Danny Klein’s Post

Relentless #inflation over the last 7 quarters and a tight #labor market are creating challenges for #QSR operators. Not only that, #fastfood is no longer an #affordable option. I ordered an Egg McMuffin the other day and it was $5.09…just for the sandwich. How can an average family afford this? The good news is that in every problem lies an opportunity. Developers of #restaurant #automation #technology like Kitchen Brains can help leverage operators very expensive labor to prepare and deliver #food and maintain the customer experience.

Minimum wage increases are creating a lot of pressure for restaurant operators in California and I'm grateful Presto is a tool so many of them are turning to for help. The labor reduction strategy (redeployment) for kiosk is very similar for AI as is the revenue model that our customers benefit from via upsell: "One common myth about automation is that it replaces human workers entirely in restaurants. While this is true for some kitchen robotics systems like Miso Robotics’ Flippy and Sweetgreen’s Infinite Kitchen, which replace fry cooks and food assembly positions, kiosk providers maintain that self-serve ordering allows restaurants to redeploy, not replace, labor. For example, Barton said an employee normally assigned to cashier duties can be freed up to perform more high-value tasks that can’t be automated, such as clearing tables or filling drink orders. This more efficient use of employees leads to a natural reduction in labor hours for restaurants... Plus, unlike humans, kiosks are programmed to always upsell." https://lnkd.in/g_66Knyg

Tired of high staff turnover in your restaurant? Contrary to common belief, reducing turnover isn't just about pay raises. Building relationships with your team goes a long way. Take the time to know your employees beyond work. It's a game-changer. Invest in relationships, not just paychecks. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/dYijrnsP #RestaurantSuccess #restaurantpos #pointofsale #pos # IdealPOS

"...people order a much larger — and much more profitable — amount of food when they don’t have to place that order with a human being." Kiosks are coming to fast food restaurants at a greater pace. I've posted about this before. I personally dislike how long it takes to place a simple order. For McDonald's, if I just want a 2 cheeseburger meal, it takes like 10 taps to place that order. Just finding it on the kiosk is challenging, and I feel like the suggestive selling really disrupts the process. It appears that customers; however, are ordering more because of the kiosks. For that reason alone, you'll see more and more of them. Mobile ordering is also being pushed. McDonalds, and others, ask at the drive thru if you've placed a mobile order as the first question. It's a subtle way of saying "we'd prefer you to use our app". Chipotle Mexican Grill has a great mobile app. The only problem is actually picking up your food. Just yesterday, I had my order taken from the shelf by someone else. It might been an accident and someone mistakenly took the wrong order, but it turned into a real frustrating ordeal getting it made again. The best answer so far is what Little Caesars Pizza is doing where you punch in a code and a specific window opens with just your order. One way or another, they'll figure out how to remove the register personnel. From a value perspective, I get it. The value in McDonalds is not in someone punching buttons on a register and trying to decipher what people are ordering. The error rate in order entry is much higher when dealing with person-to-person communications. The value is in the food. They would like all their employees focused on food prep and order fulfillment. If they can automate everything else, they will. They would prefer you to just walk in, or drive up, find your order, and go off to eat somewhere else. Anyone who has ever worked in a manufacturing facility knows that order accuracy is the bane of the value stream. Orders often require some accessory, some option, some customization, or some specific note that can be easily left off the order or misconfigured. Manufacturing points the finger at sales. Sales points the finger at manufacturing. Everyone points the finger at IT. The answer is to greatly simplify the product complexity and ordering process so sales (or the customer) knows exactly what they are ordering. If the order is wrong, that's on whoever placed it. To me, the point of the kiosk and mobile ordering isn't just reducing labor. It's shifting responsibility from the employee to the customer. "I didn't want pickles". It's either on the order or it isn't. You placed it. Next time, select no pickles.

In a recent QSR Magazine article, restaurant franchisees discuss the economic challenges they face in 2024, including rising costs, labor shortages, and shifting consumer behavior. To address these challenges, franchisees are implementing various strategies to cut costs, improve efficiency, and enhance customer service. Some franchisees are reducing their operating hours or using automation to reduce labor costs. Others are raising menu prices to offset rising food and supply costs, or focusing on employee training and benefits to improve customer service and attract and retain talent. 💡 Download our white paper to learn more about how restaurant franchisees are adapting to this year's economic realities: https://avydn.co/3XuLItW

In a recent QSR Magazine article, restaurant franchisees discuss the economic challenges they face in 2024, including rising costs, labor shortages, and shifting consumer behavior. To address these challenges, franchisees are implementing various strategies to cut costs, improve efficiency, and enhance customer service. Some franchisees are reducing their operating hours or using automation to reduce labor costs. Others are raising menu prices to offset rising food and supply costs, or focusing on employee training and benefits to improve customer service and attract and retain talent. 💡 Download our white paper to learn more about how restaurant franchisees are adapting to this year's economic realities: https://avydn.co/3XuLItW

The restaurant industry's labor situation has seen some improvement, but as highlighted by Restaurant Business Online, it's still far from perfect. Staffing shortages continue to challenge many businesses, affecting service quality and operational efficiency. At Shakeit, we're addressing these challenges head-on with our cutting-edge robotic Smoothie Stations. By automating the smoothie-making process, we provide a consistent, high-quality product while significantly reducing the need for labor. This innovation not only helps businesses navigate labor shortages but also makes fresh smoothies available in far more locations than ever before. Join us in revolutionizing the way we serve smoothies! #Innovation #FoodTech #Automation #Smoothies #RestaurantIndustry #Shakeit https://lnkd.in/gSmPZR-D

Navigating the ongoing minimum wage increases seen across the U.S. restaurant industry requires a strategic approach. By making proactive decisions guided by data-driven insights, businesses can implement changes that enhance pricing strategies and boost their bottom line. Rooted from California's FAST act challenges, discover three strategies that restaurant operators can adopt to refine their pricing approach: https://lnkd.in/eibetyWR #pricing #restaurantpricing #restaurantindustry #fastfood #QSR

Thinking of Buying a Restaurant? Here's What You Need to Know Buying a restaurant can be an exciting opportunity, but it’s important to understand the unique challenges that come with it. Restaurants are known for being a tough business, and success often depends on having experience in restaurant management. If you’re new to the industry, managing key areas like food costs, rent, and payroll can be tricky. Without tight control over these, profits can quickly slip away. To give you a better idea, controlling food costs, rent, and payroll are critical to a restaurant’s success: Rent: Ideally, this should be around 6-10% of total sales. Food Cost: Keeping it under 30% of total sales is essential. Payroll: Managing payroll efficiently should keep it around 25-35% of sales. Now, if you’re experienced or ready for the challenge, there’s a great new opportunity coming to market next week. It’s a 5-location restaurant with impressive financials: Rent: 6% of total sales Food cost: 24% of total sales Payroll: 38% of total sales These numbers leave over $3 million in EBITDA, making it a very profitable business. The seller is even offering flexible terms with 35% earn-out and seller financing.

McDonald’s experiences fall in working revenue The instant food large acknowledged the autumn in working revenue, which came regardless of a £238m amplify in company turnover, modified into as soon as predominately driven by an funding and intangibles impairment of £48m. This modified into as soon as extra exacerbated by inflationary pressures, impacting food, paper and utility costs inner its company-operated estate. McDonald’s Restaurants Restricted reported a total company turnover of £1.8bn for the 365 days ended 31 December 2023, with a spoiled revenue of £826m, down from £861m the 365 days before. The upward push in turnover modified into as soon as attributed to increased gross sales at some stage in McDonald’s design. Earnings after tax fell from £129.7m to £35.5m over the interval. McDonald’s described the stage of enterprise and the interval pause monetary place as ‘ample’, despite ongoing challenges supplied by the inflationary atmosphere, each and every for the corporate and the wider McDonald’s eco-design. It properly-known that its high avenue estate persisted to be impacted by declining retail footfall, nonetheless that it had mitigated that risk by funding in the client experiences at some stage in its eating locations, along with its high avenue and force-by stores and present platform. Total gross sales in 2024 are, to this point, before 2023. Support in August, McDonald’s, which is marking its 50th anniversary in the UK this 365 days, presented plans to start a extra 200 new eating locations in the next four years. The growth, revealed as allotment of the brand new characterize known as McDonald’s at 50, shows a £1bn funding from McDonald’s and its franchisees in the UK and Eire. The roll out will consist of testing new restaurant codecs along with new ‘force to’ web sites, and a renewed focal level on opening high avenue areas. Around 89% of McDonald’s 1,500+ UK eating locations are now scuttle by franchisees with the community asserting it hopes to search that quantity develop in the rupture. https://lnkd.in/etE5YXHe