Senior Editor - Restaurants
Chris Demery has joined Blaze Pizza s executive leadership team as chief technology officer. Demery brings 20 years of industry experience leading off-premises and consumer-facing platforms for nationally-recognized food service brands, and will leverage his expertise to develop and execute strategic initiatives supporting Blaze s ongoing innovation.
Demery joins Blaze Pizza at an exciting period of development for the rapidly growing franchise concept. Despite a year of unprecedented challenges for the restaurant industry, Blaze s investments in operational efficiency helped the brand navigate 2020 without slowing down its aggressive growth efforts, opening 24 new restaurants nationwide by year-end. This success has fueled a surge in franchise development and positioned the company for explosive growth in 2021 and beyond.
Ghost kitchens bring the Aloha Poke fast casual concept to a larger population of people.
Aloha Poke, a fast-casual poke restaurant concept, launched its first ghost kitchen operation in downtown Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This concept allows Aloha Poke to introduce the brand’s high-quality food and sustainable sourcing practices into the South Florida market.
Aloha Poke’s menu of fresh, protein-packed, sashimi-grade fish and mostly raw ingredients are available via third-party delivery platforms like UberEats, Grubhub and Doordash. Ghost kitchens have gained popularity for a unique build-out model offering restaurant brands a way to bring their food offerings to more people, test market viability, and attract potential brick-and-mortar franchisees.
Dallas-based barbecue franchise
Dickey’s Barbecue Pit opened three new ghost kitchen models last week in Chicago, Orlando, Fla., and Oakland, Calif.
Barbecue fans in the surrounding five-to-ten-mile radius will be able to get their Dickey’s fix by ordering delivery directly to their doorstep through dickeys.com or the Dickey’s app.
Demand for Delivery
Dickey’s ghost kitchen model, which they unveiled earlier this year, services guests solely through online ordering and third-party delivery and is quickly becoming the barbecue brand’s fastest growing model.
“Despite the toll this pandemic has taken on the restaurant industry, fast-casual franchise concepts like Dickey’s are proving to have a competitive edge and I attribute part of that to our niche’s ability to adapt models based on ever-changing consumer behavior,” said
Anna Wolfe, Angela Diffly, and Robert Firpo-Cappiello Restaurant Next presented innovative solutions for restaurants new normal from the industry s top suppliers.
Our virtual conference Restaurant Next, which debuted October 12 & 13, featured five unique virtual restaurant environments that played host to introductory tours, educational sessions, and showcased sponsor info and inspiration. Dedicated to demonstrating what s next in QSR/Fast Casual/Drive-Thru, Curbside & Delivery, Full-Service, Kitchen, and Universal Solutions, these immersive environments were the cornerstone of Restaurant Next s content.
In the
Here, we’re sharing five essential takeaways from Restaurant Next’s keynotes, one-on-one “firechat” interviews, and panel discussions. (For a deeper dive, all Restaurant Next educational content and sessions are now available right here on HospitalityTech.com.)