casual dining and there was ﬁne dining,” said Post. “There’s a lot of that blending. In the casual-dining space, which is where Red Robin operates, used to be all just about full service and dine in and every now and again someone would call to take a to-go order.” Today, oﬀ-premise sales are around 10%. That’s double what they were when Red Robin started focusing on these sales over a year ago, Post notes. And the rise of oﬀ-premise and to-go orders changes what a restaurant even is. Red Robin last fall also began testing a deliveryonly restaurant in downtown Chicago. “The guest is asking us to be a destination; they still want it to be a great dining experience when they have the time for that,” said Post. “But increasingly they’re

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I SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

not out and about seeing movies and shopping [and dining] like they used to be. They’re doing all that at home, but they still want great restaurant food.” Burger restaurants also face heavy competition, she noted. As Post points out, casual dining brands like Texas Roadhouse and Olive Garden don’t have much competition from QSR. But Red Robin competes with McDonald’s along with brands like Five Guys and Ted’s Montana Grill, to name a few, said Post. “The good news is [burgers are] a very, very popular food,” said Post. “First and foremost, we have to have a much more interesting craveable, highly customizable [menu], and we do that really well. ... The second is service. Service is now morphing from just tableside to many other ways. I keep telling our digital guys, [our tech has] got to be as intuitive, as friendly

“The guest is asking us to be a destination; they still want it to be a great dining experience when they have the time for that.”

and as helpful as our best server. I don’t care if it’s all artiﬁcial intelligence — it’s got to be great. And the third is aﬀordable abundance. And that’s one that’s been a challenge for us because a lot of it is about reﬁlls but that only happens on dine-in.” Post is focusing on ﬁnding success while juggling the demands of dine-in, carry-out, delivery and catering. “It is without a doubt, the most interesting, challenging, exciting time,” she said. She seems up for the challenge. During the 2017 ﬁscal year Red Robin saw a 6.5% year-over-year improvement in revenue. Same-store sales at company restaurants were up slightly, or 0.6 percent, but that still put the chain ahead of some of its casual-dining competitors. Of the 23 casualdining chains tracked by NRN with ﬁscal years ending near Dec. 2017, the average same-store sales trend in the period was a decline of 0.8%. Going forward she’s willing to do whatever it takes to keep the trend going and keep herself and her team accountable, like getting a tattoo, as she did in 2017, when her staﬀ more than doubled guest satisfaction scores. Her next challenge to staﬀ is getting peak to peak traﬃc back at Red Robin restaurants. “Those two hours a day make a diﬀerence,” she said. And what will she do when they reach their traﬃc goal? “I’ll climb a peak,” she said, revealing a spur of the moment idea. “I’ll promise to scale Mount Something

PHOTOS COURTESY OF RED ROBIN GOURMET BURGERS INC.

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Feature

2018 GOLDEN CHAIN AWARDS

John D. Cappasola Steering Del Taco from strictly value-oriented brand to wildly successful ‘QSR-plus’ by Nancy Luna

T

he day before John D. Cappasola Jr. interviewed for a marketing vice president job at Del Taco, he asked his would-be bosses for permission to hang out at a Del Taco. The Southern California native, then a Blockbuster executive, had grown up eating at Del Taco. But the self-described “operations guy” wanted to see ﬁrsthand what it was like to work at the fast-food restaurant. He got more than what he bargained for. “I was running drive-thru by the end of the day,” said Cappasola, the chain’s CEO and winner of NRN’s 2018 Golden Chain award. In fall 2008, Cappasola became vice president of

marketing development at the Mexican fast-food chain. But, before he could weigh-in on brand decisions, he once again made an unorthodox request. He asked to work six weeks at a restaurant. On his ﬁrst day, he was tossed on the grill after a cook called in sick. It was Taco Tuesday, and the restaurant was slammed. He ended up working a 12hour shift and burned his arm on a quesadilla press. It was a rough day, but one he’ll never regret. Embedding himself in the restaurant gave him the ultimate insider’s peek at the brand. “That gave me credibility and context beyond belief,” he said.

A decade later Cappasola is credited for changing the way consumers view Del Taco. In 2013, the then chief brand oﬃcer repositioned Del Taco into the QSR-plus category. He exposed Del Taco’s fresh prep kitchens while pushing for elevated or diﬀerentiated menu platforms such as Platos, Epic burritos and turkey tacos. Casting a wide net with a mix of dollar items and Chipotle-style burritos has proved to be lightning in a bottle for Del Taco. Systemwide same-store sales have been positive for 19 consecutive quarters and 24 for company-owned operations. While restaurant visits have stalled for most companies, Del Taco has seen ﬁve consecutive years of positive traﬃc. According to NRN’s Top 200 research, Del Taco’s estimated sales per unit has jumped from $1.13 million for the year ended 2013 to $1.41 million for the year ended 2017. Cappasola credits the boost to the 2013 brand pivot. “That’s the evolution. That’s where it all started.” During a recent interview at Del Taco’s headquarters in Lake Forest, Calif., he talked about Del Taco’s enviable success, the lessons he learned at Blockbuster and the chain’s next moves to maintain its positive sales streak. How has Del Taco changed since you started 10 years ago? It was a value-oriented Mexican fast-food brand. That’s what this brand was for a lot of years. It had good core operations, good value proposition but it was mainly on the pricing side of value. Fast casual was just starting to gain momentum. Fast food hadn’t made a major shift at that point. What trends were you seeing? Fast casual was exploding because people were willing to pay a little more for better quality food. They were sacriﬁcing some form of convenience to do that. They’re getting out of the car and paying $2 and $3 more. That tells you there’s something powerful happening from a consumer demand standpoint. You took a big risk by shifting to an unknown category between fast food and fast casual. What was your marketing strategy?

A day in the trenches before he even joined the team gave Del Taco’s CEO “credibility and context beyond belief.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF DEL TACO

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2018 GOLDEN CHAIN AWARDS JOHN D. CAPPASOLA

When we launched our ﬁrst campaign [in April 2013], it was called “UnFreshing Believable.” The reason why we did that is we were bridging the gap between what people knew about us today, and what we hope people would discover about the brand — the fact that we go above and beyond. That became our road map for everything. Who coined QSR-plus, ﬁrst? Good question. It was really born as a lot of the companies were starting to go public four to ﬁve years ago. It became a way to understand the idea of bringing great quality food under the same roof as great value. For us, as a brand, when we heard that term, it codiﬁed what we were trying to accomplish. Your background is in retail, working at Blockbuster. How did that experience translate to fast food? I worked my way up to be a general manager. I got enamored with people and service and how it all came together. It really inﬂuenced the ﬁrst 10 years of my career as an operator. Then, I got into strategy and brand. And, the last 17 years that what I’ve been doing. What was your ﬁrst restaurant job? Del Taco. Come on, really? I’m serious. That was when I left Blockbuster to come to Del Taco.

John D. Cappasola and his team have seen estimated sales per unit jump from $1.13 million to $1.41 million in four years. How did you convince Del Taco to hire a guy with no food experience? When I ﬁrst got the interview, they asked me, ‘What’s the diﬀerence between selling videos and selling tacos?’ From a fundamental standpoint, there’s really no diﬀerence. It’s branding, marketing and understanding your guest, and understanding where you ﬁt competitively. The diﬀerence is, we weren’t actually producing the movies within the four walls. Now we produce it and execute it. What is the brand promise you always talk about? People need speed, convenience and they need value. They also would like to have their cake and eat it too. They’d like to have an Epic burrito that they don’t have to pay $10 for. But if we can’t make that Epic burrito at the same speed, convenience and value they expect, the whole thing starts to fall apart.

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So ultimately, you won’t do anything that would derail speed? There’s constant tension down in the test kitchen. Culinary might go, “This is the greatest thing in the world. Look how great this is. Look at this new ingredient. It’s going to change our lives.” And, the operations guy is saying, “Hey wait a second. That’s a new protein. How does it get on my line? How much time can I hold it for?” We developed an operations innovations team to make sure the things we were delivering through the menu could be executed at a high level [and] that weren’t going to bog down our operators and put them in an unfair position. What kind menu innovations did you turn down because they were too hard to execute? We were looking at fried burritos. They were awesome, but it was very cumbersome for operations. It was degrading speed and degrading quality. We decided to place our bets in other places and we decided to walk away from that program even though it was a high consumer demand program for us. It was a tough decision. What lengths do you go to perfect a new product? Platos. It was a big opportunity to elevate ourselves at dinner. That took us two years to get to market. It was hard to ﬁgure that out at the drive-thru. We wound up actually following guests home with that

program. We got to their house, and we saw that the packaging wasn’t quite where it needed to be. It wasn’t holding the heat. We changed the packaging based on those guest experiences. What’s next area of focus for Del Taco? We’re moving to hospitality. Delighting our guests. We want more genuine and authentic experiences with people.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF DEL TACO

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2018 GOLDEN CHAIN AWARDS

Todd Burrowes Setting the stage for growth with strong company culture and operational efﬁciencies by Ron Ruggless

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odd Burrowes, president of Darden Restaurant Inc.’s LongHorn Steakhouse division, has been riding herd on the now-507-unit brand since July 2015, and in three years grown its unit count, geographic reach and sales. Burrowes, 55, joined the casual-dining steakhouse chain in 2002 as a regional manager and later worked as regional vice president and in 2008 was promoted to executive vice president of operations. He left for two years to serve as president and chief operations oﬃcer for the Ruby Tuesday casual-dining brand

and returned to LongHorn as president in July 2015, when it had 470 locations. The LongHorn division now has more than 30,000 employees and posted $1.7 billion in annual sales for ﬁscal 2018, which ended May 27, up from $1.6 billion in the prior ﬁscal year. Same-store sales in the ﬁscal year increased 2.4 percent for LongHorn, slightly ahead of the 2.2 percent increase for Darden’s legacy brands. Burrowes spoke with Nation’s Restaurant News about the success of the LongHorn brand and his management style:

What was your ﬁrst job in the restaurant business? My ﬁrst job was at Burger King. When I was 15 and 16, I loved the food at Burger King. I was interested in cooking. This was an entry level opportunity, and I had some friends who were working there, and they referred me. I worked in the heart of the house: the kitchen. What did that ﬁrst job teach you? It taught me structure, and it taught me skills. The structure you get in the restaurant industry is impressive. It also teaches personal accountability. My job allowed me to have purpose for the work I was doing, and it created a team spirit. How has that translated to your role at LongHorn? I’ve spent a lifetime in the restaurant business, but I really don’t consider it a traditional workplace. I say we’re in the “Happiness Business.” People come in because they are hungry, but it’s the joy people share in their time together. How do you create a successful culture? It begins with who you hire and why. At LongHorn, we hired for the qualities we can’t teach. We can’t teach energy. We can’t teach personality. And we can’t teach having a servant’s heart. Those who really get joy out of serving others. It begins with making sure you hire individuals that have the same beliefs you do. Then it’s great training and retaining your team by listening to them and making changes based on what they think and feel. How have you seen training change through the years? The basics of training have remained the same. We still teach the technical part of the job, but we also teach the culture, mainly through storytelling and through living it. As of late, we’re seeing a lot of technology impact how we train. What’s the best piece of advice you ever got? It’s that leaders deﬁne reality and create a vision. Who shared that with you? That would be Gene Lee [now president and CEO of Darden Restaurants Inc.]. It was in the context when

In three years as LongHorn president, Todd Burrowes has seen it grow to 500-plus units and 30,000-plus employees.

PHOTO: DEBI HARBIN

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2018 GOLDEN CHAIN AWARDS TODD BURROWES

I joined Rare [Hospitality International] in 2002. At the end of my training, he sat down with me and David George [now chief operating oﬃcer for Darden] and shared that bit of wisdom. I think about that and try to live it each and every day. What’s behind it? People want to know where they stand. They want to know where the company stands. They want to understand reality. And really eﬀective leaders create a compelling vision that gives people hope, which is really an expectation that better things will happen in the future. More importantly, they understand the work that they do — why it is important and the purpose of it. Successful leaders communicate this vision over and over and over again. The simpler it is, the more powerful it will be. You worked for LongHorn for 10 years and left for two years to head Ruby Tuesday Inc. What was the diﬀerence when you returned? We had lost our grasp of our competitive advantage and keeping those top of mind. And, quite frankly, we had grown a little bit too fast. In the two years I was gone, we opened close to 90 restaurants. That’s a big burden for a restaurant brand to handle. Part of what we wanted to do was look at our business, deﬁne reality and say, “Alright, let’s take the best of our past and the best of our present and create a really compelling vision anchored in our heritage.” And that’s what we set out to do as a team three years ago. We’ve been working that plan ever since.

Todd Burrowes says effective leadership should communicate a company’s vision “over and over and over again.” He also slowed LongHorn’s growth rate, warning that “speed can kill.”

You slowed the growth rate. What did that do for the brand? It gave us the opportunity to strengthen our culture. We have a phrase here, when we talk about new-restaurant growth: “Speed can kill.” It’s a wonderful for thing for the business to continue to grow, but if it grows too fast, it’s really about the human resource piece. It was taking good people to open new restaurants. It allowed us to slow down and create a really strong strategy and to focus on the strategy. What is the strategy for LongHorn? We talk about it in three words: quality, simplicity and culture. It’s to increase the quality of the guest experience for food, service and atmosphere. It’s to leverage our simple operating model, which allows us to hone our levels of execution. And [with] culture, it is leveraging it to a higher level of engagement. Given your background in training, how do you approach that at LongHorn?

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Training is critical to us at LongHorn and Darden. We have a phrase: The cultures of companies are measured by how you treat someone on the ﬁrst day and how you treat them on the last day. … We want to make sure the ﬁrst day is extraordinary. What tools do you use? We make sure the managing partner, the leader of the business, sits down with them on their ﬁrst day, not just reviewing what they are to do but listening and learning more about the individual to make our folks feel valued

from Day One. We do the same thing with our restaurant managers. The managers come to our restaurant support center for a week, and I meet with all of them. What’s your top professional challenge? For me, the ultimate challenge — and the fun in this job — is to picture this little town of 30,000 individuals and trying make sure we are all in the same boat, in the same ocean, rowing the same way to the same destination. And we all believe in the same destination.

TOP: LONGHORN STEAKHOUSE; ABOVE: PRESTON MACK

Congratulations!

Wan Kim 2018 GOLDEN CHAIN AWARD WINNER

Thank you for leading the inspiration to live a healthy and active lifestyle. Photo Credit: Ron Ruggless/Nation’s Restaurant News

How did Freshii become one of the Fastest Growing Restaurant Chains in the World?

By helping people live better, by making healthy food convenient and affordable

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*Buildout costs can vary due to several factors. Please refer to our Franchise Disclosure Document for a complete breakdown of costs. ËŕśƾśƁŋƍƶžĂǊśƍƁśƾƁƍǊśƁǊĲƁĩĲĩĂƾĂƁƍȂĲƶǊƍƾĲŵŵƍƶǊŕĲƾƍŵśĢśǊĂǊśƍƁƍŋĂƁƍȂĲƶǊƍĠǓǲĂŋƶĂƁĢŕśƾĲ^ǊśƾŋƍƶśƁŋƍƶžĂǊśƍƁƲǓƶƲƍƾĲƾƍƁŵǲËŕĲƶĲĂƶĲĂƲƲƶƍǱśžĂǊĲŵǲ ȌȏĢƍǓƁǊƶśĲƾĂƁĩȌȐÓ¾ƾǊĂǊĲƾǊŕĂǊƶĲōǓŵĂǊĲǊŕĲƍȂĲƶĂƁĩƾĂŵĲƍŋŋƶĂƁĢŕśƾĲƾËŕĲĢƍǓƁǊƶśĲƾĂƶĲǓƾǊƶĂŵśĂ"ƶĂǼśŵ"ĲŵōśǓž$ĂƁĂĩĂƲƶƍǫśƁĢĲƾƍŋŵĠĲƶǊĂ²ƶśƁĢĲ 6ĩǬĂƶĩ^ƾŵĂƁĩ"ƶśǊśƾŕ$ƍŵǓžĠśĂ~ĂƁśǊƍĠĂ#ĲǬ"ƶǓƁƾǬśĢűĂƁĩ&ƁǊĂƶśƍ'$ŕśƁĂNƶĂƁĢĲ^ƁĩƍƁĲƾśĂ^ǊĂŵǲoĂƲĂƁ~ĂŵĂǲƾśĂ~ĲǱśĢƍ¶ǓƾƾśĂ¾ƍǓǊŕqƍƶĲĂ¾ƲĂśƁ ĂƁĩǊŕĲÓƁśǊĲĩ¾ǊĂǊĲƾƍŋžĲƶśĢĂËŕĲÓ¾ƾǊĂǊĲƾĂƶĲ$ĂŵśŋƍƶƁśĂXĂǬĂśś^ŵŵśƁƍśƾ^ƁĩśĂƁĂ~ĂƶǲŵĂƁĩ~śĢŕśōĂƁ~śƁƁĲƾƍǊĂ#ĲǬòƍƶű#ƍƶǊŕ+ĂűƍǊĂ&ƶĲōƍƁ ¶ŕƍĩĲ^ƾŵĂƁĩ¾ƍǓǊŕ+ĂűƍǊĂëśƶōśƁśĂìĂƾŕśƁōǊƍƁĂƁĩìśƾĢƍƁƾśƁ^ŋǲƍǓĂƶĲĂƶĲƾśĩĲƁǊƍŋƍƁĲƍŋǊŕĲƾĲƾǊĂǊĲƾƍƶĢƍǓƁǊƶśĲƾĂƶĲƶĲĢĲśǫśƁōǊŕśƾžĲƾƾĂōĲśƁƍƁĲ ƍŋǊŕĲƾĲƾǊĂǊĲƾƍƶĢƍǓƁǊƶśĲƾƍƶśƁǊĲƁĩǊƍƍƲĲƶĂǊĲĂŋƶĂƁĢŕśƾĲśƁĂƁǲƍŋǊŕĲƾĲƾǊĂǊĲƾƍƶĢƍǓƁǊƶśĲƾǬĲǬśŵŵƁƍǊƍȂĲƶǲƍǓĂŋƶĂƁĢŕśƾĲǓƁŵĲƾƾĂƁĩǓƁǊśŵǬĲŕĂǫĲ complied with any applicable pre-sale registration and/or disclosure requirements in the applicable jurisdiction.

Feature RECIPIENT OF THE 2018 NORMAN AWARD

Paul Brown Fostering team culture, encouraging employee ambitions and supporting community needs by Jenna Telesca

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or Paul Brown, Inspire Brands’ CEO, good citizenship means a duty to elevate both communities and employees. “I think we as an industry underestimate the role we can — and should — play with our own team members in making a diﬀerence in their lives that can be lasting even beyond their time with us,” said Brown. Brown is the 2018 Nation’s Restaurant News Norman Award honoree. The award is named after the

late Norman Brinker, who founded Brinker International Inc. and was a pioneer in the casual-dining space. Chosen by a committee of NRN editors and previous Norman Award winners, the award is given to an executive who consistently mentors and inspires future restaurant brand leaders, as Brinker did. “Paul has been a leader in measuring employee engagement — and has used this feedback tool to teach his leaders to create good workplaces where people

thrive and perform,” said Cheryl Bachelder, part of the Norman Award committee and former CEO of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc. Brown, known for turning around the Arby’s brand as CEO over the last ﬁve years, now oversees the Inspire Brands portfolio of Arby’s, Buﬀalo Wild Wings and Rusty Taco chains. Arby’s Restaurant Group Inc. changed its name to Inspire Brands in February following the $2.9 billion acquisition of Buﬀalo Wild Wings and its brand Rusty Taco. Brown’s group now operates 4,600 restaurant units across several segments. “We’ve gone from a single-brand company to a multi-brand company. We’ve more than doubled the size of the company from a revenue and a bottom-line standpoint overnight. … We have gone from being a QSR company to a company that has both casual dining and QSR, which there are very few examples of,” said Brown, who is also a co-founder of the new company. Throughout all of that change over the last several months, Brown said his biggest challenge as a leader has been to make sure the company doesn’t lose focus on the importance of culture — and to make sure employees are clear on the Inspire Brands goals and their roles in achieving them. “Would I sit here today and say we’ve succeeded in all that? That would be wrong of me to say that, but we’re working very hard to make sure that transition happens as smoothly as possible,” said Brown. Part of the company culture is a focus on employee growth. “One of the ways we try to make a diﬀerence in team members’ lives is helping people learn certain life skills and also learn the art of the possible in many ways,” said Brown. Arby’s Brand Champ program, for instance, helps with the “art of the possible” by asking employees to share personal and professional goals with their teams, including professional goals that might be beyond their time with the restaurant company. Before working at Arby’s, Brown said, many employees had never been asked about their goals.

Paul Brown has long cultivated workplace environments based on solid teamwork that supports individual effort.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ARBY’S

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2018 NORMAN AWARD PAUL BROWN

Through Paul Brown’s leadership, Arby’s and now Inspire Brands have embraced social responsibility from ﬁghting childhood hunger to awarding student scholarships.

These chosen goals are posted at the employee’s restaurant and the whole team is responsible for helping individuals achieve their goals. “I remember a story from when one of the ﬁrst times we did this. A team member, her goals were, ‘To stay sober, get visiting rights to my child back and make shift manager.’ And six months later, after that exercise, going in and talking to her, she’d accomplished all three.” “That’s highly personal. That’s incredibly personal for someone to make their goals and talk about them

“We as an industry underestimate the role we can — and should — play with our own team members in making a difference in their lives that can be lasting even beyond their time with us.” 86 NRN.COM

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and post them in the back of the restaurant. The restaurant rallied around her. All the team members said, ‘Part of our role is to help you with those goals’ and that had a profound impact on her life. “That’s not a ‘top down corporate we made that happen’ but by creating a program like Brand Champ and encouraging that to happen it’s fostering a culture where team members and particularly managers see that as part of working for Arby’s.” This summer, Inspire Brands launched the InspireStories.com website to champion employee service or volunteer actions. Both internal and external, the website showcases stories about community programs, milestone work anniversaries or unique stories like how an Arby’s manager helped a man get to his child’s birth on time. With the new combination of restaurants, Brown and has team have worked to deﬁne what Inspire Brands’ mission statement is — “to ignite and nourish ﬂavorful experiences” — and to make sure it is complementary with individual brands’ own individual cultures. In addition to a focus on team member growth, a focus on the community and charity is also part of the Inspire Brands culture. “Paul has built a corporate social responsibility culture and therefore is a powerful mentor in fundraising to end childhood hunger,” said John

NORMAN AWARD WINNERS OVER THE YEARS: 2017: John Miller, president and CEO of Denny’s 2016: Sally Smith, former president and CEO of Buffalo Wild Wings

2015: Cheryl Bachelder, former CEO of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen

2014: J. Patrick Doyle, former president and CEO of Domino’s Pizza

2013: Jon Luther, former CEO and chairman of of Dunkin’ Brands Group

2012: Rick Federico, CEO and chairman of P.F. Chang’s China Bistro

2011: Philip J. Hickey Jr., former chairman of O’Charley’s

2010: Doug Brooks, former president and CEO of Brinker International

Miller, CEO of Denny’s and the 2017 Norman Award honoree. Franchisees are encouraged to participate in local community organizations. Miller noted that Brown’s work with the Arby’s Foundation and the No Kid Hungry campaign is a gold standard within the restaurant industry. Since 2011, the Arby’s Foundation has given $25 million to hunger relief groups.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF PAUL BROWN/INSPIRE BRANDS

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Technology

Chains tap artificial intelligence tools

Tech Tracker: Software predicts top real-estate spots for revenue by Nancy Luna

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his installment of Tech Tracker looks at restaurant applications for artiﬁcial intelligence technology as well as the latest moves from major third-party delivery companies.

DoorDash launches Postmates-style program The third-party delivery wars are heating with the latest chess move announced this month by DoorDash. The company launched a monthly membership program called DashPass for $9.99, in line with membership fees at rival Postmates. DashPass subscribers are not charged a delivery fee on orders of $15 or more. DoorDash also launched Pickup, where customers can fetch their own orders made through the DoorDash app. There’s no fee for this service. National chains working with DoorDash to oﬀer pickup service include Smashburger, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse and Pokeworks. Regional chains using pickup include Chop’t Creative Salad Co. in New York, Jetties in Washington, D.C., and Big Star in Chicago.

AI-powered location hunter Restaurant chains such as Subway are tapping AI-powered tech such as SiteZeus to help them optimize revenue at new or relocating restaurants. Using artiﬁcial intelli-

PHOTOS: DOOR DASH

DoorDash’s $9.99 monthly membership follows a similar program from delivery rival Postmates.

gence, Tampa, Florida-based SiteZeus is providing multiunit restaurant operators predictive modeling that can be used to select optimal locations for earning revenue — even if the location doesn’t make sense on paper. In other words, even premium commercial sites, often dubbed “A” retail centers or malls, might not work for certain brands, marketing director Jorge

Hermez said. Acting like a machine version of a commercial broker, SiteZeus digests real-time data about a brand, and combines the information with outside variables such as local demographics, traﬃc and household income. For the best results, SiteZeus must look at quantiﬁable data from a chain, such as parking availability, visibility, sig-

“There is a lot of opportunity going the augmented reality route.” — Marianne Radley, Pizza Hut

nage, revenue, square footage, number of tables, if there is a drive-thru, and access points. Brands with multiple locations that collect this data typically see higher accuracy in their predictive models, the company said. Once they get a snapshot, restaurant clients like Subway can ﬁlter the variables to see how each one impacts revenue. For example, a limited-service restaurant considering a drive-thru could add that variable to see how much more money that would generate. Hermez the company is not “selling a bullseye” location for brands, nor is SiteZeus trying to replace traditional commercial brokers. Instead, SiteZeus is providing brands “optimal locations” for generating AUVs that are consistent with a chain’s highest-performing units. The company said the technology removes the risk of real estate guesswork. “It’s really like a tool to check intuition,” Hermez said. Besides Subway, SiteZeus works with Sonny’s BBQ in the Southeast and the growing burger chain Burgerim. SiteZeus was founded in 2015 by two Florida-based brothers and entrepreneurs, Keenan and Hannibal Baldwin. Both formed a venture capital fund to support emerging restaurant and retail concepts. The two opened a restaurant, in what they thought was a prime location,

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Technology

but quickly ran into foot trafﬁc challenges. The founders pivoted to technology to solve location problems, and SiteZeus was born.

Chains tap artificial intelligence tools

sustainable solution compared to using a call center, which is something the brand had tried in the past. Clients using the phone service are experiencing, on average, an 8 percent increase in revenue. On the labor side, it saves most restaurants about four hours a day, according to RMS Omega Technologies, the Bluﬀton, S.C.-based company that oﬀers the Kea system. Roberts said RAVE’s fast-casual Pie Five Pizza Co. is testing the AI system at a Kansas City, Mo. location to see how it impacts sales as the brand doesn’t take phone orders. Pizza Studio, Denny’s, Mellow Mushroom and Round Table Pizza are also testing Kea at restaurants in California, Kentucky, and North Carolina.

Restaurants are testing artiﬁcial intelligence systems that can ﬁeld up to 20 phone orders at a time.

Handheld payment technology heats up Boston-based Toast recently received $115 million in Series D funding to support its growing platform of services for restaurants. The investment will specifically fund R&D of handheld payment technology called Toast Go. Odd Duck, a full-service restaurant in Austin, Texas, said it has seen revenue increase by more than $500,000 since adopting the handheld devices. The restaurant also links a decrease in server turnover rates to the devices because tips have grown by $7,000 per server, annually, with the handhelds, according to Toast.

Pizza Hut targets sports fans with AR-driven app

Grubhub gobbles up another tech company The growing third-party delivery company recently entered into an agreement to acquire LevelUp for $390 million in cash. Boston-based LevelUp designs mobile platforms for national and regional restaurant brands. Having LevelUp’s “restaurant-facing technology” is expected to give Chicago-based Grubhub an advantage as it continues to strike partnerships with national and regional fast-food chains including KFC, Taco Bell and Del Taco. LevelUp processes about 100,000 orders a day, representing about $400 million in restaurant sales. That pairs with Grubhub’s massive user base of 15.6 million active users, a 70 percent increase from last year.

Brands using one artificial intelligence ordering system saw an 8% increase in revenue on average.

Is phone ordering still a thing? With the everyone using mobile devices and laptops to order restaurant meals these

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days, have phone orders gone out of fashion? Not for Pizza Inn. The Colony, Texas-based pizza chain, owned by RAVE Restaurant Group, still ﬁelds a lot of phone orders. But, when it’s busy in the restaurant, “you can’t catch every order” on the phone, said David Roberts, vice president of information technology. Pizza Inn recently tested a conversational artiﬁcial intelligence system called Kea. The automated line takes orders in a “Siri” like fashion. It is programmed to upsell and ask questions to ensure the order is accurate. For example, if someone forgets to say what kind of crust they want, Kea is programmed to ask before sending the order. The system can ﬁeld up to 20 orders at a time. Roberts said the test is a much more

A new app from NFL sponsor Pizza Hut lets fans play an augmented reality version of the tailgate game cornhole.

Pizza Hut, in its ﬁrst season as the oﬃcial sponsor of the National Football League, has charted a multi-platform game plan that includes augmented reality smartphone apps to engage fans watching footbal at home. A newly branded “Hut Hut Hut” pizza box serves as the playing ﬁeld for a new smartphone app that allows users to play an augmented reality version of cornhole, a tailgate staple, with the Pizza Hut box as a “Beanbag Blitz” game area. Once downloaded to a smartphone, players can unlock the AR component by lining their camera up with the top of the special-edition box, which features the 32 NFL teams. Once unlocked, the game is played as it normally would be, as a team of two taking turns tossing beanbags onto the virtual cornhole board with the ﬂick of a ﬁnger. “I think there is a lot of opportunity going the augmented reality route,” said Marianne Radley, chief brand oﬃcer. “I think you’ll see us doing more with it.”

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Concepts

96 Naf Naf veterans launch fast-casual ‘accelerator’

Fueling up on good food and beer

5,600-square-foot Dash In is part convenience store, part grocery and part restaurant by Gloria Dawson

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ash In, a convenience store chain with over 50 locations in Maryland, Virginia and Delaware, has always prided itself on pushing the boundaries of what it means to be a convenience store. In-store foodservice and highly designed spaces are a big part of its ethos. In April, Dash In, which is owned by The Wills Group, Inc., opened a new store in Chesterﬁeld County, Va., that pushed things even further with a big store that blurs the lines between grocery stores, restaurants and c-stores. The store is 5,600 square feet, features an extensive craft beer program, an open kitchen and bar, and convenience or gas station staples like a 24-hour car wash and 16 fueling positions. It’s not your average pit stop, but executives insist it’s not a grocery store either. “When a consumer visits a grocery store, that is usually their ﬁnal destination, and time doesn’t serve as a major constraint,” said Darleen Nascimento, director of brand marketing at Dash In. “Time is a constraint for the typical convenience store customer. We recognize that our customers are busy, so we are working to have Dash In serve as a convenience hub that makes life more rewarding for time-stretched people and transforms the necessary errands of today’s

Dash-In has an extensive craft beer program, an open kitchen and a bar, as well as gas station staples like fuel pumps and a car wash. busy lives into engaging experiences.” Inside the Chesterﬁeld County store, customers can grab a Memphis pulled pork sandwich, cranberry chicken salad and a growler of local beer to go. Or they can stay awhile, pull up a seat at the industrial-chic seating area, tap into the free wi-ﬁ and

DONNELL WALLACE @ DW CELEBRITY PHOTOGRAPHY, LLC.

“Time is a constraint for the typical c-store customer.” — Darleen Nascimento, Dash In

order a Virginia wine — yes, there are wineries in Virginia. Of course, this is still a convenience store, so doughnuts and an all-day breakfast menu are also on oﬀer. And coﬀee is a top seller. “We are looking to try some new test coﬀee concept ideas next year,” Nascimento said. The concept store is the

result of three years of market and consumer research, said Nascimento. And the new location helps with R&D for other sites. “We now meet monthly with Dash In store managers to discuss customer feedback, where we also review store sales to understand what’s popular,” she said. “Our

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Concepts

Fueling up on good food and beer

MEET THE NEW CONVENIENCE STORES

Chicago’s Foxtrot aims for an inviting coffee shop vibe.

The following concepts pack healthy, high-end products into tiny spaces and compete for grocery and restaurant customers alike.

The Goods Mart: Rachel Krupa, who previously worked in public relations representing progressive, up-and-coming food brands, opened The Goods Mart in Los Angeles in April. “We have a lot of different things that you’d ﬁnd at, say, a 7-Eleven, but it’s all better-for-you type ingredients in the sense of no artiﬁcial colors, preservatives, dyes,” she said. Doughnuts, coffee and all-day breakfast are popular to-go items.

Chesterﬁeld County location also serves as one of Dash In’s innovation hubs. Given the size of the kitchen, we’re able to test new menu items prior to deploying across our 56 other Dash In locations.” Dash In plans to open multiple concept stores in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia in the next few years. But each space will reﬂect the neighborhood and its needs, said Nascimento. “Chesterﬁeld County is a growing corner of the greater Richmond market, that features a rich mix of residential communities — from apartments to townhouses to lakefront communities,” she said. “Our market research anticipated a mix of young professionals, young families and Baby Boomers. We’re seeing that customer mix enter

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Foxtrot: Foxtrot, which is scheduled to open its ﬁfth location in Chicago this month, started off as an online service delivering “craft beer and wine, great snacks, that kind of stuff,” co-founder Mike LaVitola said. They soon found out that Chicago law required a brick-and-mortar location, and, he said, the company is better for it. There’s a coffee shop vibe at Foxtrot, and customers tend to stay awhile.

The store sees a “mix of young professionals, young families and Baby Boomers.”

I SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

— Darleen Nascimento

our store every day.” So far, those professionals, families and Baby Boomers have reacted positively to the concept store, said Nascimento. “Almost every day Dash In team members tell us that customers will ask, ‘What kind of gas station is this?’” This story was originally published in sister publication Supermarket News.

Choice Market: Coffee is a top seller at the Choice Market in Denver, which opened in October 2017. But the convenience store also has a robust madeto-order business with sandwiches, salads and smoothies; there’s seating here for about 30 people. “It became clear that there was an opportunity to rethink the convenience store and what it means to be convenient,” said founder Mike Fogarty. Bridges General: Bridges General, which opened its ﬁrst location in May 2017, now has seven stores in New York and California, with more in the works. The brand mainly focuses on real estate in commercial ofﬁce buildings. “We’re a convenience to the landlord, and we’re a convenience to the tenant,” said CEO Aaron Battista. Here customers can choose from gifts, grab-and-go options or services like online purchase returns. — Gloria Dawson

TOP LEFT: DONNELL WALLACE @ DW CELEBRITY PHOTOGRAPHY, LLC. BOTTOM LEFT: JOHN MAGOR PHOTOGRAPHY. SIDEBAR: FOXTROT

Concepts

Naf Naf veterans launch fast-casual ‘brand accelerator’

Venture Kitchen plans Invicto concept, expands Blackwood BBQ by Ron Ruggless

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wo former Naf Naf Grill executives have teamed up to launch a fast-casual brand development company, Venture Kitchen, creating their own concepts as well as helping existing restaurants to grow. David Sloan, co-founder and former CEO of Naf Naf Grill, and Franklin Wiener, Naf Naf’s former chief operations oﬃcer, said in a recent interview that they see Chicago-based Venture Kitchen as a “brand accelerator,” starting with the creation of Invicto, a retro Mexican taqueria in Naperville, Ill., and the expansion of the three-unit Blackwood BBQ in Chicago. “We kind of want to be the Lettuce Entertain You of fast-casual restaurants,” Sloan said, referencing the respected Chicago-based casual-dining portfolio company. “There is this white space for concepts that need help in growing and scaling. And we have tons of ideas of concepts that we can create in the fast-casual space. That’s where our expertise is.” Sloan was a co-founder in 2010 with the late Sahar Sander of Naf Naf Grill, which received an investment from Roark Capital Group in 2015. He left the company as CEO last year. Wiener was hired as Naf Naf’s ﬁrst COO in 2012. “Our passion is creating and growing businesses,” said Sloan, who added that Venture Kitchen will invest in

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David Sloan (left) and Franklin Wiener are borrowing the Lettuce Entertain You model, but for fast-casual restaurants.

“We want to help them get to the point where private equity would be interested.”

I SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

— David Sloan, Venture Kitchen

concepts with two or three locations and grow them to 15 to 18, at which point they would be large enough to attract other investment. “We want to help them get to the point where private equity [ﬁrms] would be interested,” Sloan said. Venture Kitchen plans to open its ﬁrst concept created in-house with Invicto in late September. Sloan called it “an authentic Mexican experience, down to the furniture and staﬀ uniforms. You’re going to feel like you’re in Mexico,” he said. The ﬁrst Invicto will open in Naperville in the same development where Naf Naf got its start. “It just worked out this way,” Sloan said. The location will cover 2,700 square feet, with 55 seats, and be based on a counter-order and pick-up format like a Mexican taqueria. The menu will oﬀer tacos as well as cemita

sandwiches, or tortas, from Puebla, Mexico, and other items, Sloan said. Invicto’s menu is being created by chef Jonathan Jimenez Alvarado, who worked at the acclaimed Pujol in Mexico City. Invicto aims to hit the typical fast-casual check average of $10 and $15, he said, and the concept will oﬀer a range of adult beverages, such as margaritas, palomas, micheladas and beers. “The whole thing is very differentiated from what’s being oﬀering in Mexican fast-casual now,” Sloan said. Invicto has a second unit planned for Vernon Hills, Ill., and Venture Kitchen is negotiating for a location in Chicago’s Loop area. Two months ago, Venture Kitchen also took a minority stake in the three-unit Blackwood BBQ concept in Chicago, Wiener said. The company serves as

managing partner for the Blackwood concept, he said. Blackwood is a ﬁve-year-old concept that has three locations. Venture Kitchen has signed for a fourth location. “We’re looking to grow that outside the Loop. Our focus is to take Blackwood out to the suburbs and show that it can really scale,” Sloan said. Typical Blackwood BBQ units have 30 seats, which Sloan said would be typical for an urban market, and the company is looking for locations that would seat 70 in a suburban setting. The per-person check average is between $12 and $15. The Blackwood brand does about 20 percent of its sales in oﬀ-premise dining, he added. He said the brand also has a 9,000-square-foot commissary kitchen for the preparation of meats and sauces and has handled catering orders as large as $90,000. “It was impressive to see how they put that together,” he said of that order. As part of Venture Kitchen’s business plan, Sloan and Wiener said all of its aﬃliated restaurants will participate in One Feeds Two USA, which provides school meals for children in Third World countries. He and Wiener, along with attorney Patrick Wartan, cofounded the non-proﬁt One Feeds Two USA, which is a sister organization to the United Kingdom-based One Feeds Two Foundation, created by entrepreneur Richard Branson.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF VENTURE KITCHEN

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Food & Beverage

104 Nancy Kruse on how chefs play up corn’s versatility

Restaurants win over guests with fast, fun snacks

B

oston chef and restaurateur Tiﬀani Faison knows that American diners don’t always want a full meal. Sometimes a drink and a snack or two are all a customer needs. So in August she and partner Kelly Walsh opened Fool’s Errand, a place that’s all about snacks. It’s a 400-square-foot space next to their barbecue restaurant, Sweet Cheeks, and Faison said she’s envisioned it as an American-style tapas bar. “We thought the idea of a standing, adult snack bar … was something that might work,” she said. Sometimes when Faison sits at a restaurant’s bar and has a glass of wine and maybe a snack or two, she says she feels like apologizing for not having the full restaurant experience. “Here, you don’t have to feel like you have to make a commitment,” she said. That’s good, because customers visit restaurants for many reasons, and not always for a meal. Data from The Coca-Cola Company’s Coca-Cola DINE360 research found that snacks — deﬁned as something purchased for immediate consumption but not breakfast, lunch or dinner — account for 11 percent of all visits to restaurants and food retailers, and 15 percent of vis-

PHOTO: FOOL’S ERRAND

its by guests aged 18 to 24. In fact, among that age group, 28 percent of them have bought a snack in the past 48 hours, according to Coca-Cola data for the year ended June 2018. For 40 percent of those snacking occasions, customers spent less than 10 minutes at the outlet where they bought their food, according to the research. So snacks have to be fast, and it helps if they’re fun, approachable and don’t require a lot of thought. That’s what Faison is concentrating on at Fool’s Errand, with menu categories such as “fancy ﬁnger sandwiches,” including one with raclette cheese and summer truﬄe, another with tomato and cream cheese, and a third with salmon and BrillatSavarin cheese. She also has several croquettes, one of which tastes like fried pizza, and another that’s ham and cheese. There are also jars of house-preserved artichokes and olives, ﬁve pieces of okra charred on a grill, and potato millefeuille topped with combinations such as sour cream and caviar. Paying homage to the minor trend currently underway of serving ﬁne tinned ﬁsh from the Mediterranean in their original cans, she steams her own mussels, chills them and serves them in a tin with Champagne-burnt lemon vinaigrette.

Diners who want less than a full meal like treats that are affordable and approachable by Bret Thorn

Fool’s Errand tops its potato millefeuille with combinations such as sour cream and caviar.

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Food & Beverage Restaurants win over guests with fast, fun snacks

There’s also a full caviar service for people who want to really splash out, but most items are priced between $4 and $19. Brian Nasajon, chef of Beaker & Gray in the Miami district of Wynwood, said snacks don’t need to be too fussy. “One thing that I’ve noticed is that the key to getting people is approachability,” he said. Beaker & Gray is a smallplate concept, so it’s already conducive to items like cheeseburger croquettes and garlic churros, which bring people in for happy hour and late-night drinking, including restaurant workers who appreciate the fact that the kitchen stays open until 2 a.m. “The industry people miss the early happy hour, so they come in late night,” he said, noting that his customers want to have fun, and maybe be reminded of their childhood, but also feel like they’re getting bang for their buck. That means some new ﬂavor proﬁles and maybe some high-quality ingredients that they don’t see every day, “but still keeping that fun aspect to them.” So the cheeseburger croquettes are made with ground wagyu beef that he mixes with the house huancaina sauce — a spicy Peruvian cheese sauce that’s great with potatoes; Nasajon’s version has Parmesan. He also adds manchego and Gruyère cheese and pieces of thick-cut “pickled bacon.” The pickled bacon is made by rendering thick cut bacon and then adding a Champagne vinegar, red wine vinegar, sugar, shallots, chiles and a little ﬁsh sauce. He cooks it down and lets the bacon fat and vinegar emulsify. He cooks the meat mixture down until it’s “goopy and tangy, almost like a Hamburger Helper.” Separately, he makes a purée of boiled, riced potato mixed with heavy cream, lard,

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Fools Errand’s offers “fancy ﬁnger sandwiches,”such as these made with butter and Gruyère (left). Burlock Coast’s charred shishito peppers make for a quick snack — “two minutes in a pan, just tossing it around.”

“People typically want something to come out fairly fast, especially at the bar.”

I SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

— Paula DaSilva, Burlock Coast

butter and conﬁt garlic. He mixes about two parts meat with one part potato, forms it into croquettes and then breads and fries them. “It really does taste like a cheeseburger,” he said. His garlic churros are like regular churros, but made with garlic butter instead of regular butter, and instead of regular water he uses “scallion water,” which he makes by boiling, blending and straining scallions. “You basically make an onion stock,” he said. The churros are fried and tossed in a blend of salt, vinegar powder and togarashi and served with a sour cream-andonion dip. Huancaina is a popular sauce in Miami. Nasajon said

it’s like his house Béchamel, and he also puts it, along with queso sauce, over fries for a popular snack. Along a similar vein, Danielle Walker, co-owner of Walkers Maine Restaurant, which opened in Cape Neddick, Maine, earlier this year, said snacks with some sort of local identity, such as corn from nearby farms or milk from local dairies, sell well, as long as they can be served quickly. That includes fried chicken wings with hot sauce that her husband, chef Justin Walker, makes in barrels from New England Distilling Company in nearby Portland, Maine. Fried clams, a local delicacy, get an upscale treatment with

a lighter, more tempura-like batter and a Chinese-style salt-and-pepper treatment. They’re popular with tourists and locals alike, Danielle Walker said. “We have a huge local following that tell us, ‘Don’t take those oﬀ,’” she said. Burlock Coast in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., like Walkers, also has an active bar, and chef Paula DaSilva said her customers use it for diﬀerent things. “People typically want something to come out fairly fast, especially at the bar,” she said. If they’re continuing on to dinner, they’ll want something light, but her customers on a budget have also ﬁgured out how to make a meal out of a drink and a hearty snack

LEFT: FOOL’S ERRAND; RIGHT: RICARDO MEJIA

Food & Beverage Restaurants win over guests with fast, fun snacks

or two, like her ﬁsh dip and focaccia. The ﬁsh dip also serves the purpose of giving DaSilva something to do with the trim from the ﬁsh dishes served in the dining room. She takes white ﬁsh trim and smokes it “pretty heavily” with hickory, and then breaks it up, but not too ﬁnely, so it still has some texture, and adds shaved vegetables like celery, bell peppers, chiles and red onion, plus cilantro and scallions. That’s mixed with mayonnaise, lime juice and Tabasco sauce. She serves it chilled with room-temperature ﬂatbread and pickled peppers or onions or whatever vegetables they have on-hand. Both the dip and ﬂatbread are made earlier in the day, allowing for speedy pick-up, she said. The focaccia is oﬀered as a separate snack, made with a lot of rosemary and olive oil and served with rosemaryinfused olive oil as well. For something lighter, and still really fast, she has charred shishito peppers with goat cheese. The peppers come from local farms, “so they’re super beautiful,” she said. She chars

“I’ve always made things that I like to eat myself first, and who doesn’t love mac and cheese?” — Sherry Yard, iPic Entertainment

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them quickly in a very hot pan with very light olive oil, so the pepper “still has fresh bite to it.” She adds Maldon salt and crumbled goat cheese and serves it. “It’s two minutes in a pan, just tossing it around, so it’s very fast from an execution standpoint,” she said. iPic Theaters, with 15 locations and 150 screens across 10 states, serves full meals in the premium sections of its theaters, which have adjustable seats and tables equipped with buttons to signal servers, but a lot of what they sell is snacky ﬁnger food. Sherry Yard, who was for years a pastry chef under Wolfgang Puck’s umbrella and now is chief operating oﬃcer of iPic Entertainment, developed the menu keeping in mind that her customers are eating in the dark while watching a movie. So she made sure that items such as her mac and cheese fries were easy to eat under those circumstances — handheld, and neither too messy nor too noisy. “I’ve always made things that I like to eat myself ﬁrst, and who doesn’t love mac and cheese?” she said. “Yet to have a bowl of it in a theater, that wouldn’t be very good.” So she makes mac & cheese and then spreads it out evenly on sheet trays and freezes them, so they have clean edges when they’re sliced. (“This is where my pastry background comes in,” she said.) She processes panko bread crumbs to make them a little ﬁner and seasons it salt and black and white pepper. Then she dips the mac and cheese rectangles in ﬂour, egg and the processed panko and deep-fries them. “They’re incredibly popular,” she said. So are the battered and fried tempura string beans with Szechuan peppercorn, salt and other spices served with black bean dip.

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Movie house chain iPic Theaters developed its crispy green beans (above) and mac and cheese fries with a darkened theater in mind: The snacks are neither too messy nor too noisy.

TOP: EDUARDO CHACON; BOTTOM: IPIC THEATERS

Commentary: Nancy Kruse

Food & Beverage

Playing up corn’s versatility

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or farm-to-table restaurants, a segment that counts most contemporary independents and many chains among its number, summer produce literally represents truckloads of opportunity. But while tomatoes, summer squash and stone fruits all provide culinary inspiration, corn occupies a unique place on seasonal menus for the breadth of creativity that it sparks. Unexpected change-ups. Fresh corn makes a super starter. The folks at Folk in Nashville, Tenn., provide a fun take on the ubiquitous toast appetizer; theirs is topped with sweet corn, Pecorino Romano and bay leaf oil. Nearby Lockeland Table dishes up an heirloom tomato with charred corn mayonnaise, pickled corn and saba, a grape-based condiment. Some Chicago chefs also use corn as an opening act. The menu at Split-Rail promises “New Americana” like the clever Corn Tots with chipotle mayonnaise and cotija cheese, and Somerset, which calls its food “all American,” concocts a couple of corn-y ﬁrst courses: chilled corn soup with blueberries, tarragon and pecorino; and crispy corn & salt cod fritters with malt-vinegar aïoli. Other chefs use corn to give a tasty twist to their entrées, like the Garden Pesto Pizza at Modern Market, which beneﬁts from summer squash, roasted cherry tomatoes and charred corn, or the Bangkok Shrimp Tacos from California Tortilla, which get a boost from ﬁre-roasted corn salsa. Ethnic mash-ups. Corn is said to have originated in southern Mexico, and many chains exploit this Mexican connection. In the new Mexican Street Corn at California Pizza Kitchen, sweet corn is removed from the cob, roasted with smoked paprika, feta and Parmesan; it’s served with cilantro, lime and ranchito sauce. Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar plays a variation on the theme with its Street Corn Wheels that are grilled with lime, garlic, queso blanco, Tajín and cilantro. Though corn may be native to the New World, it has long since proved its compatibility with Old World dishes. The Smoked Sweet Corn Sardi, a pasta special at The Greenhouse Tavern in Cleveland, is ﬁnished with corn cream, smoked corn, pancetta and a 45-minute egg. And the popular corn agnolotti at Nashville’s Rolf and Daughters is topped with jalapeño, lime and pecorino. Corn contributes to

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I SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

Italianate side dishes, too, like sweet corn polenta with Sungold tomato, pecorino, peach and basil at Henrietta Red in Nashville or asparagus and corn risotto at SoBou in New Orleans. Speaking of New Orleans, landmark favorite Commander’s Palace keeps its menu up to date and appealing with innovative dishes that pay homage to its heritage, like the witty Louis Armstrong “Tamale” that takes its name from the king trumpet mushroom that is combined with jumbo lump crab, smoky red bean purée and roasted corn masa. Classic spiff-ups. Many chefs take advantage of consumers’ familiarity with corn to use it as the jumping oﬀ point for riﬀs and revamps. For example, Simon & the Whale in New York City features creamed corn to which are added scallops, bacon and garlic chips. The menu at Kayne Prime, a Nashville steakhouse that generates tons of buzz, features Cream Corn Brûlée as a side dish that receives a ﬂavor boost from roasted jalapeño. Also in Nashville, the kitchen at Geist, which recently opened in a former blacksmith shop, plates maltagliati pasta with a sous-vide egg, pecorino and corn pudding. Mezze, or small plates, at Butcher & Bee in Charleston, S.C., include succotash, the traditional corn-and-limabean combination enlivened at the restaurant by the addition of ﬁeld peas and cotija, while the mezze

“Corn occupies a unique place on seasonal menus for the breadth of creativity that it sparks.”

Popular grain makes savory and sweet dishes pop

California Pizza Kitchen roasts sweet corn with smoked paprika, feta and Parmesan to make Mexican Street Corn. menu at its sibling operation in Nashville boasts sweet corn with butter, serrano and Herbsaint, the anise-accented liqueur. The fact that corn grits are integral to Southern cookery may mean that they are on the menu all year round, but that doesn’t make them immune to innovation. Highly lauded Highlands Bar & Grill in Birmingham, Ala., oﬀers Stone Ground Baked Grits with prosciutto, mushrooms and thyme. At Grace & Grit in Mount Pleasant, S.C., diners can enjoy a grits ﬂight whose sweet-and savory components change through the year; current options are blueberry, pimento cheese, coconut cream and Brussels sprout pesto. Elsewhere on the bill of fare are creamed corn hushpuppies with a hot honey drizzle. Corn is naturally sweet, so it gives a boost to desserts like Grace & Grit’s Grit Brûlée made with coconut cream grits and vanilla bean custard and topped with raspberries, or the caramel popcorn sundae at Highlands Bar & Grill with polenta pound cake, sweet corn and blackberry swirl ice cream, and almonds. Nancy Kruse, president of the Kruse Company, is a menu trends analyst based in Atlanta. As one of LinkedIn’s Top 100 Inﬂuencers in the U.S., she blogs regularly on food-related subjects on LinkedIn.

PHOTO: CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN

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Coffee and tea are so hot now. Consumer trends point to opportunities for hot beverages.

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ccording to the National Coffee Association’s 2018 National Coffee Drinking Trends report, past-day consumption of gourmet coffee, or regular coffee brewed from gourmet quality beans, held steady at 16 percent following a 2-point jump in last year’s survey. Among younger consumers, 37 percent of 18 to 24-year olds and 48 percent of 25 to 39-year-olds reported drinking a gourmet beverage within the past day. Tea is also big among millennials. According to the Tea Association of the USA, DSSUR[LPDWHO\ IRXU LQ ÀYH FRQVXPHUV drink tea, and 87 percent of millennials drink tea. According to Mintel, another trend is the rise of “super coffee,” which is coffee ZLWK KHDOWK EHQHÀWV VXFK DV DGGHG FRFRnut oil, chia seeds, protein and grass-fed butter. Mintel reports that 17 percent of 18 to 34-year-old male coffee drinkers view added functionality (extra protein, added vitamins) as important.

2IFRXUVHFRQVXPHUVRIDOODJHVDUHVHHNLQJKHDOWKEHQHÀWV5HFHQWVWXGLHVVXFKDVRQHE\ the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the UK found that coffee drinkers were found to have a slightly lower risk of death over a 10-year follow-up period than non-coffee drinkers. As for tea, the Tea Association points to studies that indicate tea is good for heart health. Whether it’s coffee, tea, chai, or a Hot Cranberry Apple Cider, consumers are looking for healthy ways to warm up on cool days. J

According to the Tea Association of the USA, approximately four in five consumers drink tea, and 87 percent of millennials drink tea.

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION 6SRQVRUHGE\PJ’s Coffee

Thinking about diversifying your portfolio? 3-·V &RIIHH KDV LQYHVWHG LQ GHYHORSLQJ D ZHOOGHÀQHG HDVLO\ UHSOLFDWHGV\VWHPDQGRSHUDWLRQDOPRGHOWKDWDOORZVIRUTXLFNDQG VWUDWHJLF JURZWK ³ PDNLQJ LW SHUIHFWO\ EXLOW IRU PXOWLXQLW RZQership. Investing in a franchise allows entrepreneurs to leverage the support of a national brand while operating like a small business. To PLWLJDWHULVNGLYHUVLI\LQJDPXOWLXQLWRSHUDWRUV·SURÀOHLVHVVHQWLDOWR ensuring the highest rate of success. &RQVLVWHQWO\6WURQJ&RQVXPHU'HPDQG With coffee being a $100 billion industry worldwide, multi-unit franchise opportunities in this segment provide franchisees with an unparalleled growth strategy. Existing multi-unit owners who are looking to strengthen their investment portfolio often look to add additional brands OLNH3-·V&RIIHHWRKHOSGLYHUVLW\WKHLUSURÀOH6LQFHFRIIHHVKRSVRZQHUV are commonly known to enjoy historically high levels of consumer demand, they make the perfect addition. 5HGXFHG5LVNZLWKLQ
2YHUFRPH0DUNHW6DWXUDWLRQ When investing in one concept, operators can saturate the market when they continuously open locations of the same brand. By GLYHUVLI\LQJ WKHLU SURÀOH ZLWK D FRQFHSW WKDW KDV KLJK FRQVXPHU GHmand, they can continue growth in their local market while taking advantage of the infrastructure they’ve built with their existing brand. Multi-unit investors can lean on the management team to keep their RWKHU XQLWV RSHUDWLQJ DW SURÀWDEOH OHYHOV DV WKH\ DGG QHZ FRQFHSWV A limited-service restaurant franchise like PJ’s Coffee reduces the complexities that multi-unit owners face when investing in full-service concepts, including expansive menus, large staffs and inventory management. PJ’s Coffee is perfectly positioned for continued growth on a national and international level and has a proven business model to do so – making PJ’s Coffee ideal for those operators who are looking to diversify their portfolio.

S2

HOT BEVERAGES

SEPTEMBER 2018

o

s PJ's AUV $645,194* 4 Consecutive Years of Same Store Sales Growth** Simple Business Model; Low Employee Need

Be a Part of a growing $48 Billion US Industry!

pjsfranchise.com • 985-792-7999 "Going through the process of opening my own store was a walk in the park. PJ's offers a great product and is by your side the entire time".

*$645,194 is the average unit volume of the top 1/3 of all PJ's Coffee locations operating for the entire calendar year ending December 31, 2017. **Reference Item 19 of the PJ's FDD for details.

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION Sponsored by Splenda® Naturals

Natural meets delicious. Offer Guests the Best-Tasting Stevia

Easily reduce the unwanted calories and carbohydrates in almost any beverage, including iced tea, coffee and even cocktails by using SPLENDA® Naturals in place of sugar.

Restaurant guests are searching for healthier, more natural products, including the low-calorie sweeteners they use at home. Natural products are growing faster than any other sweetener and now make up 40+% of the low-calorie sweetener market. In fact, the natural low-calorie segment is the only growing area of the sweetener market, growing at 6+% versus last year.1 Because consumers are buying natural low-calorie sweeteners to use at home, foodservice operations have an opportunity to delight them by offering a natural product when they are dining out. Stevia is the best solution for those wanting both a natural and a low-calorie sweetener. Unfortunately, most stevia sweeteners have a bitter aftertaste because they are made with a bitter part of the stevia leaf called Reb A. Taste is the most important factor in sweetener selection,2 but guests who want a great-tasting natural sweetener have had to settle – until now. Unlike other options, SPLENDA® Naturals Stevia Sweetener gets its unique sweetness from Reb D, a better-tasting stevia. The result

is a great-tasting, 100% natural no-calorie sweetener with no bitter DIWHUWDVWH,WLVQRQ*02ZLWKQRWKLQJDUWLÀFLDODQGQRDGGHGÁDYRUV colors or preservatives. Rated #1 most appealing stevia sweetener by restaurant guests, SPLENDA® Naturals is also rated 4.6 out of 5 stars by online consumers.2 For restaurants looking for ways to reduce calorie listings on their menu items without compromising on quality or taste, SPLENDA® Naturals is the perfect solution. Easily reduce the unwanted calories and carbohydrates in almost any beverage, including iced tea, coffee and even cocktails by using SPLENDA® Naturals in place of sugar. With SPLENDA® Naturals, restaurants can not only provide guests with low-calorie drink options but also offer an alternative for consumers searching for a natural option, allowing you to recapture lost beverage sales. Ensure guests get the great-tasting, natural experience they want with the best-tasting stevia, SPLENDA® Naturals. Try the best-tasting stevia for yourself. Request a sample of SPLENDA® Naturals at SplendaNaturalsFS.com.

1 Nielsen L52 weeks ending 6/30/18 2 Datassential Proprietary Study (July 2017)

S4

HOT BEVERAGES

SEPTEMBER 2018

Got jobs? Looking for young people with a passion for restaurants, an eye for innovation, and an understanding of basic restaurant management skills and culinary techniques? Look no further.

Through ProStart, 140,000 students across the U.S. are developing the skills necessary to enter the restaurant and foodservice industry. Want to meet them? Join us at ChooseRestaurants.org/ProStart

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Foodservice Mart

Sweet Potato Is In. 45% of consumers* find sweet potatoes appealing as a winter ingredient. Campbell’s Foodservice can help drive sales with Signature Creamy Sweet Potato with Tomatillos soup. *Source: Technomic Season’s Eatings, Winter 2018

Visit https://bit.ly/2wuQpY9

Jennie-O Foodservice

JENNIE-O® All Natural Slow Roasted Bone In Dark Turkey (619106 & 819016) is the perfect addition to your menu. Perfectly roasted every time, you’ll always have a delicious, consistent product. Just heat it up, remove the bone, and shred it for use in dishes like sandwiches, flatbreads, bowls, empanadas and samosas.

Visit jennieofoodservice.com/all-natural

McCain McCain Foodservice introduces new Brew City IPA Beer Battered Onion Rings, a medium-bodied, hoppy IPA flavored onion ring that elevates the flavor profile of this popular appetizer. For menu inspiration, consumer insights, tools to drive sales and a product trial rebate:

Visit McCainUSAFoodservice/BrewCity

Bridgford Foods Bridgford Foods is proud to introduce NEW Island Sweet Roll Dough! Each roll is 2 ounces, ready for easy proofing and baking fresh-baked rolls, every time. Bake delicious Island Sweet Rolls to serve warm with butter, or to create delightful sliders!

Visit bridgford.com/foodservice or call (800) 527-2105

Premium Turkey Bacon

According to Technomic, 39% of millennials want more turkey on breakfast menus. A separate study found that 50% of millennial consumers eat turkey bacon regularly. Meet demand with Butterball Foodservice’s new turkey bacon, made with premium thigh meat in an easy-tohandle thick cut. This versatile side, topping or ingredient has 1/3 fewer calories and 60% less fat than pork bacon.

XLR RAIL TICKET SYSTEM

Hang tickets then don’t handle till done. Slide all tickets into place with a swipe of hand. Eliminate re-handling tickets. Extendable. Colour Coded - highlight special items. Dishwasher safe. Installed in minutes. Chef designed. Works best when busy. So simple, you’ll wonder why you’ve been fumbling with tickets for years!

Visit XLRRail.com

Del Monte

For 125 years, Del Monte has stood as the freshest name in produce. With our Del Monte Gold® Extra Sweet Pineapple, we’ve revolutionized the category and boosted pineapple consumption around the globe. How ’bout them pineapples?

Visit fruits.com/products/pineapples/

Visit butterballfoodservice.com

Toast-Qwik® Conveyor Toaster

Hatco’s industry-leading Toast-Qwik® Conveyor Toasters have been redesigned with a modernized look, advanced controls and increased production capabilities. New to the Toast-Qwik is a touchscreen control panel, which allows implementation of up to 12 programmable product settings. The TQ3 uses the patented ColorGuard Sensing System to monitor and adjust conveyor speed for consistent toast results.

Visit hatcocorp.com or call (888) 814-0048

Sani Station Don’t let dirty utensils contaminate the health of your brand. Stop the spread of food borne bacteria & allergens with Sani Station. Cleans, sanitizes, and stores kitchen utensils at the point of use. Fits knives, paddles, pizza cutters, tongs, spatulas, & more. Models available for all kitchen types.

Visit www.SaniStation.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

I NRN.COM 111

Ad Index ADVERTISER NAME ARBY’S RESTAURANT GROUP BALLARD BRANDS BLOUNT FINE FOODS

PAGE 68 S2-S3

WEBSITE WWW.ARBYS.COM WWW.PJSCOFFEE.COM

13

WWW.BLOUNTFINEFOODS.COM

BRIDGFORD FOODS CORP.

7

WWW.BRIDGFORD.COM/FOODSERVICE

BRILL

41

WWW.BRILLINC.COM

BUCCANEER CONTAINER CORP.

24

WW.BUCCANEERINC.COM

BURGERFI

60

WWW.BURGERFI.COM/FRANCHISE

BUSH BROTHERS & COMPANY

2

WWW.BUSHBEANSFOODSERVICE.COM

CHEF’S CHOICE

56

WWW.CHEFSCHOICE.COM

CLEMENS FOOD GROUP

0A-B, 55

DARDEN RESTAURANTS

62

WWW.MARBLEDFORGREATNESS.COM WWW.DARDEN.COM

DEL TACO

64

WWW.DELTACOFRANCHISE.COM

DINOVA

67

WWW.DINOVA.COM/REPORT

ECOLAB

25

WWW.ECOLAB.COM/SMARTPOWER

FETCO

61

WWW.FETCO.COM

FIREHOUSE SUBS

21

WWW.FIREHOUSESUBS.COM/OWN-A-FRANCHISE

FIRST MIDWEST BANK

22A

WWW.FIRSTMIDWEST.COM/IDEAS

FOLLETT

8

WWW.FOLLETTICE.COM/ICEMAKER

FRESHII

84

WWW.FRESHII.COM/MULTIUNITFRANCHISE

HANDI-FOIL OF AMERICA, INC.

80

WWW.HANDI-FOIL.COM

HOSHIZAKI AMERICA, INC.

98

WWW.HOSHIZAKIAMERICA.COM

PAGE

WEBSITE

MEGAMEX

14-15

WWW.MEGAMEXFOODSERVICE.COM

MICRO MATIC

101

WWW.MICRO-MATIC.COM

MIDDLEBY CORPORATION

103

WWW.CTXAUTOMATION.COM

MILANO RESTAURANTS INTERNATIONAL

71

WWW.BLASTANDBREWFRANCHISING.COM

MONDELEZ GLOBAL LLC

76

WWW.NRN.COM/RITZ-RECIPE-CONTEST-2018

MONIN GOURMET FLAVORINGS

57

WWW.MONIN.COM

NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION

110

WWW.CHOOSERESTAURANTS.COM

NOVAMEX

97

WWW.NOVAMEX.COM

NRN ENEWSLETTER

112

WWW.NRN.COM/ENEWS

PINNACLE FOODS GROUP LLC

36

WWW.PINNACLEFOODS.COOM

S&D COFFEE, INC.

49

WWW.SDCOFFEETEA.COM

SAPUTO CHEESE

16

WWW.SAPUTOUSAFOODSERVICE.COM

SEA WATCH INTERNATIONAL

33

WWW.SEAWATCH.COM

SELECTO, INC.

19

WWW.SELECTOINC.COM

SHARE OUR STRENGTH

22B

WWW.NOKIDHUNGRY.ORG/DINEOUT

SHIFTPIXY

75

SMOOTHIE KING

18, 83

SPLENDA FOODSERVICE

S4-S5

WWW.SHIFTPIXY.COM/MUFSO WWW.SMOOTHIEKING.COM/CLEANERBLENDING WWW.SPLENDA.COM

STRATAS FOODS

39

SYNQ3

72

WWW.SYNQ3.COM

TAMPA MAID FOODS, INC.

51

WWW.TAMPAMAID.COM

10A-B

J & J SNACK FOOD CORP.

95

WWW.JJSNACKFOODSERVICE.COM

TEXAS PETE FOODSERVICE

91

WWW.TEXASPETEFOODSERVICE.COM

116

HTTPS://GO.SIMPLOTFOODS.COM/KITCHEN-CRAFT

THE COCA-COLA COMPANY

35

WWW.COKESOLUTIONS.COM

TURBOCHEF TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

53

WWW.TURBOCHEF.COM

V&V SUPREMO FOOD SERVICE

92

WWW.VVSUPREMO.COM/FOODSERVICE

WELLS FARGO RESTAURANT FINANCE

5

WWW.WELLSFARGO.COM/RESTAURANTS

WESTMINSTER FOODS

87

WWW.WSTFOODS.COM

WOMEN’S FOODSERVICE FORUM

47

WWW.WFF.ORG

JENNIE-O TURKEY STORE

58-59

WWW.JENNIEOFOODSERVICE.COM/ALL-NATURAL

JERSEY MIKE

42A-B

WWW.JERSEYMIKES.COM/FRANCHISE

KIKKOMAN INTERNATIONAL, INC.

79

WWW.KIKKOMANUSA.COM/ASIANCOOL

KINGS HAWAIIAN BAKERY

115

WWW.KINGSHAWAIIAN.COM

KOALA KARE PRODUCTS

88

WWW.KOALABEAR.COM

MAPLE LEAF FOODSERVICE

45

WWW.MAPLELEAFFOODSUS.COM

TEXAS BEEF COUNCIL

26A-B

WWW.STRATASFOODS.COM

HUNGRY HOWIE’S PIZZA J R SIMPLOT COMPANY

HTTP://FRANCHISING.HUNGRYHOWIES.COM

ADVERTISER NAME

WWW.TEXASBEEF.ORG

EVERY EFFORT IS MADE TO ENSURE THE ACCURACY OF THIS INDEX. HOWEVER, THE PUBLISHER CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ERRORS OR OMISSIONS.

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Foodservice Mart PRODUCT OFFERING

Life is Hard.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

Quality Differences You Can See Authentic Panko

Coarse Panko

Standard Panko

Your Panko Shouldn’t Be. Try Authentic Panko Fr

mples ! e e Sa

• Airy and Flaky • Light and Crispy Texture

• Round and Dense • Tough and Hard Texture

A Known Brand & More Than a Franchise ᣝ Pay no royalties for the ﬁrst 12 months* ᣝ Flexible 5 and 10 year term options

For Manufacturers & Restaurants

ᣝ A debt-free brand owned by its franchisees ᣝ Membership Option with preferred royalty

rates and voting rights ᣝ No National Ad Fund — control marketing

www.uppercrustent.com

dollars locally ᣝ Single or Multi-unit development available ᣝ Conversions welcome

HELP WANTED

&KLFDJR

EXECUTIVE RECRUITERS

$WODQWD 7DPSD 'HQYHU

1DWLRQDO+HDGTXDUWHUV&KLFDJR 5HJLRQDO2I¿FHV$WODQWD0LQQHDSROLV ([HFXWLYH6HDUFK

*Limited Time Oﬀer for Franchises sold and opened by December 31, 2018. Ground Round Independent Owners Cooperative, LLC, 15 Main Street, Suite 210, Freeport, ME 04032 – Minnesota File Number 6436. This advertisement is not an oﬀering. An oﬀering can only be made by a prospectus that has been registered with and approved by the appropriate agency in your State, if your State requires such registration.

For more information on our brand & franchise opportunities visit www.groundround.com

DQG6WUDWHJLF&RQVXOWLQJ WRWKH5HVWDXUDQW DQG+RVSLWDOLW\ ,QGXVWULHV

URQVWRFNPDQ#QUKVHDUFKFRP

PRODUCT OFFERING

:::15+6($5&+&20

October 29, 2018 Issue

DIY Drain Maintenance System

COMPUTER PROGRAMS

Save Hundreds of $$$ Keeps Drains Clean

www.BioKleen-DIY.com BioKleen-DIY LEASES & LOCATIONS

BOCA RATON, FL Restaurant Site Available Prime U.S. Rte 441 location. 3950 sq ft. Reasonable rent.

Ad Close: 10/5/18 • Ad Materials Due: 10/12/18

CONSUMER PICKS: A detailed, research-based consumer repor t card on the top foodservice chains SPECIAL AD SECTION: Pizza & Toppings To Advertise, Contact Leslie Wolowitz: [email protected] 212-204-4399

Owner Direct: 561.355.8358

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

I NRN.COM 113

The Look DO’S AND DON’TS, CIRCA 1950

Worker uniformity

T

his issue’s cover ﬂaunts the White Castle fashion of today where employees sport T-shirts by Telfar, the designer known for his unisex clothing and love for the Castle (the restaurant has frequently catered his fashion shows). The modern look is all about “comfort and style,” Jamie Richardson, a VP for the brand, said at the time of the uniform launch. But around 1950, when this guide was distributed to employees, the uniform and the company’s direction for dress were considerably more rigid — crisp, white button downs, a clean shave and trimmed hair were required. A lot has changed, but some mandates, such as to correct bad breath and have no body odor, stand the test of time. — Gloria Dawson

114 NRN.COM

I SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

IRRESISTIBLE. IRRESISTIBLE-R.

FOODSERVICE DELUXE Hamburger Buns

NEW! Pre-sliced Original Sweet Rolls

MFG #8045

MFG #7004

AND NOW EVEN MORE IRRESISTIBLE-R-R. INTRODUCING NEW BBQ Sauce MFG #5049 Original 80oz | MFG #5053 Smoked Bacon 80oz MFG #5063 Kona Coffee 80oz | MFG #5059 Big Island Lava 74oz

Ā1RKLJKIUXFWRVHFRUQV\UXS Ā1RDUWLILFLDOFRORURUIODYRUV Ā1RSUHVHUYDWLYHV Ā7ZRSHUFDVH

©2018 King’s Hawaiian Bakery West, Inc.

,

For more information visit KingsHawaiianFoodservice.com or contact [email protected]

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