A Deeper Dive

Getting attention is the name of the game in the ultra-competitive restaurant industry, and Krispy Kreme has been doing quite a bit of that lately. This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Dave Skena, the global chief brand officer for the doughnut chain. Skena’s job is to get attention for a well-known brand and the company has been doing some interesting thin...

Pumpkin spice season comes earlier every year. Why? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features RB Senior Editor Pat Cobe, who joins me to talk about what’s on the menu at fast-food chains. We speak first about the recent news that Taco Bell has a partnership with the dessert concept Milk Bar . The two are launching the Strawberry Bell Truffle at a limited number...

How is the restaurant industry dealing with the difficult operating environment? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features an interview with Michelle Korsmo, who took over as CEO of the National Restaurant Association in May. Korsmo discusses her career to date. She has worked in public policy at the state and federal levels and most recently was chief executi...

Why would you leave a 1,800-unit chicken wing chain for a salad upstart? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive seeks to answer that question. It features Charlie Morrison, now the CEO of the nearly-60-unit Salad and Go. Morrison is the now-former CEO of Wingstop, which he led for nearly a decade, growing it from 500 locations to about 1,800 units and helping to turn...

How was Taco Bell able to get its latest prototype from idea to operating in less than two years? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Mike Grams, the chief operating officer for the Mexican fast-food chain, to talk about a variety of topics, from franchising to the reaction to its Mexican Pizza. That includes its fancy new Defy prototype, the one that feat...

Shahpour Nejad came to the U.S. to get his college degree. Instead he became a pizza guy. This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Nejad, the CEO and cofounder of the Sacramento-based Pizza Guys, who discusses his personal history, the formation of his chain and its growth strategies. Nejad’s parents sent him to the U.S. in the late 1970s when he was just 16, s...

Subway has made yet another massive change to its menu. Will it work? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Pat Cobe, the senior menu editor for RB, in a discussion about Subway’s latest menu chane. Subway last year overhauled its menu with an “eat fresh refresh,” an upgrade of numerous ingredients, including its bread. Some longtime operators who recall the...

How do you turn a well-loved local restaurant into a hot national concept? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Garrett Reed, CEO of Layne’s Chicken Fingers, to talk about his efforts to take that step. Layne’s was founded near Texas A&M in College Station, Texas, in 1994. Reed and a partner later purchased the brand, intending on turning it into a fran...

Everybody talks about having a good corporate culture. But what does that mean? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features James Pogue, the CEO of the leadership consulting firm JP Enterprises, to talk about culture and inclusivity. Pogue is a former researcher and administrator who now works with companies—including many restaurants—to help them attract and reta...

How does a mall concept do well in stand-alone locations? With chicken wings. This week’s episode of A Deeper Dive features Charley’s Philly Steaks President Candra Alisiswanto, who talks about Charley’s growth strategy. Charley’s operates 670 locations. Most of those have traditionally been in mall settings. But more recently, the company began expanding outside of those shopping centers and into...

How many restaurants does Subway need to close? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Trevor Haynes, president of North America for the Milford, Conn.-based sandwich giant, to talk about the chain’s future. Subway remains the largest chain in the U.S. by unit count. But it has been shrinking for years. Franchisees have closed about 6,000 locations since the...

How do you create a restaurant concept when so much about the business is uncertain? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Jack Gibbons, the CEO of concept incubator FB Society, to talk about concept development and the industry’s future. FB Society, formerly known as Front Burner Brands, is known most for creating Velvet Taco, which has since been sold—thou...

How do operators overcome rapidly shrinking profit margins? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Jim Balis, managing director with the investment firm CapitalSpring, to talk about the rising cost environment and how operators can overcome these problems. Labor costs are soaring right now, with wage rates up more than 13% over the past year. But food costs a...

What is the state of the restaurant industry this year? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Lance Trenary, the CEO of Golden Corral and chairman of the National Restaurant Association, to discuss the general state of restaurants. Trenary joined the podcast from the association’s recently completed show, the first one in three years. The show was held just...

Why are grocery prices going up so much? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Christine LaFave Grace, the executive editor of RB sister publication Winsight Grocery Business, to talk about last week’s consumer price index data. The CPI rose 8.3% in April. Food prices have soared, rising 9.4%. That includes 7.2% at restaurants. But at grocers, prices are up...

Restaurants aren’t the only businesses with labor problems. Distributors have their own challenges that are also driving up costs for operators. This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Terry Walsh, the president of small California distribution company Southwest Traders, to discuss the impact of the labor shortage on distributors and how that affects restauran...

How did Crumbl Cookies go from an off-the-wall idea between two cousins into one of the country’s fastest-growing restaurant chains in just five years? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Jason McGowan, the CEO and cofounder of the fast-growing cookie chain, to talk about its history and its growth. McGowan founded the brand with his cousin, Sawyer Hemsley...

What can operators do to avoid raising prices too aggressively? Or should they? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features John Gordon, a restaurant consultant out of San Diego, to talk about the industry’s historic level of menu price inflation and whether consumers will ultimately respond. Restaurants are raising prices at historically high rates, including 6.9...

How did a small hot dog chain handle a sudden rush of customers after the pandemic? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features J.R. Galardi, the CEO of the Galardi Group, parent company of Wienerschnitzel, Tastee Freeze and Hamburger Stand. Galardi was named CEO earlier this year but had been president and chief operating officer before that and has grown up with...

What chains recovered the most from the pandemic? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive” features Joe Pawlak, managing principal with RB sister company Technomic, to talk about the latest Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report. The 500 largest restaurants grew sales by 18% in 2021—and more than 8% over 2019, effectively recovering from the pandemic. They generated $361.2 b...

What are consumers getting when they order from a virtual kitchen? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features our editors speaking of their recent taste test of a handful of virtual brands. The project was spearheaded by Senior Technology Editor Joe Guszkowski, who wrote about the experiences in a piece last week . We are joined by Editor-at-Large Peter Romeo and...

Wendy’s has some big plans to add a lot of restaurants. This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Abigail Pringle, the president of international and chief development officer for the burger chain Wendy’s. She talks about the chain’s numerous expansion strategies. Wendy’s has a lot going on. The company has a deal with Reef Kitchens to expand into 700 ghost kitc...

Restaurants’ supply chain headache has evolved into a migraine. This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Keith Anderkin, the chief supply chain officer for the fast-casual chicken chain Zaxby’s. Chains have been increasingly giving c-level status to their top supply chain officers. Anderkin took his position last year, and we wanted his insights into the challe...

The pandemic has changed restaurants’ deals with beverage companies, maybe forever. This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive” features Tim Harms, CEO of the consulting firm Enliven, to talk about the market for beverages at restaurants. Enliven works with restaurants and other clients to negotiate their beverage contracts. Harms was recently named the firm’s CEO. He di...

Despite a number of challenges, there remains plenty of demand for restaurants on the open market. This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast, A Deeper Dive, features Robin Gagnon, CEO and cofounder of We Sell Restaurants, to discuss the secondary market for restaurants. That market remains strong. There are more buyers than there are sellers, driving up the price. This is especially t...