Right here at The Spoon, we’ve lined tons of of restaurant operators over the previous half-decade, partly as a result of we love eating places and restaurant tech, however principally as a result of restaurant operators are among the most artistic and hard-working entrepreneurs within the meals enterprise.
The reality is that they should be. There’s no enterprise altering quicker than the world of meals service, with the arrival of ghost kitchens, digital ordering, automation, and AI, all towards a backdrop of excessive meals prices, altering client tastes, worker turnover, and extra.
All of which is why we’ve determined to start out a brand new podcast targeted on entrepreneurs who’re discovering new methods to run a restaurant in at the moment’s trendy world. We needed to listen to their journey into eating places, hear how they’re rethinking tips on how to do enterprise in at the moment’s world, and the place they see the restaurant enterprise going sooner or later.
For our first episode, we knew nobody higher to debate approaching the restaurant enterprise in new and modern methods than Geoff Alexander. The CEO of Wow Bao obtained his begin in hospitality with a school job as a bartender, the place he found his expertise for connecting with individuals, and he hasn’t regarded again.
He joined Lettuce Entertain You shortly after commencement and rose by way of the ranks over the following three a long time, gaining operational experience and finally overseeing his personal division. In 2009, he took the reins at Wow Bao, the place he embraced know-how as a technique to flip the enterprise round and innovate on new enterprise fashions. He launched self-ordering kiosks, cell ordering, and partnered with third-party supply platforms early on, which laid the muse for Wow Bao’s distinctive mannequin that spans over 500 places with a mixture of digital kitchens and centralized meals manufacturing.
Alexander shares insights on Wow Bao’s strategy and the way a scarcity of capital fostered a tradition of creativity and effectivity. This strategy led to profitable improvements like centralized manufacturing and distribution, which he says has saved value low whereas guaranteeing high quality. Alexander additionally discusses scaling with hot-food merchandising machines and dipping the corporate’s toe into the metaverse.
It was a enjoyable episode, and I feel you’ll take pleasure in it. Hear and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts!
