Restaurant Operator Podcast
Top 5 Restaurant Operator Podcasts in 2024
Here are the top 5 Restaurant Operator Podcasts for 2024.
December 27, 2024 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Networld Media Group
We stepped up our podcast game in 2024 with more Restaurant Operator Podcasts than ever before. Our podcast covers the gamut from QSRs to fast casuals and food trucks.
Here are the top five Restaurant Operator Podcasts in 2024.
1. CORE supports restaurant industry employees in times of need
In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Daily podcast, Mandy Detwiler, editor of PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com, talks with Emily Gorman, marketing and communications manager for CORE, a national non-profit dedicated to serving restaurant employees with children financial relief when facing a life-altering health crisis, injury, death or national disaster.
Gorman said CORE's mission is "to be there for all parts of the restaurant industry." A group of beverage executives met at the National Restaurant Association and a conversation was struck up about the lack of support for the restaurant industry. That discussion led to CORE, now in its 20th year.
2. L&L Hawaiian Barbecue CEO talks diversity, equity and inclusion
Mandy talks to L&L Hawaiian Barbecue CEO Elisia Flores about the brand's diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that Flores says are built into her staff as a whole.
"We are founded and headquartered here in Hawaii," Flores says. "My office — I'm sitting right here in Hawaii. And Hawaii, as many people know, is considered a melting pot. We are a very, very diverse community in terms of the ethnic mix. We are a minority majority here unlike most of the places on the continental United States. If I look at the staff here, it's a very diverse group naturally."
3. Slim Chickens CEO gives insight into brand's successes
Mandy talks to Tom Gordon, CEO of Slim Chickens. The brand launched in 2003, has more than 280 units and is based in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
"We open about a store a week," Gordon said. "We do 50 to 60 domestic stores every year, and we do international stores every year, too. We do business in the U.K., and 54 of those stores are in the U.K."
4. Gong cha focuses on quality of tea, customer service
Mandy chats with Geoff Henry, president of bubble tea brand Gong cha.
"The bubble tea category has been around for quite some time," Henry said in the podcast. "It kind of started back in Asia, typically in Taiwan in the early 1990s. Taiwan is known for its night markets where people can walk around and try different food cuisines that are up and coming."
5. Wetzel's Pretzels franchisee opens unit with brand's Access to Equity program
Mandy talks to Daintry McFadden, a Wetzel's Pretzels franchisee who opened her first unit in a Macy's department store in Oakbrook, Illinois, in December 2023.
McFadden started her franchise with help from Wetzel's Pretzels' Access to Equity program "which builds the franchise for minorities and women. (Wetzel's Pretzels) wants to increase enrollment in their franchise program, so there was a great opportunity for me," McFadden said. The Access to Equity program gives the franchisee royalty discounts and reduced franchisee fees.
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About Mandy Wolf Detwiler
Mandy Wolf Detwiler is the managing editor at Networld Media Group and the site editor for PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com. She has more than 20 years’ experience covering food, people and places.
An award-winning print journalist, Mandy brings more than 20 years’ experience to Networld Media Group. She has spent nearly two decades covering the pizza industry, from independent pizzerias to multi-unit chains and every size business in between. Mandy has been featured on the Food Network and has won numerous awards for her coverage of the restaurant industry. She has an insatiable appetite for learning, and can tell you where to find the best slices in the country after spending 15 years traveling and eating pizza for a living.
