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This week on the Extra Serving podcast, a production of Nation’s Restaurant News’ Last Bite Network, NRN editors Lisa Jennings, Holly Petre and Sam Oches enter the metaverse.
McDonald’s and Panera both registered trademarks to enter the metaverse this week, joining the likes of companies such as Chipotle that have already begun experimenting in the metaverse. But that’s not all, there’s the difference between cryptocurrency to blockchain to the metaverse to NFTs (nonfungible tokens). Jennings explains the difference between them all and why it’s important.
“Trillions of dollars are being traded in cryptocurrency…it’s a thing people have to understand,” Jennings said on the pod. “But it’s something you have to research as a restaurant company if you want to play this game.”
Then, the team discusses Chipotle’s latest quarterly earnings where it was announced that average wages would be raised to $17 an hour — just one week after the NRN team discussed the thought of Chipotle raising wages on the podcast. How will the chain be paying for this increase, and how else is it helping stave off the labor crisis? Find out more in the episode.
Plus, hear from Nick Marsh, CEO of Founders Table Group — owner of Chopt, Dos Toros and FieldTrip — about the group’s latest collaboration.
This week on the Extra Serving podcast, a production of Nation’s Restaurant News’ Last Bite Network, NRN editors Holly Petre, Sam Oches and Bret Thorn discussed Popeyes’ year-over-year sales decline after an epic 2020. “Even though the headline is that their sales were down, I have to imagine they’re not too disappointed because it seems like there were a lot of external factors like labor that’s primarily at fault here,” Oches said on the podcast. The team, meeting in person at NRN’s New York City headquarters, sampled the famous chicken sandwich (as seen below on video) and discussed its merits while also analyzing Popeyes’ massive 2020 in comparison to 2021 following the brand’s fourth quarter earnings. The big headline from all of Restaurant Brands International’s earnings, however, was that Burger King is raising menu prices. The team discusses how rising menu prices at quick-service versus fast-casual restaurants during this time of inflation will impact customer expectations for these segments. Plus, Thorn interviewed Amy Alarcon, the vice president of culinary innovation at Popeyes about that sandwich and new menu innovations at the chicken chain. ...
Tanishia Beacham, senior vice president of operations and operating systems with Sonic Drive-In, saw the pandemic's difficulties as an opportunity to double down on her people-focused goals with the Inspire Brands concept. ...
Today on Extra Serving, a Nation’s Restaurant News podcast, NRN editors Holly Petre, Sam Oches, Leigh Anne Zinsmeister and Lisa Jennings spoke about lessons restaurants learned during the pandemic. Zinsmeister and Oches spent the show talking directly to operators (some videos available here and here) so they shared some of the lessons that they’ve been hearing operators have learned over the past two years — and which they’ll take with them into the new future. The team also discussed the resiliency of the industry throughout this time, whether by creative solutions to the labor crisis, like today’s podcast guest, or by innovations in technology or a host of other things. Jennings spoke about the emergence of single-seat cars — which were on display at the show in Lakeside — and the innovation of the car for delivery. The cars can park in motorcycle spots and go up to 80 miles per hour, yet the driver doesn’t need a motorcycle license to operate it. Then, hear a conversation between Zinsmeister and FB Society CEO Jack Gibbons, who talks about leaning into his company’s “unicorns” — the things that differentiate the experiential brands — at a time when most companies were running in the other direction. ...
