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Forktales
Forktales episodes
- EP 21 / QSR Uncut
- Caribou coffee is starting a subscription program
- Taco Bell is testing a subscription service in Arizona
- Clean Juice and Urban Plates are testing out subscription services as well
- Wendy’s is launching a Friday Freebies in October – every Friday, with the purchase of a medium fry, you unlock a free deal. There’s also a $0 delivery fee in the month of October.
- Internal Branding & Marketing to employees
- Understanding what your brand means
- Why does it matter?
- Follow up and deliver on your promises as a brand
- Dutch Bros. Coffee lives this
- Yellow Pages is an example of a company that failed to recognize a cultural shift
- Tater tots are not fries!
Quotes- “The McRib is one of those sandwiches that we all remember where were when we first ate it whether or not it a was a good or bad experience” -Danny
- “You can get customers onto loyalty, but how do you keep them?” -Danny
- “Now more than ever it’s become very clear how important marketing internally is” -Joseph
- “The restaurant industry has long been one of those industries where you can enter the workforce no matter what your background is and yet you can also still climb the ladder” -Danny
- “Great service is a by-product of a strong, real, authentic culture that people have bought into” -Joseph
- “It cannot be understated the importance of brick and mortar and having a sign out there that consumers can see” -Ben
- “Dine in is returning and the value of being able to sit in a restaurant is returning” -Ben
- “I think there’s going to be a lot of these virtual brands that burst at the seams and then fall off when people realize that they’re not really much more beyond what the gimmick may be” -Danny
- “It definitely does feel like you’re narrowing your customer reach when you develop a Cheetos flavored wing” -Ben
- Why do brands fail? “I think it’s because they fail to recognize a cultural shift that is beyond trend” -Joseph
- “Are people going to want to eat at buffets post COVID?” -Ben
- “A lot of these restaurants need to have that in their back pocket to reactivate who they were and why they matter to people” -Danny
- “Do not become too much of somebody else in a world that already has too many options” -Danny
54 min - EP 20 / Zack Oates / Founder of Ovation, Lover of Feedback
- Ovation is an actionable guest feedback platform that works exclusively with restaurants
- Named the #1 guest feedback platform in America
- It’s an omni channel 2 question survey
- Custom comps are coming out soon, testing live chat on the website, etc.
- Custom questions in the Ovation app have just launched!
- With the longer surveys, you can send a coupon, you can ask about new dishes, favorite dishes, etc.
- Desert Dorado poem reference… “Listen to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story”
- Zack’s Book — Dating Never Works… Until It Does
Quotes- “Eighty to ninety percent (depending on the brand) of our customers are going to have a five star experience” -Zack
- “It’s not just about getting a good rating, it’s about keeping those ratings coming in” -Zack
- “Online reviews are really critical to every single location” -Zack
- “We all have something to learn from everyone we meet” -Zack
- “It’s so important that we’re able to be open to the fact that we’re not perfect” -Zack
- “When you’re able to empower your staff, Ovation becomes like the superpower” -Zack
- “You get action from people when there is passion; positive or negative passion” -Joseph
- “Unfortunately, it’s really easy to trigger negative passion in this industry” -Joseph
- “One thing that Ovation does is we pick up the people in the middle” -Zack
Background/History- Grew up in the restaurant industry
- Learned early on that the most important thing is the guest experience
- Ovation is Zack’s 3rd startup
38 min - EP 19 / Bobby Shaw / COO of Sheridan’s Unforked, Host of Cutting Onions Podcast
- Wanted to take all the lessons he learned at Chipotle to consult with restaurants
- He learned that he didn’t really want to be an entrepreneur long term
- Book — Cutting Onions
- Had been blogging for several years prior to writing this book
- Cutting onions was a foundational core skill as a team member in Chipotle
- The book is all about leadership lessons learned in the industry
- Currently working on a relaunch of the book
- Available on Amazon or any book retailer
- https://www.unforked.com/
- https://bobbyshawconsulting.com/
- bobbyshaw.me
- Unforked – plan is to build out the rest of the Kansas City market and grow into some other markets.
Quotes- “I understood the value of surrounding yourself with people that were as good or better than you” -Bobby
- “This is all about creating opportunities for people that otherwise wouldn’t exist” -Bobby
- “When I worked for McDonald’s I really learned how to manage, and what I like to tell people is when I made that transition to Chipotle, I really learned how to lead.” -Bobby
- “One of the things we talked about was wanting to change the way people thought about and ate fast food” -Bobby
- “One of the things that I’ve admired about Chipotle is it was built without ever placing an ad or doing much marketing in the traditional sense because there wasn’t money for it” -Joseph
- “It’s not operations here and marketing over here, when you talk about culture, it takes the two of them moving at the same [time], they have to be in lock step” -Bobby
- “I’m a big believer that anytime you teach something, you learn something” -Bobby
Background- Been in the restaurant industry for entire career
- Started career at McDonald’s working in the kitchen and worked his way up to a multi-unit leader.
- Went to Chipotle after McDonald’s
- Worked at Freebirds for 3 years
- Then started his own consultancy
- Currently at Unforked
44 min - EP 19 / Bobby Shaw / COO of Sheridan’s Unforked, Host of Cutting Onions Podcast
- Wanted to take all the lessons he learned at Chipotle to consult with restaurants
- He learned that he didn’t really want to be an entrepreneur long term
- Book — Cutting Onions
- Had been blogging for several years prior to writing this book
- Cutting onions was a foundational core skill as a team member in Chipotle
- The book is all about leadership lessons learned in the industry
- Currently working on a relaunch of the book
- Available on Amazon or any book retailer
- https://www.unforked.com/
- https://bobbyshawconsulting.com/
- bobbyshaw.me
- Unforked – plan is to build out the rest of the Kansas City market and grow into some other markets.
Quotes- “I understood the value of surrounding yourself with people that were as good or better than you” -Bobby
- “This is all about creating opportunities for people that otherwise wouldn’t exist” -Bobby
- “When I worked for McDonald’s I really learned how to manage, and what I like to tell people is when I made that transition to Chipotle, I really learned how to lead.” -Bobby
- “One of the things we talked about was wanting to change the way people thought about and ate fast food” -Bobby
- “One of the things that I’ve admired about Chipotle is it was built without ever placing an ad or doing much marketing in the traditional sense because there wasn’t money for it” -Joseph
- “It’s not operations here and marketing over here, when you talk about culture, it takes the two of them moving at the same [time], they have to be in lock step” -Bobby
- “I’m a big believer that anytime you teach something, you learn something” -Bobby
Background- Been in the restaurant industry for entire career
- Started career at McDonald’s working in the kitchen and worked his way up to a multi-unit leader.
- Went to Chipotle after McDonald’s
- Worked at Freebirds for 3 years
- Then started his own consultancy
- Currently at Unforked
44 min - EP 18 / Scott Conant / Cook, Chef, Author of Peace, Love, and Pasta
- Scott’s new book is titled Peace, Love, and Pasta.
- People always ask “What do you cook at home?”
- He thought it would be a great idea to put it all on paper!
- The thing he loves most about it is the simplicity. The recipes are easy to execute.
- Book Title – for years, Scott has been on a personal journey of self improvement and the title represents where he is and what he chooses to pursue.
- Past has been such an important part of his life and career. It’s an expression of his years of cooking.
- Even if the food experience is sub-par at a restaurant, just sitting and enjoying the company of people that he’s with is what’s really important.
- Future of fast casuals:
- There’s a huge market for fast casuals and FSRs
- There are lots of high end chefs that are starting to do quick service or fast food
- Why is it hard to do Italian quick serve well?
- Needs to be served at the moment of order and that’s challenging
- It’s hard for people to wrap their heads around Italian food as a fast casual component
- Follow Your Bliss – Joseph Campbell
- It is not selfish to pursue your bliss
- One recipe to try in the book
- Risotto topped w/ short ribs
- Would You Rather
- Let Bobby Flay beat you on national television or eat a bowl of red onions?
Quotes- “You could make these recipes your own as you cook them” -Scott
- “The key is to shut it off and just try to enjoy yourself” -Scott, in reference to going out to eat as a chef and having an experience less than what he could have prepared at home.
- “Make sure you’re making the best decisions for your business, for your team and the customers and clients that are coming in” -Scott
- “I think there’s always going to be a place for fine dining” -Scott
- “Pastas just really are one of those long standing comfort foods” -Joseph
- “You’re not going to get anywhere if you’re not hustling” -Scott
- “All I want to do is realize my potential” -Scott
- “If anyone is counting their hours, you shouldn’t be doing it” -Scott
- “Being passionate about something doesn’t always equate to being good at it” -Scott
44 min - EP 18 / Scott Conant / Cook, Chef, Author of Peace, Love, and Pasta
- Scott’s new book is titled Peace, Love, and Pasta.
- People always ask “What do you cook at home?”
- He thought it would be a great idea to put it all on paper!
- The thing he loves most about it is the simplicity. The recipes are easy to execute.
- Book Title – for years, Scott has been on a personal journey of self improvement and the title represents where he is and what he chooses to pursue.
- Past has been such an important part of his life and career. It’s an expression of his years of cooking.
- Even if the food experience is sub-par at a restaurant, just sitting and enjoying the company of people that he’s with is what’s really important.
- Future of fast casuals:
- There’s a huge market for fast casuals and FSRs
- There are lots of high end chefs that are starting to do quick service or fast food
- Why is it hard to do Italian quick serve well?
- Needs to be served at the moment of order and that’s challenging
- It’s hard for people to wrap their heads around Italian food as a fast casual component
- Follow Your Bliss – Joseph Campbell
- It is not selfish to pursue your bliss
- One recipe to try in the book
- Risotto topped w/ short ribs
- Would You Rather
- Let Bobby Flay beat you on national television or eat a bowl of red onions?
Quotes- “You could make these recipes your own as you cook them” -Scott
- “The key is to shut it off and just try to enjoy yourself” -Scott, in reference to going out to eat as a chef and having an experience less than what he could have prepared at home.
- “Make sure you’re making the best decisions for your business, for your team and the customers and clients that are coming in” -Scott
- “I think there’s always going to be a place for fine dining” -Scott
- “Pastas just really are one of those long standing comfort foods” -Joseph
- “You’re not going to get anywhere if you’re not hustling” -Scott
- “All I want to do is realize my potential” -Scott
- “If anyone is counting their hours, you shouldn’t be doing it” -Scott
- “Being passionate about something doesn’t always equate to being good at it” -Scott
44 min - EP 17 / Adam Knight / Founder of Knowing Hospitality & Host of Proven Principles Podcast
- Background is in hotel operations. Started in western Canada.
- Knowing Hospitality came about after Adam was furloughed and saw that there was a need for independent hotel owners that didn’t have the capability, bandwidth or desire or to run their own hotels anymore.
- It’s helpful to change the view of restaurants and hotels from profit centers to looking at it as more of an amenity.
- Is this something that will drive room revenue? Will it build room occupancy? What can you build as a story around the restaurant in your hotel? How do you capture the people that live 5 or 10 blocks around you, especially in an urban community?
- Lifestyle hotel brands – Moxy, Aloft, Even
- Where can hotels find incremental revenue?
- Food tribes – if you find a restaurant that’s doing this well and meets your needs, you’ll go back time after time.
- In-room dining – offer things that enhance their experience
Quotes- “The thing that hotel restaurants have working against them primarily is you’ve got a perception issue a lot of the time” -Adam
- “It’s a lot easier to tell a story through design rather than trying to have a generic room that is applicable to the widest audience” -Adam
- “Ideation becomes a lot more natural and innovation becomes more comfortable when there’s a very clear brand strategy that people within the organization and on the teams fully understand and adopt” – Joseph
- “This is where leaders get into a lot of trouble is they think of ideas as right or wrong or good or bad…. The question becomes what lens are you using to evaluate whether that merit fits the concepts that you’re building?” -Joseph
- “People need to do a better job of allowing or empowering patrons to quickly position and categorize the restaurant in their world” – Joseph
- “You can’t complain about falling sales in your restaurant and do nothing to try to elevate the experience and make it a place that people actually want to go” -Adam
- “You can’t just sell all the time, you’ve gotta create value for people” -Adam
- “Hotels have gotten really good at ticking boxes and not good enough at making some statements” -Joseph
36 min - EP 17 / Adam Knight / Founder of Knowing Hospitality & Host of Proven Principles Podcast
- Background is in hotel operations. Started in western Canada.
- Knowing Hospitality came about after Adam was furloughed and saw that there was a need for independent hotel owners that didn’t have the capability, bandwidth or desire or to run their own hotels anymore.
- It’s helpful to change the view of restaurants and hotels from profit centers to looking at it as more of an amenity.
- Is this something that will drive room revenue? Will it build room occupancy? What can you build as a story around the restaurant in your hotel? How do you capture the people that live 5 or 10 blocks around you, especially in an urban community?
- Lifestyle hotel brands – Moxy, Aloft, Even
- Where can hotels find incremental revenue?
- Food tribes – if you find a restaurant that’s doing this well and meets your needs, you’ll go back time after time.
- In-room dining – offer things that enhance their experience
Quotes- “The thing that hotel restaurants have working against them primarily is you’ve got a perception issue a lot of the time” -Adam
- “It’s a lot easier to tell a story through design rather than trying to have a generic room that is applicable to the widest audience” -Adam
- “Ideation becomes a lot more natural and innovation becomes more comfortable when there’s a very clear brand strategy that people within the organization and on the teams fully understand and adopt” – Joseph
- “This is where leaders get into a lot of trouble is they think of ideas as right or wrong or good or bad…. The question becomes what lens are you using to evaluate whether that merit fits the concepts that you’re building?” -Joseph
- “People need to do a better job of allowing or empowering patrons to quickly position and categorize the restaurant in their world” – Joseph
- “You can’t complain about falling sales in your restaurant and do nothing to try to elevate the experience and make it a place that people actually want to go” -Adam
- “You can’t just sell all the time, you’ve gotta create value for people” -Adam
- “Hotels have gotten really good at ticking boxes and not good enough at making some statements” -Joseph
36 min - EP 16 / Jen Kern / CMO of Qu, Host of Restaurants Reinvented
- What makes Qu unique is that they built their entire platform for the modern era, for digital transformation, for forward-thinking operators that understand the value and importance of the technology platform working for them.
- Qu was built as a digital first POS with an API approach
- API = Application Programming Interface. In layman’s terms, it’s a series of commands that says “if you want to speak to me, these are the words to use”
- Qu was built expressly to service the enterprise restaurant industry (fast casuals and QSRs only over 25 locations).
- APIs are natively modern and built to be very easy to integrate and they can integrate with about any system.
- Operators need choices so giving them an API approach makes that possible.
- Qu APIs are native and bi-directional with 3rd party delivery partners
- Qu built a product specifically for ghost kitchens and virtual brands within the last year. One tablet that funnels all orders from delivery partners in one place.
- When IT, Ops, and Marketing are working off of one system with one data set, they can create goals and shared ideas around that.
- Jen’s current read: The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
- If you’re a strong Marketer, you have strong left and right brain
- Simon Sinek – Start with Why
- Your purpose is beyond the food, it’s something bigger
- Restaurant Reinvented available wherever you get your podcasts
Quotes- “Now is the time where restaurant marketiers and marketing as a concept is so ripe for anyone in restaurants to take advantage of” -Jen
- “The APIs aren’t meant to work with one system, they’re built from the ground up to work with any system” -Jen
- “Restaurant operators today have no business pulling data manually and putting it into other systems, they should not have to do that” -Jen
- “Speed, agility, and innovation, that’s what we want to give restaurateurs.” -Jen
- “You just need that one system that’s got that API first and API forward approach” -Jen
- In regards to tactics driving messaging: “By saying that your hamburger is the best, you are in effect, saying to anyone who hasn’t tried it yet that their favorite hamburger isn’t good enough, and that’s not a very good approach” -Joseph
- “Why are you in business? It has to be more than to make money” -Jen
- “Our psyche and our perceptions of our senses do drive the flavor and the expectation of the food we’re eating” -Joseph
42 min - EP 16 / Jen Kern / CMO of Qu, Host of Restaurants Reinvented
- What makes Qu unique is that they built their entire platform for the modern era, for digital transformation, for forward-thinking operators that understand the value and importance of the technology platform working for them.
- Qu was built as a digital first POS with an API approach
- API = Application Programming Interface. In layman’s terms, it’s a series of commands that says “if you want to speak to me, these are the words to use”
- Qu was built expressly to service the enterprise restaurant industry (fast casuals and QSRs only over 25 locations).
- APIs are natively modern and built to be very easy to integrate and they can integrate with about any system.
- Operators need choices so giving them an API approach makes that possible.
- Qu APIs are native and bi-directional with 3rd party delivery partners
- Qu built a product specifically for ghost kitchens and virtual brands within the last year. One tablet that funnels all orders from delivery partners in one place.
- When IT, Ops, and Marketing are working off of one system with one data set, they can create goals and shared ideas around that.
- Jen’s current read: The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
- If you’re a strong Marketer, you have strong left and right brain
- Simon Sinek – Start with Why
- Your purpose is beyond the food, it’s something bigger
- Restaurant Reinvented available wherever you get your podcasts
Quotes- “Now is the time where restaurant marketiers and marketing as a concept is so ripe for anyone in restaurants to take advantage of” -Jen
- “The APIs aren’t meant to work with one system, they’re built from the ground up to work with any system” -Jen
- “Restaurant operators today have no business pulling data manually and putting it into other systems, they should not have to do that” -Jen
- “Speed, agility, and innovation, that’s what we want to give restaurateurs.” -Jen
- “You just need that one system that’s got that API first and API forward approach” -Jen
- In regards to tactics driving messaging: “By saying that your hamburger is the best, you are in effect, saying to anyone who hasn’t tried it yet that their favorite hamburger isn’t good enough, and that’s not a very good approach” -Joseph
- “Why are you in business? It has to be more than to make money” -Jen
- “Our psyche and our perceptions of our senses do drive the flavor and the expectation of the food we’re eating” -Joseph
42 min
About Forktales
From the publisher's feed
A weekly podcast that feeds food and beverage brands with insights, ideas, trends, and anecdotes discussed with restaurant, hospitality, and beverage industry leaders.