Takeout and catering are completely different businesses, and the secret to making them work successfully is in the design of different consumer solutions for each channel, including unique transaction workflow, menus and product selection, packaging, centralized services, and workflow — and each have entirely different strategies. In this episode of The Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show we speak with Trudy Jones - Director of Alternative Platforms for Red Robin, to explore the different elements required for takeout and catering, and why each one is important for delivering a brand experience that keeps customers coming back for more.

The 5 Pillars of Successful Restaurant Takeout, Delivery and Catering, authored by Erle Dardick, is the foundation of building a strategic profitable off-premise sector of your business.  Centralized service strategies, sales and marketing, smart and effective operations, and strong leadership from the C-suite are paramount when it comes to building a scalable and profitable off-premises business. In this episode of The Takeout, Delivery, and Catering show hosts Erle Dardick and Valerie Killifer discuss actionable steps that can change the way your restaurant handles its off-premise business.

Technology is the number one operational enabler that connects all the dots on the multi-channel, on-demand customer experience. It also simultaneously opens up the back-end world of restaurant operations for the entire enterprise. But due to the breakneck speed of technology innovation and uncertainty over standards and norms in off-premises operations, the segment is earning a reputation as ‘the wild west’ of the restaurant industry. However, technology roadmaps that create a seamless customer experience are not only possible, they’re the only way to survive the battles that await operators. In episode three of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, we sit down with Mo Asgari, President of MonkeyMedia Software, to break down the barriers operators face and will highlight the best technology design for modern-age full-scale deployments.

In this episode, we talk with Darren Tristano, a foodservice trend expert and 24-year veteran of Technomic Research and Consulting, where he co-founded Technomic Information Services and continues to provide industry insights and perspectives on restaurant, consumer and menu trends. With a pulse on the industry, we look into what the data is telling us about takeout and catering operations.

In this first episode, we discuss the off-premise paradigm shift and how operators need to distinguish the business logic behind catering, takeout and delivery, and why it is important for restaurants to also distinguish between the three.