Danny serves as the editorial director at Food News Media who’s properties include QSR Magazine and FSR Magazine. A byproduct of his post is an acute understanding of what’s happening in the restaurant industry and what’s coming down the pike. In this episode, we unpack some of the trends and challenges the industry is facing, along with some of Danny’s perspectives on what’s coming next.
Background/History
- Serves as Director of Digital Content of Food News Media (QSR Magazine, FSR Magazine, both are free publications)
- Covers, trends, news and talking to operators for digital properties
Notable Quotes
“What does not have a shelf life and what probably has changed forever is the definition of convenience” -Danny (7:20)
“That’s the lasting change is the convenience element to come out of COVID” -Danny (7:45)
“We were all headed this way in quick service in terms of trying to remove friction from the ordering experience… especially mobile and anything involving digital ordering” -Danny (9:00)
“That’s where we are now. It ushered in that era, and I don’t think we’re going back now” -Danny (9:36)
“I’m personally a fan of the ghost kitchen model over the virtual brand model for the long term.” -Danny (31:35)
“What I think they will continue to do is launch ghost kitchens where they can seed a market and decide if they actually want to go in there because it’s a great way to test demand with basically no overhead” -Danny (33:29)
“A lot of the users on 3rd party apps are product loyal rather than brand loyal” -Danny (34:39)
Notes
We’ve seen a lot of movement in comfort food in the last year and the clock is ticking on that to some degree.
As we emerge out of the quarantine fog, we’re gonna get a little more health focused.
During the height of the pandemic, Starbucks and Dunkin really saw this drive toward people getting coffee as a treat or indulgent occasion mid-morning or afternoon.
Takeout is gonna go down as dine in goes up and what we’re gonna have to pay attention to is what happens to the daypart occasions because they’ve been completely fractured and re-written during COVID.
Are people gonna start going to bars again and getting White Castle on the way home?
