This year, Bar & Restaurant Expo kicked off with a brilliant keynote session: ‘Growth Opportunities for 2022 and Beyond’. Here, Scott Blazek, Executive Vice President, Breakthru Beverage Group Nevada led a group of celebrated industry leaders, including Bruce Skala, Senior Vice-President, Marketing for Hooters of America, as they discussed everything from supply chain issues to the latest technology F&B operators need to know. You can find the key takeaways from their panel discussion here.
Bar & Restaurant caught up with Blazek and Skala to learn what they found most impactful from the discussions.
What are the most exciting technological advancements / products operators need to embrace now, and why?
Scott Blazek (SB): The pandemic accelerated technology by at least five years, making it easier for everyone to interact with and order from businesses—apps for ordering and pickup are extremely popular with suppliers, customers and consumers right now. In addition to expanded access and ease of use, these technology and other digital investments Breakthru continues to make convert data to game-changing business intelligence, putting insights to work in every market, for each supplier partner and customer.
Bruce Skala (BS): With customers more accepting of QR codes now more than ever, it is a great opportunity to utilize the new technology available. Smart QR codes allow you to tell a story on food and beverage features with video, with and without sound. The ability to speak to the customer at the point of purchase, and direct them to your features is an opportunity operators should be looking at.
What are the most effective ways you’ve seen businesses handle inflation and supply chain issues?
SB: You have to expect the unexpected. The businesses handling these issues the best understand that nothing gets done without human labor, even in the age of automation. We have partnered with key suppliers to share projections, allowing us to supply real demand and protect suppliers’ and customers’ businesses. This also helps us be deliberate and not waste resources during shortages.
Right now, the industry is mostly concerned with labor, supply chain and inflation. How do you see these core issues evolving over the next nine months?
SB: Things are not going to get easier any time soon. Costs are 4-5 times higher than usual, and there are constraints across all materials from glass and aluminum to paper. But the macro trends are still good — consumers still have pent-up demand after two years at home and are being patient as all of us along the chain work through these issues. The hope is to combat these issues while keeping customers engaged and excited, which is why Breakthru’s Beverage Development Team is working with restaurants to create new drink programs, ensuring they are able to cover when a product isn’t available.
How can operators attract a great talent pool of employees?
SB: In the age of the great resignation, it’s up to us to think outside the box in terms of benefits, culture and recruiting. Let’s recruit people from non-traditional areas or roles and look more at skills and personality than previous experience. It’s also important that your company takes care of its people and is a great place to work. That’s something we’re really proud of at Breakthru—more than just benefits, we work hard to make our offices open, inclusive and fun so that people want to come to work.
BS: Recruiting is an essential component that all operators need to be constantly engaged in. Utilizing existing employees to recruit friends is a great opportunity. Engaging with your current employees social media contacts and getting the word out and rewarding employees for helping fill the pipeline is an effective strategy.
Consumer expectations have drastically changed from 2019 to 2022. How can operators cater to that?
SB: After two years of at-home mixology and online ordering, consumers are more educated and have higher expectations than ever before. They understand how much things cost at retail and expect to be really wowed to justify a higher price cocktail or bottle. We need to stay on top of consumer trends and react quickly in order to keep people’s attention. Breakthru has been proactive in this space through our fine wine segment, Aspect, which launched more than a year ago in the height of the pandemic. Through this program we’ve kept up with fine wine’s soaring popularity and consumers’ changing tastes, allowing our customers to meet consumer expectations.
BS: Consumer expectations have changed dramatically since 2019. One of the biggest changes is that guests expect an easy way to get menu and feature information on their phones rather than physical menus. Being prepared for ever changing local ordinances will position you to be able to quickly capture revenue opportunities when something changes. Having a game plan of contingencies before a change is mandated is critical to being prepared and nimble to the world we know live in.
What is the most interesting piece of information you’ve learned in your discussions with the other keynote speakers?
SB: I took a lot away from this group, they’re all incredibly talented and have great insights into the on-premise. I learned a lot by listening to Mark around the challenge and the importance of having a holistic technology strategy versus just adding “bolt ons” or one-offs to your operating system. Meaning, if you don’t have an enterprise system or a clear strategy for how all your systems come together you could end up with a bunch of different systems that don’t easily integrate or communicate with each other.
BS: There are lessons to be learned from the larger chains of how to be prepared for ongoing changes in the bar and restaurant industry. Technology is available to engage with guests at the point of purchase in a way that has never been available before. The pandemic has pushed the industry to find new and evolving ways to assist guests in getting your menu, features and stories in front of them, in a manner they are comfortable with.
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