The restaurant and foodservice industry needs to attract 650,000 16 – 24 year olds over the next 10 years. Learn about a new, bold and innovative marketing campaign that will inspire this important segment to ditch the “cube farm” and choose restaurants for their next job or career.  

With the number of IP enabled devices expected to reach 20 billion in 2020, the Internet of Things (IoT) is having a big impact on the restaurant industry and your front line and IT staff – from device management to data analytics to hyper-personalization of the consumer experience.  Join us as we discuss how to connect the physical with the digital and turn the complexities of managing an IoT-enabled restaurant into opportunities to increase operational efficiencies, improve uptime and delight your customers.

This session will be co-presented by Venkat Ramamurthy, Vice President and General Manager of NCR Managed Services and Don Zimmerman, Vice President of Digital-First Restaurant Product Management

The foodservice landscape has changed. The habits of Gen Z to Boomer consumers are shifting. Understanding how the Digital Journey differs from an in-restaurant experience is critical in unlocking the opportunity or getting left behind.   Additionally, we are flooded with digital tools creating the need to experiment. We will take you through the moments where consumer purchase incidence is most likely to be influenced and preview PepsiCo’s newest capability to respond to the evolving landscape. 

The deal-making boom is not likely to slow down. Involving national chains, emerging brands or multi-concept operators, the M&A action is likely to come your way. Hear from Wells Fargo’s Investment Banking leader on deal activity and what operators need to know to attract the right partner and, perhaps most importantly, manage a successful company after close.  On the agenda:  driving multiples, the importance of strategic investment, why top talent and company culture matter, and completing a successful deal that drives growth and leads to better performance.

Restaurant marketing has evolved from the ‘spray and pray’ tactic of TV/radio/billboard to the ability to precisely measure the impact of advertising on driving incremental diners. We’ll share how forward-thinking marketers are using this new capability to drive increases in diners and sales.

Is there a better way to foster great innovation between suppliers and operators?  Is there a better way to tap into the value of your key suppliers?  Yes, there is!  And collaboration is the key.

S&D Coffee & Tea will outline an exciting new industry best practice called “Foodservice Collaborative Innovation”.  A panel of operators will then discuss how they worked collaboratively with S&D to develop more impactful and differentiating innovation. 

Fat Bottom Lines make the restaurant world go round!  But achieving bottom-line growth isn’t all about growing revenue - cutting costs makes long-lasting impacts on an operation’s net income. Join our panel of operators as we debate what cost-saving function has the biggest impact on overall profit. Our panel of specialists will ‘compete’ for the title of Biggest Bottom Line Bang for the Buck.

Learn the top techniques for controlling labor costs and reducing labor liability that every operator must know in 2019.  The largest and most successful chains in the world are already putting into place the tools and processes they need to manage labor.  When it comes to managing labor - time is money!

Consumers today expect brands to give them the kind of personalized experiences they get from big brands like Amazon, Zappos, Netflix and Dominos, who added about 9% on average domestic same-store revenue growth from 2015-2018 through their data-driven one-to-one marketing. While smaller brands aspire to deliver this level of personalization, few, if any, have been capable. Why? It all comes down to data. Join us to learn why personalized customer engagement is crucial to the success of your restaurant over the next decade, and how to use data to better engage your customers and drive revenue. 

• This Innovation Forum will address the emerging importance of Sustainability including Clean Menus, Natural Ingredients and Green initiatives in the restaurant industry.
• Rich Shank from Technomic will present proprietary research on the importance of Sustainability and Clean Menus to your consumers.
• The operator panel will provide their perspective on:
  • Overall Sustainability Strategies and how they relate to your consumer.
  • Issues, opportunities, challenges and rewards of implementing a Sustainability and Clean Menu strategy.
  • How the operator engaged with and partnered with their suppliers to support their Sustainability and Clean Label initiatives.
  • How to communicate (or choose not communicate, if that’s the case) the improved Sustainability and Clean Label position to consumers.

Generation Z is made up of teenagers and young adults that are increasingly dependent on foodservice. This session will explore what this next consumer generation is eating and drinking, and where, when and how they are consuming it. We’ll help you understand how this generation differs from previous generations, and what it means for your segment.

Today’s marketer faces ever more effective but specialized tools (loyalty, email, online ordering, mobile, catering…) without having easy access to a unified view of the customer and a unified execution strategy to drive sales growth.   In this session, Stephen Farr Jones will illustrate how to use your data to understand WHO your best customers are to drive NEW CUSTOMER traffic and increase spending of EXISTING CUSTOMERS with a more unified data approach.  ADMM will also cover how to segment existing and potential customer bases around your locations to unlock the varying potential lifetime value within each differing segment.

Few things are affecting the restaurant industry quite like third-party delivery—and it only continues to gain traction. Join this follow-up session from last year’s Innovation Forum where we’ll provide new + exclusive research on evolving customer behaviors, the financial impact of third-party delivery, and how to establish a winning strategy.

As one of the leading fast-casual restaurants in the US, Tropical Smoothie Cafe is known for its better-for-you food and smoothies with a tropical twist at more than 730 locations nationwide. The company’s rapid growth, coupled with changing customer expectations for convenience and value, required a complete reimagining of the way it supported its franchisee community. Join this session to learn how Tropical Smoothie Cafe has successfully leveraged digital technology to empower their large – and rapidly growing – franchisee community in their mission to deliver convenient, healthy food options to their customers. 

The gloves are coming off and the nerd speak and buzz words will be left at the door. In a spirited debate about the right and wrong answers to the challenges facing today’s full service operators—Mike Vichich asks four brand leaders why they’re winning the battle for guests and how they’re smoking the competition on every level (from SSS to the customer experience). Panelists include: Scott Lawton (bartaco), Chris Simms (Lazy Dog), Bill Long (Snooze) and Lauren Bailey (Upward Projects)

Predictability is the key to your business’ success. The more accurate your forecast, the better your plans can be executed, giving you the opportunity to be more profitable. Weekly averages or aggregations of data disguise the real picture and hide the opportunities. Look under the surface, and a different picture emerges. Join Fourth to understand Weighted Mean Absolute Percentage Error (WMAPE) and how we can shine a light on hidden areas of improvement for your unique business.

A new class of cloud-enabled, action-based engagement tools are available to understand store performance to make data-driven decisions to drive top line growth.

In this session, attendees will learn how these tools will answer the following questions:

● How does my performance compare across various sales channels?

● What are my customers saying about me on social media?

● How do I compare to my competitors?

● How can I engage my customers and drive measurable results? 

Gen Y and Gen Z employees expect to use the latest tech tools on the job, with interfaces that mirror the ones they use at home, and mobile strategies to engage them in the workplace are crucial. These employees also desire to work for a purpose, and to see how their contributions impact the business. Facing increased costs to serve, low unemployment rates, high turnover, training limitations, and food safety crises, leading restaurants are embracing mobile solutions that are helping improve retention, add labor efficiencies and reduce risk. In fast-paced environments where training is at a premium, mobilizing operational standards and providing guidance in-app has transformed restaurants’ ability to drive standards. Through gamification and creating cultures that reward solid food safety practices, top restaurants have placed the power to wow customers firmly in employees’ hands. Learn how Gen Y co-founder, Joey Alfano, and his team who were awarded CG Technology’s 2019 Editor’s Pick for software, think about how tomorrow’s workforce works. They’ll share best practices from Compass Group USA, Panera, and Dairy Queen who are successfully mobilizing their workforces and:

• Increasing operational efficiencies
• Building cultures of food safety
• Improving quality and consistency
• Identifying and preventing risks
• Managing crises
• Driving innovation & new product launches

The U.S. catering market is huge — Technomic puts it at $61.5 billion. Are you getting your share? In this session, ezCater will be joined by a panel of restaurant industry leaders who will share insights and strategies on how they’ve grown their brand’s catering business.

Panel discussion with restaurant operators, focused on the importance on entertainment solutions as part of the overall guest experience. Brief introduction from Technomic, followed by roundtable discussion on the challenges and opportunities of deploying and managing entertainment services to increase customer traffic, sales and loyalty.