Fast Casual Executive Summit just concluded in Arlington, TX.
They describe it as “the premier gathering for top-level restaurant executives looking to innovate, connect, and elevate their brands. The Summit brings together the industry’s brightest minds to explore emerging trends, tackle challenges, and transform ideas into actionable strategies. Through interactive sessions and invaluable networking opportunities, attendees gain the knowledge and insights needed to lead their brands into the future.”
This is a show for proactive brands and proactive thinkers. They also have a built-in dinner and networking event. If you want to make great connections, put it on your agenda for next year.
There were a TON of great sessions. I tried to capture as many takeaways as I could.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
EXECUTIVE GUIDANCE
There were a lot of great leaders from leading brands at this show sharing leadership guidance. You would’ve been better served being in the room, but here are a few top-level guiding principles they shared.
Don’t open a new market until you are ready, not when you have a buyer or location.
Don’t mess with your core identity product. Get creative around it.
Don’t be something you’re not. Be the best at what you do.
Three things you should prioritize over culture: nothing, nothing and nothing.
WHAT THE ESSENTIAL DATA SAYS
Datassential presented a fast casual industry status report with lots of interesting data points about what’s happening across the business and what’s working. You’ll have to get the full report from them, but here are some action items.
1. Steal the coffee shop playbook.
Coffee and bakery brands are growing because they own a daily ritual and a cheap, repeatable add-on. You can build that into any fast casual menu. Add one $3 to $5 item a guest can attach to every order, and make it something worth craving on its own.
2. Build a fair-price way in instead of cutting prices.
Only 17% of fast casual visits are driven by saving money. Convenience at 51% and cravings at 48% drive three times that. So a discount is aimed at the smallest motive in the room.
Bonchon showed the better path: their $2.99 Sotteok Sotteok scored 63% on value AND 56% on uniqueness.
Craveable, different and fairly priced beats cheap.
3. Keep the core steady and let LTOs do the wild stuff.
Unique and innovative options top the list of things guests would pay more for, and 47% of fast casual guests call themselves foodies. Those guests want to be first.
Give them early access through your CRM, price the LTO as an add-on, and measure attach rate and new guests, not just units sold.
Put it together and you have the whole game: a craveable reason to visit, a fair-price way in and a reason to come back.
No discount required.
WHAT’S WORKING... IN ONE SENTENCE
Fast casual guests come for convenience and cravings, not savings.
The brands winning own something nobody else has at a price that feels fair, and the cheapest path to both is a low-ticket, craveable LTO.
WHAT’S DRIVING RESTAURANT CHOICES TODAY?
Price.
Convenience.
Experience.
Uniqueness.
Guests are looking for value, ease, a good time and something they can’t easily make at home.
Which one are you exceeding at?
LTO SUCCESS TACTICS
Want to sell more out of the gate? Bundle it.
Want to attract more guests? Check trends first, then make it uniquely yours.
Want to make it work at the cash register? Make sure it has higher margins.
Want to make sure it works in the kitchen? MAXIMUM of three added SKUs.
Want to know if it worked? Measure engagement, retention AND sales.
THE GOD METRICS
On a panel called “From Data Silos to Dollars,” a group of really intelligent folks shared a number of ways they are leveraging their data for growth.
One of the questions asked was: What are the most important metrics?
Here were their answers:
Transaction count
Average check size
Same-store sales
Same-store traffic
New vs. returning vs. untrackable guests
Unit economics
Speakers:
Anil Bathwal, Managing Director & Executive Chef, Kati Roll
Srishti Handa, Vice President of Marketing, Brand and Growth, Dave’s Hot Chicken
Angela Johnson, CMO, Edible Brands
Nicholas Meehan, Founder, Tacos Domingo
Nish Patel, CEO, Paperchase
WHAT’S THE BEST NEW GUEST ACQUISITION TACTIC?
I’ve been asking this question A LOT lately.
I’ve not been given one rock-solid answer. But every answer I’m getting has one commonality: capture guest contact info and hyper-focus on retention.
Understand what your best guests love. Get them more of it. Then figure out how to lead your next-best guests toward the same behaviors as your best guests.
That’s the play.
If you’re asking me where that information lives, it’s a mix of purchase behavior and sentiment.
Knowing what your guests love is made 10x more powerful when you know why.
If you were at #FCSummit, what did you take away?
Do you have any questions about restaurant marketing? Send me an email at [email protected].
Rev Ciancio
WHAT DOES REV DO?
I help restaurants build guest marketing programs.
I help hospitality tech companies with lead generation and content marketing.
