Global Franchise 9.1

Staffing is one area where brands have not been able to truly innovate. Employees are needed to cook orders and serve customers, as well as clean tables and floors. The pay of food service workers has been an issue in the U.S. for a long time, but the COVID-19 pandemic brought it to the fore. Many worked through the pandemic as essential staff with little to no extra recompense, and many more just wanted to get away from the job. This has all resulted in staff shortages for many QSR brands. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ figures from April 2021 showed that only one in five quick service operators reported employee counts at normal, meaning another four were operating with insufficient staff, or reduced operating hours. In January 2021, only eight per cent of restaurant operators cited staff retention and recruitment as their top concern, compared to 78 per cent in July. Technological solutions also What are the benefits of bringing robotics into the kitchen ? There are a wide variety of benefits and potential competitive advantages that back-of-house robotics and automation create. Aside from the obvious increases in efficiency, dependability and consistency of operations, there are significant increases in employee satisfaction and employee wage growth potential as their jobs become more focused on hospitality and supporting the technology. Being able to staff restaurants during off-peak hours, late at night, or even 24 hours becomes so much more doable for brands or locations that have a demand. Additional benefits include smaller real estate footprints, speed of service and order accuracy, as well as a reduction in the transmission of food borne illnesses. Are labor pressures why QSR brands, like yourselves, use robotics? Reliability can certainly be a benefit, but I would focus more on the availability of staff, particularly those that want to spend all day doingmundane tasks that can be easily handled by automation or rather, the lack thereof. Are there any concerns about the cost and functionality of the robotics, and if they can truly provide efficiencies and consistency? Think of software as a service and now robotics as a service when you think of the capital investment. Kind of like you are often leasing your POS system inclusive of service, equipment and software upgrades. Is this something you’d like to roll out to every store, or is it only truly worth it in chosen locations? We are certainly in the early stages of this technology adoption cycle. We believe that brands and companies who learn how to optimize and incorporate these technologies throughout their operation will have significant competitive advantages over time. That being said, we have a clear vision for what the future ofWing Zone will look like, and it’s heavily centered on new advances in tech. How quickly we’ll be able to get there without compromising efficiency on a location-by-location basis is yet to be determined. Are there any other easily repeatable jobs in the kitchen that you’re looking forward to seeing robots carry out? Every repetitive task can be automated over time. It’s the integration of these capabilities with the other technology platforms we employ that will begin to yield exponential returns. DAVID BLOOM, CHIEF DEVELOPMENT AND OPERATIONS OFFICER FOR CAPRIOTTI’S AND WING ZONE appear to be the best way to safeguard customers against unclean practices and Taffer’s Tavern has invested heavily into this concept. “When I created Taffer’s Tavern, I built a business model that included a clearly defined expectation and protocol for each restaurant when it came to safety,” said Jon Taffer, the star of Paramount’s Bar Rescue and founder of Taffer’s Tavern. “That became known as The Taffer’s Safe Dining System. Concurrently, I created the ‘kitchen and bar of the future’ that was held to these same strict standards. For instance, at the bar, all glassware is cleaned using CO2 glass frosters to instantly chill and sanitize the glass upon contact. “My goal was to make Taffer’s Tavern the safest restaurant franchise brand to date, and with our safe dining system in place, I believe we have accomplished that.” GLOBAL-FRANCHISE.COM 39