Restaurant Leadership Update

The restaurant industry is expanding at a strong pace again, but there's a difference to the growth and the strategies driving it. Chains are creating opportunities by peering further into the future and anticipating the trends in consumer preferences, restaurant recruitment, financing, politics and restaurant operations. They're hungering for ideas, innovation and insight.

Leadership

For PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, Adaptability is Key to Business Success

Indra Nooyi came aboard PepsiCo in 1994 to steer the foodservice division, visiting front- and back-of-the house operations across America.

Franchisees' issues get the spotlight

Learn how some of the most successful restaurateurs are handling common challenges and opportunities.

CEOs from Dunkin’ Brands, Brinker International, the National Restaurant Association and Outback parent Bloomin’ Brands, and their riffs will be different perspectives on the macro issues confronting all chain executives at RLC's general session—The Leadership Watch Power Panel.

He took the stage like a victorious general and made it clear from the get-go that this would be no ordinary presentation. “I don’t do speeches anymore,” former McDonald’s USA CEO Ed Rensi barked to a packed ballroom at the Restaurant Leadership Conference. “I rant.”

The conference schedule provides opportunities on Sunday and Tuesday nights to explore what’s become a vibrant local restaurant scene. The range of choices can be daunting, limited only by how far you’re willing to drive or cab. So what places are worth the effort?

Every chain has A, B and C units. A key to growth—without actually building new stores—can be in turning C’s into B’s and B’s into A’s.

If you took a United or Delta flight to the 2012 Restaurant Leadership Conference in March in Scottsdale, Arizona, you had the option to forego a printed boarding pass, using a QR code sent to your smartphone instead. In a world where 80 percent of the population owns a mobile device (and only 47 percent own a toothbrush), cellphones and tablets are replacing pagers, wallets, credit cards and even keys. Here’s a round-up of mobile solutions from the floor of RLC to keep an eye on.

Changes in the RLC’s content and a few tweaks in the format should help veteran show-goers get the most out of their visit as well.

Growth in the restaurant industry will come near-term from grabbing market share from other concepts, said Warren Solochek, vice president of foodservice for The NPD Group.

Darren Tristano felt the need to apologize for a key point in the data he presented to attendees of the Restaurant Leadership Conference.

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