Catering in a franchise ecosystem Part 2: Centralized services

by Erle Dardick — CEO, Monkeymedia

Incremental fixed costs from adding a catering channel will be offset by the long-term profits made.

Starbucks and King County Menu Labeling study food for thought: Consumers who opt for low-calorie items spend the same

by Betsy Craig — pres, menutrinfo.com

The menu label study showed a 6 percent overall decrease in calories per transaction, but profits did not decrease.

5 Reasons Beef Fits Fast Casual [infographic]

by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

This infographic shows how beef menu items can help increase traffic and check spend at fast casual restaurants.

Restaurants without cashiers: The Golden Gate effect

by Noah Glass — CEO, Olo

When the Golden Gate Bridge added technology-enabled toll transactions in March 2013, it was certainly an end to an era of toll takers, tollbooth and drivers…

Catering in a franchise ecosystem: Part 1

by Erle Dardick — CEO, Monkeymedia

Every restaurant operator today has customers asking for catering services; saying no to customers is never an option for any growing venture.

'Here Be Dragons'

by Ed Zimmerman — President, pizza.com

During the Age of Exploration, brave people climbed aboard wooden ships to set sail for faraway lands.

The importance of traceability: “Fish fraud” sparks food-labeling controversy

by Betsy Craig — pres, menutrinfo.com

Seafood fraud not only affects consumers' wallets, it also has the potential to take advantage of and even damage the reputation of honest vendors and…

Idiot-proof restaurant equipment innovation

by Darrel Suderman — President, Food Technical Consulting

Equipment innovation is innovative when it solves a technical problem and adds shareholder value.

Big and little data : A gold mine

by Noah Glass — CEO, Olo

This past Thursday, I had the pleasure of speaking on the Restaurant Technology panel at the 33rd Annual Piper Jaffray Consumer Conference at the New York…

Everyone is a millennial, and engaging them is not an option!

by Jitendra Gupta — Mobile CRM Director, Punchh

Phew! I can't believe it's almost a month since this year's NRA Show (yeah, that one!) and the Marketing Executives Group meeting in Chicago. I love both…

What your bad employees don't want you to know

Outline disciplinary procedures, which are necessary to change counterproductive behavior and put the violator on notice that future violations could result in…

An era of breadwinner moms

by Ed Zimmerman — President, pizza.com

Are restaurateurs catering to the trend of men doing more of the household management duties?

Beating the marketing monkeys

by Chris Luo — VP of Marketing, FiveStars

In his best-selling personal finance book arguing that investors can't consistently beat the market, economist Burton Malkiel says that "a blindfolded monkey…

3 tips on making your mobile app amazing

by Noah Glass — CEO, Olo

Comedian Louis C.K. has a well-loved skit (just one of the hundreds of YouTube posts of this video has 681,365 views) subtitled, "Everything is amazing and…

Google adds nutritional data search function

by Betsy Craig — pres, menutrinfo.com

Google's new nutritional-focused search function is a step toward the general public expecting to see this information everywhere.

Podcast: The right way to use 'Social Intelligence'

by Nate Riggs — CEO / Owner, NR Media Group

In Episode No. 3 of the Social Restaurant Podcast, I'm delighted to be joined by two amazing guests who have some of the deepest-rooted experience I've seen in…

Square Cash – A money transfer game changer?

by Brad Cyprus — Chief of Security and Compliance, Vendor Safe Technologies

Square strives to make financial transactions simple enough so that the average person on the street can participate.

Will craft beers increase limited-service occasions with Millennials?

by Jeff Fromm — Executive Vice President, Barkley

As QSRs and fast casual concepts race to remain relevant to Millennial consumers, some restaurants are looking to beer for help. Of course, they’re not looking…

The Hokey-Pokey approach to security and safety

When business priorities require our attention, the security and safety priorities may slide down the list when they are not ingrained into the culture as core…

Restaurant food safety tracking and tracing innovation

by Darrel Suderman — President, Food Technical Consulting

Litigation attorneys are coming after restaurant chains with increased expertise and sophistication; it would be wise to hire an outside food safety consultant.