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FCES15: Tips on building a foundation for profitable growth

Strategic and profitable growth for today's restaurants, quick service eateries and retailers is a comprehensive endeavor. But it's doable and the number one tip to getting a foundation built is to jump in and start making it happen.

Julio Ramirez, former executive vice president of global operations and former president of the Latin America Region for Burger King and now a board member for Giardino Gourmet Salads.

October 22, 2015 by Judy Mottl — Editor, RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com

Strategic and profitable growth for restaurants, quick service eateries and retailers is a complex and comprehensive endeavor. But it's doable and the number one tip to getting a foundation built is to jump in and start making it happen.

That insight, along with additional tips and advice from those in the know, was the focus of a conference session, "Building a Foundation for Profitable Growth," at the Fast Casual Executive Summit held this week in Miami.

The panel of experts was impressive as collectively the four speakers represented over 100 years of restaurant experience and a unique career connection: at some point all four had worked for the Burger King corporation.

The session goal, as noted by moderator Steve Pattison, general manager of Supply Chain Service, was to provide tips and real-life examples on how to grow successfully, with a specific focus on managing the supply chain.

Supply chain management is a critical aspect that impacts much more than a company's bottom line, explained the speakers.

One of the first tips offered up was from Glen Helton, CEO of the Kudo Corp.

"Don’t build beyond the supply chain when you’re a small operation and outsource when you can and when it makes sense," he told the audience, adding the best supply chain strategy is one that manages to leverage the buy of others in the region. "This will mitigate your increasing supply chain costs as you expand," he advised.

Frank Paci, former CEO of the Einstein Noah Restaurant Group and now CEO at Corner Bakery Cafe and Il Fornaio, recommended never forgetting how expansion and growth is dependent and tightly related to supply chain decision-making and overhead structure.

"As you expand this is the biggest issue," he said.

Julio Ramirez, former executive vice president of global operations and former president of the Latin America Region for Burger King, said a strong supply chain must be in place before a move beyond a company’s home base, noting even the biggest players have failed because they didn’t take the supply chain into account.

"Pick your markets well and define the strategy by doing your homework," he said.

For example, as Helton shared, his company’s move into Dubai required the understanding that getting food supplies was going to be quite unique. In Dubai he learned it would take 90 days for a fries shipment to reach his restaurants. In that situation, he said, it's essential to have multiple supply sources so you can keep moving forward.

Moving forward was a common phrase heard during many sessions at the two-day summit, which is celebrating its 10th year.

"You can't rest on your laurels, you have to keep inventing your brand. You need to make sure you have enough supply for marketing and any promotions and to deal with any potential dilemma," Pattison said.

One example he provided was how a marketing team devised a promotion to drive a new product that involved avocado. The trouble was no one investigated what supply level would be needed beforehand, and it wasn’t until the promotion nearly launched that it was determined there would not be enough to support the effort.

The supply chain is also tied to tracking what consumers are eating and buying, what they’re not eating and buying, and any changes in menus and retail product decisions.

"Smaller chains must be careful of adding to the menu and also paying attention of what to pull off a menu," said Ramirez, who serves as a board member for Giardino Gourmet Salads. He shared how Burger King once launched a pizza pie offering through its drive thru menu. It wasn’t until the first customer ordered and drove up to the window that BK realized its pizza boxes wouldn’t fit through the drive-thru window.

Another key aspect to laying a foundation for profitable growth is not to be knee-jerk when it comes to trends and what may appear to be the latest food trend, he added.

"Even if something gets very hot it may not make sense in certain regions or area," he advised, noting that a vegetable like kale, for example, is not as beloved by consumers in some regions but adored in others.

In concluding the four panelists made one last impacting point for success — using and tapping resources that many, if not all, supply chain partners can offer. Those resources can range from institutional knowledge, data and even marketing support.

"Your success is their success so tap into that expertise," said Helton.

About Judy Mottl

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Judy Mottl is editor of Retail Customer Experience and Digital Signage Today. She has decades of experience as a reporter, writer and editor covering technology and business for top media including AOL, InformationWeek, InternetNews and Food Truck Operator.

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