S p e c i a l e d i t i o n

m ay 2020 / no. 26 8

What to Off-Premises

This
Do Now to Ideas to Get
Save Your Sales Back
Business / P. 36
/ P. 52

How to push forward

Ch a nge s
after coronavirus resets

e v e ry T h i n g
the restaurant landscape

The Pizza Brand

Poised for a
Soft Landing
/ P. 44
We’re turning distribution

down...
WebstaurantStore introduces Clark National Accounts
Again.

Since our first interaction with Clark, there

has never been a moment that I questioned
they were a good fit.
– DANIEL HUDDLESTON
SUPPLY CHAIN, CHICK-FIL-A

Streamlined Distribution for the Modern Multi-Unit

learn more at www.clarknationalaccounts.com

S M A L LW A R E S • EQUIPMENT • DISPOSABLES • JANITORIAL • OFFICE SUPPLIES • CONSUMABLES • FURNITURE

 May: F e at u r e s
M Ay 2 0 2 0 / I s s u e 2 6 8

C O N T E N T S

Sr / limite d -Se rvice , u nlimite d pOSSibilitieS

QS

36
Virtual Insanity
By Kevin Hardy

Off-premises used to be a
difference-maker; now it’s a
survival tactic. And brands that
were already thinking outside
the box with off-premises
have a leg up in this season of
recovery.

44
Better Culture,
Better Plan, Better
Papa John’s?
By Barne y Wolf

The pizza category is faring

better than most in the wake of
coronavirus, and that includes
Papa John’s. Here’s a look at
everything the brand has done
in the last two years to set it up
for success.

52
Crisis: Coronavirus

36
By Q Sr S taff

/
BrandS are douBling doWn on
tHeir off-premiSeS innovation,
istock.com / LeoPatrizi

eSpecially noW tHat moSt

reStaurantS are relying on
tHoSe cHannelS to Stay open.

44
COVID-19 has upended the
entire restaurant industry in
the worst crisis since at least
the Great Recession. Get a
glimpse at how the industry is
responding.

On the cOver: Coronavirus disrupted the entire restaurant industry beginning in mid-March, and plenty of uncertainty remains for operators.

Periodicals Postage Paid at chaPel hill, Nc, aNd additioNal eNtry PoiNts. www.qsrmagazine.com | QSR | may 2020 1
May:
DePartMeNts
m Ay 2 0 2 0 / I S S U E 2 6 8

19
4 branded content
6 touchpoint
8 editor’S Letter
16 newS to go
85 new on the Market
87 advertiSer index
87 the MarketpLace

Q Sr / limite d -Se rvice , u nlimite d pOSSibilitieS

Fresh Ideas
19
Food Trends
Fine and Fast Fine-dining
quality meets fast-casual
service in fine-casual brands.
BY LAURA ZOLMAN KIRK
24
InspIraTIons
Well plated Three upscale
dishes that rethink what’s
possible in a counter-service
setting.
34
sTarT Up
under construction
Scheduling and financial
planning are critical in the
restaurant construction
phase. BY AMANDA BALTAZAR
88
sTarT To FInIsh
Sandra noonan The chief
sustainability officer at Just
Salad is out to rid the world
of plastics, one salad bowl at
a time.

26
CheF Q&a
Service Switching
Dish Society founder Aaron
News
Lyons details the brand’s
29 counter-service-by-day,
table-service-by-night
11
Short order
approach.
79
operaTIons
beyond tried and true
Insight How loyalty programs help
brands collect and use
valuable data. BY CONOR MORRIS
29
FranChIse Forward 80
What to learn from soCIal savvy

34 burgerim Lessons from the

spectacular implosion of a
once-promising slider chain.
83 BY TOM GRESHAM
31
ones To waTCh
dave’s hot chicken The
team from Blaze Pizza is back
at it with another up-and-
coming fast casual.
BY RACHEL PITTMAN
‘beauty in drink Form’
Tips from Dunkin’ on making
something as simple as a cup
of coffee Instagrammable.
BY RACHEL PITTMAN
83
InnovaTe
Singled Out Inside the
fight to reduce the reliance on
single-use plastics in limited
service. BY AMANDA BALTAZAR

32
BIg Idea
88 communication Key
in crisis Cousins Subs’
QSR is a registered trademark ® of Journalistic, Inc. QSR is copyright © 2020 Journalistic, Inc. All rights reserved. 101 Europa Drive, CEO details how a smart
Suite 150, Chapel Hill, NC 27517-2380, (919) 945-0700. Printed in USA. The opinions of columnists are their own. Publication of
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paid at Chapel Hill, NC, and additional entry points. SUBSCRIPTIONS: (800) 662-4834, www.qsrmagazine.com/subscribe. helped the brand react quickly
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2 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com

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eDItORIAl
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edITo r , QSR :
Sam Oches
sam@qsrmagazine.com

In thIs Issue a s s o C I aT e e d I T o r :
rachel pittman
rachelp@qsrmagazine.com

CUs To M Co n T en T edITo r :
57/ peggy carouthers
peggy@qsrmagazine.com
looking to the
industry’s Future
C U s T o M C o n T e n T a s s o C I aT e e d I T o r :
charlie pogacar
charlie@qsrmagazine.com
Profiles of brands we’ll be watching
as the industry bounces back, and d I g I Ta l C o n T e n T d I r e C T o r :

the vendor partners who will be danny Klein

danny@qsrmagazine.com
there to support them.
saLaDWorks, BrUXie, torcHY’s taco BUsIness wrITer:
ben coley
ben@qsrmagazine.com

58/ for customers. crisis calls for an business back ARt & PRODuCtIOn
the clear edge SponSored By mrS. t’S up-to-date up. Here are arT dIreC To r :

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tional foodS has something washing—is An upgrade n aT I o n a l s a l e s M a n a g e r // e X t e n S i o n 1 2 8 :
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4 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com

toUcHPoInt

aroUnd the indUStrY With QSR

At Home
with QSR
M u s t- R e a d With QSR ’s editorial team working
from home in the midst of the COVID-19
ResouRces pandemic, here’s how they’re getting by:

What my workspace looks like now:

Ben: Table tray, laptop, and chair in the
living room. It gets the job done.
Rachel: I work at a small, cluttered desk
beside my windowsill vegetable garden
(which makes for great workday scenery).
Danny: Random family pictures and a
computer nearly the size of my entire desk.
Sam: Tiny makeshift office in my bedroom.

Biggest distraction in trying to

work from home:
The last two months have Ben: Staying out of the kitchen has been
devastated the restaurant difficult because of all the snacks that are
industry as the coronavirus within reach.
outbreak has forced dining Rachel: My pantry.
rooms to close and disrupted • Contactless • 5 Proven Restaurant
Ordering and Other Tactics During COVID-19 Danny: Infant daughter (no offense to her,
how consumers access their
Tips to Navigate she’s the best). And dogs who think they
food. Thankfully, you don’t should take turns keeping me company.
COVID-19 • For Restaurants, There’s
have to go through this
a Big Problem with the Sam: My three-year-old daughter and
crisis alone. QSR is staying one-year-old son who think I can play with
• Trying to Picture Stimulus Package
on top of all the news and them all day.
Life for Restaurants
insights critical to helping After COVID-19 • Restaurant Catering in
you through these challenges. the Coronavirus Age Go-to food or beverage getting
Visit QSRmagazine.com/ • How Restaurants me through the day:
coronavirus for hundreds Can Collaborate • COVID-19 Considerations
istock.com / riDoFraNz

of essential headlines, with Landlords to for Restaurant Franchise Ben: I usually spend my afternoons surviv-
Systems ing on Granny Smith apples and bottles
including: Secure Rent Relief of water. 
Rachel: Chocolate and LaCroix.
Danny: I’ve started drinking coffee for the
first time. Which is not a good sign.
Sam: Besides a bottomless coffee mug,
Tune in
For those operators on the go who are looking for
homemade smoothies with lots of greens.
something to stream, QSR’s podcast “Fast Forward”

for More
features several emergency episodes detailing how
the industry is overcoming the challenges posed Last thing I ordered for pickup or delivery:
by coronavirus. Check out one of these informative Ben: Chipotle because I love their food and
episodes on any of the major podcast streaming because I live 0.6 miles away from one.
services: Rachel: A CAVA Greens + Grains bowl.
• Tips for emerging brands Danny: Indian food.
• An exciting
franchise to get through coronavirus Sam: A Kimchi Reuben with curly fries and
wrestles with a six-pack from Eastcut Sandwich Bar in
new realities Durham, NC.
• What to know
• Preparing about supply
for life after chain during Show to binge at the end of the workday:
• Could virtual
coronavirus coronavirus Ben: “The Simpsons,” which has nearly
istock.com / PHotoGraPHer aND ViDeoGraPHer

brands help
sales during 700 episodes. I’m invested now and can’t
turn back.
coronavirus? • What consumers
think about Rachel: “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” or
restaurants during “New Girl.”
• Adjusting your business
model on the fly coronavirus Danny: “Jane the Virgin.”
Sam: “Tiger King,” of course.

6 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com

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edItor’S Letter
Rewriting the Script
E
The coronavirus arlier today i took a phone call from
outbreak has reset a television producer who was in
everything for the development stages for a series about
restaurants in food trends. she was doing some research
ways we could have and asked if i could walk her through the
never imagined or restaurant trends of the last decade, just to
prepared for, and see if it sparked any ideas for the show.
what comes next i launched into a well-rehearsed spiel.
doesn’t follow a There was the great recession and the
predictable script. demand for value. The rise of fast casual
and desire for quality. The resurgence of
quick service and guests’ interest in con-
venience and accessibility. The explosion
in digital ordering tools and correspond-
ing boom in off-premises innovation.
and then… Well, usually when i give
the spiel, that’s the part where i tie all the
trends together into some predictions for
the future. But on that call, i stammered
for a bit, then suggested the producer wait
a while before she film her show.
Who knows how trends of the last
decade will affect the future? Who knows
what the future looks like at all? The last
two months will prove to be staggeringly
consequential for the direction of the res-
taurant industry. They call these “black
swan” events—unpredictable occasions
that make a lasting impact. The coro-
navirus outbreak and ensuing economic
collapse have reset everything for restau-
rants in ways we could have never imag-
ined or prepared for, and what comes
Sam@QSRmagazinE.com next doesn’t follow a predictable script.
@SamQSR When will business return to normal?
QSR magazinE What will consumers want from their
favorite restaurants? all of that is uncer-
tain, but we do have a few clues. We
know, for example, that off premises is
more critical now than ever before, and
those who innovate in that department
stand to thrive (Page 36). and we know
that how you communicate with your
8 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com
team (Page 32) and your customers
(Page 54) will be essential to getting your
brand back on its feet.
We also know that there is value
in working together to keep everyone
as informed and prepared as possible.
That’s our ongoing commitment to you,
and it’s why we had to start nearly from
scratch on this issue ( bye-bye, celebrity
on the cover). Much of it had been writ-
ten through the pre-coronavirus filters of
hyper-competitive markets, oversaturated
categories, thin labor pools, and consum-
ers increasingly on the go. We’re flying by
the seat of our pants now, but i think you’ll
find that our team was up to the challenge.
and if you don’t find what you’re look-
ing for in this issue, you certainly will on
our website (QSRmagazine.com), where
our digital team of Danny Klein and Ben
Coley are covering news up-to-the-minute
and keeping you informed on all of the
daily changes of this precarious new reality.
in the conversations i’ve had since the
pandemic began, i’ve asked industry lead-
ers for a bit of encouragement or wisdom
to hold onto. nearly all of them have
given me some variation of the same idea:
The restaurant industry will survive this
season, and in many ways, be stronger for
it. We have an opportunity to rewrite the
script for what comes next, but we have
to do it together; we must help each other
survive to see another day. Because even
if we’re flying by the seat of our pants for
a while, we can at least ensure a smoother
landing by flying together.
LiBBY mcGoWaN
Sam Oches, Editor
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 SHort
order

Sweetgreen’s impact outpost fund donates

free salads and bowls to hospital workers on
the front lines of the covid-19 crisis.

Sweetgreen
Medical professionals have eMerged as one of the most vulner-
able communities during the coronavirus outbreak. Health-forward chain Sweetgreen

Feeds the
stepped up to serve this population with its Impact Outpost Fund, a partnership with chef
Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen that will donate free salads and bowls to hospitals in

Front Lines
markets the fast casual already serves.
Created as an off-premises innovation, Sweetgreen’s Outpost platform set up central
access points in office spaces across the country where customers could receive their or-
ders. The Impact Outpost Fund leverages that platform and the logistics and team mem-
Through Sweetgreen’s Impact Outpost bers that drive it, but redirects the food deliveries to hospitals. The company also has plans
Fund, hospitals will receive free meals to contribute to other communities made more vulnerable by the advent of COVID-19, like
during the coronavirus pandemic. schools and nursing homes. Those who wish to get involved can visit sweetgreen.com/
donate to support the fund.
sWeetGreeN

Got timely and newsworthy photos? Submit them to ShortOrder@qsrmagazine.com.

www.qsrmagazine.com | QSR | may 2020 11

 SHort
order

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Location,
Consumers are becoming more
conscious of the sustainability of
products they purchase, but eco-
friendliness varies among age groups
and often comes after other consid-
erations when buying, new research
/ suggests.
57 % The hartman group found that,
of quick-serve over the last year, most consumers
percent purchasing less. Millennials
are the age group most interested in
sustainable products; 25 percent of
that generation say they consider
the earth when purchasing always
or most of the time, in contrast with
18 percent of both gen X and gen Z.
Overall, though, most consumers
deprioritize sustainability in favor of

Location,
marketers are already
(68 percent) stuck to the same sus- other factors. The attributes most
using location data
tainable product purchasing habits, important to U.s. consumers when
with 24 percent purchasing a greater purchasing are:
amount of sustainable products and 8
BUYING SAFE AND
ND

49 % 36%
HEALTHY PRODUCTS:
SAVING

Location MONEY:

/ BUYING
Delivery of EFFECTIVE
Many quick-serve brands are tapping into

33 31%
targeted ads PRODUCTS: SUPPORTING
location data to enhance their marketing
capabilities and better understand consumer
and offers
( 65 percent of
% THE U.S.
ECONOMY:
respondents )
behavior—and an overwhelming majority of / ANIMALL
those companies plan to ramp up their use Geofence-

29 %
WELFARE:
RE:
triggered
of the data in coming years, a new report finds. promotions
CURBING
According to a report from 451 Research ( 62 percent )

27%
POLLUTION:
and customer insights company Cuebiq, /
Analyzing
57 percent of quick-serve marketers are attribution
already using location data, and a whopping ( 57 percent )
/

istock.com / JULia_sUDNitskaYa
97 percent say they plan to increase their MAINTAINING

ConsCientious
Better NATURAL
istock.com / matHisWorks

usage of location data over the next two years.

25%
understanding RESOURCES:
customer
Reasons for using location data in
Consumers
behavior
marketing strategies include  ( 57 percent )

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

We hear a lot about the plant-forward

movement in the food and beverage
industry today, but exactly how
interested are americans in
plant-based alternatives?
Global survey platform Piplsay
polled 30,694 americans on their
opinions about plant-based dairy
alternatives:
●
ALMOST ●

• Plant Power • 50 %
OF AMERICANS
● 39%
27%
OF THOSE
HAVE WHO PLAN TO
tried OF THOSE
CONSUME
PLANT-BASED PLANT-BASED
WHO HAVE
DAIRY DAIRY
SAMPLED
ALTERNATIVES THINK IT’S
PLANT-BASED
DAIRY PRODUCTS more
are not NUTRITIOUS
INTERESTED
●

27%
●

OF THOSE WHO 52%

istock.com / UNDeFiNeD UNDeFiNeD

DO NOT PLAN TO OF CONSUMERS HAVE

CONSUME TRIED ALMOND MILK,
PLANT-BASED DAIRY MAKING IT THE
didn’t most
like the popular
TASTE/TEXTURE DAIRY ALTERNATIVE

12 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com

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order

standout store
Cook’s Tortas / LOS ANGELES
TORTAS ARE GOURMET And people are happy with the result—we have
MEXICAN SANDWICHES some customers who come in two to three times
MADE WITH FLUFFY BREAD.
COOK’S TORTAS AIMS TO a week.
MAKE THE HANDHELDS
AS POPULAR
AS TACOS.
Has it been difficult to make in a
competitive market like Monterey
Park in Los Angeles?
It’s a food area. We’re also located in an Asian
community with lots of Asian food options. And
people asked us why we were working there,
because it seemed like it wouldn’t work in that
market. But it’s been incredible. In the beginning,
we didn’t do any promotion and we got custom-
ers by word of mouth. We have been lucky

C
ook’s Tortas is looking to make Mexico’s lesser-known handheld street food
as popular as tacos.
When Elyan Zamore and her mother opened the doors on the concept
in Monterey Park, California, 12 years ago, Zamore knew she could find her niche
selling not tacos, but tortas, or gourmet Mexican sandwiches made with fluffy
buttered bread. COOK’S TORTAS
“We saw that there was an opportunity for tortas because, obviously, tacos are HAS FRESH
SANDWICH
an oversaturated market in some places,” Zamore says. “We wanted to do some- INGREDIENTS
DELIVERED
thing different that was based on our family recipes and also recipes from all over EVERY DAY.
the world.”
After developing a solid customer base around its original outpost, Cook’s Tor-
tas was planning to put a franchise plan in action this year. The sandwich brand
partnered with franchise development company Fransmart to offer its range of
more than 60 tortas all over California and, eventually, the country. Now on the
brink of Cook’s becoming a chain, Zamore spoke with QSR (prior to the coronavirus
outbreak) about the unique appeal of tortas, growth, and making it in Los Angeles. enough that people have continued visiting and
brought their friends. It hasn’t been hard for us to
bring in new customers.
How do you keep guests coming Our menu is great because sandwiches are
back 12 years in? What is unique What are the details on your new
something that everyone is familiar with, but we franchising strategy?
about Cook’s offerings?
People enjoy what we’re doing because we’ve have recipes from all over the world. We wanted We have a great partner in Fransmart, and we’re
been growing the same great team for 12 years. people to try different flavors from our family very excited to work with them. We already
Customers develop a relationship with our and from different parts of the nation and world. have some people in talks to open new stores.
employees, so we have not only a concept and Every day, we’re also focused on quality and Our goal is to start in California and then grow
cook’s tortas (3)

a menu that they love, but also a team that they freshness. We get deliveries every day; all of our outside of the state. I’m telling people to keep
know and grow with. produce is fresh; we make our salads to order. their eyes out for a Cook’s on every corner.

14 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com

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NEWS TO GO /

Big Chains, Big Changes

Every restaurant company in America responded to the coronavirus outbreak with its own
solutions. While most dining rooms were mandated by local governments to close—and many
chains voluntarily closed them where there wasn’t a mandate—individual companies took
additional measures to protect against the spread of coronavirus, ensure the health of their
employees, provide for their store operators, and fortify consumer trust in their brands.
istock.com / sVetikD

Here’s a look at what some of the biggest quick serves in the U.S. did in the few weeks
following the initial coronavirus outbreak.

Mcdonald’s starbucks subway

• Committed to paying quarantined • Expanded employee “catastrophe pay” • Reduced franchisee royalty payments
hourly employees at corporate units by 50 percent
• Shuttered all cafes except for drive-
• Suspended all-day breakfast menu to thru and third-party delivery service • Provided franchisees with rent abate-
limit pressure on restaurants ment, reduction, and deferral
• Established $10 million Relief Program
• Cut capital expenditures by $1 billion to aid workers

taco Bell Wendy’s Burger King

• Donated $1 million to No Kid Hungry • Implemented paid sick leave policy of
up to 14 days pay for quarantined em-
• Served free Doritos Locos Taco to ployees at company-owned locations
drive-thru guests on designated days
• Extended by 45 days deadlines for
• Deployed Taco Truck to feed frontline franchisee royalties and marketing
healthcare workers and other essential funds
personnel
• Deferred rent on property it owns by
• Rolled out seven-point safety platform 50 percent over three months
• Advanced cash payments and rebates
to franchisees, and deferred rent pay-
ments for up to 45 days
• Provided corporate-store employees
with one-time bonus
• Offered two free King Jr. kids’ meals
with purchase of any adult meal
through its app

mcDoNaLD’s, starBUcks, sUBWaY, taco BeLL, WeNDY’s, BUrGer kiNG, DomiNo’s, cHiPotLe, PaPa JoHN’s
including contactless payment and
service, employee temperature checks, • Increased pay for hourly corporate-
and extra sanitization store employees by 10 percent

domino’s chipotle Papa John’s

• Sought to fill 10,000 extra positions to • Hosted “Virtual Lunchtime Hangouts” • Committed to hiring 20,000 new work-
support delivery network with celebrities via Zoom ers to support increased delivery

• Committed to additional compensa- • Gave away hundreds of thousands of • Expanded health care to include free
tion for hourly workers through crisis free burritos to healthcare workers virtual doctor visits

• Pledged 10 million free slices to sup- • Provided $6.5 million in bonuses to

port medical professionals, grocery- field leaders, GMs, and apprentices
store workers, and other communities

16 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com

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 fresh ideas | F I N e
San diego–based urban plates
offers full-service-level meals for
around $10, and most of them can
be made vegan or vegetarian.
Fine and Fast
Fine-dining-level menu innovation meets fast casual in the fine-casual segment.
bY l Aur A ZOlmAn KirK
C
onsumer demand for high-quality menu items is at an all-time
high. So, too, is demand for convenience and accessibility.
And the fine-casual segment has sprung up at the intersection
of those two trends, bringing with it restaurants that typically serve
innovative menu items made with high-quality ingredients on nice
dishware, but with a counter-service format. Often with this new wave
of restaurants, the counter is where the quick-serve element ends, as
UrBaN PLates / JUstiN GaLLoWaY
servers tend to customers as they would in a full-service restaurant,
refilling drinks, bussing tables, and asking if they need anything else.
As one might expect, menus at restaurants like these are rede-
fining what can be “quick serve.” “We have found that there is an
absolute hunger for a more fine-casual experience,” says Benedict
W. Koenig IV, founder of California-based heritage eats. “The con-
C a s u a L |
sumer is willing to pay up slightly for a menu with greater variety, a
heavier emphasis on a-la-minute cooking, and higher-quality service
and space touchpoints.”
Flexibility on the menu for these fine-casual restaurants is also
available in a way the quick-serve segment has never experienced,
giving brands the opportunity to showcase personality and be more
daring in menu offerings.
Quality food is key for Agra culture, which has four locations in
the Minneapolis area. The team prepares dishes on a level that far
exceeds traditional limited service. “Our food quality and menu are
more in line with what you see at white-tablecloth, full-service restau-
rants,” says Aaron Switz, cofounder and CEO. The concept focuses
on serving real food with lots of flavor, like the Agra Bowl, which com-
www.qsrmagazine.com | QSR | may 2020 19
 fresh ideas
| F I N E
bines chicken or tofu with kale pesto, brown rice, roasted zucchini
and squash, thyme asparagus, and lime crème fraîche. “We see fine-
casual and full-service-casual menus and service converging over
time in many ways,” Switz says. That’s why the team is continuing to
further the restaurant’s hybrid model by adding brunch on weekends.
red Stix Street Food in Dallas also emphasizes top-quality food,
and chef and owner Uno Immanivong channels fine-dining-level inno-
vation into the best ingredients she can find for her Asian-inspired
menu. For example, the restaurant exclusively uses beef tenderloin
for all beef dishes, and vegetables are hand-cut every day to main-
tain freshness. “My vision for creating Red Stix was that each menu
item would be the best of its category,” Immanivong says. Standout
dishes include the Crack’lin Fried Rice made with wok-seared beef
tenderloin and shrimp, topped with a sunny-side-up egg and chicken
fat that is infused with garlic and ginger—all finished with a sprinkling
of chicken skin. “The first spoonful is greeted with hot steam and the
savory aroma that can only come from the wok; the egg coats each
morsel of rice, and then you get the crunch from the garlic chips and
vegetables,” Immanivong says. “Every ingredient is intentional down
to the Persian cucumbers, because the skin is thin and much more
crisp than other varietals.”
Since inception, five-unit brand blue lemon has offered fine-
dining presentations on each plate for a unique and pleasurable
experience. President and CEO Aaron Day thinks menu items inspired
by global cultures will continue to dominate trends, specifically in the
fine-casual segment. “Our chicken potstickers have become a wild
hit,” he says. This summer, the brand plans to turn up the heat with a
house-made green chile and corn queso dip.
the little beet, which has 12 locations on the East Coast, takes
pride in the ingredients it’s sourcing and the playful, creative, and
chef-driven menu items it’s preparing for guests, from wild-caught
Alaskan salmon to a Vegetable and Kelp Slaw. “We feel that our
menus should be constantly evolving to match the season and serve
an ingredient at its peak,” says director of culinary innovation Trevor
these dishes from red Stix, agra culture, urban plates, and little gem (l–r) may seem like they belong in a white-tablecloth environment, but they’re offered over a counter.
20 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com
C A S U A L |
Kunk, expressing a sentiment that’s expected in the full-service seg-
ment but also becoming commonplace for fast casual.
With plant-based alternatives becoming a huge trend, the fine-
casual category is perfectly poised to take advantage. Jim Cannon,
chief culinary officer at 19-unit brand urban plates, sees even more
vegetarian and vegan menu items in fine casual’s future. “Whether it’s
motivated by environmental factors, personal health, or just the fact
that plant-based food is delicious, I think more and more consumers,
and in turn restaurants, will be leaning into items like this,” Cannon
says. In fact, due to a 14 percent increase in year-to-date sales of plant-
based items, the brand decided to add even more plant-based bowl
options to the menu. Today, over half of the overall menu is or can be
made vegan or vegetarian.
Urban Plates is also redefining what a value menu is for limited-
service restaurants. Instead of a burger for $1, guests can get a
full-service-level meal for $10. On the brand’s $10 Everyday Menu,
guests choose meals like grilled cage-, hormone-, and antibiotic-free
chicken served with a bright herb chimichurri sauce alongside aspara-
gus and quinoa, or a vegan bowl including marinated red beets, sliced
avocado, pickled red onions, walnuts, organic quinoa, hemp seeds,
and a miso-lemongrass dressing. “This is a wonderful example of our
commitment to providing honest value, brought to life via a menu of
tasty, healthy meals,” Cannon says.
Merging the fine-casual values of heightened food and service,
many restaurants also desire to go out of their way for customer
requests. “We challenge ourselves to accommodate customers’
dietary restrictions or entrée preferences in a way that reflects our
style of cooking,” Immanivong says. “It’s the extra step that makes
the experience at Red Stix memorable.”
Looking to the future, leaders think this fine-casual movement is
here to stay. “Over the last 15 years, there has been a huge rush to get
into the core fast-casual space,” Koenig at Heritage Eats says. “Our
belief is that the fine-casual space will pick up steam as the consumer
tires a bit from the former.” q
reD stiX, aGra cULtUre, UrBaN PLates / JUstiN GaLLoWaY, LittLe Gem
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 fresh ideas
Souvla offers | F I N E C A S U A L |
greek staples in an
elevated setting.

Brand SpotLight/

Tocaya Organica
Instagram-ready in every sense, Tocaya’s vegan-based salads,
bowls, tacos, burritos, frescas, and six different kinds of mar-
garitas are served via china and glassware. After ordering at the
counter, guests are taken care of by food runners and servers
refilling drinks and offering dessert like the Sweet Corn Tamale.
Beyond taking the best
possible ingredients and pre-
paring them with a chef’s
Brand SpotLight/ nines (think minted Greek touch (hello shaved oven-
yogurt, fennel, navel oranges, roasted Brussels sprouts
Souvla and harissa-spiked yogurt). with fresh garlic and toma-
“Our limited menu sources toes), Tocaya’s commitment
products both locally from to a fine-casual approach is
A pioneer in the “fine-fast high-quality producers and reflected in how it goes above
movement,” as founder and directly from Greece,” Bililies and beyond for guests, says
CEO Charles Bililies describes says. Meanwhile, the ambi- Rich Sweeney, director of culi-
it, five-unit Greek concept ance—a product of dim lights, nary development. “In my
Souvla has been serving pre- real glass stemware, and high previous life in full service,
mium food and beverage in restaurant design—makes it’s always been, ‘Whatever
an upscale environment since the restaurants popular date the guest wants, we will find
2014. Its nimble fast-casual- spots in San Francisco. a way to make it happen for
at-its-core service model, While this upscale com- them.’ We really try to do that
however, allows the restau- ponent is a huge draw for the at Tocaya, as well,” he says.
rant to serve folks fast and brand, Souvla has also tran- “Whatever we have within our
translates to delivery avenues scended fine-fast to become tocaya walls, whether it be because
efficiently. a hip frozen yogurt spot. organica’s of an allergy or preference,
dishes are
The menu is easy to “Despite having ‘spit-fired instagram we will try to make it happen.”
ascertain, with four basic meats’ in our tagline,” Bililies friendly. That means that if a guest
mains—Pork, Chicken, Lamb, says, “so many people visit our just wants grilled chicken
and Veg—served in a sand- restaurants just to have our and it hasn’t yet been mari-
wich or salad. But the frozen Greek yogurt.” In fact, nated in the achiote sauce for
products and flavors are any- the sweet treat topped with the brand’s Tulum tacos with
thing but quick-service basic. sour cherry syrup, olive oil and queso cotija, grilled pineapple
soUVLa / kassie BorresoN

They are locally sourced sea salt, baklava crumbles, or salsa, charred red pepper, red
tocaYa orGaNica (3)

(pork shoulder from Snake honey has inspired its own leg onion, and arbol salsa, then
River Farm, for instance), of the business: the concept’s the guess can have that plain
spit-fired, and dressed to the new frozen yogurt truck. grilled chicken, Sweeney says.

With a growing focus on health and sustainability, customers

B E S T O F B OTH WO R L DS / are demanding more from their limited-service restaurant
menus than ever before. For the 1,005 people surveyed in Foodservice Results’ “2020 Future of Fast Casual Report” (published in QSR’s
April issue), high-quality, natural, and sustainably sourced ingredients are top of mind, and so is the dining atmosphere. At the same time,
guests still want their food fast. All of this could be good news for fine casual, which checks all of those boxes.

84S6931
8416
8469S5842
69 585050
58S50
50S
S42 81
81S
8119
S50 77
772359
5941
+S +S
When selecting the fast casual you most recently visited, how important were the following factors? *
marBLe BackGroUND: istock.com / NattHaNim

84%
Speed of
69% 58%
Use of natural
50%
Use of better-for-you
81%
Use of high-quality
77%
Customization
59%
Unique condiments
service Atmosphere ingredients meats like antibiotic free ingredients menu options and toppings
and free range

* NUmBers reFLect PerceNtaGe oF coNsUmers WHo rePorteD tHat tHe Factors Were “someWHat” or “eXtremeLY” imPortaNt to tHem.

22 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com

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Well Plated
Three fine menu items redefining what can be served quickly over the counter.
urbAn plAteS’
GrASS-Fed SteAK plAte
“We offer the same chef-driven approach
that full-service restaurants do at a frac-
tion of the price. Like our steak plate: For
$13.50, guests can enjoy a hormone-free,
GMO-free, antibiotic-free, grass-fed steak
plate with organic house-made mashed
potatoes, Brussels sprouts with turkey
bacon, and grilled artisan bread … while
a typical steakhouse meal easily starts at
$18 and up and may very well be using a
meat product that’s held to a lower stan-
dard than ours.”
—Chef Jim Cannon
Chief Culinary OffiCer
The Players:
Grass-fed steak
House-made mashed potatoes
Brussels sprouts
Turkey bacon
Artisan bread
24 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com
fresh ideas
| I N S P I R AT I O N S |
heritAGe eAtS’
rOASted ducK bAO
“When it comes to culinary, Chef Andrew
Hunter has been a creative force, and we
are excited to be rolling out a few ideas
we collaborated on with him recently.
Our Roasted Duck Bao includes house-
cured and roasted duck served in fluffy
Chinese-style steamed bao buns and
topped with Hoisin sauce, pickled cucum-
ber, green onions, and cilantro. Andrew
talks about creating flavors, presenta-
tions, and hospitality that stops guests
in their tracks because they’re generally
only expected in fine dining.”
—BenediCT W. Koenig iV
fOunder
The Players:
Roasted duck
Bao buns
Hoisin sauce
Pickled cucumbers
Green onion
Cilantro
little Gem’S
endive & citruS SAlAd
“This is a highly seasonal menu item
incorporating winter citrus. Belgian
endive is tossed with supremes of Cara
Cara and blood oranges. The resulting
juice from separating the wedges is used
to make the honey-citrus dressing that
coats the endive. Accents include roasted
baby beets, pickled mustard seeds,
shaved baby carrots, chervil pluches
(leaves), and lime zest.”
—daVe C. Cruz
Chef & CO-Owner
The Players:
UrBaN PLates / JeNNiFer DaVick, HeritaGe eats, LittLe Gem
Winter citrus
Belgian endive
Shaved carrots
Roasted baby beets
Pickled mustard seeds
Honey-citrus dressing
DREAM
de CRÈME
la
 fresh ideas
| C H E F Q & A |

Service Switching
By day, Dish Society is fast casual. By night, it’s full service. Here’s how founder
Aaron Lyons pulls it off.
bY l Aur A ZOlmAn KirK

aaron lyons created

What other ways are you
dish Society out of the innovating on the menu?
desire to offer a $30 We have always tried to do
restaurant experience
for $15. our own take on traditional
favorites and put things on
the menu that you just don’t
see anywhere else, but that
aren’t too exotic. One exam-
ple would be our Brisket
Stuffed Sweet Potato. That
is a dish that I quite frankly
haven’t really seen anywhere
else. It’s a 1-pound sweet
potato that we get from a
local farm, baked and layered
with white cheddar cheese
and our house-smoked Texas
brisket. It’s a chopped brisket
tossed in our house barbe-
cue sauce, and then we put
the slaw—some cabbage slaw
Aaron Lyons, CEO and founder of five-unit concept Dish So-
tossed in vinegar—to top it.
ciety, considers his Houston-based restaurants fine casual or
“flex casual.” Definitely elevated from typical fast casuals, Dish It’s really good and actually
Society’s hybrid model offers counter service during the day pretty healthy. It sounds more
and full service from 3:30 p.m. through dinner. Besides a few like a masculine dish, but a lot
additional appetizers, the menu remains the same through this of women eat it as well. We
daypart and service shift, but how customers interact with the sell them all day long.
menu changes. We spoke with Lyons about this flex-casual ap-
Another dish would be the
proach and how it affects the menu.
Quinoa Stuffed Avocados,
which is an incredibly popular
dish that, again, I don’t see too
How is “flex casual” two sides. So steak, salmon, or
many places. We take an avo-
reflected in your menu? chicken breast, and then sides
cado, cut it in half, peel it, take
My whole thesis behind Dish like a salad, mac ’n’ cheese, or
the core out, and lay it flat.
Society has always been I want Brussels sprouts.
Then we top it with our organic
to create a $30 experience We also recently started
red quinoa that’s mixed with
for $15. You do that through offering breakfast all day by
our house pico so it has onions
the ambiance, service, uni- picking five of our most pop-
and tomatoes chopped in it.
forms, and the food. The plates ular breakfast dishes and
We then toss that in a citrus
give you an elevated percep- putting them on the bottom
vinaigrette and put it on a bed
tion while still remaining easy of the menu as a breakfast-
of greens tossed in a white bal-
to execute and approachable. all-day kind of thing. You’d be
samic vinaigrette. It’s a really
We have sandwiches and sal- surprised how many pancakes
fresh, clean, healthy dish. Most
ads, of course, and a lot of go at night for dinner or des-
people add protein to it like a
entrées. Our No. 1 best-sell- sert. We also added the Fried
salmon filet, chicken breast, or
How do customers interact
with the menu differently
between counter-service
hours and full-service
hours?
It’s what people want. For
lunch, when we’re doing fast
casual, people are just natu-
rally in more of a hurry. They
don’t want to sit down and
have an entrée. They want a
sandwich. They want a salad
and some fruit. They want
something quick and portable,
like our grain bowl. But for din-
ner, people slow down. They’re
not in a hurry. They want to
order more appetizers. Obvi-
ously, more dessert is ordered,
and after-dinner coffee. There
are more alcohol sales. The
big difference from a menu
perspective is the amount of
orders for items like appetizers,
dessert, wine, and entrées.
What sort of experience do
you think customers expect
from your restaurant?
The challenge for us is when
people come in for lunch dur-
ing the week when they’ve
only come in for dinner before.
There’s a little confusion,
because now they have to wait
in line and get their own drink.
And then, vice versa, you have
somebody used to getting in
and out, grabbing a sandwich,
and then they come in for din-
ner and the lights are dimmer,
people are sitting down. Peo-
ple have actually been getting
it pretty quickly. We put up a
lot of signs by the door, and
our staff is trained to identify
DisH societY (3)

ing dish across all our menus is
what’s called a Farmers Plate,
where you pick a protein and
Chicken & Biscuits, the Bris-
shrimp. A lot of people order it people who look lost and inter-
ket n’ Eggs, French Toast, and
as an appetizer and share it. cept them immediately. q
Shrimp & Grits.

26 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com

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franchise forward

What to Learn from Burgerim

Industry experts weigh in on what franchisees can learn from the burger chain’s franchise
disaster.
bY tOm GreShAm

B
urgerim may long serve as a cautionary
tale in the franchising industry mov-
ing forward.
The israel-based burger brand grew fast,
opening locations across the country with
striking swiftness. But this expansion came to
a screeching halt at the end of 2019.
ANDY
in December, the company served notice that WIEDERHORN
it was considering bankruptcy, and owner Oren
Loni fled the country. after many Burgerim
franchisees suffered financial calamity from
their investments in the chain, this February,
U.s. senator Dianne Feinstein requested that
the Federal Trade Commission investigate
Burgerim for deceptive sales practices.
The burger chain’s breakdown offers a host JOEL
LIBAVA
of lessons for prospective franchisees—partic-
ularly when looking for red flags in potential
brands.

“Rotten inside”
andy Wiederhorn, CeO of FaT Brands, says
his company explored buying Burgerim a year
ago but passed because of a variety of worrying BRADY
LEE
factors. in particular, he says, Burgerim wasn’t
collecting royalties from franchisees and had “a huge list” of lease
guarantee obligations and refund obligations.
in the face of such shortcomings, Wiederhorn says, the brand
needed sky-high average unit volumes. That wasn’t the case.
instead, only a few stores were performing well, and even though
certain units opened with eye-catching sales, those sales weren’t
being sustained.
“The stores weren’t performing,” Wiederhorn says. “Out of
about 200 … somewhere between 10 and 20 had any likelihood
of reasonable performance. There was a lot of hype, but when you
Fat BraNDs, JoeL LiBaVa, accUrate FraNcHisiNG, BUrGerim
Burgerim heated up with
rapid expansion only to have
that growth screech to a
halt when its owner fled the
country at the end of 2019.
payback period? What’s your sales-to-investment ratio? all these
are key questions.”
Joel Libava, a franchise consultant known as The Franchise
King, says franchisees should be wary of seemingly low barriers
to entry. For instance, Burgerim’s website didn’t list the necessary
financial qualifications for potential franchisees, which is highly
unusual, especially for a quick-service restaurant.
“it’s like, ‘Wait a second, does that mean that, if i’m breathing,
i can buy this franchise?’” Libava says.

peeled back the onion, it was just rotten inside.”
For potential franchisees doing their due diligence, Wiederhorn
says Burgerim neglecting to collect a royalty from franchisees is a
red flag. The chain’s willingness to guarantee franchisees’ leases
and offer of a refund should franchisees not find locations is also a
warning sign. To take precautions against hidden issues like these,
prospective franchisees should investigate a brand’s already-open
stores, he says, and speak with existing franchisees.
“What marketing is being done on behalf of the brand?” Wie-
derhorn says. “What are the average unit volumes? What’s the
Fast growth could be too good to be true
it’s been reported that Burgerim sold at least 1,200 licenses to
operators in 40 states, but many weren’t able to open a store or
lost money if they did. Overall, Burgerim has more than 200
locations, but around 100 locations have closed. The chain’s early
explosive growth rate should have sounded a cautionary note for
potential franchisees.
“any company that would sell that many franchises that quickly
and not have a massive, massive team already [in place] is setting
itself up to fail,” says Brady Lee, president of [continued on page 86]

www.qsrmagazine.com | QSR | may 2020 29

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ones to watch

Dave’s Hot Chicken

In less than a year, Dave’s Hot Chicken has established new units, franchisees, and fans.
bY r Achel pit tmAn

FOUNDERS: Dave Kopushyan,

Arman Oganesyan, Tom Rubenyan,
& Gary Rubenyan
HEADQUARTERS: Los Angeles
YEAR STARTED: 2017
TOTAL UNITS: 5
FRANCHISE UNITS: 0
WEBSITE: daveshotchicken.com

It’s been less than a year sInce east holly-

wood startup Dave’s hot Chicken landed a
star-studded group of investors and upped
the ante on its spice-doused tenders, sliders,
and fries, but the brand’s growth is already
on the fast track.
Last fall, that celebrity investment deal
brought Dave’s a new CeO—Bill Phelps,
cofounder and former CeO of Wetzel’s Pret-
zels and an early investor in fast-growing
chain Blaze Pizza—and opened the brand
up for expansion.
“The response has been pretty incredi-
ble,” says Phelps, who grew Wetzel’s to more ing), fries, kale slaw, macaroni and cheese, Kopushyan and his cofounders (and child-
than 350 units and $150 million in sales. and cheese fries from Dave’s early stages are hood friends) arman Oganesyan and
“We’ve put together a plan to dramatically still what’s on offer, and Phelps says there brothers Tom and gary rubenyan had
expand domestically and internationally, aren’t any plans to change these staples in earned a cult following of devoted fans,
we’ve registered franchise development the near future. both in real life and on social media; at
approval in most of the U.s., and we’ve got- “at this point, we’re sticking with the only five units, the chain has more than
ten the franchise sales process underway.” original offers,” he says. “it allows us to be 114,000 followers on the instagram account
in 2020, seven to 10 new restaurants will incredibly focused on a handful of items, that was started when the brand was born.
open, and that growth rate is expected to and to execute the quality consistency on The response was enough for the founding
ramp up in future years. Phelps reports that, those items incredibly well. This is a real team to open two brick-and-mortars and
as of February, there were around 50 signed part of the brand’s appeal.” draw the interest of high-profile investors,
commitments for new franchised units and The menu was engineered by cofounder all within two years of opening.
around 120 locations in some stage of devel- Dave Kopushyan, a chef trained in Thomas When Phelps came on board last sep-
opment or negotiation. Keller’s restaurant Bouchon. he developed tember, he brought along actor samuel
The rapid growth is underpinned by the process that’s at the crux of the brand: L. Jackson, California First Lady Maria
the simple menu that was already in place soaking chicken in a proprietary brine, deep- shriver, former nFL player Michael stra-
before Phelps came on board. The same hot frying the tenders, and topping them with han, and movie producer John Davis as
DaVe’s Hot cHickeN

chicken sliders and tenders with increas- signature spice blends. investors. Like Phelps, shriver and Davis
ing spice (the top level of heat, reaper, The simple recipe paid off. soon after were also early investors in Blaze. The
requires guests to sign a waiver before eat- opening in 2017 as a parking lot pop-up, group’s involvement [contInued on page 86]

www.qsrmagazine.com | QSR | may 2020 31

 department

BiG idea

Communication Key in Crisis

Christine Specht shares how Cousins Subs is adapting to the realities presented
by COVID-19, and how it’s keeping the rest of the system up to date.
bY SAm OcheS

L
ike most restaurant industry execu- tor, specht says, Cousins ensures that the
tives, Christine specht had no plan whole system will know that any email they
in place for the crisis that resulted receive from him is an important update
from the coronavirus outbreak. The Cous- that is not to be missed.
ins subs CeO says the Wisconsin-based “When our franchisees or store oper-
sandwich chain prepares for things like ators may hear something in the news,
class-action lawsuits and sales downturns they’re going to hold tight because they’ll
of, say, 5–7 percent—not sales dives of 30 know that there’s going to be communi-
percent like the company saw in the imme- cation with more detail coming out from
diate aftermath of the outbreak. Jason,” she says.
still, specht says she was prepared to Cousins subs underwent a brand evo-
act because she knew her team well, and lution a few years ago that included not
she knew their strengths. only design and service upgrades, but
“For example, who likes process, who also a uniform POs system and total
likes clear communication,” specht says. alignment across the company’s back
“as i think about my leadership team end. specht says this allowed the brand
and creative decision making and cre- to more easily adjust business operations
ative budgeting, i’m really seeing the cousins when COviD-19 struck, like rolling out
strengths of my leadership team that i Subs ceo curbside pickup at locations that did not
knew they possessed, but now they’re christine have a drive thru.
Specht
really on fire for it.” “i’m glad that we had the foresight to
Communication in particular has W h At t O l e A R n A B O u t YO u R t e A M do it for the right reasons, but now that we
been a huge priority for specht and Cous- “You can get a sense of who’s going to have this situation, it makes it that much
ins—both communication to guests and handle the challenge well. Who likes pro- more impactful,” she says.
communication to franchisees. cess? Who likes clear communication?” While it’s impossible to know how long
For guests, specht says, the company WORD OF e nCOu R AG e M e nt
coronavirus will have an impact on indus-
is reminding them that Cousins is open “It’s difficult to see the forest for the try sales, specht says there is plenty that
trees, but we know the end of this
for business, whether through drive thru, crisis will come. We just don’t know restaurant operators can learn from the
curbside pickup, or delivery. and it’s push- when. We really have to hunker down, crisis in the meantime. For example, it
ing incentives through its loyalty program be diligent, methodical, and watch forces everyone to look at how their stores
every penny in the meantime until we
in an effort to drive sales. can get out of it. But we will get out of are operating and to make adjustments
“What we’re trying to do is just com- it, I’m very optimistic about that.” where necessary. it also is revealing a lot
municate clearly and effectively and about company culture and communica-
regularly—probably more so than we typically would in the past,” tion, she says, particularly for franchised systems that depend upon
she says. “There is so much information coming at people that we individual franchisees to drive guests in the doors (or around the
know some people are just going to check out. so we want to make drive thru or to the curbside).
sure that our emails to our gests aren’t getting missed, because she adds that Cousins is learning how to have a plan in place
they’ve probably been bombarded.” in the event of another major crisis.
For its franchisees, store operators, and other team members, “Do we have backups who can take over in the event that we
Cousins is relying on president Jason Westhoff to communicate lose half the labor? are there backups to the backups? What do
all necessary information. specht says Westhoff is communicat- those plans look like?” she says. “While not everything can be exe-
ing any operational changes to the system, as well as relaying any cuted according to a perfect plan, we can look at things differently.”
government regulations that might affect operators. For more from specht on how franchise brands can adapt to the
coUsiNs sUBs

she adds that communications have been very transparent growing crisis and communicate any changes throughout their sys-
and straightforward. By keeping Westhoff the main communica- tems, listen to the podcast at Qsrmagazine.com/coronavirus. q

32 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com

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 department
StartUP
Under Construction
It’s easy to trip up on restaurant construction, especially when it comes to scheduling and
financial planning.
bY AmAndA
W
hen building out your restaurant, meredith
two big areas can trip you up: bud- ford opened
get and time. cremalosa in
february after
ideally, you don’t want to exceed boundar- a months-
ies you’ve set in either area, but, realistically, long delay
caused by
you will over-spend in one or both categories. landlord
Facing issues in these areas is inevitable, and communication
issues.
in-depth planning on the part of operators
can help ease the strain. But no amount of
prep will ensure a frictionless building pro-
cess. Thus, operators should be prepared to
face challenges.
Staying on time
Meridith Ford opened Cremalosa, a gelato
store, in Decatur, georgia, in February, more
than six months after she’d hoped to start the
business. The problem, she says, was poor
communication and lack of care on the part of her landlord, which
caused the delay. To avoid this, she says it’s important to refuse
to take no for an answer. she also advises tenants not to become
too friendly with landlords. “Be amicable, and that’s it,” she says.
if she builds another restaurant, she says, she’ll also be far more
involved with her architect, making sure to ask for any and all
required information.
“i’ll be asking very specific questions,” she says. “i’ll tell him
to speak to me as if i’m a four-year-old, since he talks a different
language.”
To prevent delays, aurify Brands, a new york City–based com-
pany that runs both a Five guys franchise as well as fast casuals
like The Little Beet, does a thorough site survey before it starts
construction. “[ The surveys] find every possible condition. We
can then plan around it and come up with a really realistic cost,”
director of store development noelle Perez says. “When we try to
rush it, we find we’re held up in the long run.”
The company looks for items such as building violations, aDa
compliance, building integrity, signage code restrictions, and equip-
ment, as well as any existent elements that can be used after the
build-out. sometimes the aurify team uncovers huge hidden issues.
For example, signage size restrictions can be can be a deal killer,
Perez says, because aurify restaurants need visibility.
Staying on budget
Chuck Taylor has extensive experience working with quick-service
and fast-casual restaurants as the director of operations for engle-
34 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com
bAltAZAr
wood Construction in Lemont, illinois. To
stay on budget, he says, hiring the best pro-
fessional services possible is key. Operators
should comb through reviews of companies
and their work, and take a look at past clients.
Paying more for a higher-quality contrac-
tor can sometimes curb later budget creep.
One common factor for budget creep is
a client who doesn’t spend time in the due
diligence phase making sure there are ade-
quate utilities already in place or close by.
“if utilities need to be modified, not know-
ing or anticipating what those costs will be
is a big variable or unknown in the budget,”
Taylor says.
in leased spaces, unanticipated costs can
pop up if the client doesn’t know for certain
what the landlord provides. “it’s important
to define in detail a comprehensive responsibility schedule outlin-
ing who furnishes and/or installs what,” Taylor says.
Taylor also recommends operators ensure documents (draw-
ings, blueprints, and specifications) are accurate and consider
value engineering. For example, instead of importing a costly tile
from italy, operators should look at cheaper domestic alternatives.
Old or new?
nate hybl has the seventh unit of his fast-casual bowls and wraps
concept gusto! in the works for this summer. he’s opened restau-
rants in both second-generation spaces and brand-new locations,
but says the former often cause more problems. There are many
unknowns behind walls, in ceilings, and under floors. Further-
more, codes change over time, so some elements may need to be
completely redesigned.
“it often seems like they have lower costs up front, but that eventu-
ally comes back and bites you in the rear,” he says. “[ new buildings]
tend to be cheaper because you know what you’re dealing with.”
in the case of both second-gen spots and brand-new spaces,
build-outs tend to take about four months, and construction costs
are about the same. When he moves into a space that formerly
housed a similar concept, he typically rips everything out and
then starts fresh.
“new locations are heavier on the construction phase, and
second-gen locations take time fixing problems that are already
cremaLosa
there,” hybl says. “The memories of the place before it need to be
100 percent gone to be successful.” q
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oFF-PreMISeS creatIVItY

Virtual
insanity

H
aving already jumped into the buzzy world of ghost
kitchens, Dog Haus decided it still needed to do more
to expand its foothold in the ever-important world of
mobile ordering and delivery. And its team had an idea:
What if they developed additional restaurant concepts out of
their existing menu, leveraging their ingredients and opera-
tions to widen their presence on delivery apps?
That idea became a reality recently as Dog Haus devel-
oped The Absolute Brands, a portfolio of eight virtual brands
istock.com / LeoPatrizi

36 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com

 oFF-PreMISeS creatIVItY

Restaurants are thinking way outside the box

with their menus and branding as they learn
to game the off-premises system.
/ BY KeVin hardY

www.qsrmagazine.com | QSR | may 2020 37

oFF-PreMISeS creatIVItY
to operate out of its kitchens—requiring only minimal changes
to its food mix. now customers ordering food from Bad Mutha
Clucka and Bad ass Breakfast Burritos are actually ordering
from Dog haus, even if they might not realize it.
and while that idea was in development months ago—
intended for a soft launch in May and then wider system roll-out
early next year—Dog haus expedited the launch in response
to the coronavirus pandemic. indeed, restaurant brands were
already beginning to blur the lines between real and virtual
concepts, maximizing kitchen space while also gaming the off-
premises system. now that restaurants are relying almost entirely
on off-premises in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak,
this virtual innovation is all the more important.
“i think of it like, ‘Do not break glass unless there’s an emer-
gency,’ and we grabbed the mallet and broke the glass,” says
Dog haus cofounder andré vener. “We needed to find some-
thing that would help franchisees at least recoup … part of their
losses from this coronavirus.”
The thinking behind The absolute Brands goes like this:
Platforms like DoorDash and Uber eats only allow restaurants
to identify a few searchable keywords. Dog haus has selected
key terms like burgers, hot dogs, and Americana. Those are great for
much of the menu, but they don’t do anything to draw a user
who’s looking for something like a chicken sandwich. By cre-
ating the Bad Mutha Clucka virtual brand around its chicken
sandwiches, Dog haus maximizes the company’s exposure on
delivery apps with virtually the same amount of effort from
employees in the back of house.
some of Dog haus’s virtual concepts, including Bad ass
Breakfast Burritos, don’t serve existing menu items, and required
a few new sKUs. vener says customers won’t see these brands
outside of the virtual world. “you will not be able to go into a
Dog haus and get that food,” he says. “We don’t want to con-
fuse people.”
The underlying premise behind the shift is reminiscent of
the evolution of food trucks, which allow chefs to test a concept
without the expense of a full brick-and-mortar restaurant. Dog
haus will likewise experiment with its emerging brands. some
ideas may eventually evolve into standalone restaurants. Others
could quickly fade away. But all require only a modest initial
PRIOR TO THE CORONAVIRUS, RED ROBIN WAS
TESTING A PARTNERSHIP WITH DONATOS PIZZA
THAT BOOSTED ITS OFF-PREMISES BUSINESS.
38 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com
investment in a landing page and some marketing.
“We can add and drop these virtual restaurants with a click,”
vener says. “you can just turn it on and off.”
at a time of upheaval in the restaurant industry, it’s no sur-
prise that brands have adopted new strategies to exploit the
off-premises business. That’s what drove the development of
ghost kitchens two or three years ago, too; they allowed oper-
ators to concentrate efforts in a small, cost-effective kitchen at
a time of high rents.
“you’ve got to be creative and try something,” says Dan
Flesichmann, vice president of Kitchen Fund, which invests in
early-stage restaurant concepts. “you need to be owning the
digital channel and the delivery piece.”
While the ghost-kitchen concept has earned plenty of ink,
Flesichmann thinks the idea might have been overhyped. That’s
because the unit economics don’t always prove out. Labor costs
still quickly piled up in expensive cities like new york and san
Francisco. Fleischmann says operators often need to offer mul-
tiple dayparts to recoup those investments in ghost kitchens. as
evidence of the challenges, he pointed to Kitchen United’s first
ghost kitchen in Pasadena, California: a majority of the first
brands to open shop there didn’t last a year. Likewise, early
ghost-kitchen pioneers Munchery, Maple, and spoonrocket
collectively raised nearly a quarter of a billion dollars, “and
they’re all gone,” he says.
in the last few years, Fleischmann says, he’s witnessed a
wave of existing restaurants spinning off into virtual brands.
But existing only in the world of third-party apps isn’t neces-
sarily easy. With a traditional restaurant, the real estate helps
build brand awareness, as customers might pass a space and
its signage multiple times per day. and once social-distancing
restrictions are in the rearview mirror, people will likely be
eager to dine in restaurants once again.
The ability to spin off new virtual concepts empowers oper-
ators to diversify their lineups. But it can be difficult to build
credibility in a new cuisine. after all, how much does a sub shop
know about making burritos?
Wow Bao developed a new off-premises platform that focuses
on its core product offering. it recently launched a new plat-
form where it signs resale agreements with other restaurants
DoNatos Pizza / eric WaGNer PHotoGraPHY, reD roBiN / mark BaLLoGG
oFF-PreMISeS creatIVItY

WITH A FEW PIECES OF

EQUIPMENT AND FROZEN
PRODUCT THAT’S DISTRIBUTED
NATIONALLY, ANY KITCHEN CAN
BECOME A GHOST KITCHEN
SERVING WOW BAO’S MENU
ITEMS FOR DELIVERY.

and offers them a miniature concept built around its asian bao
buns. With just a few pieces of equipment and a box of its fro-
zen product, just about any store with a kitchen can start selling
Wow Bao buns out the back door to third-party delivery driv-
ers, president geoff alexander says.
“We believe that any kitchen can be a dark or ghost kitchen,”
he says.
similar to Dog haus, Wow Bao had been developing the
platform for several months, but it became even more impor-
tant in the wake of the coronavirus. The brand established its
first delivery-only presence in san Francisco in March after
several weeks of testing in its home market of Chicago.
“We saw this as an opportunity to help restaurants that sit
on the breakeven threshold, and could assist them in gaining
topline sales and strong bottom lines,” alexander says. “With
the rise in delivery due to COviD-19, we are prepared to help
restaurants now more than ever.”
With no need for a hood, even a doughnut or ice cream shop
could dabble in the asian concept. While it’s operationally a
breeze—partners need only to steam the frozen product and
package it—some were hesitant about the marketing required
to introduce a new brand. so the chain worked with third-party
apps to secure top rankings upon rollout and invested in tar-
geted social media advertising.
Operators need only invest about $2,000 to participate. That
should produce margins of 30–40 percent. Wow Bao’s goal is
for operators to do $2,000 a week in sales.
“if you have a restaurant and you can make another $75,000
or $100,000 on the top line, you just paid for a manager,” alex-
ander says. “it’s a game changer we think we’ve created.”
in 2018, FaT Brands, parent company of Fatburger, Bonanza
steakhouse, and Buffalo’s Cafe, acquired the hurricane grill
& Wings chain. since then, Fatburger has started integrating
the hurricane grill concept into about 25 existing Fatburger
stores—but only as a virtual option available on delivery apps.
That allowed the company to introduce its predominantly
east Coast hurricane’s concept into new markets without
investing heavily in new stores. and it instantly doubles the
local market presence on third-party apps without introduc-
ing an untested concept.
“it takes a lot of hard work to build a brand, build a repu-
tation, and build loyalty with customers,” says Jake Berchtold,
director of operations for FaT Brands’ fast casual division.
Delivery has proven essential in recruiting new customers;
Berchtold says about 70 percent of third-party app customers
were new to the brand at the beginning of this year. and prior
to COviD-19, some locations were doing as much as half of
all sales through delivery. “it’s been a game changer,” he says.
Like with other delivery orders, the virtual brand delivers
incremental sales growth without substantially changing the
WoW Bao (2) / WHitNeY HsieH PHotoGraPHY

cost includes onboarding, training videos and reference manuals,
supply chain assistance, third-party assets, four pieces of equip-
ment, and opening a packaging order. if the partner already
has the equipment, the initial cost is much lower.
Wow Bao lets its partners set prices. in no time, a pizza or
burger joint could diversify its business—and add new incre-
mental revenues. The company believes correctly operated units
basic operating costs of each unit. Fatburger is making similar
moves into multi-operator ghost-kitchen spaces, which Berch-
told says will help expand into new high-profile markets without
a huge capital investment.
Traditional store designs continue to evolve. FaT Brands
uses a modular design for both the front and back of house,
which will allow for easy reconfiguration down the road. “We

40 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com

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oFF-PreMISeS creatIVItY
kind of joke internally: Today we’re designing restaurants to
meet these drivers for third-party apps,” he says. “Tomorrow
or next year it could be drone delivery.”
as ubiquitous as mobile delivery has become, the future
of those technologies remains uncertain, says hetal Pandya,
founder of edison Trends, an ecommerce intelligence com-
pany that tracks food delivery sales.
“stuff is getting really fluid and restaurants are getting really
smart,” she says.
While restaurants must rethink their entire operations to stay
competitive with delivery, profitability for some of the biggest
third-party apps remains elusive. Pandya expects more of the
big quick-service chains to explore their own in-house delivery
models to avoid the steep fees charged by third-party providers.
at casual-dining brand red robin, off-premises sales were
steadily rising through 2019—from about 6 percent of all sales
in 2017 to about 12.4 percent last year. The company invested
in new packaging with better ventilation to preserve the integ-
rity of tricky-to-deliver burgers and fries.
But that wasn’t enough. Last summer, the brand started serv-
ing Donatos Pizza in select stores. The partnership promised
benefits for both brands. it allowed Ohio-based quick serve
Donatos to enter new markets by capitalizing on red robin’s
vast store footprint. and it gave the burger chain major menu
diversification, with a tried-and-true delivery product.
“There’s a strong trend of guests expecting to be able to get
product where, when, and how they want it in their homes,” says
Jonathan Muhtar, chief concept officer at red robin. “every
restaurant brand is exploring different, innovative, unique ways
to be able to increase access to guests wherever they may be.
We are looking at all options.”
RISE SOUTHERN
BISCUITS & RIGHTEOUS
CHICKEN SPUN OFF
A BRAND CALLED
TACO CLOUD THAT’S
AVAILABLE FOR
DELIVERY ONLY.
42 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com
in tests, the move helped red robin drive higher returns per
square foot of kitchen space. The most expensive real estate in
the kitchen is under the hood—a space that Muhtar says was
underutilized in many stores. so red robin put its new pizza
ovens there.
The burger chain considered creating something like a new
pizza line on its own, but decided to rely on a trusted brand
rather than spend months toiling in r&D for products that
would then have to build awareness with customers. Donatos’
preparation process and frozen dough made it easy to imple-
ment, and stores can use some of their existing sKUs for both
brands’ products—the same onions can top both burgers and
pizzas, for example.
The partnership was working prior to the coronavirus
outbreak. at stores with both pizza and burgers, the mix of
off-premises was disproportionately higher than in stores with
only the traditional menu. and while red robin expected to
put pizza in nearly all its stores by 2022—and possibly consider
other partnerships that further diversified the menu, too—the
company was forced to suspend the campaign in March as part
of cost-cutting measures post-coronavirus.
For rise southern Biscuits & righteous Chicken, the bis-
cuits have always been king. That’s helped grow the breakfast
and lunch concept to 16 locations in six states—but it’s come at
a cost. “We’ve never been able to really incorporate the chicken
sandwich into the rise concept,” says founder and CeO Tom
Ferguson, “because people have a preconceived notion that
we’re only about biscuits.”
That dynamic pushed rise to spin off a chicken-sandwich
concept that lives only on delivery apps. it’s aimed at gaining
more mobile exposure and building up the lunch daypart—all
while using existing menu items.
“With delivery, we’ve always known we had this space in
the afternoon to do something else,” Ferguson says. “so we
thought we could put another brand there and piggyback.”
rise took the idea further with the introduction of a vir-
tual-only breakfast taco concept, Taco Cloud, that could
be added into existing kitchens with few additional ingre-
dients. Delivery can account for as much as half of all sales
at some stores, Ferguson says, but the fees charged by third-
party services can cut deep into margins. he hopes the
addition of virtual-only concepts can boost overall sales
without significantly increasing labor costs.
“We’re set up in a way for this,” he says. “you have to
combat the delivery fee; it’s a new line item that’s not really
been around awhile. That line was never there before and
rise soUtHerN BiscUits & riGHteoUs cHickeN / taco cLoUD,
it’s never going to change. it’s only going to grow. ... so i
think you’re going to see this happening a lot.”
But rise’s foray into virtual-only brands is just a test.
and Ferguson isn’t sure that his brand—or any other—
has found the answer.
“it’s brand-new territory, so where it ends up, who knows,”
he says. “it really has to do with who figures out delivery
first.” q
Kevin Hardy is a regular contributor to Food news media and based in Kansas City.
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PaPa JoHn’S tUrnaroUnd

Better Culture,
Better Plan, Better
Papa John’s?
New leadership at the pizza chain is doing its best to make sure the
sins of its founder are kept in the past.
/ BY BarneY WoLF
PaPa JoHN's / BUsiNess Wire

44 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com


“B
etter ingredients, better pizza” may still be the tagline
at papa John’s, but almost everything else at the com-
pany has been changing as the pizza chain continues its
turnaround from a business slump that followed controversial
statements and an exit from founder John Schnatter.
Although this new course is in its early stages—and will
indelibly be affected by the coronavirus—the direction under
new ceO rob lynch is unmistakable: three consecutive quar-
ters of same-store sales growth, increased revenues, fewer
store closings, streamlined management, and strong prod-
uct introductions. margins in the last quarter of 2019 recorded
their highest jump in more than a decade, and the compa-
ny’s stock price rebounded to its best level since 2017. prior
to cOvid-19, the company projected same-store sales growth
PaPa JoHn’S tUrnaroUnd
papa John’s committed to hiring
20,000 new team members
after covid-19 decimated the
restaurant industry and turned
renewed focus on delivery.
this year of 2.5–5 percent. And while that might be lower now
post-pandemic, papa John’s remained in the black in Q1, even
with coronavirus striking mid-way through.
“the reality is that what is happening here is amazing, and
the work going on to transform this company is something
everyone is proud of,” says lynch, a brand marketing expert
who joined louisville, Kentucky–based papa John’s in August
after serving as president at Arby’s. Still, he says the turn-
around is in its “very early” stages.
At the heart of the turnaround is a multipronged effort
that includes repairing the company’s culture, boosting unit
economics, focusing the brand’s positioning around better
ingredients, using technology more effectively, and, eventu-
ally, growing the store base.
www.qsrmagazine.com | QSR | may 2020 45
PaPa JoHn’S tUrnaroUnd
PARTING WITH THE PAPA
Papa John’s problems have been well docu-
mented. The company, which recorded strong
growth in the mid-2010s, was seeing slowing
sales in late 2017 when its founder and then-
CeO and chairman John schnatter criticized
leadership of the national Football League,
which Papa John’s sponsored, over player pro-
tests during the national anthem, in essence
blaming the movement for lackluster pizza sales.
Within days, the company’s stock slid 12 per-
cent, a result of both projected softening sales
and public criticism of schnatter. Within a few
weeks, schnatter was out as CeO.
The sales slowdown and accompanying stock
decline accelerated the following year. shares
that traded at over $90 apiece in 2016 slid to
below $50 by mid-2018. The stock fell further in
July of that year after it was reported that schnat-
ter used a racial slur in a conference call with a
marketing agency. he soon left the company as
chairman, too. Once the largest shareholder of
his namesake enterprise, schnatter, who began
the business in 1984 and took it public in 1993,
began reducing his stake after reaching a legal
settlement with Papa John’s. his ownership—
about 30 percent at the time—stood at 6.1
percent in February. These days, his name and
face, which graced everything from Papa John’s
advertising to its pizza boxes, have been virtu-
ally eliminated from any company material. he
has occasionally lobbed insults and allegations
at the company, which rarely responds.
having one individual be the centerpiece of
an enterprise can be a major problem when that
person incurs a negative reputation or business
goes south, says Timothy Calkins, clinical pro-
fessor of marketing at northwestern University’s
Kellogg school of Management.
“Papa John’s was unique because he was so
front and center,” Calkins says. “it becomes hard
to separate the brand from the individual and
… to change the brand positioning and sepa-
rate it from the individual.”
REBUILDING TRUST
as the company works to move past schnatter,
a large part of the effort to right the ship has
been rebuilding the mutual respect and trust
between the company and its franchisees, who
were hit hard by the sales slump that plagued
the brand since 2017.
Franchise sales increased in Q3 and Q4 of
2019. “it takes time, but in a few short months
… i feel we have made a ton of progress,” Lynch
46 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com
says. at a Franchise advisory Council meeting
in February, store owners “were asking a lot of
questions, and we were giving them real answers.
That fosters great discussions.”
Franchisee profitability “remains the key focus
CEO /
ROB LYNCH point,” says Lauren silberman, restaurant ana-
lyst at investment bank Credit suisse. noting
that the turnaround is still “in the early innings,”
she points out that Papa John’s has made strides
to boost franchise profit—evidenced with the
improved same-store sales figures—although
that “needs to get to a sustainable level.”
restaurant analyst Peter saleh of financial
services firm BTig research echoes that senti-
ment in praising the steps taken so far. Most of the
improvement ahead “is in their own hands,” he
CHIEF
says. “The headwind they face is the very com-
OPERATING
OFFICER /
petitive environment.”
JIM NORBERG in 2018 alone, nearly 200 north american
stores closed. By this year, when north american
unit closings and openings evened out, the store
count was down to 2013 levels. To help franchi-
sees, the company began an assistance program
in the form of reduced royalties, fees, and com-
missary prices and increased its contribution to
the joint marketing fund. according to pre-coro-
navirus plans, the price tag at the end of this year
will be about $110 million.
For the time being, corporate profits are tak-
CHIEF
PEOPLE AND ing a backseat to building unit economics “to
DIVERSITY
OFFICER / make franchisees successful both long- and short-
MARVIN BOAKYE term,” Lynch says. additionally, the company’s
new chief operating officer for north american
business, Jim norberg, has led multiple initiatives
to improve efficiencies and quality in restaurants.
“We want to drive sales but make that go
hand-in-hand with improving profitability, and
one way to do that is to make operations sim-
pler,” norberg says. This is being accomplished
through improved productivity and efficiencies
being implemented system-wide.
One piece of equipment being rolled out helps
CHIEF with the hardest task in the restaurants: pound-
DEVELOPMENT
OFFICER / ing out fresh dough and preparing it for the make
AMANDA CLARK line. and the new PapaCall centralized order-
taking system and customer-service center will
free up workers in the stores. The company also is
working with aggregators and is embracing third-
party delivery services, especially at busy times.
INVESTING IN CULTURE
One of the most important initiatives affecting
change within the company so far, Lynch says,
PaPa JoHN’s (5)
has been to repair the culture of Papa John’s.
CHIEF
COMMERCIAL some of that began before Lynch arrived, and
AND MARKETING OFFICER /
MAX WETZEL
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PaPa JoHn’S tUrnaroUnd
the intent is to create “a company we can all be proud of and
that celebrates inclusiveness and diversity.”
Papa John’s received a financial boost last year when it gained
an investment of up to $250 million from hedge fund starboard
value, whose chief executive, Jeffrey smith, was appointed the
pizza company’s chairman. and over the past 18 months, Papa
John’s has built a mostly new leadership team at headquarters,
starting with Lynch.
The culture change also extended to employees up and down
its system. in the wake of schnatter’s departure, the brand
image internally had soured. Chief people and diversity offi-
cer Marvin Boakye says company surveys of employees found
that many workers were uncomfortable sporting the Papa John’s
logo away from their jobs. “Over the past few years, not all of
our people were proud to wear it,” he says. “now, more do.
We want our 120,000 [worldwide] team members to be advo-
cates for the brand.”
Workers have established employee resource groups (ergs)
for certain interests. One, for the LgBTQ community, “chal-
lenged us to look at policies” in that area and work to make
sure corporate practices and policies support all team mem-
bers, Boakye says. That led the company to participate in the
human rights Campaign’s Corporate equality index, which
rates workplaces on LgBTQ equality; Papa John’s scored higher
than its pizza competitors. “you start on the inside and use that
to excite people on the outside,” Boakye says.
Papa John’s also added Dough & Degrees, a partnership with
Purdue University offering full tuition for team members’ online
degree programs. Plus it added a low-cost fitness network and
additional health benefits. ( Papa John’s also vastly expanded its
workforce in March, committing to 20,000 new hires to sup-
port delivery after the coronavirus outbreak.)
EMPHASIZING THE PRODUCT
another key to the turnaround is returning the Papa John’s
48 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com
brand to its “rightful place in the market,” Lynch says. The com-
pany is working on more efficient brand positioning around the
“better ingredients, better pizza” slogan, “which has not been
brought to life in a long time,” he says. That means emphasiz-
ing the higher-quality, clean ingredients the company uses. it
also means focusing on creating new products and platforms,
a tactic largely eschewed previously. “We kind of pulled off the
guardrails,” Lynch says.
at the end of 2019, Papa John’s slayed one sacred cow with
its first-ever innovation to its fresh, original dough; the garlic
Parmesan pizza crust had been in the pipeline for years but
was never approved. Lynch says the team pulled the trigger on
this product rather than a new value platform that had been
planned earlier. “i fundamentally believe you can’t win at that
game,” he says of value menus.
The new crust proved to be a success, and the company earlier
this year introduced two additional items: jalapeño poppers and
Papadias. The latter is based on an italian piadina and uses the
chain’s existing ingredients to create a $6 sandwich-like prod-
uct, allowing the company to build its lunchtime business. That
daypart previously amounted to only about 20 percent of sales.
“We have a pipeline full of new ideas that are going to
be brought forward throughout the year,” Lynch says. Pre-
COviD-19, plans called for a new product every two months.
Contributions from menu innovations will be among the
most meaningful sales drivers this year, analyst silberman says.
REACHING CUSTOMERS
Papa John’s also plans to be creative and productive in its effort
to expand and leverage technology, including using data ana-
lytics and engaging better with its 14 million loyalty members.
Marketing is focused on products, and advertising is being bol-
stered by an $8.5 million deal with its new spokesman, retired
basketball star shaquille O’neal, who also joined the Papa John’s
board of directors and invested in several Papa John’s stores.
AS PART OF ITS
TURNAROUND,
PAPA JOHN’S IS
COMMITTING TO MORE
MENU INNOVATION,
INCLUDING THE ROLL
OUT OF PAPADIAS,
PaPa JoHN’s
WHICH ARE BASED ON
THE ITALIAN PIADINA.
 l i c i o u s .
r t a b l e . De
E a sy. P o

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PaPa JoHn’S tUrnaroUnd
BASKETBALL LEGEND
SHAQUILLE O’NEAL
JOINED PAPA JOHN’S
AS AN INVESTOR,
BOARD MEMBER,
AND SPOKESMAN IN
A MUCH-NEEDED JOLT
OF ENTHUSIASM FOR
THE BRAND.
replacing one spokesman with another does carry some
risk, but marketing professor Calkins says Papa John’s didn’t
make the affable O’neal its sole promotional focal point. Much
of the advertising focuses on new products.
Functions like product innovation, menu, marketing, order-
ing, and digital technology have historically had separate senior
leaders, but Lynch’s streamlined management brought those
together under Max Wetzel, chief commercial and market-
ing officer. “The market is changing so quickly, and the way
that consumers engage—the way consumers make decisions,
the tools they use—is changing so rapidly,” Wetzel says. “We
don’t want to put constraints on our thinking about where the
consumer wants us to be.”
The company is moving beyond legacy thinking, whether
with products, efficiencies, or partnering with others. Wetzel
says that means turning over every rock to find new products
or a better way to do something. “There may not be an answer
under every rock, but we’re looking,” he says.
social media and advertising at Papa John’s are working
together like never before, he adds. and O’neal is not being
used as a traditional pitchman, but instead is seen in the com-
pany’s “Better Day” Tv spots visiting his restaurants, engaging
customers, and showing off the food.
MAKING IT WORK
Thus far, Papa John’s is getting more efficiencies out of its mar-
keting spending and an increase in media impressions, says
analyst saleh, adding that the combination of increased media
productivity and menu innovation will drive healthier unit eco-
50 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com
nomics for franchisees.
“There is a lot of low-hanging fruit for management to
pick,” he adds.
Papa John’s brand positioning is the company’s most power-
ful step so far, silberman says. “They are being food-forward
with technology as an enabler,” she says. “By really leading
with food, you allow customers to have a different view of the
company.” Measures like new product innovation, enhancing
the marketing strategy, leveraging the loyalty program, and
enhancing digital platforms and social media are actions Lynch
also took at arby’s, silberman says, and were a big part of the
success he achieved there.
all the initiatives so far are leading up to one final step: unit
growth, especially in north america. “That is the true acid
test,” Lynch says.
in February he hired a top executive at Taco Bell, amanda
Clark, as chief development officer. Clark is now leading Papa
John’s north american and international franchise develop-
ment and sales activity, building design and new concepts, and
the programs supporting existing restaurants.
she calls the ongoing efforts at Papa John’s “one of the great
brand turnaround stories,” noting that opening new units is a
key metric defining the health of a restaurant brand.
For Lynch, all the actions being taken now are meant to
not only provide short-term positive results, but also to build
sustainable, long-term value for Papa John’s and its many stake-
holders. “The world deserves better pizza,” he says, “and we
deliver it.” q
PaPa JoHN’s
Barney Wolf is a regular contributor to Food news media and is based in Ohio.
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coronaVIrUS recoVerY

While restaurant sales were down

as much as 50 percent or higher
for some limited-service brands,
many found opportunity to flex their
well-developed off-premises muscles

Crisis: as a way to stay afloat.

Coronavirus
COVID-19 has upended the entire restaurant
industry in the worst crisis since at least the
/

Great Recession. Here’s a glimpse at how

the industry is responding.
/ B Y q S r S ta F F

ith the outbreak of coronavirus, everything changed for the restaurant

W industry. Many restaurants, particularly in full service, saw their business

almost completely disappear, and some were forced to close. Those
that stayed open pivoted to exclusively off-premises business. And
everybody got a crash course in food safety and employee health.
While uncertainty remains in how long COVID-19 will affect industry sales,
one thing is for sure: Restaurant operators did not take the crisis lying down.
Here are snapshots at how the industry is responding to massive business
slowdown that resulted from the coronavirus, with some practical tips on
what you should be doing, too.

/ / /

CORONAVIRUS HOPE NO. 1 FOR RESTAURANTS: KEEP STAFF EMPLOYED

While thousands of restaurant employees were put out of work by the spread
of the novel coronavirus, some chains continued to hang up help wanted signs.
Pizza hut, Papa John’s, and Domino’s announced plans to hire tens of
thousands of delivery drivers, pizza makers, and managers at stores across
the U.s. as on-premises dining ground to a halt.
“While many local, state, and federal rules are closing dine-in restau-
rants, the opportunity to keep feeding our neighbors through delivery and
carryout means that a small sense of normalcy is still available to everyone,”
Domino’s CeO richard allison said in a news release. “Our corporate and
franchise stores want to make sure they’re not only feeding people, but also
providing opportunity to those looking for work at this time, especially those
in the heavily impacted restaurant industry.
Likewise, Jet’s Pizza, known for Detroit-style pies, announced it was hir-
ing delivery drivers for all of its 386 locations across 20 states. The chain
publicized that out-of-work teachers and restaurant and bar workers could
land positions that pay $13–$16 per hour.
David Falato, an owner and franchisee of stores in downtown Chicago and
austin, says business was down sharply, with no more corporate catering gigs
or downtown lunch traffic. “it’s almost like the Christmas break,” he says.
But with schools canceled to help slow the spread of COviD-19, some
workers had trouble finding other childcare arrangements. The global
pandemic also had many retail and restaurant workers concerned about

istock.com / sHaUNL

52 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com

coronaVIrUS recoVerY

www.qsrmagazine.com | QSR | may 2020 53

coronaVIrUS recoVerY
possible exposure because of their interactions with the public.
“We’re full at this point, but literally 5 minutes before i got
on the phone someone walked out and said, ‘i can’t do this any-
more, i’m going home,’” Falato says. “One person had a child
that was susceptible, so he didn’t feel comfortable coming in.
People are generally just scared.”
Falato says his stores benefited during the great recession
because of the brand’s affordable menu. he expects that may hold
true through the coronavirus downturn and resulting recession
as well, as workers across all industries suffer historic layoffs.
“We’re all going to be hurting for money,” he says. “Pizza
was always meant to be the working class’s solution to a dinner
back in the day when it was created—the poor man’s dinner.”
The national restaurant association predicted total U.s.
sales may decline by as much as $225 billion in three months,
costing as many as 7 million jobs. That grim forecast is all the
more noteworthy considering most operators struggled to hire
earlier this year at a time of record-low unemployment rates.
Jay Bandy, president of goliath Consulting group, says res-
taurant chains flattened their management ranks as they made
cutbacks during the great recession. While many of those orga-
nizations are leaner now, he expects to see similar cutbacks in
home offices as companies respond to rapidly declining sales.
“it’s going to wipe out some middle managers,” he says. This
has already come to pass; at the quick-serve level, FOCUs
Brands and shake shack are just two examples of companies
that have made many corporate cuts, while the full-service side
of the business has seen layoffs and furloughs left and right.
gary stibel, founder and CeO of the new england Con-
sulting group, says the question isn’t so much whether the U.s.
will experience a recession—generally defined as two consecu-
tive quarters of declining gross domestic product—but rather
how long the recession will last. his consultancy predicts the
2020 recession will be deep, but maybe not particularly long
lasting. The nation may climb out of it as early as the fourth
quarter of this year, he says.
“But we will feel a lot of pain between now and then,” sti-
bel says. “and unfortunately, the restaurant industry will feel
more pain than most businesses.”
While few will be spared, stibel says the quick-service space
is well suited to survive this period. With dine-in service mostly
banned, it became obvious that brands that already exceled at off-
premises execution had a leg up in this environment that revolves
around carryout, delivery, and curbside pickup.
“[Quick service] is probably going to do the best because
they have done a better job of everything from drive thru to
pickup to delivery,” he says. “so we think [quick service] is bet-
ter positioned than fast casual or white tablecloth. But it is going
to require even for them a pivot.”
in the meantime, operators should focus on trimming costs
and holding onto their teams. “People first, because they are
what keeps you in business—not your customers, but your peo-
ple, your crews, your staff,” stibel says.
in light of his projection of a short-lived downturn, stibel rec-
ommends brands start preparing now for brighter days ahead.
They can keep tipped workers by moving them to support more
54 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com
robust delivery programs.
as uncertain as these times are, many restaurants are try-
ing to hold onto the staff they have.
Washington, D.C–based fast casual &pizza expanded sick
leave for employees and waived waiting periods for health care
coverage for new employees. The company also increased hourly
wages by a buck and promised unlimited pizza to employees
and their families.
Likewise, Chicago’s Brown Bag seafood worked to support
and retain its 75 or so hourly employees. For the last two weeks
in March, the company committed to paying 70 percent for
hours that workers lost from the business slowdown or for time
needed to care for themselves or family. (after that time period,
the brand was forced to furlough hourly workers and apply for
a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program.)
CeO Donna Lee says the company has built a culture around
open communication. During these times, leaders are working
to calmly make and communicate decisions on how to proceed.
Brown Bag seafood has worked to be there for employees, “let-
ting them know exactly what the plan is going forward with the
information that we know and communicating that to them in
a very human way, not in a way that’s like, ‘here’s a piece of
paper on a window, here’s what’s going on with your life,’” Lee
says. “We brought everybody together to tell them what the
plan was and had something of a town hall, if you will. and i
think that it put a lot of people at ease.”
Zach Flanzman, the company’s chief strategy officer, says
the 70 percent commitment meant hourly workers could, for a
time, count on making their next rent payment. “it’s going to
be challenging for every single restaurant out there,” Flanzman
says. “But a lot of times we don’t have a big challenge going on
and we’re lucky. so when it comes to figuring out what we do
in these circumstances, it’s part of the job, too.” —Kevin Hardy
/ / /
ONE KEY STRATEGY FOR LIFE AFTER CORONAVIRUS
The coronavirus outbreak—and the devastation it wreaked
on the restaurant business—revealed many things to restau-
rant operators about how healthy their organizations were in
normal times. Those companies that couldn’t quickly pivot to
an exclusively off-premises business model and aggressive pro-
motion strategy were the first to fade and even close up shop.
One problem for many restaurant companies was they had
no easy way to communicate personally with their loyal custom-
ers, and therefore couldn’t get the word out about any service
changes, deals, or discounts. But one industry expert says opera-
tors still have time to enhance this part of their business so that
they’re positioned to thrive once coronavirus subsides—and so
that they’re prepared for any future crises.
Zachary goldstein is founder and CeO of customer rela-
tionship management (crm) platform Thanx, which works with
several restaurant companies to personalize their loyalty and
ordering experiences. speaking in mid-March, goldstein was
optimistic that restaurant traffic would bottom out and slowly
climb back to more regular levels as consumer trust in the food
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coronaVIrUS recoVerY
system was restored. But even after social distancing, sales likely
won’t include much dine-in business, at least for the short term.
“That’s going to make off-premises consumption, digital,
and the ability to run personalized communications to your cus-
tomers that represent a large portion of your revenue … critical
muscles for restaurants to be focused on,” he says.
The full-service category, of course, suffered more from the
outbreak than did limited service, mostly because those res-
taurants were so dependent upon a dine-in experience. While
some full-service brands got creative with meal kits, subscrip-
tion services, and gift-card solutions as a way to bring dollars in
even while their dining rooms were closed, it was impossible for
many of them to communicate those special deals to custom-
ers because they hadn’t already built a robust CrM platform.
There’s a lesson in that for restaurant operators who aren’t
prepared to talk directly and personally with their regular guests.
“This is where the [ brands] that seemingly invested ahead
in customer databases, CrM, and loyalty are having a little
bit more success, because they have a direct channel to their
customers and can tell their customers, ‘hey, this is a totally
different way of consuming our food than you’ve experienced
before,’” goldstein says. “They are seeing more success than
the ones that have no direct channel to customers and previ-
ously relied on word of mouth, location, and consistency of
experience. it’s a lot harder to communicate that you’re now
open for pre-packaged meal pickups when the consumer has
never thought of you that way.”
Personalization is also key to strong communication with cus-
tomers. goldstein says the days of blanket, untargeted messages
to thousands of consumers in your trade area are long gone.
instead, restaurants should carefully tailor their promotions
around what they already know about their regular guests—
for example, they should send one message to guests who order
primarily via digital channels and another to those who more
often dine in. Personalized offers have a four to 10 times higher
engagement rate than those that are generic, he adds.
a perfect example of how this can save a business is Chipotle.
The Mexican fast casual struggled mightily in the aftermath of
an e. coli outbreak in late 2015, and the various messages and
promotions it rolled out immediately after the food-safety inci-
dent failed to right the ship. goldstein recalls receiving a mailer
from Chipotle that was addressed to “valued customer”—the
opposite of a personalized message.
But after Brian niccol was hired as CeO in early 2018, the
company redirected its efforts to be more focused on digital
ordering and a loyalty and CrM program. “and over the last
couple of years, those two initiatives have been the no. 1 driv-
ers of their growth,” goldstein says.
even though restaurant operators today are just trying to
keep their heads above water, they should also be thinking
about the long-term and what their companies will look like
in a post-coronavirus world. Brands should understand where
their revenue is coming from and capture data around it, he
says, and they should also own their digital channels rather
than be dependent on third-party platforms that won’t relin-
quish valuable data.
56 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com
“as hard as hard as it is to think about spending energy and
money focused on technology and digitization, we’re going
to see a new normal on the other side of this crisis,” he says.
“That’s a necessity now especially given that we don’t know
how long demand will be depressed or people will be hesitant
to walk into restaurants.”
and restaurants especially shouldn’t make short-sighted
decisions. goldstein points to one concept he frequents that
put a temporary stop on customers using loyalty points they’d
already accrued—a decision, he says, that will likely cost it
loyal guests in the long-term, even if it might help it with cash
flow in the short-term.
“you really need to focus on being positioned to gain on
that upswing, because that’s when winners and losers will be
defined,” goldstein says.
There are silver linings to the challenges posed by corona-
virus. goldstein says the restaurant industry was already well
on its way to a more digital reality, where customers have more
options in purchasing food in ways other than visiting the res-
taurant, and where brands have more data at their fingertips
available to help personalize promotions to guests.
“This is just going to further accelerate some of that
investment in modern technology and in the digitization of
restaurants,” he says. “and that’s not a bad thing long-term
for restaurants, even though this is a little bit—or a lot bit—of
a more painful route to getting there than we would have liked
to see.” —Sam Oches
/ / /
THE IMPORTANCE OF STAYING POSITIVE
The news isn’t very cheerful these days. Coronavirus devas-
tated the economy. restaurant sales immediately tanked. some
companies closed up shop. Many employees lost their jobs or
were furloughed.
Despite all the doom and gloom, one fast-casual CeO is deter-
mined to spread positivity to customers and other restaurant
professionals. anthony Pigliacampo is cofounder and co-CeO
of Modern Market eatery, a fine-fast chain based in Denver
that, combined with sister brand Lemonade, has 50-plus loca-
tions in six states. he’s been leading the charge in promoting
the hashtag #saverestaurants, encouraging both consumers
and other restaurant professionals to double down on support-
ing restaurant businesses so the industry can collectively get
through the difficult season brought about by the coronavirus.
“We’re seeing consumer habits change at a pace that, frankly,
has never been observed,” he says. “There’s no precedent for
this. There’s no playbook. and so we’re just trying to adapt to
it. We keep telling our teams we’re an essential service. … Peo-
ple need to be fed throughout all of this, and you can’t just do
it with the grocery stores.”
he’s hoping people remember that takeout and delivery are
safe ways to eat—possibly even safer than grocery stores, which
are packed with people storing up supplies. he’s also asking
people to spread positivity on social media and promote their
local restaurant businesses, using the hashtag [continued on page 84]
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78 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com

 department

operations

Beyond Tried and True

Rewards programs aren’t just about gaining customer loyalty. In the digital age, they’re also
useful for gathering data.
bY cOnOr mOrriS

L
oyalty programs have come a long way loyalty programs
since the days of the buy-10-get-one-free downloaded to users'
punch card. smartphones give
brands more access
nowadays, nearly every consumer has a to customer data than
smartphone. These devices are one of the easi- ever before.
est entry points for customers to start earning
rewards from brands, and apps have become
ubiquitous among most large fast casuals and
quick serves.
increasingly sophisticated technology also
means brands now have access to more cus-
tomer data than ever before, and are able to
integrate that information into every part of
their business.
Bobby greenberg, svP of consulting with
Kobie Marketing, says that in modern times,
customers want to be regularly and directly
rewarded for their patronage, and with rewards
that fit their tastes.
“With the punch-card concept, you were
constantly earning [points], but you never
really redeem, or redemptions are so few and
far between that it really doesn’t do anything,”
greenberg says. “We want people to redeem
and have that experience of, ‘i’m doing a lot of
business with you and getting commensurate benefits from that.’” into a tiered system in which if they spend more, they earn rewards
greenberg says there are serious perks that come along with more frequently.
offering rewards, mostly revolving around getting customers in “you’re able to incentivize the guest to come back, which in
the door. he says data he’s collected suggests a roughly 20 per- my opinion keeps them more loyal, and you set the reward levels
cent increase in a customer’s overall spending post-redemption based on what you believe to be the biggest drivers of increasing
of a reward. additionally, customers are providing their demo- frequency and traffic,” schulze says.
graphic information by adding their birthday and other data into greenberg and schulze both say that another way to use data
apps, which can be helpful to the brand’s overall marketing and to improve loyalty programs is to analyze visits—when custom-
product strategies. ers are visiting stores, how long they stay, and store location—and
steve schulze, CeO of nekter Juice Bar, says that one of the big then target offers at customers accordingly. greenberg also says
ways brands like his are using data collected from loyalty programs is that data can be used to do the opposite: Brands can target times
through customizing rewards to suit a customer’s purchasing habits. when there’s not much foot traffic in store and then offer rewards-
“Let’s say you like açaí bowls, but we keep sending you a green point boosts, deals, or other incentives to bring people in during
juice promotion … with data collection, i can find out [your tastes] those dead periods.
in a matter of seconds and categorize and put you into buckets as Daisy alvarez, director of marketing at Farmer Boys, a 95-unit
far as what you like,” schulze says. “i’ll specifically send out an quick-service breakfast and burger concept, says another way loy-
offering for a bowl and then usually we’ll add something onto it, alty programs help brands is by creating a two-way conversation
maybe something that might be new.” with customers. The main way this happens with Farmer Boys’ loy-
Farmer BoYs

nekter has taken that data usage to the next level with their alty program is through surveys that are pushed out over its app.
newly revamped rewards program where customers are entered “i think all of our new products come from [continued on page 84]

www.qsrmagazine.com | QSR | may 2020 79


‘Beauty in Drink Form’
In the digital age, Dunkin’ is working to make its menu Instagrammable.
I
n February, just in time for val-
entine’s Day, Dunkin’ rolled out
its Pink velvet Macchiato and
Pink velvet signature Latte. The
beverages—pretty, pink-tinted,
and begging for photos—are just
two of the Dunkin’ menu offerings
that are primed and ready for post-
ing on social media.
The instagrammable drinks
are not only tasty, but they also
provide a direct way for Dunkin’
to earn digital response from
fans. Many of today’s customers
require little persuasion to pho-
tograph their drink or snack for
social media, but a visually pleas-
ing treat can make online posts by
fans all the more certain.
“We create products with
both beauty and deliciousness in
drink form, to inspire all kinds of
self-expression, which is what we
believe social media is made for,”
says Drayton Martin, Dunkin’s
vP of brand stewardship.
Martin gave QSR some tips on inspir-
ing fans to interact on social media through
imaginative, instagram-friendly menu offer-
ings created to deserve a post of their own.
When creating your menu, think about what your
fans want to order
Dunkin’ releases several new food and bever-
age offerings each year, and when generating
the ideas for fresh items, Martin says the
Dunkin’ team is inspired by the idea of what
guests want to post.
“social media is such an important piece
of our brand, and we know our audience
loves to share instagram-worthy food and
drinks, so we’re inspired by that,” he says.
“Most importantly, find out what they’re
already doing with your brand, and use that
as inspiration to serve it up with a new twist.”
80 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com
department
SoCiaL SaVVY
bY r Achel pit tmAn
With this year’s
cious taste, the amazing look, and
valentine’s day showing off their personal order,”
drinks, dunkin’ Martin says. “We also saw fans use
worked to make
the ltos not our instagram filter which turned
only tasty, but [their] world pink, proving this
also visually
appealing to new shade had great shareability.”
push guests By debuting a filter simultane-
to post on
social media. ously with new products, Dunkin’
allowed even guests who had not
yet sampled the blushing bev-
erages to engage with them on
their personal accounts, inspir-
ing a wider social media reaction
than the drinks alone might have
generated.
Monitor social media to get to know
your consumers
aside from direct interaction with
fans and promotion of menu items,
social media (and instagram in
particular) is an excellent way to
tap into your consumers’ likes
and dislikes. Martin says that
Dunkin’ uses social media as a
way to appeal to audiences both
When crafting new food and beverage new and old.
options, Dunkin keeps the potential insta- “We always want to appeal to our loyal
grammability of such items in mind. The fans, while reaching new audiences with a
resulting digitally savvy items lead not only fresh take on culture that turns heads,” he
to increased posts, but also to greater guest says. “That means meeting fans where they
satisfaction. are—in messenger channels, across social,
and working with influencers they trust.”
Plan social media efforts that correspond with new aside from listening to its fans on social
items media, Dunkin’ strives to bring a fun,
When Dunkin’ rolled out its Pink velvet authentic feel to instagram and other plat-
items, the chain also released an accom- forms. staying true to a few key brand
panying instagram augmented reality (Ar) characteristics, yet keeping an open mind
filter. The filter allowed guests to turn their to fans’ wants, helps the chain’s digital pop-
world the specific hue of the new valentine’s ularity.
Day drinks. “at Dunkin’, we are all about bringing
“Many of our fans posted to instagram optimism, brightness, and energy to our
and TikTok to express their excitement guests,” hall says. “[ This] helps to guide
for the Pink velvet Macchiato and Pink and inspire our interactions and personal-
DUNkiN’
velvet signature Latte, alluding to the deli- ity on social media.” q
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82 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com

 department

innoVate

Singled Out
As customers begin to expect sustainable processes from the brands they patronize,
restaurants are working to reduce single-use plastics.
bY AmAndA bAltAZAr

S
ustainability is so important to Just salad Honeybrains is one of
that the brand has its own chief sustain- the brands investing in
ability officer. eco-friendly packaging,
which is not only good
reducing single-use plastics across the for the earth, but can
44-unit chain is just one of chief sustainabil- also bring in the growing
ity officer sandra noonan’s many duties (read sector of eco-minded
consumers.
more on noonan’s commitment to waste-free
living on page 88). aside from being good for
the earth, veering away from single-use plas-
tics could also be a smart move for Just salad’s
business: Consumers, especially young ones,
are increasingly concerned about the waste of
the materials.
according to the “Colleges and Univer-
sities Keynote report” from Chicago-based
market research firm Datassential, 62 percent
of college students say reducing the amount of
single-use plastics is very important, and 59
percent are trying to decrease their personal
use of the goods.
Furthermore, 62 percent of the students said
they use a mixture of disposable and reusable
containers, showing this age group is prepared
to put in some effort to reduce their waste foot-
print. College students may not be the only
users of quick-serve and fast-casual restaurants, but they, along eliminated the need for a plastic lid, which the chain says will save
with the younger students a few years behind them, are the cus- more than 1,200 metric tons of plastic per year. McDonald’s ger-
tomers of tomorrow. many is piloting the reCup program, through which customers
recycling is not the savior it was once thought to be. in 2018, can request a reusable coffee cup. and KFC has also pledged that
China stopped receiving recyclable products from other nations. all plastic-based packaging will be recoverable or reusable by 2025.
The U.s. can’t handle the amount of recycling produced domesti- at Just salad, which is headquartered in new york City, the big
cally, so more and more plastics are ending up in the landfill. and push has been on its reusable bowl program, which saves around
numbers were already low: according to National Geographic in 2018, 75,000 pounds of plastic each year. Consumers purchase a bowl
only 9 percent of all plastic waste ever produced has been recycled. for $1 and bring it back for cleaning and sanitizing. The program
Customers are waking up to these facts and what habits they has an incentive beyond helping the environment: every time con-
can change. This is where restaurants come into play. according to sumers return a bowl, they receive a free salad topping on their
the Plastic Planet Coalition, americans use more than 100 million next order.
pieces of plastic utensils annually, and more than 1 million plas- noonan has big goals for the reusables even beyond bowls, and
tic drinking bottles are purchased every minute around the world. she wants to effect change quickly. “i want to do more than just
These plastics can take up to 1,000 years to decompose, leeching scratch the surface,” she says. “Our business is growing at a very
noxious products into the earth as they break down. rapid clip, so this is the time to do it, before we’re even bigger. The
restaurants are doing their part to reduce the waste. Last year, future is in reusables.”
Burger King announced it would no longer give away plastic toys The benefits of the salad bowl program are four-fold, she points
HoNeYBraiNs

in kids’ meals, saving 320 tons of plastic every year. McDonald’s out; guests feel they are doing the right thing, enjoy a healthy meal
is changing its packaging; its new McFlurry packaging in europe of Just salad’s fresh ingredients, earn a free [continued on page 84]

www.qsrmagazine.com | QSR | may 2020 83

Crisis: Coronavirus / Continued from page 56
#saverestaurants.
he’s asking everyone to order out as
much as possible, even if it’s from your
competitors, and even if you’ve closed your
restaurant. still have an email list? Use that
to promote ordering out.
“We need our food distributors to come
out of this in one piece. We need all the com-
panies that service our restaurants in a variety
of ways to come out of this in one piece,” he
says. “and so anything we can do to educate
all of our guests that … the industry needs
saving, that benefits all of us in the end.”
While there will certainly be a shake-
out in the restaurant industry and many
will close because of this business down-
turn, Pigliacampo says the industry will
be stronger for what it goes through and
the lessons learned. Brands are getting a
crash course in food safety that will pay
dividends in the future, he points out, and
if they weren’t fully invested in off-prem-
ises before, then they are now.
“This event is going to be a forcing func-
tion to have people double down even more
on all of those things,” he says. “They were
the right trends to bet on two months ago,
and they’re even more so the right trends
to bet on now. and i think the industry is
healthier because of that.”
and for those who have had to unfortu-
nately close their restaurants, they should
take the time to consider how to make their
businesses better when they turn the lights
back on, he says.
For now, though, running a restaurant
operation can feel like surviving day-to-day.
But Pigliacampo says restaurant operators
should go on the offensive, taking advan-
tage of knowledge, ideas, programs, and
other resources available to the industry.
Whatever it takes, he says, to get custom-
ers through the proverbial doors.
“get volume through your restaurant;
that’s going to benefit the community at
large more than anything else,” he says.
“short-term problems right now are irrele-
vant. We are the support infrastructure here,
we’re the front lines. We’re giving people
food that they need. so let’s keep doing it.”
For more on what Pigliacampo and Mod-
ern Market are doing to keep positive and
stay open throughout the coronavirus out-
break, stream a podcast conversation with
him at Qsrmagazine.com/coronavirus.
—Sam Oches q into its loyalty program-system.
84 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com
operations / Continued from page 79
surveys,” alvarez says.
For example, the chain released a Bour-
bon Bacon Cheddar Burger in april, the
idea for which rose to the top of customer
preferences after several rounds of loyalty
program surveys. another added bonus
Farmer Boys is seeing from its loyalty pro-
gram? Whenever new menu items are
released, the brand can use the app to push
out that news to customers.
“The last time we launched a new
burger, we gave the top users at each loca-
tion a free burger as a ‘thank you’ for their
loyalty,” alvarez says.
More sophisticated technology in the
area of loyalty programs has also improved
the integration of systems. Zaid ayoub,
founder of 13-unit Mediterranean con-
cept saJJ Mediterranean, says that these
improvements don’t matter as much to
customers, but make a world of difference
for operators.
“We’re launching a new platform that
will allow us to have the loyalty program
not only through the app, but also through
our regular point-of-sale system and the
web,” he says. “it’s all coming under one
platform that we can track.”
That integration will allow saJJ to look
at a variety of metrics, such as what custom-
ers ordered on their first visit, if and when
they came back for a second visit, and what
they ordered when they returned.
That data can also show customers who
don’t return. For these guests, saJJ can
examine their experiences and determine
what to improve so those drop-offs don’t
happen in the future.
ayoub says, for concepts of all sizes, he
believes loyalty programs are the way of
the future, despite the initial costs of get-
ting those programs set up.
nekter’s schulze also thinks loyalty pro-
grams and data collected through them are
going to guide fast-casual and quick-service
restaurants through many of the major deci-
sions they’ll be making in coming years.
“The whole industry is evolving, and
we’ll see where it pans out,” he says.
One potential direction? schulze points
to starbucks, which debuted its first pick-
up-only location in new york last year.
That concept encourages customers to use
their phones, and specifically the starbucks
app, to order, bringing more and more users
q ing waste at home.
innovate / Continued from page 83
topping, and also help reduce waste. “it’s
coupling the joy of eating with the joy of
doing the right thing,” she says.
The program has taken off, and in Feb-
ruary, the chain announced usage of its
bowls had doubled year-over-year. noonan
says it’s been fairly easy to get customers
on board with the program.
The company talks up the benefits of the
bowls and the free topping reward on its
social media, and runs promotions through
the year. When it opens a new store, the
concept also hands out free bowls. “it’s a
constant drumbeat of communication,”
noonan says.
To keep that drumbeat going, Just salad
launched sustainability Champions, an
employee engagement program. selected
sustainability Champions are employees
who are trained at company headquarters,
then placed in stores to keep colleagues
and guests informed about all sustainabil-
ity initiatives.
stella Jean’s, an ice cream store with
locations in san Diego and Costa Mesa,
California, uses only servingware made
from compostable materials. stores hand
out samples of ice cream using metal spoons,
which saves around a million plastic spoons
a year, estimates cofounder and director of
operations steven Torres.
and while compostable materials do
cost more—Torres says the price is about
10 percent more than any other material—
it’s worth it.
“it’s our responsibility to take care of
the environment, not just make great ice
cream,” he says. “some of our customers
even bring their own containers, so reduc-
ing waste is definitely something they’re
interested in.”
it costs honeybrains, a three-location
fast-casual restaurant in new york City,
almost double to use packaging that’s made
of recycled goods and compostable. “We see
it as an investment in the future—not only
that of honeybrains, but also of the planet,”
says Marisa seifan, CeO and cofounder.
it’s also a great educational tool, she
adds. some staff members were in the dark
about composting and the environmen-
tal value of collecting waste. now, seifan
says, several team members have a new
understanding of the eco-friendliness of
composting, and many are even compost-
q

No-Touch Restroom Products
Recent world events have underscored how
important it is to avoid touching surfaces in
public places. That’s why HOSPECO developed
no-touch restroom products, which includes
the Evogen EV3 No-Touch Menstrual Care Dual
Vendor, Evogen EV4 Mini No-Touch Menstrual
Care Dual Vendor, Evogen No-Touch Combination
Receptacle, and Evogen No-Touch Toilet Seat
Cover Dispenser. hospeco.com
Compostable Lids
Eco-Products, a Novolex brand, introduced new
compostable lids for its takeout containers that
are ideal for restaurants and snack bars seeking
environmentally preferable options. The new lids
are made from renewable sugarcane fiber and
are part of the WorldView line. They are made
from sugarcane, a rapidly renewable resource; are
grease- and cut-resistant; and are designed for
strength and style. ecoproducts.com
Marinating Tumbler
Hollymatic makes marinating easy with its HVT-30
Vacuum Tumbler that adds consistent quality to
marinated menu items. This tumbling process
increases yield, tenderizes product, reduces cook
time, and evenly distributes flavor throughout
product whether it is meat, fish, or poultry. Features
include a built-in vacuum pump, a programmable
timer, compact size, and a see-through processing
lid. hollymatic.com
NEW ON THE MARKET
Foodservice Cloths
WypAll Foodservice Cloths from Kimberly-Clark
Professional are disposable cloths that offer 25
percent faster absorption, which leads to less
wiping, a quicker dry, and better cleaning. They
can be rinsed and reused and are compatible with
common chlorine-based cleaners, quaternary
ammonium, and iodine sanitizers.
kcprofessional.com
Canned Cold Brew
Global coffee company illycaffè introduced illy
Cold Brew Ready-to-Drink, a canned cold brew
made with illy’s iconic blend of 100 percent
Arabica beans. The result is a distinctly illy taste
experience: smooth and balanced, naturally sweet
with minimal acidity. At its core are sustainably
sourced beans purchased directly from coffee
producers who meet illy’s industry-leading quality
standards. illy.com
Hinged Container
Anchor Packaging an addition to its Crisp Food
Technologies container line with the new Fry
Baby hinged container. The 6-inch-by-3-inch size
is perfect for a serving of french fries, chicken
strips, nuggets, wings, and other foods. Fry
Baby containers integrate anti-fog in both the
clear base and clear lid to keep food looking fresh
on display for grab ’n’ go and to avoid order errors.
314-822-7800 ext. 3755
Napkin Dispenser
Tork Xpressnap Fit has the same core benefits
as Tork Xpressnap, such as one-at-a-time napkin
dispensing and an enclosed dispenser. Adding
to this, the new system has a smaller footprint
and was developed to better work in fast-casual
restaurants with limited space. The Tork Xpressnap
Fit creates less waste and needs to be refilled less
often than traditional napkin dispensers.
torkusa.com
Self-Disinfecting POS
Proximity Systems and ENS Group announced a
partnership in the development of self-disinfecting
point-of-sale products. The innovative solution
leverages Proximity›s next-generation UVC
disinfection technology, UV-CLEAN, combined
with ENS’s tablet, kiosk, payment terminal,
self-checkout, and POS solutions.
ens-co.com/contact-us/
Chicken Burger and Sausage
Brakebush introduced its all-natural, fully
cooked Chicken Breakfast Sausage Pattie and
Quarter Pound Flame Grilled Chicken Burger.
The 1.8-ounce pattie is perfect for biscuits and
English Muffins and delivers 40 percent less fat
than pork sausage. The Chicken Burger is juicy,
tender, and coarse ground.
brakebush.com
www.qsrmagazine.com | QSR | may 2020 85

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franchise forward / continued from page 29
accurate Franchising. “There’s no way that
you could support opening up that many
locations, because finding locations in itself
is difficult. … it takes a long time to build
that team and that infrastructure.”
Libava seconds Lee’s advice, and says that
huge volume growth in the first two years
is a warning sign. While the hype is under-
standably alluring, inexperienced franchisees
are the ones most likely to get caught up in
fast-growing, “hot” brands.
“When you see a brand that’s growing,
it’s exciting, and us humans tend to let our
emotions get in the way of things,” Libava
says. “it’s OK to be excited, but don’t skimp
when you do the research.”
Wiederhorn says the lack of restaurant
franchise experience in Burgerim’s owner-
ship was a point of concern.
“Clearly, their sales organization was
off the charts, but this thing was a sales
machine without operational support and
the financial wherewithal to support the
franchisees,” he says.
Turning the disaster around
after the dust settled on Burgerim’s recent
blow-up, franchisees were left to pick up
the pieces. Libava says that those who are
still Burgerim franchisees—even those with
successful stores—should consult a fran-
chise attorney to see what their options are
going forward.
Wiederhorn advises Burgerim franchi-
sees with existing stores to consider seeking
out other franchisors. “you’ve already built
a restaurant, you have a lease obligation, so
see if there’s a direction you can pivot to that
works for you,” he says.
FaT Brands has reached agreements with
about six franchisees to convert their stores,
and is in discussions with approximately a
dozen more. Those select Burgerim locations
will convert into one of FaT Brands’ con-
cepts—Fatburger, elevation Burger, yalla
Mediterranean, hurricane grill & Wings, or
Buffalo’s express. The transformation pro-
cess for the former Burgerim units is fairly
straightforward, and Weiderhorn says other
brands can do the same.
“you just feel bad for the people affected,”
he says. “These are all mom-and-pop oper-
ators. They’re not big multiunit franchisees.
i’m sure many of them have borrowed
money, signed leases, made personal guar-
antees. … They’re suffering here.” q dynamic process; it’s a lot of fun.”
ones to watch / continued from page 31
immediately raised the stakes for Dave’s,
and brought needed experience to the
brand.
This newly added experience will be
bolstered by the franchisees joining the
company. Phelps says the brand is look-
ing for franchising partners who already
have a considerable amount of experience.
“We’ve set a very high bar. if you’re not a
multiunit franchise operator, we won’t con-
sider you as a candidate,” he says. “We’re
gathering people who have a great track
record in this industry.”
The original founders are still on board
as franchisees and retain 50 percent own-
ership of the company. This combination
of Dave’s creators plus a seasoned CeO
and experienced investors and franchi-
sees results in a perfect balance for growth.
Phelps says the founders bring a feel for
locations and a gut instinct for Dave’s mar-
keting to the table, evidenced in the chicken
chain’s large social media following.
“you never know how it’s going to
work out between founders, investors, and
experienced operators,” he says. “But the
relationship couldn’t be better for us.”
Though the chicken space is a crowded
and competitive category, the Dave’s team
has high hopes and little fear for the future.
Customers continue to seek out chicken, and
hot chicken in particular has taken off as
of late. Plus, Dave’s offers customizability
and an upscale fast-casual experience—
two factors that appeal to today’s diner.
The food also travels well; 45 minutes
to one hour after cooking, Dave’s chicken
maintains its original moisture and heat,
Phelps says. right now, the brand primar-
ily delivers via DoorDash and Postmates,
but it plans to partner with various services
as it grows across the U.s.
While delivery is already popular for
Dave’s five locations, that doesn’t mean that
in-store traffic isn’t booming. in fact, Phelps
says the chain has a “high-class problem”:
some stores are too small to accommodate
their high customer volumes. newer restau-
rants are being planned to accommodate
the chain’s popularity both in-store and
off-premises as the concept plans to spread
across the nation and the globe.
“This is a really good problem to have,
and we think we’re planning well for the
future,” Phelps says. “it’s a very exciting,
q
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www.qsrmagazine.com | QSR | may 2020 87

 BaCK paGe

Start to finiSH

Sandra Noonan
Chief Sustainability Officer
JUST SALAD

What was your first job?

I was a waitress at a bar-
becue restaurant in high
school.
What’s your favorite
menu item at Just Salad?
It’s probably a three-way tie
between the Keto Zoodle
Bowl, the Sweet Valley Salad,
and the Tokyo Supergreens
Salad with tofu.
What’s your favorite
cuisine aside from salad?
I’ve been adopting a vegan
diet in the past several
months, so my favorite thing
to eat right now is a home-
cooked meal with lots of
vegetables.
Who inspires you as a
leader? I’m inspired by en-
trepreneurs who have built
businesses around the zero-
waste movement, including
Lauren Singer, the founder
of Package Free; Tom Szacky,
the founder of TerraCycle

and head of Loop; and, of
course, Just Salad’s CEO Nick
Kenner.
What’s the best piece of
advice that other industry
executives should hear?
The advice I give myself is to
be bold and think big, be-
cause we don’t have time to
waste in solving the climate
crisis. I think, within the res-
taurant industry, sustainabil-
ity directors can play a big
role in reducing our carbon
footprint.
What are some of your in-
terests outside of work?
I spend a lot of time organiz-
ing events for Zero Waste
NYC, a Meetup group I
founded in 2019. I also
spend a lot of time living a
zero-waste lifestyle. Fitness
and cooking are also two big
parts of my life.
A
s a child, i read a book about saving the
planet that inf luenced me very deeply.
That led me to recycling and thinking
about my waste footprint at a young age. in sixth
grade, i proposed a recycling program to my
school principal and helped launch and operate it.
as an adult, i have remained interested in how
waste is managed. i’ve also always been inter-
ested in healthy eating.
Before Just salad, i worked at the institute
for sustainable investing at Morgan stanley and
immersed myself in sustainability research and
thought leadership. i became a superfan of Just
salad. i was such a fan that i connected with
the company and started having a conversation
with them about the significance of the reusable
bowl. Over time, the relationship developed into
a professional one. it was really a wonderful and
natural progression from being a loyal customer
to the brand’s chief sustainability officer.
at Just salad, we’re trying to lead a paradigm
shift toward less waste and what we call conve-
nient sustainability. in a year, americans use 41
billion units of plastic cutlery. That’s about 137
pieces for every american. We use about 10.6 bil-
lion disposable plates and bowls in a year, which
is a total of 150,000 tons of waste. so Just salad’s
reusable bowl program is a really well-established
system that allows us to be part of the solution
to this single-use disposable waste. Our program
also delights our guests by offering an additional
topping when you bring in a reusable bowl. so
we’re combining a guest rewards program with
a waste reduction program; that’s the kind of leg-
acy we want to leave as a business.
The most challenging and also the most
rewarding part of my job is figuring out pre-
cisely how Just salad will realize its zero-waste
roadmap. We have set out to go zero-waste in
the next couple of years, and there are a lot of
challenges around foodservice ware, bioplastics,
and compostability. We’re really striving to get it
right and only carry products that help us meet
our sustainability goals.
JUst saLaD

88 may 2020 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com

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