Forktales

Thanx is a leading loyalty and guest engagement platform for restaurants. The company, founded by Zach Goldstein in 2011, helps businesses embrace digital purchasing, capture greater customer data, and take action on that information to personalize guest engagement.

Restaurants can take a page from the Delta playbook – which includes the potential for free first class upgrades (a perk that costs nothing to Delta) – including the use of secret menu items. 

Loyalty programs should not be dependent upon an app because most consumers won’t download the app. Instead, the loyalty program should be embedded in the web ordering experience. The app is still useful, as users of a restaurant’s app have high lifetime value. 

Consumers respond to non-discount offers quite effectively. For example, a restaurant can offer loyal customers a VIP experience that allows those customers to try new menu items (along with a non-VIP friend) before the items are available publicly. 

The entry point into a loyalty program shouldn’t be by downloading an app. What Thanx does is builds the loyalty enrollment into the digital ordering experience because 70% of online ordering comes via the restaurant’s website, not via an app.

“The playbook is pretty simple. You need to own the relationship with your customer, because if you sacrifice that to the third party, then you have no control over their lifetime value.” (Zach)

“Loyalty is no longer about just rote rewards programs and discounts and more around personalization. That really matters, because as you deliver more personalization, you become less dependent on discounts as your loyalty mechanism and can still be effective.” (Zach)

“Can you imagine what McDonald’s top one percent customers would do if they had year round McRibs? That’s the type of thing people care about.” (Zach) 

“There are a lot of restaurant leaders who have been convinced that the app is the answer. It’s actually not the answer. It’s one answer to a bigger need.” (Joseph) 

“Data is king. At the end of the day, you have to have data. And there’s no other way in the restaurant business to capture that data unless you have a loyalty program.” (Zach) 

“It’s really hard to drive repeat purchasing if you don’t know who your best customers are. That’s the value of data. It’s a risk to not have it and it’s an opportunity when you have it.” (Zach)

00:00.00vigorbrandingEveryone today I am joineded by my friend Zach Goldstein he is the Ceo and founder of thanks a system that we are going to dig into but we’re going to talk about a lot of other things today too before we do Zach say hello give a little bit of backstory.

00:15.63Zach GoldsteinYeah, pleasure. Really happy to be with you. My background started before thanks and working with restaurants and retailers to to really build customer lifetime value and that has become a passion of mine. Ah, That’s really what thanks does targeted at Restaurants. How do we help them identify where their best customers are and make more of their customers. Those best customers.

00:38.65vigorbrandingI Love it. So a few years ago you you penned an article and I think this this is what really struck me and um, you know serves as a basis for the episode a little bit but that article is called the 4 horsemen of the restaurant apocalypse which of course is a very doom gloom. It’s very like whoa. Um, what does that mean and I think the article centers on taking some lessons from the travel industry and the effect that online travel agencies otas for short had on evolving our

Native Foods is a fast-casual vegan restaurant chain that operates in California, Oregon, Colorado, and Illinois. 

Carin has held leadership positions at Red Robin, Applebee’s and Wendy’s. 

Dealing with an unpredictable supply chain is the biggest challenge for Native Foods 

Native Foods is careful to only use healthy ingredients and avoid ingredients found on many “do not eat” lists. 

Native Foods locations gravitate toward the coasts where vegan and plant-based trends are more popular. 

The Native Foods team tests ads targeted to vegans and ads targeted to flexitarians but marketing targeted to vegans still performs best in driving traffic. 

“Every organization out there – whether it’s plant-based or meat-based – is struggling with supply chain issues. One of the advantages for plant-based restaurants is that we can make anything (we need). We can make any of our products in-house.” (Carin)

“One of the first things I did when I came onboard was reduce sodium levels by 25%. And honestly, they taste better!” (Carin)

“One thing that I’ve been notably ignorant about is that veganism is huge in the African American community.” (Joseph) 

“Vegans are much more adventurous and willing to try new things on the menu.” (Carin) 

“Since you have such a plant-forward concept, the consistency of ingredients has to be a priority.” (Joseph) 

“The innovation that we’ve seen in our chicken substitutes (is amazing). We’ve had guests come across the counter and say ‘This is supposed to be a vegan restaurant! You are serving me real chicken!” (Carin)  

“When the pandemic hit, everyone in the restaurant industry started working well together.” (Carin)

00:00.00vigorbrandingEveryone today I’m joined by my friend Karen Stutz she’s the president and Ceo of native foods and if you are not familiar with native foods yet you’re about to get very familiar. It’s an interesting concept and we’re going to dive into that and so much more on today’s episode before we do Karen say hello and give a little bit of backstory.

00:17.90Carin StutzHey Joseph it’s fun to spent a little time together and thanks for the opportunity to talk about native foods about the industry native foods. We always say we’re kind of the og of vegan restaurants right? We we started back in 9094 long before anybody was really thinking about plant-based food. So. The brand has really stood the test of time we have 12 locations. We’re in 3 states. We’re in California Colorado in Illinois and it’s just the boy what a time to be in plant based dining right now you know any kind of trend that you look you know at what’s going on in the industry top trends top ideas. Plant based this if it’s not number one. It’s usually number 2 so we’re having a lot of fun in this cute little innovative brand.

01:03.93vigorbrandingI love it. So speaking about you first a little bit here. Um you this isn’t your first rodeo and I’m not very convinced that 1 rodeo would be enough to make you a pro anyway. Um, but you’ve held a number of leadership positions. You’ve been at the helm of red Robin Applebee’s wendy’s.

01:09.94Carin StutzUm, true.

01:14.38Carin StutzA.

01:21.70vigorbrandingHow how do you make the transition from brands of that size to a brand that is scrappy growing and the size I think you said 12 Um, and then how do you make the shift from brands that are selling an um, omnivorous offering.

01:23.94Carin StutzNo.

Adenah Note about escaping war torn country. Today, she’s the owner of four IHOP franchises and founder of four restaurants of her own, including three locations of fast casual, farm-to-table, soul food restaurant Cornbread and her newest dining venture, Urban Vegan. 

Adenah opened her first IHOP in Irvington Township, New Jersey at the age of 27, making her one of the youngest IHOP franchisees in the country. Today, Adenah is the second largest employer in Irvington Township. 

Adenah’s grandmother showed her how to overcome adversity to succeed and taught her the value of working hard every day. 

Supporting her community is important to Adenah. She believes that housing is a right and owns and operates affordable housing developments in several communities. During the early days of the pandemic, Adenah opened her restaurant’s doors to help feed kids who were missing out on school lunches while schools were shut down. 

“People talk about luck all the time. Oftentimes I am the underdog. People always look at me and say, “She can’t do this. She’s not capable.” It’s those doubts that fuel me.” (Adenah) 

“I think we have a stigma with underdogs that it’s a bad thing. I would rather be an underdog than a leader. Being an underdog keeps you looking ahead, being a leader makes you look back. You always have to be looking over your shoulder as a leader and looking to see who’s coming up on you.” (Joseph) 

“If I can be more successful, I can give back more (to my communities). I believe that we as a community have to take care of each other. When you have the opportunity to give, just do it.” (Adenah) 

“I learned from an early age (while starting at McDonald’s) that the customer is always right. Another thing I learned was systems. There is a system for everything. So I knew when I started my businesses, we had to have a system.” (Adenah)

“I started in the restaurant space through franchising. Franchising allows someone to come into a system that’s already been tested and join that partnership.” (Adenah) 

“During the pandemic, we were told to ‘support local’ but I reminded people that the McDonald’s down the street is also local. It’s owned by a local family and they hire local people. Support them, too.” (Joseph) 

“If you’re persistent, you will get it. And if you’re consistent, you will keep it.” (Adenah) 

00:00.00vigorbrandingHey everyone this morning I have the distinct pleasure of talking with my friend Adina Byo she is the founder at her own companies of which there are many. We’re going to unpack all of them and all the efforts that Adena has been doing over the years before we jump in adna say hello and give a little bit of backstory.

00:18.60adenahHi Joseph my good new friend I just met with his beautiful new baby. Ah, my name is Adina Bio I am founder and Ceo of Adina Bio and companies and all that means is that we own 8 restaurants we own.

00:23.90vigorbrandingUm.

00:34.28adenahUrban vegans we own four ihopbs we own 3 corn bread which is our own signature restaurants by the way as except for I have I wouldn’t take credit for that. We have real estate in affordable housing. Um I believe fundamentally believe housing is a right.

00:45.61vigorbrandingUm.

00:53.71adenahAnd I’m here as um as a conduit if I was to really say my purpose on this earth as a conit and I’m just grateful to be here with Joseph and just kind of get to know you a little bit that’s all.

01:08.96vigorbrandingThat’s wonderful. Yeah, so you scratch the surface. Um, you’re

Olga is the founder of OLLO Restaurant Loyalty which offers expertise in loyalty and CRM for restaurant chains. The company’s key principle is simple: find out what your guests already like, then give them more of that – at scale – to drive sales. 

Email segmentation works best for brands with larger email databases in excess of 25,000 contacts. When segmenting for clients, Olga prefers to focus on product preference, dayparting, and spend preference. 

Loyalty programs can be an effective way to get customers to share their contact information and share their purchasing information. 

There are many email marketing services and tools available to restaurants. In most cases, if a restaurant isn’t getting what they want from the tool, it’s not because of the tool, but because the restaurant isn’t using the tool correctly. 

“One of the biggest challenges (with email marketing) in the past few years has been the migration of so many people to the Gmail inbox, which has a “Promotions” folder. So a lot of our emails don’t end up as in-box placements.” (Olga)

“The key is figuring out how to become the communication that the recipient wants to open, because you can’t make them. You have to get them to want to do it.” (Olga) 

“A lot of the email systems out there today do what’s called segmentation, and I’ve seen it go wrong. For instance, I get Banana Republic emails. Oddly enough, I get more emails about ladies’ dresses than I do about the stuff that I’ve actually bought.” (Joseph)

“Demographics, I think, are long gone. The only place they have meaning is when you’re trying to find people like me in other areas when you grow in scale.” (Joseph) 

“Email marketing is the most cost effective way to reach people who actually want to hear from you. Any other way of reaching them would cost you more money.” (Olga) 

“It’s not that hard to build email marketing lists, but it’s a shame that more restaurants don’t do it. And once you build the list, you have to do something with it.” (Olga)

00:00.00vigorbrandingEveryone today I’m joined by my friend olga lopetegi she is the head of olo restaurant loyalty specialists and we’re going to dive into email marketing and loyalty and all those things that’s gonna be a great conversation. But first olga say hello and give a little bit of backstory.

00:14.18OlgaUm, hey hey Joseph nice and nice to see you here. So yeah I’m Olga Uppategi I’ve been in the restaurant world for close to 20 years now and I’ve um, worked with large restaurant chains over the years actually started out as ah and a very different australian lawyer and oil and gas. Um, so then he came we came to food sort of very roundab boat ways. Um, but for the last sweep. Almost four years now I’ve been running the loyalty consulting firm called olo consult and what we do with help restaurant chains that have loyalty and cm problems essentially around those chains around those problems with less effort and less resources than they would have to apply in-house. So learned a lot along the way about the restaurant restaurant business and the boat. What are the best ways to reach out to you guys. Lots of opinions. Lots of experience there. So happy to share it.

01:13.32vigorbrandingAwesome! So It’s funny because I’m sure a lot of people who are listening already are like email I know how to do that. We do that already I’ve actually heard it firsthand a number of times but there really is a lot of Theory. There’s a lot of information that goes into email marketing. An

Liquid Death is a canned water company founded in 2017 with the tagline “Murder your thirst”. The company calls itself “a funny water company who hates corporate marketing as much as you do” with a mission to “make people laugh and get more of them to drink more water more often, all while helping to kill plastic pollution.”

Much of the water industry is founded on concepts of purity and seeing that purity in the water, which is why nearly all bottled water is packaged in single-use plastic bottles. Liquid Death aims to change that with its aluminum can packaging. 

Wellness is a big part of its brand mission, including a use as a designated driver drink.  

The water category is largely a sea of sameness, with very little differentiation between various brands. Liquid Death’s success lies in being different from other brands and targeting an audience (younger consumers) that isn’t often targeted by other water brands. 

“Liquid Death is an evil plan to make the world healthier and more sustainable. We’re doing that through trying to replace sugary and unhealthy beverages with water and replacing single-use plastic bottles with infinitely recyclable aluminum cans.” (Andy) 

“The (Liquid Death) brand has so many facets to it, people come into it in totally different ways. Some people love the environmental side of it. I’ve heard people say on podcasts, “Oh that sober water, Liquid Death.” We’re not trying to be that, but we want to support anyone making healthier choices.” (Andy) 

“If you line up the water category, you ask yourself ‘which one of the same do you want?’” (Andy)

“My job as the lead creative is to give everyone creative whiplash. That’s the fun part about Liquid Death. You never know what we’re going to do next.” (Andy) 

“In a world where everyone is trying to build a brand, I don’t think of Liquid Death so much as a brand as it is a character.” (Andy) 

“We all know how a lot of brand managers manage their brands. It is very regimented. But most of us as humans are not one personality all the time. We have idiosyncrasies.” (Joseph)

00:00.00vigorbrandingEveryone and today I am here with my friend Andy Pearson he’s the vp of creative of liquid death before I hop in. Let’s start it off right and crack a nice cold liquid death sparkling water.

00:12.29AndyA yes.

00:15.26vigorbrandingWhile I take my first sip Annie say hello and give a little bit of backstory. Yeah cheers brother.

00:21.49AndyCheers man hey guys. Um I’m as you said I’m Andy Pearson I’m a vp of creative at liquid death which means basically anything that goes out the door that isn’t water is is something that that I kind of look at and and help shape from social ah social stuff we’re doing campaign work signage. Ah partnerships um, merch I mean kind of runs the gamut of basically anything that comes out of out of liquid death goes through me and before that I spent about 13 years on the advertising agency side as a. Copywriter and creative director at a number of um, fairly well well well respectced agencies I guess I’d say but I’m very happy to be a part of liquid death I’ve been there about a year now

01:04.38vigorbrandingUm, love it. Cool yeah, so we’re going to get into it. Liquid death is for the uninitiated I do want to start off with an anecdote of my initiation so I had heard of liquid death in numerous times. Um. You know, ah the high level here is liquid liquid death is a water company and we’ll put nuance on that throughout the episode I was at a t

Wellspring is a health & wellness gift box and care package company providing turnkey solutions for human resources professionals across the globe. The employee-focused kits provide everything from better-for-you snacks to locally curated, specialty brands.

Wellspring’s process starts with a frank discussion with employers to identify areas of improvement to develop a wellness plan that works for the employer and its employees. 

To create its wellness kits, Wellspring also partners with a variety of wellness product manufacturers, including organic, non-GMO, vegan, plant-based and others. 

Culture is important to any company, including restaurants, and programs that make employees feel valued and appreciated can help build that culture. Creating synergy is also important. 

From a fitness perspective, the pandemic affected people in different ways. Some gained weight, some lost weight and some gained half of it back. As we look at life after the pandemic, wellness is important and companies can play a role in helping employees embrace wellness – in all of its many forms – and all of the personal benefits that come with it. 

Wellness can be physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, financial and many other things.

“Right now we’re seeing a lot of companies throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks. We’re throwing all sorts of healthcare in your direction, we’re throwing the Calm app – these are supposed to be the solutions, but none of it is really sticking.” (Andrew) 

“We’re trying to figure out what’s most important to the employee, and at the end of the day it is equipping them with the tools necessary to combat life.” (Andrew)

“Business owners need to understand that the word ‘benefits’ means benefits. It doesn’t mean things that are standard issue.” (Joseph)

“We found that a culture centered around giving and caring for one another is the ringer for culture creation and employee retention.” (Andrew)

“Accountants need to sleep better, sales people need to eat better. It’s hard to approach anything with a one-size-fits-all model. Individualized care is what’s going to be most effective.” (Andrew)

“The goal of Wellspring really is to find that binding comradery that is normally found under situations of extreme duress but finding it instead under situations of extreme wellness and care.” (Joseph)

00:00.00vigorbrandingEveryone today I’m joined by my friend Andrew O’shea he is the founder and Ceo of wellspring and we’re going to have a great talk about the state of the industry as it pertains to employees and teams and camaraderie and all of that. Ah, but before we do that Andrew say hello give a little bit of backstory and and you can tell people what well springs all about.

00:17.91Andrew O_SheaYeah, absolutely well. Thank you again. Joe for having me on here. Real excited to chat with you this morning. My name is Andrew O’shea for those who don’t know me I am the founder and Ceo of a company called wellspring and we provide health and wellness gift boxes and care packages. Ah to provide for employees as a part of a wellness program that is substantive and and make substantive change the the kicker here being that we oftentimes partner through companies insurance channels to help pay for this That’s a little bit about me.

00:48.78vigorbrandingI Love it. Yeah and we have a lot to talk about I think anybody who’s tuned into this episode knows that we haven’t quite cracked the nut on what some people have labeled the great resignations. Others

Adentro is a marketing solution designed to increase guest foot traffic in restaurants. The platform pairs with a restaurant’s in-store WiFi network to help businesses better understand and market to their customers based on customer visit behavior. 

Adentro works similar to how a tracking pixel on a company’s website might identify information about a site visitor and their interests. Using WiFi, restaurants are able to do the same thing because the WiFi is passively detecting devices every 30 seconds. And while that detection isn’t gathering identity information about the diner, Adentro makes that detection actionable by working with third-party channels like paid social, display or CTV.    

Digital hospitality means that every guest experience is measured and everyone gets a personalized experience with your brand. 

Brands often succeed not because they’re spending more on marketing, but because they’re being human and connecting with consumers on a human level.

Adentro is a marketing solution designed to increase guest foot traffic in restaurants. The platform pairs with restaurant’s in-store WiFi network to help businesses better understand and market to their customers based on customer visit behavior. 

Adentro works similar to how a tracking pixel on a company’s website might identify information about a site visitor and their interests. Using WiFi, restaurants are able to do the same thing because the WiFi is passively detecting devices every 30 seconds. And while that detection isn’t gathering identity information about the diner, Adentro makes that detection actionable by working with third-party channels like paid social, display or CTV.    

Digital hospitality means that every guest experience is measured and everyone gets a personalized experience with your brand. 

Brands often succeed not because they’re spending more on marketing, but because they’re being human and connecting with consumers on a human level.

00:00.00vigorbrandingEveryone today I’m joined by my good friend Jason Gabler from a dentro. He’s a vp of sales and although that’s his focus we’re gonna be talking about so many things today that are not sales related so stay tuned and I hope you love the episode Jason say hello give a little bit backstory.

00:17.39JasonHello Joseph hello forktails audience. It’s really great to be here and I’m grateful for the time today I’ve been with a dentro for about None ars I was initially hired as an individual contributor on the sales side and over that time we’ve evolved a lot as a company. Um, focusing on none party data helping our clients and partners leverage that data to drive success for their business and and prior to that I had a background in recruiting and management consulting. So overall primarily in the tech space and and over the last five years specifically with a focus on the restaurant industry and hospitality.

00:50.28vigorbrandingExcellent, Yeah, there’s I think data and technology are I mean the biggest buzzwords in the restaurant industry. Finally I feel like it was something that we sort of talked about for a little while and then the Pandemic just has like stopped everyone in their tracks and like okay now’s the time but it’s it’s safe to say that like.

01:05.83JasonUm, yeah.

01:09.91vigorbrandingWe as humans just all of us we are living in a mobile first society we’re connected all of the time much to the chagrin of my wife and me at times. Um I like had to take the time

Full Course is a restaurant development and investment firm that incubates and accelerates emerging fast casual restaurant brands, focusing on restaurants less than five years old with 1-10 locations. Full Course has a special focus on businesses run by women, minorities and immigrants. 

Cleanliness and creating an appealing dining environment is important. Restaurant owners need to make scheduled cleanings – including annual deep cleanings – a priority. 

Full Course works with designers to help restaurants improve their appearance and atmosphere. They create dining environments that speak to the brand’s story, purpose and mission while avoiding some of the unnecessary costs associated with creating custom materials. 

Full Course realizes that one of the benefits of fast casual dining is that it’s fairly recession proof. Consumers may cut corners on higher end dining during a recession, but fast casual dining is usually always within a consumer’s budget. 

Each Full Course client goes through an initial assessment that analyzes the restaurant’s finances, staff and leadership, marketing strategies and points of differentiation to find opportunities for Full Course to add value. 

“One of my favorite restaurant hacks is when you walk in and you just watch. You watch what the managers do. We all know how to do it by the book, but really great managers are proactive at putting systems in place where there may be a gap.” (Lauren)

“The best ideas come from doing, especially in the world of restaurants.” (Lauren) 

“You can tell how well a place is managed if you just look up at the vents. I don’t know how many times I’ve looked up at the vents and said, ‘Guys, that’s so gross.’” (Joseph)

“We eat with our eyes first and when you walk into a restaurant and it looks like it’s in disrepair, that matters. Those details matter. It shows a letter of care and concern about the environment and a way that you’re creating an experience for customers.” (Lauren)

“We’re very attuned to efficient spending when we’re building out these units. We spend a lot of time and energy designing these restaurants so that they communicate the values of the brand but in an efficient and effective manner.” (Lauren) 

“People will cut spending in a lot of places, but food isn’t one of them. We all need that moment of community. We need that moment to go out and get a break from being at home.” (Lauren) 

“Our staples in the American diet are delicious, but we don’t need another burrito. We don’t need another hamburger. What we need is something fresh and something that is bringing something different to the market.” (Joseph)  

00:00.00vigorbrandingEveryone today I’m joined by my friend Lauren Fernandez she is the Ceo and founder of full course which we are going to unfurl fully in this episode Lauren wont we start by you saying hello and giving a little bit of backstory.

00:11.92Lauren FernandezYeah hi I’m Lauren ah former attorney turned restaurant owner turned restaurant investor and developer and I started full course a little over two years ago it’s been about a 10 year dream of mine to work with. Earlyage restaurant brands and they’re really in their emerging years. Um, when they’re anywhere between one and five years old and somewhere between 1 and 5 units and that is exactly what full course does so we are a fullservice solution for early stage. Fast casual restaurant concepts you can be anywhere from one to None units. We’d love to talk to you. We have a private equity fund that we use to back our inve

Shuckin’ Shack Oyster Bar was founded in 2007 in Carolina Beach, North Carolina, and found success with its laid-back attitude and a menu of oysters, lobster rolls, and low country boils. Today, the restaurant has expanded to 16 locations across North Carolina,  South Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, and Florida,

Jonathan joined Shuckin’ Shack in 2014 and quickly rose to the rank of CEO. In that role, Jonathan got the bar and grill off the ground as a franchise ownership opportunity.

Jonathan and his team market Shuckin’ Shack by looking beyond oysters to promote the experience that the restaurant delivers.  

The integrity of the seafood product used by Shuckin’ Shack is critical to maintaining quality and safety. The oysters often arrive at restaurants within days after being taken from the water. 

Shuckin’ Shack knows that customers value the experience over convenience. The restaurant has made a conscious decision to deemphasize delivery. 

Shuckin’ Shack was able to reduce staff turnover by 38% by placing an emphasis on employee happiness and making some key changes to how employees are compensated and rewarded.

“We’re sourcing product that go into our restaurants that have really high integrity, that taste better, come straight out of the water, into the steamer and onto the plate.” (Jonathan)

“We’re kind of in this right-place-right-time moment. Oysters have become extremely popular, especially in the past five years. You see a lot of places adding oysters to their menus or doing limited time offerings, so for us we view seafood as the way of the future.” (Jonathan)

“(Franchisees) can be difficult, especially because they’ve invested their own money – they’re entrepreneurs as a result – if they see slippage or they see an opportunity to do something cheaper, they love to dive at that.” (Joseph)

“We allow our franchisees some lanes of operation, and that’s really, really important. We’re giving you choices for how you operate within those lanes.” (Jonathan) 

“We aren’t doing a lot of delivery because we don’t have to. We have doubled down on customer experience and we have doubled down on being the trusted source of seafood. We believe that our customers will pull up to our restaurant if they want our food and they have consistently proven that they will do that.” (Jonathan) 

“Some places just suck to work at.” (Joseph)

Papa Gino’s is a restaurant chain based in Massachusetts that specializes in traditional thin crust pizza along with pasta, subs, salads, and a variety of appetizers. As of 2022, there are 81 Papa Gino’s locations in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.

Kevin attributes his 10-year NFL career to helping him develop leadership and management skills that he uses today. 

Papa Gino’s has an immense amount of love and respect from its New England fan base. That passion is fueled, in part, by the quality of the pizza and food it serves. 

Kevin and Papa Gino’s look for vendors who will work with the brand as partners in a longer, continually-involving technological journey. 

Kevin isn’t afraid to admit it, but he’s a pineapple on pizza kind of guy – and so is Joseph. 

“The biggest benefit of my collective background is being able to fit in in any environment. I’ve had so many collective experiences that it allows me to connect with people naturally and organically.” (Kevin)

“Technology is a part of every single department in this organization. You either have a say in this, or the technology is going to steamroll you.” (Joseph) 

“At the core, as long as you continue to deliver quality food and a quality experience, that cult (following) will continue.” (Kevin)

“Pretty much every challenge in a restaurant is being tackled by a tech company right now. If you don’t have leaders in these silos understanding that, embracing it and then finding someone who’s an ally like yourself that’s going to give you some great movement forward.” (Joseph)

“The rate at which technology is moving, you really need a strategic partner that’s going to come along with you for the journey. I’m looking at vendors long term and how we can be strategic together.” (Kevin)

“Everyone will swear they have an open API but when you start digging into the weeds, it’s not so open. The reality is, not every tech vendor can do everything well and integrations are critical for the ecosystem.” (Kevin) 

00:00.00vigorbrandingO sorry let me just 1 more thing it is Kevin Bentley right and it’s a Vp of technology and automation at pappainas pizzeria and Dangelo sub sandwiches. Okay, just making sure I don’t want to get on ambul like actually it’s Kevin you said it wrong all right? so.

00:04.71Kevin BentleyYep.

00:08.59Kevin BentleyUm, yep.

00:19.69vigorbranding3 2 1 hey everyone today I’m joined by my friend Kevin Bentley he is the Vp of technology and automation at papaginno’s Pizzeria and Deangelo sub sandwiches if you’re from the northeast you know those names if you’re not from the northeast you’re about to learn a bit more about them. Before we dive in Kevin say hello give a little bit of backstory.

00:40.63Kevin BentleyYeah Joseph thanks for having me on just a quick correction. It’s actually ca on it’s french no I’m just totally kid totally get it? Yeah ah no thanks for having me on I’m really excited to join you and have this discussion as.

00:45.78vigorbrandingOh kept. Ah I didn’t see the accent Mark. Ah.

01:00.30Kevin BentleyJoseph mentioned I’m the Vp of tech give you a quick backstory I know we’re gonna dive into my story a little bit so I’ll keep it really high level born or raised on the west coast in California was convinced to go to school in Chicago at northwestern to play football. Don’t ask me how they got a kid from the sunny California west coast to. Go to the Midwest where was