A Deeper Dive

This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive” features Helen Lao, the founder and CEO of executive recruitment firm ClearPath Solutions. Lao discusses the company’s recent move into franchise matchmaking with ClearPath Franchise. She also talks about the market for industry executives.

The track record of international concepts expanding in the U.S. is not great. Jollibee Foods plans to change that. Maribeth Cruz, president of Jollibee Foods North America, joins this week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive” to talk about the chain’s plans to change that. Dela Cruz talks about the company’s aggressive plans to expand that number, and how the pandemic intr...

Jimmy John’s has shifted its marketing under Inspire Brands. In this week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive,” the chain’s chief marketing officer Darin Dugan discusses those changes, the chain’s thinking behind the changes and some of the impact. Jimmy John’s has made a number of changes in recent months. That includes the menu, something that had rarely changed at the sa...

How are restaurant companies finding and keeping workers right now? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive” features Editor-at-Large Peter Romeo, who joins Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Maze to discuss the labor shortage and how restaurants are combating the problem. Restaurants of all kinds have reported difficulties hiring employees, to the point that many locations are...

The three biggest franchise brands in the world are all embroiled in disputes with their U.S. franchisees. This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive” features John Gordon, a restaurant consultant out of San Diego, who talks about these disputes and why they’re happening. The three brands are McDonald’s, Subway and 7-Eleven. At McDonald’s, franchisees have been pushing b...

Virtual brands are all the rage right now. But how do they work? And how can they succeed with so many of them out there? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive” focuses on this topic and features Alex Canter, the founder of Ordermark, who provides advice and insight into the creation of these concepts. Canter’s company includes Nextbite, a creator and operator of vi...

How did Domino’s become a tech company? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive” features Dennis Maloney, the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based pizza chain’s chief innovation officer who discusses the company’s effective use of technology. Maloney talks about what it takes for a pizza chain to become a tech company. He also talks about robots, including Domino’s partnership with...

The restaurant industry has enjoyed some remarkably strong sales so far this year. The Restaurant Business team of editors want to know how long this will last. Senior Editor Heather Lalley, along with Editor-at-Large Peter Romeo, discuss the recent spate of strong sales numbers.

How was Jersey Mike’s able to outperform all of its competitors, and most of the restaurant industry, in 2020? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Busines s podcast “A Deeper Dive” features Peter Cancro, owner and CEO of the sandwich chain, to talk about the company’s performance. Jersey Mike’s last year was the 10th fastest growing chain among the Technomic top 500 even as most of its competito...

Consumers are changing again coming out of the pandemic, and that is expected to change the market for restaurant chains. This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive” features Dave Bagley, the managing director of Carl Marks Advisors, to provide an outlook for acquisitions coming out of the pandemic. Bagley leads the restaurant group at the New York-based investment bank...

The Technomic Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report, released earlier this month, has provided a clear picture of just how much the pandemic has influenced the restaurant industry. Joe Pawlak, managing principal with Restaurant Business sister company Technomic, joins this week’s episode of the podcast “A Deeper Dive” to talk about the ranking, including what chains won and what chains lost.

Why are there so few Black and women CEOs? Activist investors. Or so says James White, the former CEO of Jamba, and Thomas Lynch, senior managing director of the private equity firm Mill Road Capital. White recently joined Lynch’s firm to be part of its newly created Progressive Governance Fund, which seeks to improve diversity at smaller companies through targeted investments. White and Lynch arg...

The latest acquisition in Flynn Restaurant Group’s history was its biggest. This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast features Greg Flynn, the giant franchisee’s founder and CEO, who discusses the company’s recent acquisition of most of NPC International’s restaurants. Flynn Restaurant Group has grown over the past couple of decades largely through a series of increasingly large acqui...

Fast-food chains are gung-ho for chicken sandwiches these days. This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive” explores why. Patricia Cobe, RB’s menu editor, discusses the industry’s sudden fascination with upgraded chicken sandwiches and why.

How will an upscale casual chain prepare for a potential flood of post-pandemic customers? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive” features Tim McEnery, CEO and founder of Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants, to talk about the chain’s strategies coming out of quarantine.

Why have SPACs suddenly become so popular among investors? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive” features Andy Pforzheimer, the longtime industry executive who helped create the Tastemaker SPAC with former Jamba CEO Dave Pace.

Del Taco has big plans for its new prototype. This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive” features John Cappasola, CEO of the 600-unit Mexican chain, to talk about the chain’s “Fresh Flex” prototype and why the new design can help the company expand in the post-pandemic era.

How did Golden Corral, the country’s biggest buffet chain, survive a pandemic in which it couldn’t operate much if not all of its buffets? Lance Trenary, the chain’s CEO, answers that question on this week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive.”

Virtual brands are big and getting bigger. And they could change the restaurant industry. This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive” features myself along with RB’s technology editor, Joe Guszkowski, to talk about what might be the biggest single trend in the industry: The proliferation of delivery-only restaurants, or virtual brands.

How does Hungry Howie’s compete in the pizza sector with so many giant competitors? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive” features Steve Jackson, CEO of the 500-unit chain, who discusses the company’s response to the pandemic and its ability to grow in a market with so many bigger competitors.

Dutch Bros Coffee has quietly been one of the strongest growth chains in the U.S. This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive” features Joth Ricci, president of the 400-unit chain, to discuss its growth strategies, response to the pandemic, and its future.

Fast-food restaurant companies are busy developing new prototypes to take advantage of the growth in takeout. But they need more than that to succeed. Or so says Juan Martinez, principal and founder with the consulting firm Profitality, who joins this week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive” to discuss the proliferation of restaurant redesigns. Martinez discusses the redes...

Bartaco has had a busy three years. Scott Lawton, CEO and cofounder of the 20-unit taco chain, joins this week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive” to discuss those years and how the company has had to overcome the challenge of the coronavirus.

Ghost kitchens are a big trend, and Nathan’s Famous is taking full advantage. This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive” features James Walker, senior vice president of restaurants, with Nathan’s Famous to talk about the trend and why ghost kitchens work for the concept.

Papa John’s turned itself around last year. Its challenge in 2021 is to keep that momentum going. This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive” features Rob Lynch, the CEO of the Louisville, Ky.-based pizza chain.