TRANSCRIPTION 🔗
The Digital Restaurant May 23 2025
Carl: [00:00:00] Happy Monday. Welcome back to the Digital [00:00:05] Restaurants, and today I have a brand new guest host my good friend Kyle Inserra's with me, [00:00:10] Kyle, I know you as the man. When I think of real estate and restaurants, your name [00:00:15] always comes to the top of my mind. How you doing, my friend? How's your, how's your day going so far?
Kyle: Pretty good, [00:00:20] man. We survived the week, another week here. Busy, busy work-wise, but busy personal life, had my daughter [00:00:25] graduate high school, so, a little bit hectic. A little bit hectic this week. But thanks for having me on. I appreciate it.
Carl: No, [00:00:30] not at all. I really appreciate you being here and as ever, there's always so much out there [00:00:35] happening in our space.
We had to spend a bit of time trying to curate the five articles we're gonna talk about this week.
Q1 National Restaurant show highlightsCarl: [00:00:40] I'm gonna kick it over to you first because of course, the, the biggest gathering of people in [00:00:45] our industry happened just recently at the National Restaurant Show. Over in Chicago. My feet [00:00:50] are still aching.
Kyle: from last year. I didn't [00:00:55] injury.
Carl: There were a bunch of articles talking about some of the highlights from that [00:01:00] particular show. What were the things that stood out for you?
Kyle: I'll tell you, I, it was expected going in, the [00:01:05] AI conversations, it was there last year.
But that certainly to me was, seems like it was the number [00:01:10] one topic at the show. And it actually seems like it's, starting to be used more effectively in [00:01:15] that restaurants are starting to understand how this can actually work. Whereas I feel like last year it was a little bit more [00:01:20] like, oh, this is a cute little toy, this is a little fun robot.
And but now I think they're [00:01:25] starting to see how it can really change their operations. So that for sure was, was one of [00:01:30] the loudest topics there. A lot of tech overall and really about integrating these [00:01:35] platforms. A little bit, more of this consolidation and stuff and the integration of who's gonna integrate with what [00:01:40] POS this platform does, this one doesn't.
How does it work with your business? So overall, I think [00:01:45] the sentiment is tech and, and now we're starting to realize ways that it actually works [00:01:50] and, and how it's being implemented.
Carl: I agree. I pretty much went through every hole, walked up and [00:01:55] down every aisle. And I have this strange habit of keeping track of how many [00:02:00] packaging providers I see.
I counted 145. I. Different [00:02:05] suppliers of bamboo plates and cups and things. And you think, and I, I always go to myself, how do, [00:02:10] how do these guys differentiate from each other? And I'm not sure I've got a, a convincing [00:02:15] argument from any of them yet. But that was really interesting. Like how many of those were there?
There were two big themes [00:02:20] that came to mind for me, mate, which was one, of course, the overhanging element of terrace and the [00:02:25] uncertainty that's. Not just for the tech players out there, but also for [00:02:30] the kitchen equipment suppliers and decision inertia that's coming as a result of that.
People aren't [00:02:35] quite sure what's happening. Yeah. So is that gonna hold back investment in the areas that are are needed. [00:02:40] But then conversely I saw so much. Automation, [00:02:45] robotics for the kitchen inside the back of house. Yeah. I've never seen as many [00:02:50] providers, whether it be vid machines, whether it be automated arms for deep [00:02:55] fryers.
It, it, it seems like everyone was there this year. It's weird, right? When
Kyle: you see those two [00:03:00] forces against each other. It's, it's, it's weird. Yeah. For sure. Maybe that's one of the things these paper companies are doing, [00:03:05] right? Like they're trying to get, what else can they do to your point?
Carl: That's right. Yeah. It's I also recorded a [00:03:10] podcast that'll be coming out in a couple of weeks over at point b's headquarters, where they've launched [00:03:15] this tech center. But that was interesting, seeing this collation of different technology providers [00:03:20] trying to
overcome what you mentioned at the top around these integration challenges and being able to [00:03:25] allow executives in the restaurant space to come in and play with the stuff alongside [00:03:30] maybe alternative options that they're considering. So, that I think was a really interesting theme, but [00:03:35] it's a great show.
It is just a big show. And how boy does it take a lot out of you?
Kyle: You got, you gotta, [00:03:40] you gotta like break it up like you're going to Disney one day. You do, universal one day you do this one day. Yeah. It's, [00:03:45] it is hard. But about the tariff stuff, do you think that that is, how many people really [00:03:50] have their head wrapped around it?
Generally speaking, right? Like the decision makers obviously are pretty [00:03:55] tied in. They understand what's going on, but I just feel like people hear tariffs in their, they just, it's like [00:04:00] ingrained in us now that it's something that's negative, gonna hit our, our pockets.
Carl: Yeah, I, I I think [00:04:05] it's just the uncertainty, right?
More than anything, right? The fact that they might be there one moment and then not there the [00:04:10] next, and especially when it comes to technology, there's a level of risk adversity, I [00:04:15] think, attributed to it. So a lot of folks might be saying should we go in now?
Mm-hmm. Before potential this [00:04:20] really expands out, or should we just wait to see whether things are gonna calm down? Yeah. One person [00:04:25] said to me. It was actually a, a guy who's running a POS company, [00:04:30] he
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said, look, the problem is, is that now we're given to situations where [00:04:35] hardware is turning up at a port and suddenly the tariff changes.
And [00:04:40] so therefore I've gotta go back to my customers and say, I don't need another 25 grand. And if I don't get that [00:04:45] 25 grand within 30 days, it's not coming in. And so there are these things that are gonna [00:04:50] potentially really unhinging a lot of companies. So hopefully we'll get better clarity over the, [00:04:55] the, the months ahead.
Certainly the, what is it, the 90 hiatus that is coming to [00:05:00] conclusion pretty soon. Hopefully we'll get some clarity at that point.
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Q2 - AutoLane Launches OpenCurb OSKyle: So auto lane launches, open curb and operating system. I, I tell you, [00:05:10] this has become a hot topic. This is a great idea and I always love to hear [00:05:15] your thoughts, .
Carl: Yeah, it really is,. I, I think the, first of all folks, folks that [00:05:20] haven't heard of Auto Lane, relatively new concept, they've launched this thing called Open Curb [00:05:25] os, which is described as a curb wide operating system, and it's [00:05:30] designed to. To manage autonomous vehicle arrivals. Yes, you heard me right.
Autonomous vehicle [00:05:35] arrivals, particularly for QSRs, think of it almost like a air traffic control for [00:05:40] self-driving cars picking up curbside orders, and the system handles everything from [00:05:45] scheduling vehicle arrivals to authenticating license plates. Managing parking zones [00:05:50] and even coordinating trunk openings when working with companies like Waymo.
So your order [00:05:55] handoff is smooth, fast, friction free. Oh yeah. And they're testing it in San Francisco, [00:06:00] and they're also running a critical beta in Austin, Texas, where of course they're expecting [00:06:05] Tesla to be launching its robo taxis pretty soon. It is pretty crazy, [00:06:10] right? You think about this, like the, the way it works is the QSR.
Assigns [00:06:15] several parking spots for these autonomous vehicle pickups. Mm-hmm. So, [00:06:20] parking spots, right? This isn't necessarily attributed to drive through. So the auto lane [00:06:25] install sensors and cameras to monitor those parking spot zones. And then they white list. [00:06:30] Specific vehicle plates for authorized access into those areas.
And [00:06:35] then when the delivery platforms like DoorDash, REITs request curb access, open [00:06:40] curb is then assigned in a parking spot, they share the GPS coordinates and then it confirms the [00:06:45] vehicle's arrival, which are therefore allows the restaurant. And the team member to come out, place the [00:06:50] order in the vehicle's trunk, and then it heads off to the customer without needing any other staff involved in it.
And [00:06:55] so it's this choreography, I think. Which I think is really quite interesting. We, [00:07:00] we heard about the, the drive-through issue. Was it last year? The Waymo drive-through and [00:07:05] Chick-fil-A. Right. That had the restaurant down for like four hours. This idea of curbside [00:07:10] pickup and being able to have this air traffic control idea, I think it's really smart.
What, what do you think, [00:07:15] I'm sure you're speaking to folks about this type of
Kyle: thing. I was just talking to somebody the other day about when it was just a [00:07:20] standard when I, when I was starting in the restaurant business, that it was 28 to 30% profit margins. So now you're talking [00:07:25] 10% at best. And if there are ways to get more deliveries with autonomous vehicles for less [00:07:30] of a cost I think you gotta be open-minded to everything.
Yeah. I think this is just it's the way we're headed. It's [00:07:35] not gonna go backwards.
Carl: Yeah, I, I agree. I, I think the thing that's interesting for me is, is you know [00:07:40] how everyone now describes drive through performance based on amount, minutes and seconds it [00:07:45] takes for the average. I think it's gonna get that direction pretty soon when it comes to pickup [00:07:50] as well.
And what they've seen in some of their testing is that they've dropped the time from two [00:07:55] minutes to one minute. It's wild. And I, I can't remember the number off the top of my head right now, but I remember [00:08:00] a big, big QSR chain once saying there's a significant value to every [00:08:05] second. That you say from a drive through order.
Oh, the drive through. Yeah. Therefore, two minutes to one minute on [00:08:10] curbside pickup, which, and pickup in general I think is absolutely massive, especially in a [00:08:15] time when people are actually leaning more in towards pickup. Because of the, the savings that are [00:08:20] involved in not having to pay the delivery aspect of it.
And of course with the automation angle from [00:08:25] vehicles, that removes the human elements to your point. And therefore it's a far more official transaction. [00:08:30] You gotta hope, right?
Kyle: It's still, I know people say this all the time, but it's the, the Amazon [00:08:35] effect, we're used to.
Paying a little bit more or just, hitting by now and [00:08:40] getting it as quickly as possible. Dropping off at the locker, dropping off while we're dropping off groceries, [00:08:45] any kind of friction between that experience. And any other experience including [00:08:50] restaurants, is gonna seem outdated and it's gonna, you're gonna lose customers, so, yeah, I could see where they [00:08:55] would say, seconds come 'cause it's already so competitive. If I'm gonna go to raising can's or Dave's hot chicken, [00:09:00] or I don't wanna wait four minutes over here, it's one minute over here. That's a differentiator. That's gonna change. [00:09:05] Change the business.
Carl: Yeah. I, I dunno whether you've been in one of those Waymo vehicles yet.
I was there last year. [00:09:10] Mm-hmm. Video out and just when I went to the
airport and it made me think wow. [00:09:15] This could be such a fundamental shift in the whole delivery value equation. It's it's gonna be [00:09:20] fascinating. The CEO suggests the widespread adoption of this could happen within five to 10 years.
It sounds like [00:09:25] you think it might happen even sooner. So we'll have to keep an eye out. It certainly
Kyle: seems like it's happening [00:09:30]
Carl: real
Kyle: fast. All this stuff. So yeah, I love it.
[00:09:35]
Q3. Wingstop launch of their Smart KitchenCarl: All right. I've always put these guys in my top seven of digitally mature [00:09:40] restaurants Wingstop in the news, largely around their smart [00:09:45] kitchens.
And I was only talking about that on the last episode around smart kitchens and the, [00:09:50] the growth of those. What did you make out of what's happening over at Wingstop and how it's gonna help them , [00:09:55] continue to push ahead?
Kyle: Yeah, much like we were just talking about these, the time [00:10:00] aspects of it all, I think their ability to use ai right?
And, and [00:10:05] really this forecast demand and cutting their production time in half, essentially, I think was that [00:10:10] and, and the just the visibility on the app of what's happening with your order and when you can expect it. [00:10:15] It's, it's the same kind of theme, right? Applied to a different part of the business.
What really stood out to [00:10:20] me though. Was the adoption in a franchise model, right? Not easy. You [00:10:25] hear that a lot from franchisors, like how, we'd love to implement something, but across all the [00:10:30] franchise units, it's gonna be difficult. So things get rolled out slowly. A [00:10:35] franchisees adopting something like this, that's such a major disruptor in the industry.
And to their model, probably [00:10:40] like a lot of these guys I think it shows a lot about what's going on in Wingstops, behind the [00:10:45] closed doors up there. They, they're, they're really thinking ahead.
Carl: Yeah, I, again, it's all about being [00:10:50] able to shift the timing of delivery, right? And this ability to be able to get more [00:10:55] items through, in a way forecasting better, but then also produce faster [00:11:00] if you can deliver that convenience and then also add a level of efficiency to it as well.
It's a [00:11:05] win-win and they have really got it down. That ability to speed things up faster I think is really [00:11:10] encouraging. The interesting thing for me is, is that this is another company that has built [00:11:15] internally, right? It's a proprietary tech stack. It's not a compilation of different parts [00:11:20] that's helping them that in that regard.
So in that sense it's enabling them to build [00:11:25] across their workflows specific for their business, specific to their type of cuisine. Yeah. [00:11:30] And that's gonna help when you're not having to like build around the technology, let the technology build around you. [00:11:35]
Kyle: I think that's genius because it's also telling everybody that we're not focused on being better than you.
We're [00:11:40] focused on being better than us. We want to beat ourselves every day and we don't care what's happening with [00:11:45] other platforms and other, other concepts. We care about ours and how we can be more efficient. Pair [00:11:50] this with the Auto Lane feature. Are we talking about like [00:11:55] 10 minute delivery times, in inside your three minute radius?
That's wild. [00:12:00] That is completely insane. So, speed. Speed and efficiency, right? Less friction. Seems to be [00:12:05] what all these guys are thinking about all the time.
Q4. Doordash Trends ReportKyle: All right, so [00:12:10] DoorDash came out with their trends report. Men trust the kitchen robots more than the [00:12:15] ladies. Let's get into that a little bit.
Carl: Yeah, it was a, it was a weird one,
so let me just shrink you [00:12:20] into the corner here and I'll I'll talk them through. So first of all, they, they surveyed [00:12:25] 1500 of their customers. Of course, this report also takes into account a [00:12:30] lot of anonymized data from the platform itself, from DoorDash, but they're such a huge player now. It [00:12:35] makes sense to take a little deep dive into what they were sharing.
And the first one here [00:12:40] is around the way in which AI continues to proliferate across everything in our industry. [00:12:45] And slide four here was talking about the way in which recommendations. Are being [00:12:50] seen to be, something that many are actually quite comfortable with.
Interestingly, [00:12:55] the older the generation go, it becomes more around value as opposed to having [00:13:00] AI recommend who they should be eating with, for example. But it seems to be [00:13:05] that more and more people are seeing look like, yeah, if I get something recommended for me that's actually [00:13:10] good like that, that aids my experience.
To your point a moment ago about just the. [00:13:15] The way in which men are ready to let the robots cook their meals. Look at this. This is saying that [00:13:20] they're twice as likely than women to trust AI tools in the kitchen. So [00:13:25] back to what I was explaining about at the National Restaurant Show where I saw a lot of those tools, it seems [00:13:30] like there is a bit of a difference in, in, in opinion here.
I don't know. It's an interesting one, right? How many [00:13:35] times do we really think about how much automation is involved in the creation of [00:13:40] our food. Mm-hmm. And, ultimately if we get a great burger, if we get a [00:13:45] great spaghetti, bolognese, whatever, do we care that are humans behind it?
Or if it's being done correctly, [00:13:50] consistently every time, is that more important? I'm sure there's lots of people listening that have a view on [00:13:55] that. Let's keep going. This one I thought was really interesting. This
was talking about the way in which social [00:14:00] proof is helping different generations think about deciding whether to eat with a [00:14:05] particular restaurant or not.
And you'll see there on the left hand side the way in which food [00:14:10] photos increasingly have a huge level of influence, and especially. For the [00:14:15] younger generation. Yeah. So as I say to a lot of folks that are getting into this space, invest in the [00:14:20] photography. My god, it's so, God so important that you don't, scrimp on that particular one because more [00:14:25] people than ever it seems are are eating with their, with their eyes.
Oh. There was a bit of [00:14:30] sustainability stuff that was going on. Let me get a slide nine here where sustainability practices like locally [00:14:35] sourced ingredients and. Food waste reduction are themes that, again, certainly the, the younger [00:14:40] generations are more interested in. So thinking about how that forms a role within your, your marketing and [00:14:45] value proposition.
Slide 13. I can't go through everyone. This was [00:14:50] fascinating. Remember my first book Kyle, we talked about. The growth of [00:14:55] different forms of culinary knowledge and the way in which people were becoming more [00:15:00] curious and more inquisitive about trying different types of food. Look at the top [00:15:05] 10 most ordered foods and DoorDash last year, and how many of those would you say fall part of the [00:15:10] traditional American diet?
Kyle: Hmm.
Carl: When you see number two on the list, garlic non number four on list [00:15:15] pad tie number five, miso soup. This shows that I think. The country is becoming more [00:15:20] intrigued by trying out far wider ranges of food than probably what they were doing five years ago, [00:15:25] let alone, 10. That one really stood out.
Kyle: Any, any thoughts on that? Yeah, no, obviously the [00:15:30] fries are, were always a big thing when, when Yeah. The food came out, so not a real surprise there. I think these, some of [00:15:35] these foods, the, when you look at the, the garlic non, and you look at the pie Thai and, and some of the the [00:15:40] other stuff there, it is just, maybe it's, it just travels better, right?
Chicken tiki masala, I'm probably not [00:15:45] gonna know if somebody. Picked it up and put it in a bowl from the restaurant. I think, if I was at the restaurant [00:15:50] or if I brought it home, or it has that same kind of consistency. So it's foods that I think maybe there's [00:15:55] a little bit of that, yeah.
What can we make that can be delivered and, and still be good? I know that always goes into [00:16:00] it, but I know fries were never, I. They were always a problem, but I think fries are one of those things, like, you want 'em when you [00:16:05] want 'em, you don't care. You get 'em and they'll figure out the crispiness at home, I think.
But
Carl: yeah,
Kyle: I, I, [00:16:10]
Carl: I still have, I've still yet
to have good fries delivered. Have, have you ever had anyone deliver good fries to you?
Kyle: [00:16:15] No, I was just gonna ask you the, the packaging stuff we were talking about, there had to have been, when they still pushing these, make the [00:16:20] best, the crunchiest fries.
I haven't seen it yet, so must not be the case [00:16:25] with those products. Yeah.
Carl: Who knows? It's clearly a popular one, so they're gonna keep on the [00:16:30] menu for sure. So, another question for you. One in five people pretend that their [00:16:35] delivered food was made at home.
So last dinner party, Karl, did you cheat? Did you, did [00:16:40] you, did you basically order something in and say, yeah, I've made this, and it looks like us guys are more likely again than the [00:16:45] ladies to do? It says.
Kyle: No, but I'm not opposed to it. But number two, when we [00:16:50] first opened our first restaurant, the first catering order we ever had, the woman dropped off like 20 of her own ceramic [00:16:55] trays and she said, just put the food in here.
I'm gonna pass it. She just was honest about it. I'm gonna pass it off as well. Oh, [00:17:00] I love it.
Carl: I
Kyle: love it. That's great. That's, yeah.
Carl: Oh my [00:17:05] goodness. Another theme that I saw again, especially at the show last week, was just the way in which more and more [00:17:10] folks are holding the alcohol. So yeah, what we saw between 24 and 23 was an [00:17:15] 82% increase in orders with non-alcoholic beer involved, and also an increase in the hemp and [00:17:20] THC delivery of orders as well.
Yeah. So that is a theme that continues to proliferate. We're seeing [00:17:25] more and more of the younger generation saying, you know what, actually I just want the food and maybe just a , [00:17:30] refreshing drink as opposed to anything. With alcohol in. And then this was another one. We talked about [00:17:35] timing earlier. How quickly does someone decide a restaurant on [00:17:40] DoorDash? 49% of people take five to 10 minutes to decide where they're gonna order from [00:17:45] 16% less than five minutes. That's still quite a decent period of time, I think.
But it [00:17:50] points, I think back towards this idea of, you go onto a marketplace to see what's out there, to be able [00:17:55] to browse and to be able to see what's available. But if you aren't at the top of those listings, if you're [00:18:00] not on those carousels, you're probably not gonna be part of the consideration.
It's super,
Kyle: it's that digital real [00:18:05] estate. It's, it's becoming more, and, when I say digital real estate, not that metaverse stuff that everybody was talking about, [00:18:10] like, but your presence online, that is it's becoming almost equally as [00:18:15] valuable as your, your brick and mortar.
Carl: Yeah, absolutely.
Last thing I'll share before we get onto the next [00:18:20] one clearly DoorDash is no longer just a restaurant company. Mm-hmm. Look at this now. Birthday [00:18:25] gifts, 43% of folks have said that they use them for gifts for birthday, [00:18:30] 25% on Valentine's Day. Thank you gifts. Really good way of thinking about using another occasion as a, [00:18:35] something for perhaps those people that don't plan in advance for the gifts that they're trying to give to people.
[00:18:40] So, that one really stood out. It was a really good report though, right? I think great report when you think about these [00:18:45] things, it's just there's so much happening in this space these data points I think are really important for folks [00:18:50] thinking about how they're shaping their business and their menus for the year ahead.
Kyle: Yeah, and I'll tell you what your point [00:18:55] about when people see something online, that they're, they're more apt to get into the virality of that stuff and investing in the photos. [00:19:00] I, I've, I've lived it with a teenager in my house these last, eight years or so, [00:19:05] and undoubtedly. I'm gonna say 75% of the time because that's [00:19:10] about about the amount of time she gets to pick where we eat.
We're going because something was on TikTok or Instagram. [00:19:15] Wow. Even when we were on vacation, we were, where are we going for lunch? I don't know. [00:19:20] Juju found something over here in the shopping center on TikTok. We're gonna go see it. We all look at it. We say, yeah, all right, [00:19:25] let's go.
Carl: Amazing. There's
Kyle: like a validation that it's like, oh, it's on TikTok.
Must be good. [00:19:30]
Carl: I love that. It's crazy. It, it just, it just goes to show, right? You mentioned the real estate thing again, [00:19:35] it's back in the day, it would've been the smell from the restaurant right? As you're walking past. Oh, [00:19:40] what's that now it's the, the video image on TikTok.
Kyle: Yeah. I'm telling you. [00:19:45] It was I'll never forget about, I wish I knew the name of the place.
I'd shout 'em out, but it was like a chopped chicken Caesar [00:19:50] wrap. Nothing crazy. But we had to get there before it got packed, and she was right lying out the door. [00:19:55] So
Carl: amazing.
Q5. Doordash stops Voice AI and announces preferred partnersCarl: Alright, my friend. Look, let's round out today with another [00:20:00] DoorDash article actually. A couple of things. First of all, someone's stopping voice ai.
So [00:20:05] DoorDash is stopping their investment into the voice AI stuff, but also they came out with this list on [00:20:10] preferred tech partners. Tell us about that.
Kyle: I think the stopping of digital ai, they're, they're concerned about [00:20:15] their, their. Interactions, right? That seems to be the case, right?
They're, they're not, they're not, it's not [00:20:20] fine tuned enough. I think it's a smart move. Ultimately. I think they're gonna eventually get it right. [00:20:25] I don't think that it's the, the end of it all, but certainly I think that. Making [00:20:30]
sure you do it correctly. It seems like that's the, the number one concern there is.
It's, it's not [00:20:35] robotic, it's, it's, it has to be seamless like us. And that makes a lot of sense to me that they're gonna focus on, on [00:20:40] doing that.
Carl: Mm, yeah. I, I think it's also this piece around. [00:20:45] Where do they want to play and, and excel in? So ultimately, as I've said many times that most [00:20:50] generative AI of which voice a plays a role in projects end up failing.
They never actually [00:20:55] make it to full on scale. Mm-hmm. And part of that is about making sure appropriate testing is put [00:21:00] in place to ensure it works. And so maybe it's just pause, maybe it's bring it back [00:21:05] in and take another look at it. Maybe we'll see it come out again in future, once they have been out to solve [00:21:10] some of those gremlins.
Kyle: Aren't they just doing what a company that is so forward thinking should be doing. [00:21:15] Like they're, I think they're moving fast.
If it works, it doesn't work. We're gonna figure it out. But this seems [00:21:20] like what's happening now I think at the end of the day that's, love it or hate it, but that's just kinda the way [00:21:25] that it is. But,
Carl: Chipotle, we're doing that recently, right? With our Autocard machine. They took it back into head office [00:21:30] to test it again before bringing it out and piloting it out in store.
So, you're right, it's about good testing [00:21:35] methodology.
Kyle: Yeah. And like, there's no way to do it without testing on the public, [00:21:40] right? You could do it behind closed doors all you want, but at the end of the day, you need somebody who's gonna be able to [00:21:45] say this is the volume we do, and if it doesn't work for this level of volume we're not interested.
So [00:21:50] you gotta test it in public. And that's the, that's the, the scary part of being that type of brand. [00:21:55] But ultimately I think they're gonna be the ones that are gonna be leading this type of space but , you had mentioned about the [00:22:00] integrations so important. Mm-hmm. The preferred integration stuff, I think what are they looking for?
Error [00:22:05] rates below a certain percentage. They're involved with some of these other the tech companies that we all [00:22:10] know, toast Square, Otter checkmate. But I think it makes sense, [00:22:15] right? They, they, they don't wanna slow down. They, they're gonna have a certain level of expectations from their partners.
Carl: [00:22:20] Yeah,
Kyle: I
Carl: this this wasn't a huge surprise to me. Obviously back in the [00:22:25] day, we would've had integration partners, like, remember Order Mark when they would take in all the different [00:22:30] orders from the the different aggregators and then send them through to the POS.
Of course, now. [00:22:35] DoorDash have got that whole interface themselves with companies like Toast. And so [00:22:40] in that sense, I think those tech partners that have worked with the marketplaces and are seen to be [00:22:45] friendly, to support marketplaces are probably gonna land themselves in that list. But I [00:22:50] wonder how many other tech vendors are trying to get part of that list, is that some form of verification [00:22:55] that's gonna give some confidence to, to restaurateurs out there?
Kyle: That's what I was just gonna ask you. I said I bet if you go [00:23:00] back in, in all the podcasts you've done and conversations you've had and things you've [00:23:05] written, you probably predicted this on some level, right? That this was gonna happen to kind of cream rise to the [00:23:10] top and eventually we're gonna see this consolidation , but I don't know what that process looks like. It's actually a very interesting question. [00:23:15] How do you start to choose new partners to integrate with what, what are the exact guidelines?
Carl: Yeah, [00:23:20] exactly. And, and how far will it go? How far will it go beyond just the ordering interface? Are we gonna see [00:23:25] recommended partners in completely different areas in, in future? Yeah. Oh we'll, we'll keep an eye on it, but listen, before [00:23:30] we finish, Carla, I'd love for you to tell the audience a little bit about 10 wrap.
Kyle overview on 10RepCarl: We've mentioned AI a few [00:23:35] times today, and it's certainly an area which you're involved in, but as I mentioned at the top your [00:23:40] guy's been in rational operations helping brands scale from very small operations to much larger [00:23:45] operations. And now you're doing something with 10 wrap.
What, what's that about? I.
Kyle: Yeah, so I, I was in the [00:23:50] restaurant business, I worked as a broker for a while, and it's a completely [00:23:55] downshift in terms of speed and process, right? There's restaurants have a certain [00:24:00] rigidity and SOPs to follow, and, technologies implemented and we're trying to get better every, and [00:24:05] it's a completely different space than real estate.
But long story short, I, I wound up doing a [00:24:10] lot of work with franchise concepts on the restaurant side. And I was [00:24:15] amazed at the inefficiencies in the process. I think if anybody could take a peek behind the door of some of these brands, you'd be like, holy, [00:24:20] how do they have the number of units that they have?
But what's happening now is, [00:24:25] vacancy rates are historically low and these deals are just not getting done. For some of these [00:24:30] smaller, emerging brands, it's tough to compete. With the Raisin Canes and the Chick-fil-A and the [00:24:35] Starbucks and Dutch Bros. And, landlords are. Investing or, or [00:24:40] investigating, rather, based on your credit, really, brand's, cool, sexy, great [00:24:45] followers, but do you have the, the, the money and accessibility to investors that [00:24:50] would make this a real growth project where they could feel comfortable.
But thanks to
ai, we've realized [00:24:55] that there are some redundant processes on the brokerage side and the real estate site selection side that can [00:25:00] make life a lot easier. So our whole goal is to build the machine [00:25:05] behind the brand. A lot of restaurants can't afford, the emerging restaurants can't afford a full time [00:25:10] director of real estate.
So you have the franchise sales team selling units all over the [00:25:15] country, different brokers on every side. It just becomes a real, real mess [00:25:20] and you lose units. And I read an IFA article that said that [00:25:25] franchisors lose $48,000 a month per unit, per store, [00:25:30] per month. They're delayed. I. Wow, it's a lot of money.
So, we've implemented some AI [00:25:35] technology to handle the reach out and the site scoring. So we are now presenting new [00:25:40] franchisees with a completely vetted list of what's available, what's coming available, what [00:25:45] opportunities will be this year, what will be next year, what will be five years from now, potentially in a fraction of [00:25:50] the time.
Carl: Great example of how these new capabilities are starting to come to the [00:25:55] fore and paired with your experience. Carl, I'm sure you're helping a lot of folks out that make the right decision. 'cause we know [00:26:00] if they get that decision wrong, doesn't matter how good the food is or anything else.
That's a real, [00:26:05] real problem for many out there. And it's probably a big reason why so many restaurants fail. So, if people [00:26:10] want to find out more reach out to you, what's the best way for them to do it?
Kyle: LinkedIn's great. Or [00:26:15] kyle@tenrep.co or at Kyle and Sarah on really any platform. Thank you for, for [00:26:20] allowing me to talk about that.
It's part of the reason why I'm a little bit scattered today, been running around trying to keep up with these AI [00:26:25] agents. But it's, yeah, they're already taking over in my business. So [00:26:30] yeah, thank you for having me on the show. I really appreciate the opportunity.
Carl: Yeah, of course, I'm gonna let you get back to chasing those [00:26:35] agents and bots around. Always appreciate you joining with the show, my friend, and congrats on all your [00:26:40] success.
Thanks. Thank, thanks for having today. Thank so much. Alright guys, listen, if you'd like to reach out to [00:26:45] Kyle, you know where to reach him. Please leave your comments below. Any questions that you got for anything that we've covered today? [00:26:50] What do you think? Are you gonna be trusting that those robots in the kitchen and will we see you in [00:26:55] Chicago next year looking to see what impact maybe those tariffs have had on the industry?
But [00:27:00] until next time, thanks, for watching.
The Digital Restaurant Podcast is available [00:27:05] for you to follow and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts. Watch us, rate [00:27:10] us and subscribe to the digital restaurant on YouTube and follow along on all our social [00:27:15] media digital restaurant channels. Thanks for [00:27:20] listening.