News Briefs

Retail veteran Venki Krishnababu has joined Dutch Bros Coffee as the drive-thru beverage company’s new Chief Technology and Information Officer. Krishnababu brings nearly 30 years of experience leading transformational, enterprise-shaping strategies and a proven track record of creating business value through technology, innovation, and partnerships.

“Venki has deep experience leading technology strategies across multiple functions, including data and analytics, cybersecurity, and digital transformations,” said Christine Barone, CEO and president of Dutch Bros. “Above all, though, Venki is known for his people-centric leadership, which aligns perfectly with Dutch Bros culture. His leadership will be key as we continue to invest in technology to enhance our customer experience.”

Krishnababu assumed the role of Chief Technology and Information Officer on Dec. 16, 2024. Prior to joining Dutch Bros, he capped a seven year career with lululemon athletica inc. as Chief Technology Officer. Prior to lululemon, Krishnababu was Chief Technology Officer at Premera Blue Cross and in various leadership roles over 16 years at Nordstrom.

“Dutch Bros is one of the most innovative rapidly growing coffee chains, known for its friendly service, delicious drinks, and vibrant atmosphere. What truly sets Dutch Bros apart from other coffee chains is its people-centric culture,” said Krishnababu. “Technology is such a critical component in delivering great customer experiences, building community, helping our Broistas and scale the enterprise to the future. My perennial focus will be to position technology as a strategic enabler of the company while embodying Dutch Bros' people-first culture. I am excited and look forward to working with Dutch Bros, to serve our customers, teams, and business.”

Dutch Bros. has more than 950 locations across 18 states as of September 30, 2024.

Domino's is teaming up with All-Pro wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who was injured earlier this season, to give away $1 million worth of free Emergency Pizzas to fans who had him on their fantasy football roster. Why? Because when your fantasy team loses its star player, that calls for an Emergency Pizza

"There's no two ways about it – being out for the season is a tough break," said Diggs. "I know fans are feeling the sting of my injury, so that's why I'm teaming up with Domino's to give away Emergency Pizzas to those who had me in their lineup. It won't help their fantasy team, but receiving a free Emergency Pizza can be a delicious pick-me-up."

How to Enter for the Chance to Win a Free Emergency Pizza
Did you draft Diggs on your fantasy football team? If so, here's how to enter for a chance to win a free Domino's Emergency Pizza:

• If you aren't already a loyalty member, sign up for Domino's Rewards at dominos.com/rewards.
• Visit DominosFromDiggs.com.
• Complete the form and upload a picture/screenshot showing you had Diggs on your fantasy football team.

"Domino's promised we'd bring back Emergency Pizza in more fun and unexpected ways than ever before, so we're here to continue delivering on that promise," said Kate Trumbull, Domino's executive vice president – chief marketing officer. "We're launching this Emergency Pizza partnership because having your fantasy team ruined due to an injury calls for free pizza – $1 million worth of free Emergency Pizzas, to be exact!"

Domino's Emergency Pizzas for fantasy football is the latest announcement in a series of brand partnerships designed to bring free pizzas to life's everyday emergencies. 

AVANT- Hospitality Solutions, a leading hospitality solutions provider and a member of Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN), today announced AVANT-Owner is available on Oracle Cloud Marketplace and can be deployed on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) and integrated with OPERA Cloud via the Oracle Hospitality Integration Platform (OHIP). Oracle Cloud Marketplace is a centralized repository of enterprise applications offered by Oracle and Oracle partners.

AVANT-Owner enables users to manage their operations with both a robust accounting system for condo properties and an owner portal. Running on OCI and integrated with OPERA Cloud through OHIP, this new solution has been developed with APEX and makes use of its advanced reporting tools.

Oracle Cloud Marketplace is a one-stop shop for Oracle customers seeking trusted business applications and services offering unique solutions, including ones that extend Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications.

OCI is a deep and broad platform of cloud infrastructure services that enables customers to build and run a wide range of applications in a scalable, secure, highly available, and high performance environment. From application development and business analytics to data management, integration, security, AI, and infrastructure services including Kubernetes and VMware, OCI delivers comprehensive security, performance, and cost savings. In addition, with multi-cloud, hybrid cloud, public cloud, and dedicated cloud options, OCI’s distributed cloud offers customers the benefits of cloud with greater control over data residency, locality, and authority, even across multiple clouds. As a result, customers can bring enterprise workloads to the cloud quickly and efficiently while addressing the strictest regulatory compliance requirements.

“AVANT-Owner’s availability on Oracle Cloud Marketplace provides customers with a new ownership management system that can address their needs effectively,” said Felicitas Sarciat, CEO and Founder of AVANT. “AVANT- Hospitality Solutions’ participation in Oracle Cloud Marketplace further extends our commitment to the Oracle community and enables customers to easily reap the benefits of AVANT-Owner. We look forward to leveraging the power of the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure to help us achieve our business goals.”

Hapi, a provider of hospitality data and connectivity solutions, announced its CEO and co-founder, Luis Segredo, has been named chair of the 2025 AHLA Global Technology 100. Segredo is currently the vice-chair of the Technology 100, has been a member of HTNG for more than 10 years, and previously served on the Vendor Advisory Council, representing Newmarket and then Amadeus.

HTNG’s Executive Leadership Group, Vendor Advisory Council, and Industry Advisors merged to form the Global Technology 100, or T100. Members of the T100 are at the forefront of innovation in the hospitality industry and represent global technology leaders shaping the next generation of hotels. They are the trailblazers driving transformative advancements, revolutionizing guest experiences, and defining the future landscape of hospitality technology. The T100 leaders and additional group members can be found at https://www.ahla.com/node/3284.

Segredo is CEO of Data Travel, LLC, the creator of Hapi, an event streaming and data platform that connects hotel brands to real-time hotel data. Hapi is powering highly integrated and engaging guest experiences in over 7,700 hotels today. He is an investor in Aquivalabs, a Salesforce.com-certified product development organization with offices in 15 countries.

Luis Segredo, CEO and co-founder of Hapi, said: “It is an honor and a privilege to chair the newly consolidated Global Technology 100 Group. AHLA strives to be an indispensable resource that serves, supports, and advocates for the American hospitality industry. By bringing together these three powerful groups of leaders and advisors, we can better serve our global industry as we shepherd in some of the greatest transformative technology opportunities our industry has ever seen.”

Workstream, the modern payroll, HR, and hiring platform designed for the hourly business, announced a strategic partnership with BE Solutions, an accounting firm co-founded by Papa Johns franchisee Nadeem Bajwa.

Through their partnership, Workstream and BE Solutions aim to revolutionize administrative and operational workflows in the restaurant industry. This collaboration comes at a crucial time when the restaurant sector faces unprecedented challenges and demands for increased operational efficiency.

This announcement builds on Workstream’s existing relationship with Nadeem Bajwa, the co-founder of BE Solutions and CEO of Bajco Group. Bajwa recently joined Workstream as a strategic advisor. His extensive background in restaurant operations and multi-unit management complements Workstream's mission to enhance technology solutions for hourly workers and their employers.

Together, Workstream and BE Solutions helps address significant obstacles faced by those in the quick-service restaurant industry. By combining Workstream's industry-leading hiring, onboarding, HR, and payroll capabilities with BE Solutions' sophisticated accounting and back-office expertise, owners and operators can reduce administrative burdens and increase profitability.

The partnership delivers several crucial advantages for restaurant owners and operators:

• Decreased operational costs
• Enhanced data accuracy
• Reduced administrative workload
• Streamlined decision-making processes
• Increased focus on team and customer service

Today’s milestone is significant for helping restaurant operators prioritize their core business functions. The combination of Workstream and BE Solutions allows owners and operators to dedicate more time to serving their teams and customers and building successful enterprises.

Restaurant gift card sales peaked earlier in the 2024 Thanksgiving weekend with shoppers purchasing 13.2% more in dollars per card on Black Friday and 17.7% more spent over the weekend while Cyber Monday sales remained flat vs. those same days in 2023, according to data from Paytronix, a digital guest engagement platform and a provider of restaurant gift cards. Additionally, 2024 saw renewed confidence in in-person dining experiences with consumers spending $7.8 million buying in-store cards vs. $7.3 million on digital card sales, which reversed last year’s trend.

“With gift card sales surging as much as two weeks before the holiday weekend, it appears that brands front-loaded their gift-card offers earlier in order to take full advantage of shopping traffic both on Black Friday and over the Thanksgiving weekend,” said Lee Barnes, chief data officer and chief of staff at Paytronix. “Paytronix data also indicates a renewed, post-Covid enthusiasm for in-person dining experiences with FSR sales outstripping QSR sales.”

Wings & Rings is among the brands promoting gift cards as the perfect holiday gift. Last year, the brand saw a 22% year-over-year increase in gift card sales and is aiming for even greater growth this holiday season.

Accoridng to Paytronix's data, this appetite for in-person dining is amplified by the fact that, overall, $12.3 million was spent on gift cards for full-service restaurants and $5.2 million on cards for quick service restaurants. On average, consumers loaded $66 on FSR cards vs. $31 on QSR cards.

For the entire four-day weekend, shoppers spent 10 percent more while the total number of cards sold surged six percent vs. the same weekend in 2023. In addition, the average dollars loaded on all cards sold was higher ($57) on Black Friday than over the weekend ($49) or on Cyber Monday ($47).

According to data from Paytronix, the total dollar value of cards sold over the 2024 four-day weekend reached $17.5 million vs. $15.8 million in 2023 with the overall volume of cards sold jumping to 338.5 thousand from 316.7 thousand in 2023.

Methodology
Following trends in closed-loop restaurant gift card sales, the Paytronix Thanksgiving Holiday Card Sales Research includes data from gift card sales November 29 – December 2, 2024, including both full-service and quick-service restaurants. The 2024 data includes 366 brands while the 2023 data included 351 brands.