The Main Course

Traditional American fast food is perceived by many to be inevitably unhealthy; however, it doesn’t have to be. Amy’s Kitchen is reinventing the classic American drive-thru one organic, vegetarian burger at a time. In this episode of The Main Course, Host Barbara Castiglia sat down with the President of Amy’s Drive-Thru, David Wolfgram, to discuss how this healthy spin on a quick meal came to be.

Many know Amy’s Kitchen brand from their pre-prepared, organic meals found in grocery stores. “When our founders started Amy's kitchen, they set out to fulfill a need that they identified through their own personal experiences,” Wolfgram said, “They realized there was really no pre-prepared organic, vegetarian and great tasting foods available.”

As the rating and fanbase continued to grow for the brand, there started to be more and more push from customers to bring this same commitment to the restaurant world, thus giving birth to Amy’s drive-thru.

Wolfgram, who spent decades growing and developing brands for private equity brands, shared that in his 40+ years in the business, Amy’s drive-thru is by far the most exciting concept he has worked on. “Not only does it have tremendous potential financially but the good it does for the people on the planet is pretty amazing.”

At Amy’s Kitchen, their main focus is sustainability and plant-based options. “It's a brand with purpose,” Wolfgram explained, “Doing good for people and doing good for the planet is what really drives everything."

At its core, the menu at Amy’s Drive-Thru includes all of the traditional American Drive-thru food you could imagine, including burgers, fries, shakes. But what sets them apart? All of these options are both organic and vegetarian. Extending beyond that, anything can be made available gluten-free, dairy-free, or vegan. “This was another really important part of the brand for the founders that everyone had accessibility to the brand despite food allergies.”

Host Barbara Castiglia discussed all things modern restaurant management with Peter Klayman, quick service restaurant (QSR) and practice lead at Bottle Rocket.

Klayman focuses on consulting QSR companies that haven’t utilized technology to help them modernize and adjust to an industry that is now very digital forward. Bottle Rocket serves clients like Fiesta Restaurant Group, Dunkin Donuts and their claim to fame Chick-Fil-A.

“The Chick-Fil-A you see today is very much build on that internal prowess and internal team that we helped stand up and enable,” Klayman said.

Like many other industries, QSRs quickly realized the need for efficient technology during the pandemic to serve their customers. However, pandemic or not, the goal is always the same: ensuring the customer experiences a frictionless interaction pathway regardless of which path they choose.

A few factors to achieving this goal are:

Strive to be at least at par with the top competitor

Hire managers and employees that embody the company

Invest in employees’ career and training

Build a robust customer loyalty program

Utilize data captured for strategic marketing

Make the localized experiences personalized

Think about your long-term goals when investing in technology

At the end of the day, customers should always have the same brand experience that’s easy and convenient to the customer because, as Klayman said, “Every touch point should be made to feel like it was designed for each guest.”

Acceleration of restaurant technology adoption isn’t slowing down. The rush to adapt during the pandemic is still occurring, with new guest expectations and operational workflows. So, how is technology solving the restaurant industry’s biggest challenges? The Main Course host Barbara Castiglia spoke with Steve Simoni, CEO of Bbot, on the topic.

Simoni described the company’s evolution, “My co-founders and I were nuclear engineers in the Navy, and we founded Bbot creating ceiling robots bring food and drink to tables. Now we’re an ordering and payment technology for restaurants with software and QR codes.”

The company was growing pre-pandemic, but since then, it’s been a 10X increase in customers. Much of that success has to do with the reimagining of QR codes. “Customers can order and pay at the table by scanning, which is helping mitigate labor challenges,” Simoni said.

The technology does drive convenience and efficiency. Simoni noted, “You can go from a server model to a floor manager model. You can serve more tables and upsell while customers place digital orders and pay from their own device.”

This technology supports a business in many ways, and restaurant owners are embracing lots of applications. However, Simoni said, “What they really want is for everything to integrate.”

With this in mind and the evolution of the restaurant industry, Bbot’s next frontier is the customization of QR codes. “There are three ways a QR code can work now—scan for menu, digital orders, or pay the check but order through a server. What’s next for us is allowing restaurants to install different applications to curate the experience. If they can download an app, they can do this in a few easy clicks.”

Acceleration of restaurant technology adoption isn’t slowing down. The rush to adapt during the pandemic is still occurring, with new guest expectations and operational workflows. So, how is technology solving the restaurant industry’s biggest challenges? The Main Course host Barbara Castiglia spoke with Steve Simoni, CEO of Bbot, on the topic.

Simoni described the company’s evolution, “My co-founders and I were nuclear engineers in the Navy, and we founded Bbot creating ceiling robots bring food and drink to tables. Now we’re an ordering and payment technology for restaurants with software and QR codes.”

The company was growing pre-pandemic, but since then, it’s been a 10X increase in customers. Much of that success has to do with the reimagining of QR codes. “Customers can order and pay at the table by scanning, which is helping mitigate labor challenges,” Simoni said.

The technology does drive convenience and efficiency. Simoni noted, “You can go from a server model to a floor manager model. You can serve more tables and upsell while customers place digital orders and pay from their own device.”

This technology supports a business in many ways, and restaurant owners are embracing lots of applications. However, Simoni said, “What they really want is for everything to integrate.”

With this in mind and the evolution of the restaurant industry, Bbot’s next frontier is the customization of QR codes. “There are three ways a QR code can work now—scan for menu, digital orders, or pay the check but order through a server. What’s next for us is allowing restaurants to install different applications to curate the experience. If they can download an app, they can do this in a few easy clicks.”

While having a robust to-go strategy is imperative for almost all restaurants now, many full-service locations weren’t prioritizing until the pandemic. The Main Course host Barbara Castiglia chatted with Paul Macaluso, President and CEO of Another Broken Egg Café, about their transition. The concept is elevated brunch, which serves high-end dishes and has a full bar for handcrafted drinks.

Macaluso has been in the restaurant business for more than 30 years, working in various settings, including years with Yum Brands. He joined Another Broken Egg Café only months before the pandemic.

Business was good, and growth was exploding with franchises, but disruption was ahead. They didn’t have a safety net around off-premises. “When I came in, I asked what do we do for takeout and delivery. The answer was not much, as they thought the food doesn’t travel well, so it was only 2-3% of the business,” Macaluso recalled.

Thus, when shutdowns began in March 2020, the company closed all locations except a few in Florida to try new to-go structures. They already had good packaging in place, but there was more work to do. They began to build an online ordering platform, partnering with third-party delivery and working on how the food would travel. “Our chefs and operations teams were working on the right organization or product, making sure it traveled well, and doing test deliveries to make adjustments,” Macaluso explained.

Their ingenuity and dedication to the details paid off. “By September, we were reopening cafes for dine-in and getting back to the same in-store numbers, but also seeing to-go remain strong at 15%, which was double digit positive compared to 2019.”

The restaurant industry has been through a lot in the last year-plus. Some have pivoted and grown, while others faltered. So, what was the difference? Talking about building and protecting the brand, The Main Course host Barbara Castiglia chatted with Tom Riccio, President Promotional Solutions at Deluxe.

Deluxe, which started with the invention of the checkbook, has evolved to help enterprises, small businesses, and financial institutions deepen trust with customers through technology. “We offer payment, data, and marketing solutions,” Riccio explained.

The pandemic impacted their business but keeping facilities open, and running was necessary as they serve many essential businesses. “We learned a lot quickly, and we used that to help clients. We stood up a PPE business quickly for restaurants. That was one piece of it; the next was helping them create commerce strategies and enhance digital experiences.”

“Restaurants must have a digital presence and strategies to ensure success because we’re not going back, only enhancing from here.” - Tom Riccio

Riccio believes that customer perception of brands will depend a lot on their COVID-19 strategy. “Those very forward are showcasing the protection of the entire environment. It’s building and protecting a brand because people are noticing health and safety like never before.”

Marketing is different now for these restaurants. Riccio shared, “Most marketing dollars were spent at the top of the funnel with brand identity as a focus. Now, it’s more pay for performance. What can you do today that will result in a sell?”

The location experience is one element; the digital one another. “There’s been a massive transition to digital, a huge acceleration. A digital presence and strategy are necessary because we aren’t going back,” Riccio said.

Deluxe is also supporting local brands with its show Small Business Revolution—Main Street. “It’s a series where go into small business in main street USA to revitalize the community and bring the town together,” Riccio explained.

Indian cuisine concepts on a franchise level aren’t represented very well in the U.S. However, Curry Up Now is changing that dynamic. The CEO and Co-Founder Akash Kapoor spoke with The Main Course host Barbara Castiglia about the concept.

Kapoor and his wife started the company in 2009 with no foodservice industry experience. “We were a foody family, and when the opportunity came, we went for it.”

Their mission was to make Indian food accessible and that anyone could feel comfortable ordering it. One way they did this was with burritos on the menu, which also made sense because it’s a good-to-go food.

They focus on authentic food, which doesn’t mean spicy. “That’s the biggest misconception about Indian food. It’s spice forward but not always ‘spicy,’” Kapoor said.

“There’s a fundamental difference between food trucks and restaurants, but we designed the locations for a similar experience with an open kitchen.” - Akash Kapoor

After finding success with food trucks, they turned to opening brick and mortar locations. In describing the guest experience, Kapoor shared, “It’s a large, playful menu. Every location has a local mural. We’re a bit over the top with our music, but it’s a big part of the brand.”

The brand is quickly expanding in several ways. First, they are opening new locations, including bringing the brand to Texas, which Kapoor believes will likely become their second-biggest state behind California.

They are also working with Local Kitchens, which is a digital kitchen outpost. “I had a business plan for a similar type of company to license brands, but then COVID hit. Glad to get involved with Local Kitchen, and we’re opening our third location with them.”

Finally, they partner with Goldbelly, an online marketplace for gourmet food gifts. “We ship to all 50 states. It wasn’t really a food that was shippable, but it’s working, and we love that business.”