The Catering Feed: The Catering Growth Podcast

The Catering Feed: The Catering Growth Podcast

By ezCaterBusiness
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The Catering Feed: The Catering Growth Podcast episodes

  • How to Maintain Your Brand As You Scale Your Catering Business
    Guests love your food and your team supports your restaurant concept. You're ready to take the next step to scale your business beyond the four walls. But how do you deliver the same brand experience, while staying true to your core values as you grow?
    In this podcast episode, Torchy's Tacos' GJ Hart, Chief Executive Officer, and Mike Rypka, founder and chef, discuss identifying growth opportunities and scaling a business, while honoring brand values. Tune in to hear how to make strategic decisions to expand into new channels and hire a passionate team to support growth.
    GJ Hart is Chief Executive Officer of Torchy's Tacos, where he oversees operations and strategic growth. A 36-year veteran of restaurant operations and management, he is passionate about growing casual dining concepts and expanding brands into new markets. Prior to Torchy's Tacos, GJ served as executive chairman and CEO of California Pizza Kitchen, as well as president and CEO of Texas Roadhouse.
    Mike Rypka is the founder of Torchy's Tacos. A food service and restaurant operations veteran, Mike served as executive chef for Dell Computers, Enron, and the World Bank before developing the concept for Torchy's damn good tacos. He's laser-focused on providing opportunities for his employees and developing a restaurant culture that promotes fun, innovative, and affordable gourmet.
    22 min
  • How to Enhance Your Customer's Experience Through Packaging
    Customers typically don't think about packaging for delivery orders until something goes wrong. Spilled drinks, mislabeled items, and lukewarm entrées contribute to a bad customer experience. Now more than ever, it's important to offer convenient solutions that represent your brand. So, how can you create a packaging experience that makes your guests' lives
    easier while adding efficiencies to your business?
    In this podcast episode, Bonnie Sussman Strominger, co-founder and CEO of GoLidz, shares how smart packaging choices help win sales by creating brand loyalty. Tune in to learn how investing in great packaging solves customers' biggest problems, extends the experience of your brand, and supports your bottom line.
    Bonnie Sussman Strominger is co-founder and CEO of GoLidz, where she creates innovative solutions that drive operator revenue and address customer needs. She has more than 20 years of experience in product development and sales.
    15 min
  • How to Replicate Your Restaurant Experience for Catering Guests
    When loyal customers walk into your restaurant, they know exactly what to expect. From the menu to the ambience, everything contributes to how guests experience your brand. And that's what keeps them coming back for more. But how do you make sure catering customers get that same great experience?
    Small branding and operations choices make a big impact on how guests perceive your catering brand. And they determine whether customers will place future orders. Your off-premises brand should represent the same positive experience guests find at your restaurants.
    16 min
  • Recruiting and Retaining Catering Staff without Sacrificing Your P&L
    When you're recruiting experienced catering managers, you also need a team that is passionate about your brand to support them. Finding and retaining the right talent is one of the most important pieces of catering growth. And with a successful partnership between talent management and operations, you can hire a successful catering team at the right cost.
    20 min
  • Creating and Supporting Your Digital Footprint for Catering

    You already deliver incredible customer service within the four walls of your restaurant. But how do you translate that guest experience to your off-premise sales? The key is to create a digital footprint by using technology and developing your online presence. But, to expand your digital footprint, you need the right operations plan in place.

    In this podcast episode, Kevin Rychel, the Vice President of Operations for Fuzzy's Tacos, explains that investing in your digital footprint — and the operations to support it — helps attract repeat customers. He discusses how to generate buy-in from stakeholders when launching new technologies, how to support your franchisees as they modernize, and how operations can support your off-premises growth.

    Episode Takeaways:

    • Apply your existing operational strengths to catering sales. Following up with customers and going above and beyond works every time.
    • Win repeat business with an easy-to-use website, lower lead times, and a great off-site experience.
    • Embrace the power of data. Capture specific customer information to drive sales and conduct more accurate research.
    • Find the right tools and data to increase your digital footprint and support your staff.

    Kevin Rychel is the Vice President of Operations for Fuzzy's Tacos, where he supports franchisees as they roll out new digital offerings in the catering space. He has more than 20 years of experience in restaurant operations, including roles with Taco Bell and Chili's.

    For more expert advice on growing your catering business, sign up for CaterUp 2020.

    13 min
  • How to Design a Catering Menu That Maximizes Profit: A Podcast with James Clark

    How you build your catering menu impacts your guests' entire experience. From the moment they place their order through delivery. So prioritizing the guest experience as you create, test, and promote your menu can keep guests coming back.

    In this podcast episode, James Clark, Director of Food and Beverage at Murphy Adams Restaurant Group, discusses how to choose and package your menu for catering success and profit. Tune in to learn how the right menu can help you make a great first impression and drive repeat business.

    Episode Takeaways:

    - Catering is a marketing opportunity as well as a revenue stream. Easily recognizable, approachable menu items in excellent packaging say a lot for your brand.

    - Ease of ordering and catering packages that travel well help you stand out both to the customers ordering and those enjoying the order.

    - Be flexible and clear about how you design menu items for dietary restrictions. Gluten-free and plant-based diets aren't just fads. Menus that consider dietary needs build brand loyalty.

    - Negotiate with your distributors. Your mark-up could be as high as 20 percent. Don't be afraid to ask about margins and discounts for your brand.

    James Clark is Director of Food and Beverage at Murphy Adams Restaurant Group, where he oversees culinary innovation, product selection, purchasing, and distribution. A veteran in both fine and fast casual dining, James has more than 25 years of experience in menu building and operations.

    For more advice from experts like James, check out Cater Up 2020. Register here.

    19 min
  • Optimize Your Off-Premises Sales with a Ghost Kitchen: Tips from Corey Manicone
    How do you grow your catering business if your brick-and-mortar restaurant isn't designed for delivery? In this podcast episode, Corey Manicone, Founder and CEO of Zuul, reveals how "ghost kitchens" help restaurant brands streamline their catering and delivery services. Listen to learn how a ghost kitchen could help you expand your business by providing custom space and specialized labor for delivery.
    Episode Takeaways:
    - Restaurant kitchens aren't always designed to support off-premises dining or delivery logistics.
    - A well-staffed ghost kitchen helps your brand organize, manage, and optimize labor and logistics for off-premises sales, while minimizing the risks associated with expansion.
    - Ghost kitchens allow restaurants to focus on what they do best — provide customers with great food and incredible experiences.
    19 min
  • How to Grow Your Catering Business with a Virtual Restaurant
    What if you could grow your catering business with multiple "virtual restaurants" without leasing another space? In this podcast episode, Kyle Feggins, Founder and CEO of Iron Horse Cafe, shares how he built his wildly successful virtual brands and tripled his sales by marketing those brands through catering apps. Stay tuned to learn how to develop and test a menu for a virtual restaurant and create a streamlined system to grow your catering business.
    21 min
  • How to Win More Sales with the Right Catering Packaging
    Customers get upset when they pop open a catering tray and find a cold burger or soggy salad. Especially when the food was meant to impress bigwigs at a meeting. So if you want to fuel your business with the fast-growing catering market—which has jumped 5.4 percent since 2018—it's a good idea to upgrade your packaging. Ordering better packaging is not too difficult, and it can make a huge difference in driving repeat catering business.
    In this podcast episode, Sabert Corporation's Nicole Buck, Vice President of Food Service, and Susan Beaudry, Senior Director of Marketing, reveal how better packaging improves the customer experience of your catering business. Nicole and Susan discuss how to choose the right packaging for your menu and customers, and why you need a packaging budget for your catering operation. Tune in to learn how a great packaging strategy can help you grow your catering business.
    Episode Takeaways:
    - Base your packaging choices on your catering menu. Choose packaging that reflects your food, the size of your orders, and the distance your delivery driver must travel, among other considerations.
    - Seventy percent of catering orders have leftovers, and only 24 percent of catering orders are eaten right away. So choose packaging that's easy to reseal, reheat, and reuse to ensure your customers get the most out of their catering orders.
    - One of the top concerns for catering customers is order accuracy. To give them peace of mind, use clear lids, label food, and make a catering drop-off checklist.
    - You can boost your catering sales by as much as 20 percent if you choose packaging that showcases your food and eases customer pain points.
    23 min

About The Catering Feed: The Catering Growth Podcast

From the publisher's feed

At ezCater, we want to help restaurants grow a successful catering business. Whether you're in the early stages of building a business or an industry veteran, let us help you dip into the $61.5…

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