News Briefs

Chris Kung has joined Zaxby's as its new Chief Digital Officer. He will lead the transformation and acceleration of the company's Loyalty and e-Commerce initiatives.  

"Zaxbys rapid expansion requires the investment of world-class leaders and resources," said Bernard Acoca, Zaxbys CEO. "Chris's expertise in e-Commerce and loyalty programs will help drive incremental growth and enhance the Zaxbys experience as digital touchpoints continue to proliferate throughout the customer journey. His arrival will help us build stronger relationships with our guests by deepening our understanding of their needs and rewarding their patronage with personalized experiences." 

Growing Loyalty

Kung brings over 20 years of innovation and strategy experience to Zaxbys and most recently served as Chief Digital Officer at Dollar General, where he led initiatives that transformed the company into a digital innovator. Kung played a central role in creating the myDG loyalty program. Under his leadership, the company's e-Commerce sales grew 40x in three years, app usage surged from 1.8 million to 7 million monthly active users, and the DG App earned the distinction of the #1 couponing app in America.

Prior to Dollar General, Kung held key leadership positions at Macy's Inc., where he drove omnichannel technology and innovation.

Zaxbys is establishing a new Loyalty & e-Commerce Team, which will report to Kung. This new team will spearhead efforts to make Loyalty and e-Commerce significant contributors to its growth. The creation of the Chief Digital Officer role will open capacity and drive focus for Mike Nettles, Chief Technology Officer, and Patrick Schwing, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer, who both previously oversaw a portion of this role.  

Panera Bread today announced that Mark Shambura has joined the company as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). He will lead all aspects of marketing at Panera, including Brand Building, Digital & Loyalty, Product Strategy & Consumer Insights. An accomplished marketing leader with broad expertise in the restaurant industry, Shambura has previously held marketing leadership roles during pivotal growth periods for top brands including Chipotle, MOD Pizza, and most recently Papa Johns. 

"Mark brings an impressive background building brands and leading marketing teams for fast-casual restaurants, and we're thrilled to welcome him to Panera Bread," said José Alberto Dueñas, Chief Executive Officer. "As Panera continues to evolve our brand, guided by listening to our guests, Mark's depth of experience and ability will help drive our growth as a brand that serves great food you feel good about eating."

Shambura previously served as CMO at Papa Johns, where he led a revitalization of the brand by enhancing its iconic "Better Ingredients, Better Pizza" platform, and developing a more modern, innovative omnichannel approach to transform how Papa Johns appealed to both new and loyal consumers. As Executive Director at Chipotle, Mr. Shambura guided the marketing function through periods of both sustained growth and transition, providing leadership over brand strategy, advertising, digital, social, events/sponsorships, promotions, and field marketing, including playing a key role in spearheading its "Real Ingredients" brand strategy.

"I'm proud to join the Panera Bread team and excited to build on the momentum of the brand's transformation as it continues to evolve in service of our guests," Mr. Shambura said. "Panera propelled and cemented its position at the top of the fast casual restaurant segment through its promise of high-quality ingredients and freshly prepared food, and I'm thrilled to join a highly talented team to help shape its next chapter."

Prior to his tenure in the restaurant industry, Shambura gained extensive marketing agency experience, working with a broad array of top global consumer brands for over a decade. Shambura will report directly to José Alberto Dueñas, Chief Executive Officer, and officially assumed the role of Chief Marketing Officer on July 29, 2024.

New York-based robotic kitchen startup, Aniai, has announced the deployment of 15 hamburger grill robots across burger chains in South Korea, including the hamburger franchise brand Lotteria (part of Lotte GRS, a food affiliate of Lotte Group).

Aniai's robotic solution, Alpha Grill, helps restaurants automate the burger cooking process. It not only wears many of the same features as clamshell grills – with its dual-sided griddle, pre-set recipe configurations and precision output, but also boasts an impressive speed and serving automations. Capable of cooking 200+ patties per hour, Alpha Grill's robotic spatula cooks patties, brings them to a warming tray and then self-cleans saving customer's precious seconds with each use. 

After employing Alpha Grill for six months, Lotteria reduced their traditional six-step patty cooking process, which required approximately five minutes of cooking time, down to a single step and exactly one minute and fifty seconds, allowing their staff to allocate more time to value-added tasks while removing physical burdens. 

"The impact of Alpha Grill extends to creating a safer working environment," noted a Lotte GRS Representative. "By reducing the time our kitchen staff spend in front of hot grills, which is traditionally a risk for burns and heat-related injuries, Alpha Grill enhances workplace safety."

As Aniai continues conversations and live demos with major American and NYC-based burger brands, they look to the technological advances and rapid adoption of Alpha Grill in South Korea. Aniai's Co-founder and CEO, Gunpil Hwang, is enthusiastic about their partnership with Lotteria and other prominent burger chains where they've deployed 15 grills today, and 500 pre-orders for the future.

"It's truly exciting to witness the rapid adoption of our automation technology, and the happiness it brings among kitchen staff," notes Gunpil Hwang. "We want to ensure that not only are our customers eager to innovate with us, but their staff reap the positive benefits Alpha Grill brings to them. We have proved that our solution works in the commercial kitchen in South Korea; and now, we are taking this momentum to expand deployment to the US."

Pictured right:  Aniai Deploys 15 Hamburger Grill Robots Across South Korea’s Leading Burger Chains, Including Lotteria

Portillo's Inc. is piloting kiosks in select restaurants. This strategic test represents a step forward in Portillo's ongoing commitment to embracing technology that will enhance the guest and Team Member experience, while optimizing operational efficiency. The company has installed its first state-of-the-art, 24-inch Bite kiosks at two Chicagoland restaurants, offering Portillo's guests an additional layer of convenience and choice, and freeing up Team Members to support other areas of the restaurant and focus on exceptional guest service.

• According to 2023 HT’s Customer Engagement Technology Study, 55% of consumers are very or somewhat satisfied with restaurant self-ordering technologies such as kiosks.

Guests at Portillo's restaurants in Downers Grove (1500 Butterfield Rd) and Chicago's River North neighborhood (100 W Ontario St) will have the first opportunity to trial the kiosks, which were custom-designed in partnership with Portillo's technology team and Bite. As part of the pilot program, Portillo's plans to install additional kiosks at its restaurants in California later this month. Pilot locations will serve as testing environments, providing valuable insights to guide potential future kiosk implementations.

"We've studied best practices across the restaurant industry to identify a next-generation ordering system as a thoughtful addition for both our guests and our Team Members," said Keith Correia, Chief Information Officer of Portillo's. "By offering an alternative ordering experience, we're giving guests another way to get their Portillo's however they prefer, while creating flexibility for our teams to focus on what they do best – making delicious food and providing fun, welcoming service. It's about carefully integrating technology to enhance the classic Portillo's experience that has delighted fans for over six decades."

Crucially, this technological addition is designed to complement, not disrupt the Portillo's dine-in experience. The kiosks work alongside existing ordering channels, providing guests with more ways to order. This approach enables Portillo's to strategically redistribute Team Members to other high-value areas of guest service, fostering new opportunities for meaningful guest interactions and Team Member development.

Moreover, these kiosks allow Portillo's to thoughtfully showcase both core menu items and new innovations. Large 24-inch video screens not only facilitate an easy ordering process, but also offer a visual journey through Portillo's full menu to encourage guests to discover new items, potentially leading to increased check sizes and higher guest satisfaction.

Portillo's partnership with Bite, a leading restaurant kiosk provider, underscores the company's commitment to quality. The kiosks will be evaluated based on specific success metrics, including line reduction, order accuracy, check size, guest satisfaction, and importantly, Team Member satisfaction. This pilot program reflects Portillo's dedication to mindful tech integration that genuinely benefits the overall Portillo's experience for Team Members and guests.

Visual Matrix, a leading provider of advanced technology solutions for the hospitality industry, has increased the growth of its MOP technology 440 percent since Visual Matrix acquired the technology in November 2021. MOP is now used at more than 1,000 hotels representing than 33 brands in the industry, including Wyndham, Hilton, Marriott, IHG, and more.

“MOP was designed to help hoteliers overcome the many operating challenges they face today, in addition to the crunch of reduced labor,” said Georgine Muntz, CEO of Visual Matrix. “Hoteliers deserve access to tools that work as hard as they do. That’s why we have spent so much time listening to hoteliers, understanding their pain points, and finding ways to reduce friction when delivering service. We are excited by the hospitality industry’s rapid adoption of MOP and are excited to accelerate that growth in the months ahead.”

Tackling Labor Challenges Head-on 

MOP empowers hotel operational staff to perform routine processes on the go using streamlined mobile housekeeping and maintenance controls. The program is designed to connect hotel team members using simple checklists, prompts, and alerts. MOP’s intuitive mobile format allows hotel workers to easily share information or stay up-to-date on room availability and maintenance requests without time-consuming calls or trips to and from the front desk. 

MOP prioritizes strong communication through an array of invaluable tools, including:

• Real-time visibility between housekeeping and front-desk operations. Hotel operations teams never have to question the status of a room, and team members can prioritize welcoming new guests.
• Labor savings and efficiency. Hotels are more efficient using MOP, and leveraging the tool allows hotel staff members to work faster, save labor hours, and reduce errors or mistakes. MOP also allows hotels to cut back on their use of computer paper, printer ink, and third-party communications tools, leading to long-term cost savings.
• Built-in emergency panic buttons designed to empower staff at all times. These panic buttons are available on every screen of the MOP application, and when pressed automatically alert designated staff members and security. These buttons provide workers with protection during tasks by automatically creating a geolocation pin to locate them quickly during an emergency.
• Integrated texting system allowing two-way communication between hotel workers and guests. This system allows hotels to message guests before, during, and after their stay to ensure optimum satisfaction and increased operator availability over digital touchpoints.

MOP is also available in multiple languages, helping operations teams work within their comfort zone.

“MOP is a world-class product and an incredible tool for improving hotel operations and elevating the guest experience,” said Pradip Mulji, Founder at Lodging Controls. “Hoteliers today are being asked to do more, and guest expectations aren’t slowing down. MOP is the type of technology operators will grow to rely on more and more over time, and it is truly effective at improving on-property communication and guest engagement. Using MOP, our hotel staff is never caught unaware of emerging challenges and is often ahead of the game when intercepting guest needs.”

Visual Matrix is once again preparing to celebrate housekeepers across the industry through its annual VM Shine Awards. Hoteliers are invited to participate in the sweepstakes to show their appreciation for the hard work and dedication housekeepers display daily. Winners to be recognized during International Housekeeping Appreciation Week. For more information on the VM Shine Awards, visit here. To learn more about Visual Matrix, visit visualmatrix.com.