The Tech Chef, Restaurant, Hospitality and Hotel Technology Business Podcast

Strong partnerships are a hard thing to find. Today we talk with Abby Lorden, Vice President & Publisher of Hospitality and Co-Founder of the Restaurant Technology Network along with Angela Diffly, also Co-Founder of the RTN. These two individuals and the two networks are making a huge impact in our industry and the Tech Chef is proud to be part of their efforts.

Listen to how the RTN can add to your professional toolset and help you become a stronger industry leader.

Abigail Lorden is a brand leader with deep domain expertise in technology and business trends for hotels and restaurants. She heads up the highly influential B2B media brand Hospitality Technology (HT) including its flagship events MURTEC and HT-NEXT. In 2019, she co-founded the membership community Restaurant Technology Network, which brings together restaurant operators and technology suppliers to solve industry challenges.

In her role at HT, Abigail leads a talented team of editors, revenue drivers, researchers, marketers and community influencers. Her background as HT’s editor-in-chief for more than 10 years gives her extensive insight into consumer and B2B technology trends for the hospitality industry. Known for innovative new launches, throughout her tenure she has created a variety of valuable resources for the hotel and restaurant industry, including the virtual event experience Restaurant Next (in 2020), HT-NEXT, an industry event for hotel technology executives (in 2017, produced in partnership with HTNG), and spearheaded HT’s highly-successful market research and analysis arm. 

As co-founder of the Restaurant Technology Network, Angela Diffly credits her constant curiosity for all-things technology as the driving force along her largely restaurant and retail-focused career path. In her current role, she advocates for the RTN community by creating value for members and sharing RTN technical achievements with the industry at large.

• Comment hotline: 954-302-0851
• Website: 
• https://SkipKimpel.com (show notes will be posted here)
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/skipkimpel
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/skipkimpel
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/skipkimpel1/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/skipkimpel/

I have a couple of different shows that I am considering for next week. I have too much good content and not enough time! Stay tuned this next week on social media for a hint of what will be dropping live next week!

We have all seen how successful restaurants that have drive throughs have been during COVID. Want to get in on this revenue stream or just want to improve on what you have? Joining me today is the CTO from CKE Restaurants, Phil Crawford to discuss the different technology and with the strategy to make sure your efforts are yielding profitable results.

Quick announcement: December 1-3, Hospitality Technology in conjunction with HTNG is presenting Hotel Next, a simulated hotel experience built for the “new normal” complete with operational areas like a lobby, guest room, back office, plus an exhibit hall, auditorium and more.  HOTEL NEXT will feature smart sessions with the most well-respected technology titans in the industry. The will cover today’s hottest industry topics including touchless experiences and transactions, safety and cleanliness, data analytics and so much more!  To register, go to ht-next.com.  #HTNEXT

With ToGo Technologies on last week, we talked about one of the partners they integrate with, Apex Supply Chain Technologies.  If you have ever been to a Little Caesars Pizza and have seen or interacted with their heated food lockers, you have experienced Apex products.

Today, I am excited to have Mike Wills, Chief Executive Officer, Apex Supply Chain Technologies, the world’s leading provider of self-serve automation solutions for a wide range of applications in the foodservice, retail and b-to-b markets. Wills joined Apex in 2016 following a career of more than three decades in the Enterprise Mobility industry, where he held leadership and officer positions with organizations including Motorola, Zebra, Intermec, Avery Dennison and Honeywell.

This is a two part series and we will explore, together, everything you need to know about the food locker industry.  We will discuss their core business and how this trending technology will change not only your restaurant business off-premise strategy but also discover how hotels can benefit from their products as well.

Mike Wills is CEO of Apex Supply Chain Technologies, the world’s leading provider of self-serve automation solutions for a wide range of applications in the foodservice, retail and b-to-b markets. Wills joined Apex in 2016 following a career of more than three decades in the Enterprise Mobility industry, where he held leadership and officer positions with organizations including Motorola, Zebra, Intermec, Avery Dennison and Honeywell. 

Wills is an active board participant, serving on industry standards boards and associations along with higher education boards. He is also an independent Board of Directors member for EdgeIQ Incorporated, an edge analytics IoT company based in Denver, Colorado.

Wills earned a BS/BA from Taylor University and an MBA from Central Michigan University. He holds Intellectual property filings in the field of RFID in both the USPTO and ETC (US patent #7,245,227).

Our biggest promotion yet!  DTiQ is giving away one year of auditing services, analytics and video reporting FREE! Included is an NVR and POE that turn your surveillance footage and transaction data into immediate insights to stop theft, enhance your customer experience and prevent loss! One lucky winner will walk away with this and the name will be announced on our Thanksgiving Day bonus episode. You can earn entries every single day. What are you waiting for? Start getting your entires in now!  CLICK HERE

• 1 free year of DTiQ Video Reporting, Analytics & SmartAudits™
• 1- DTiQ 10TB NVR
• 1- 16-CH POE or Analog Encoder
• 1- Uninterruptable Power Supply
• Installation of all of the above to existing IP or HD Analog cameras and configuration of system.
• Video & Cloud Services
• Data Services
• Video Analytics
• 2 SmartAUDITS per month

Hardware & Install Total Value: $2,100

Video Reporting & Analytics Total Value: $1,800

$3,900 total value!

Fine Print: 1 year contract required, optional renewal after 12 mos. Free Installation. Must have existing surveillance cameras (up to 10) or be willing to purchase cameras. 

• Comment hotline: 954-302-0851
• Website: https://SkipKimpel.com (show notes will be posted here)
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/skipkimpel
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/skipkimpel
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/skipkimpel1/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/skipkimpel/

Next Tuesday, is the second part of the series and I will be talking to another food locker or food POD company.  Steven Sperry, CEO of Minnow will be on to talk about how their product is different and how you can easily expand your business and your food distribution guest options with their devices. 

Today I have yet another trusted partner on to discuss how they can turn around your online ordering strategy to a winning and powerful relationship.  I, personally have used ToGo at the last two companies I have been at with HUGE success.  ToGo is a restaurant e-commerce platform that enables customers to order directly from your custom mobile app or website. It’s incredibly powerful, and amazingly simple to use.

To talk about this I have Shaun Shankel, Chief Executive Officer at Fresh Technologies and ToGoTechnologies.  This show will run a little longer than normal but we have so many important things to discuss that could change your off premise strategy!

Shaun Shankel is a highly successful entrepreneur, CEO and CTO with over 20 years of experience in the hospitality, technology, and entertainment industries. He has particular expertise in vision focused executive leadership, employee and culture growth, agile software development, systems integration and bottom-line revenue growth.

Shaun’s unique blend of business acumen, artistic soul and technological expertise give him an uncanny ability to clearly identify opportunities, even in the most unorganized and disparate of systems, navigate challenges and pinpoint successful paths to a profitable reality. Shaun has done this repeatedly, raised millions in private equity and led multiple companies to profitability.

As the CEO of Fresh Technology, Shaun has inspired a culture of success. Under his guidance, the company has built a proprietary suite of vertically integrated software and hardware hospitality products that optimize operations, production and customer engagement. From raw materials, inventory tracking and invoice administration to labor management, kitchen automation and online ordering, Fresh’s software uses predictive analytics and machine learning to control costs and grow sales. This system manages over $350MM in annual revenue and has been proven to add 3%-5% points in EBITDA to its restaurants.

Harvesting the immense amount of data generated from the thousands of locations using Fresh’s software, Shaun is evolving Fresh Tech’s platform to more precisely predict customer purchase habits based on the time of day, physical location and product mix to tap into new areas of profitability.

In addition, Shaun also serves as CTO for Fresh Hospitality brands including Taziki’s Mediterranean Café, Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint, I Love Juice Bar and Taco Mac, to name a few. In this role he leads a battalion of software developers, systems architects, network technicians and help desk engineers overseeing an ecosystem of AWS servers, ioT devices, and secure payment processing networks.

Prior to taking the helm at Fresh, Shaun had an extremely successful career in the music industry writing and producing for some of the biggest artists in the pop, gospel and country music markets. Selling over seven million albums and singles, Shaun had 12 #1 hits and song placements in over 18 film and television campaigns.

Our biggest promotion yet!  DTiQ is giving away one year of auditing services, analytics and video reporting FREE! Included is an NVR and POE that turn your surveillance footage and transaction data into immediate insights to stop theft, enhance your customer experience and prevent loss! One lucky winner will walk away with this and the name will be announced on our Thanksgiving Day bonus episode. You can earn entries every single day. What are you waiting for? Start getting your entires in now!  CLICK HERE

• 1 free year of DTiQ Video Reporting, Analytics & SmartAudits™
• 1- DTiQ 10TB NVR
• 1- 16-CH POE or Analog Encoder
• 1- Uninterruptable Power Supply
• Installation of all of the above to existing IP or HD Analog cameras and configuration of system.
• Video & Cloud Services
• Data Services
• Video Analytics
• 2 SmartAUDITS per month

Hardware & Install Total Value: $2,100

Video Reporting & Analytics Total Value: $1,800

$3,900 total value!

Fine Print: 1 year contract required, optional renewal after 12 mos. Free Installation. Must have existing surveillance cameras (up to 10) or be willing to purchase cameras. 

• Comment hotline: 954-302-0851
• Website: https://SkipKimpel.com (show notes will be posted here)
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/skipkimpel
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/skipkimpel
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/skipkimpel1/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/skipkimpel/

Next Tuesday, from our progression of discussions, I have Apex Supply Chain Technologies to discuss the Food Locker business case.  I see this as a trending technology additionally invigorated by Covid so this will begin a mini-series on food locker technology.

Welcome to this weeks show, podcast family! Today is my Election version of the Tech Chef. I was looking at my podcast statistics the other day and realized we have thousands of listeners in over 40 countries!  I find that fascinating.  Having said that, if you are listening from the good old US of A and have not gone out and cast your vote yet, please do so!  It is such an important part of who we are as Americans and especially this election.  Also, if you are additionally listening from Florida, make sure you vote NO on amendment 2, the $15 minimum wage amendment that is on your ballet.  This will crush the hospitality industry to the point of no return.   To learn why, go to www.Ammendment2HurtsYou.com

I have been looking forward to today’s episode from the time I conceived the Tech Chef Podcast.  I think that what Omnivore offers is so critical to a restaurant’s tech stack that I knew they had to be part of this journey with me.  With their new Menu Management System, they really have a game changer on their hands.

So who is Omnivore and what do they do?

Omnivore empowers restaurant brands to digitize their guest and operational experience in a meaningful and sustainable way. They deliver an end-to-end suite of solutions built on data and insights that help optimize the essential elements of the digital restaurant experience; online ordering, pay at table, 3rd party delivery, reservations, loyalty, inventory, labor and analytics. All of these solutions completely integrate into the restaurant POS system for operational efficiency, future agility and leveraging of data.

Joining me to discuss this is Matt Hasselhof, a 20+ year veteran of digital technologies serving the restaurant industry. Over the past 4+ years, Matt has served as the Chief Revenue Officer for Omnivore. Prior to his role at Omnivore, he also served under several industry advisory boards that have helped restaurants navigate to technologies that drive additional revenue & efficiencies. 

Our biggest promotion yet!  DTiQ is giving away one year of auditing services, analytics and video reporting FREE! Included is an NVR and POE that turn your surveillance footage and transaction data into immediate insights to stop theft, enhance your customer experience and prevent loss! One lucky winner will walk away with this and the name will be announced on our Thanksgiving Day bonus episode. You can earn entries every single day. What are you waiting for? Start getting your entires in now!  CLICK HERE

• 1 free year of DTiQ Video Reporting, Analytics & SmartAudits™
• 1- DTiQ 10TB NVR
• 1- 16-CH POE or Analog Encoder
• 1- Uninterruptable Power Supply
• Installation of all of the above to existing IP or HD Analog cameras and configuration of system.
• Video & Cloud Services
• Data Services
• Video Analytics
• 2 SmartAUDITS per month

Hardware & Install Total Value: $2,100

Video Reporting & Analytics Total Value: $1,800

$3,900 total value!

Fine Print: 1 year contract required, optional renewal after 12 mos. Free Installation. Must have existing surveillance cameras (up to 10) or be willing to purchase cameras. 

• Comment hotline: 954-302-0851
• Website: https://SkipKimpel.com (show notes will be posted here)
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/skipkimpel
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/skipkimpel
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/skipkimpel1/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/skipkimpel/

Next Tuesday I have another good friend of mine and one of my trusted technology partners on the show.  Shaun Shankel, Chief Executive Officer at Fresh Technology + ToGoTechnologies. Looking for a feature rich, solid online ordering platform? Look no further. ToGo Technologies might be the perfect solution for you. And guess what? They integrate into your POS with Omnivore. See, there is a method to my madness!

Today I have Jim Knight who needs no introduction to many of you.  Motivational speaker, author and podcast host, Jim and I have a BLAST talking about things like, oh I don’t know, mullets, spider cuisine (yes you heard that right) and of course Jim’s Thought That Rocks!  Speaking of rockin’ this Certified Rock Star has a lot to share and we are going to have a fun time doing it. https://www.knightspeaker.com 

A Training & Development veteran for 30+ years, Jim Knight facilitates on a variety of interactive topics, including sessions around amping up organizational culture, world-class differentiated service, building rock star teams, hiring & retaining “rock stars”, employee branding, performance management and philanthropy.

Jim cut his teeth in the training field through the Hospitality industry, starting out in the snack bar at Gatorland Zoo, as a restaurant staff-level employee for Olive Garden and then as a host & manager at Hard Rock Cafe. He eventually became the head of the School of Hard Rocks, running point on all global learning & development functions for Hard Rock International. 

Although part of a small training group that supported all cafe, hotel & casino properties, Jim Knight’s role at Hard Rock involved many facets of organizational training, including: creating/managing all staff & management training materials & programs, facilitating its corporate university, overseeing management training locations, producing training videos, directing company e-Learning initiatives, facilitating leadership transitions and traveling to properties to deliver on-site classes & measure standards.

Jim has put his experience and creativity to work, which has consistently developed cutting-edge training concepts. During his time with the Hard Rock brand, his team won coveted video Telly Awards (“Guest Service” in 2000, “Menu Rollout” in 2007, “Harassment & Discrimination Prevention” in 2008), garnered Training Directors Forum’s 1998 prize for “Reengineering Training” and won Brandon Hall’s Gold Best in Class Award for their “Service Recovery” e-Learning course. Jim Knight was also recognized by Training Magazine as representing one of the Top 125 training companies in the world out of all industries & businesses. Jim has since been featured in Forbes Magazine, Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, Nation’s Restaurant News, Business News Daily and Fox Business News.

Jim has a music degree in Vocal Performance & Education and taught in the Florida public school system for 6 years, before catching the “hospitality bug”. He is a lifetime member of CHART (an Association of Hospitality Trainers), previously sat on the Certification Governing Board of the National Restaurant Association and started a local networking group (The Training Summit: CHART’s 1st Regional Training Forum) with over 100 active members in Central Florida, to share best practices and discuss common issues with other industry professionals. Networking is a big part of his success.

Jim is the Owner & CEO of Knight Speaker, which positions him to facilitate at any association or company event, in any industry, as a keynote or breakout speaker. He is also the best-selling author of Culture That Rocks: How to Revolutionize Your Company’s Culture, now in its 2nd edition, which was featured in Entrepreneur Magazine as one of the “5 Books That Will Help You Transform How You Do Business”. 

Along with his business partner, Brant Menswar, Jim also hosts a weekly leadership podcast called, Thoughts That Rock, which includes a rock star guest and presents 2 life-changing pieces of advice in 30 minutes. Finally, Jim and Brant offer a leadership training program called, Certified Rock Star, as an edu-taining, Rock ‘n Roll-inspired experience for leaders looking to amp up their business in a variety of areas.

A portion of Jim Knight’s book sales, podcast revenue, speaking fees and training program proceeds goes to No Kid Hungry to eliminate childhood hunger in the U.S. and Cannonball Kids’ cancer, which funds innovative, accessible research for children fighting cancer with better treatments, quality of life and options for those told they have run out of options. 

To contact Jim, you can reach him at: [email protected] or www.KnightSpeaker.com 

To order copies of his book, go to: www.CultureThatRocks.com 

Our biggest promotion yet! DTiQ is giving away one year of auditing services, analytics and video reporting FREE! Included is an NVR and POE that turn your surveillance footage and transaction data into immediate insights to stop theft, enhance your customer experience and prevent loss! One lucky winner will walk away with this and the name will be announced on our Thanksgiving Day bonus episode. You can earn entries every single day. What are you waiting for? Start getting your entires in now!  CLICK HERE

• 1 free year of DTiQ Video Reporting, Analytics & SmartAudits™
• 1- DTiQ 10TB NVR
• 1- 16-CH POE or Analog Encoder
• 1- Uninterruptable Power Supply
• Installation of all of the above to existing IP or HD Analog cameras and configuration of system.
• Video & Cloud Services
• Data Services
• Video Analytics
• 2 SmartAUDITS per month

Hardware & Install Total Value: $2,100

Video Reporting & Analytics Total Value: $1,800

$3,900 total value!

Fine Print: 1 year contract required, optional renewal after 12 mos. Free Installation. Must have existing surveillance cameras (up to 10) or be willing to purchase cameras. 

• Comment hotline: 954-302-0851
• Website: https://SkipKimpel.com (show notes will be posted here)
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/skipkimpel
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/skipkimpel
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/skipkimpel1/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/skipkimpel/

Next Tuesday we pick back up with the regularly scheduled show as I speak with my good friends over at Omnivore.  Yes, you have heard me mention their name a million times between this podcast and all the speaking events I have done.  Now you are going to hear why I am such a fan of their product and service. 

Today is the second and the last part of the Native Delivery mini-series…. Hey, it’s called mini for a reason!   Today it is my pleasure to introduce you to Adriana Koshiba, Enterprise Sales Director for Restaurants at Bringg.   

Learn more about Bringg, a company with technology solutions which allows you to meet all of your off premise demands quickly and cost-effectively through unified technology.   They are able to do this by providing a full suite of front and backend applications to help leading enterprises maximize their capacity, efficiency, and speed.

Powered by artificial intelligence, our platform orchestrates every element of every delivery and fulfillment, ensuring orders are efficiently fulfilled at massive scale.

With more than a decade of experience working in media, retail and the restaurant industry, Adriana helps enterprises develop strategies and solutions to elevate their brands to the next level. Currently, she leads the Restaurant vertical at Bringg, helping organizations navigate their off-premise channels via technology.

Our biggest promotion yet! DTiQ is giving away one year of auditing services, analytics and video reporting FREE! Included is an NVR and POE that turn your surveillance footage and transaction data into immediate insights to stop theft, enhance your customer experience and prevent loss! One lucky winner will walk away with this and the name will be announced on our Thanksgiving Day bonus episode. You can earn entries every single day. What are you waiting for? Start getting your entires in now!  CLICK HERE

• 1 free year of DTiQ Video Reporting, Analytics & SmartAudits™
• 1- DTiQ 10TB NVR
• 1- 16-CH POE or Analog Encoder
• 1- Uninterruptable Power Supply
• Installation of all of the above to existing IP or HD Analog cameras and configuration of system.
• Video & Cloud Services
• Data Services
• Video Analytics
• 2 SmartAUDITS per month

Hardware & Install Total Value: $2,100

Video Reporting & Analytics Total Value: $1,800

Fine Print: 1 year contract required, optional renewal after 12 mos. Free Installation. Must have existing surveillance cameras (up to 10) or be willing to purchase cameras. 

• Comment hotline: 954-302-0851
• Website: https://SkipKimpel.com (show notes will be posted here)
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/skipkimpel
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/skipkimpel
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/skipkimpel1/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/skipkimpel/

This Thursday, I have Jim Knight who needs no introduction to many of you.  Motivational speak, author and podcast host, Jim and I have a BLAST talking about things like, oh I don’t know, mullets, spider cuisine (yes you heard that right) and of course Jim’s Thought That Rocks!  Speaking of rockin’ this Certified Rock Star has a lot to share and we are going to have a fun time doing it. https://www.knightspeaker.com

Next Tuesday we pick back up with the regularly scheduled show as I speak with my good friends over at Omnivore.  Yes, you have heard me mention their name a million times between this podcast and all the speaking events I have done.  Now you are going to hear why I am such a fan of their product and service. 

Did you get a chance to listen to the last two episodes where I re-capped the Restaurant Next conference, if not, go back and listen.  AND if you still want access to the actual conference material, reach out to me or Anglea Diffley at the RTN and she will get you hooked up.

Today we are starting off a new mini series on Native Delivery.  This seems to be one of the newest trending topics in our industry and I am excited to have some pretty awesome guests to talk about the subject.

First in the series is Ryan Pershad, Global Operations Lead for GetSwift which is a software company who is a global leader in the logistics, last-mile delivery sector. Currently used by hundreds of clients in over 70 countries to deliver better and faster.

We are going to talk about the benefits and complications of Native Delivery as well as RTN’s TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) calculator to help figure out the profitability between Native Delivery, 3rd Party Delivery and Delivery as a Service. This can be a complicated puzzle to try to put together. You will learn how this tool will simplify that process.

Ryan Pershad is an intra-repreneur, formerly in the media space and now digging deep roots in the logistics space. For about the last decade Ryan has worked with a number of companies: from start-ups to public companies to accelerate growth. Through strategic partnerships, operational efficiency and product strategy.

He is currently the Global Operations Lead for GetSwift. A software company who is a global leader in the logistics, last-mile delivery sector. Currently used by hundreds of clients in over 70 countries to deliver better and faster.

Ryan has brought his experience in an advisory capacity to an increasing number of companies over the last few years such as Vidrovr a leading computer vision platform and CityMixr, an event platform driven by social interaction. Ryan is also on the advisory board of Angelwish, a philanthropic organization that assists families with children who are fighting a terminal illness.

Ryan currently resides in New Jersey with his fiance Dhara. They are currently house hunting. Dhara would like everyone to know they are also currently hunting for a dog-child. In his spare time Ryan indulges in his nerdiness by playing video games and is obsessed with basketball.

Ryan earned a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University in Economics.

• Comment hotline: 954-302-0851
• Website: https://SkipKimpel.com (show notes will be posted here)
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/skipkimpel
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/skipkimpel
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/skipkimpel1/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/skipkimpel/

This is just the first part of this series and next Tuesday I will have Bringg on the show to talk about their enterprise logistics solution.  As you know, the market demands more from your delivery and curbside pickup. Bringg allows you to meet these demands quickly and cost-effectively through unified technology.   They are able to do this by providing a full suite of front and backend applications to help leading enterprises maximize their capacity, efficiency, and speed.

Powered by artificial intelligence, our platform orchestrates every element of every delivery and fulfillment, ensuring orders are efficiently fulfilled at massive scale.

This is a a product trusted by such brands as Panera, KFC and many more brands and even by massive companies such as Walmart for their logistics platform.  A show you for sure do not want to miss!