Jack in the Box and SiteZeus, an A.I.-powered location intelligence platform, recently announced a partnership designed to bring technology to the restaurant brand's site-selection and market-analysis process.

Data-Driven Decisions

The partnership came from SiteZeus' comprehensive solutions suite and Jack in the Box's need for a more robust market-planning tool. With data, real-time insights, white-space analysis, sales forecasting, and more, SiteZeus will support the brand's approach to portfolio expansion and optimization.

"The key selling points for us were the speed with which SiteZeus was able to create and validate a model and the ability to update that model as often as we'd like," says Jason Scarbrough, Lead Financial Analyst at Jack in the Box.

Jack in the Box sees an opportunity to expand its footprint by strategically entering new markets and pursuing infill growth in core markets. The brand's real estate team is implementing SiteZeus' white-space analysis solution to identify areas across the country where consumers are most likely to visit a Jack in the Box restaurant.

"SiteZeus' white-space analysis will help us prioritize growth opportunities and quickly enable us to guide franchisees toward the best opportunities," says Tim Linderman, SVP, Chief Development Officer.

The Accuracy of A.I.

The team is also using the software's data modeling to better understand the factors driving each store's success and develop regional strategies. The platform's sales forecasts have helped the brand quickly pinpoint promising sites to outpace competitors in the fight for prime real estate.

"SiteZeus allows us to focus on strategic growth in new and existing markets by harnessing all the power that A.I has to offer," says Linderman.

About SiteZeus

SiteZeus is a location intelligence company using fast, accurate predictive models to help emerging and established multi-unit brands enhance their market planning. Companies across multiple industries utilize the platform to confidently expand and optimize their portfolios for maximum revenue.

Grazzy, a next-gen employee payments platform, announces $4.25MM in Seed funding from Next Coast Ventures and Tuesday Capital to fuel the rapid expansion and growth of its digital tipping, same-day pay, and better, more inclusive banking capabilities. The completion of the Seed round brings Grazzy's total Seed funding to $6.8MM.

Grazzy helps hotels, bars, restaurants and more improve employee retention and recruiting by increasing wages, unlocking instant access to same-day earnings, and offering more inclusive financial wellness for hourly employees. By putting employee satisfaction at the center of the experience, Grazzy creates happier employees who stay in their roles longer and provide better guest experiences.

BWH Hotel Group Partners with eTip and Visa to Offer Digital Tipping in the U.S. and Canada

The Grazzy platform offers the modern familiarity of a P2P payments experience that guests love, but with the enterprise-level branding, compliance and reporting that's required to successfully deliver ROI at scale.

• Digital tipping: Guests utilize QR codes to instantly tip staff in less than 10 seconds, with no app required. The guest interface is property-branded and can also be integrated with any existing guest applications. 
   
• Same Day Pay: The flexible platform offers multiple payout options for tips, including Grazzy Direct, which allows staff to access their tips instantly. Same day access to earnings provides a powerful competitive advantage for businesses to both keep and recruit hourly employees.
   
• Low fees
   
• Built for operational scale: Businesses can meet tax compliance, and measure effective wage increases, retention improvement, and overall guest satisfaction all on a single screen.

Today, several of the world's biggest and most beloved hotel brands are leveraging the Grazzy platform to enable digital tipping, same-day pay, and in-the-moment positive feedback for their team members. Grazzy offers these customers digital tipping enablement at no cost and low fees.

This latest infusion of capital will be used to accelerate growth across large hotel brands and operating groups, restaurant groups, and salons looking for modern ways to improve the employee experience, while reducing costs. Additionally, this funding will support the continuation of seamless integrations between the Grazzy platform and the major systems (PMS, HMA, and POS) that most hospitality and service businesses rely on to run their operations.

Grubhub and Topanga.io, a reusable packaging management platform, have teamed up to introduce reusable carryout packaging on participating college campuses.

Diners who place a to-go order from on-campus dining locations via the Grubhub app will be able to select reusable packaging at checkout through Topanga.io's ReusePass program. Meals will be packaged in a reusable container using Topanga.io's track-and-trace technology, allowing campus diners to keep track of what containers they have and when they need to be returned. This program is currently available at The Ohio State University and Colorado State University, with plans to expand to more campuses throughout the year.

Other delivery companies are addressing sustainable packaging solutions. Uber and Visa 
announced a new program designed to support small-and medium-sized businesses in their transition to green and sustainable packaging solutions. 

SUSTAINABILITY FOR THE PLANET

Sustainability matters to today's consumers and restaurant operators. Two out of three (66%) consumers surveyed feel it’s important that restaurants are open about their practices to limit food waste. According to the National Restaurant Association’s annual What’s Hot Culinary Forecast, sustainability will continue to influence menus and how restaurants make decisions.

"Grubhub's campus partners have been vocal that sustainable solutions are a top priority, and we're looking forward to working with Topanga.io to support universities' sustainability efforts," said Adam Herbert, senior director of campus partnerships at Grubhub. "The campus dining world presents a large and scalable opportunity for sustainable solutions like this one, and we're excited to expand our suite of campus dining offerings to our partners."

"Grubhub is a leader in mobile ordering technology and has a great reputation among its campus partners, so we're thrilled to be working with them as we bring our mission to eliminate single-use packaging to campuses across the country," said Page Schult, CEO of Topanga.io. "We've been very intentional to build the best technology in the market, and it has been great to work with a leading provider like Grubhub to further bolster the strength of our campus offering," echoed Adam Bailey, CTO of Topanga.io.

"Sustainability is part of the culture for Student Life Dining Services at The Ohio State University," said Zia Ahmed, senior director of dining services at The Ohio State University. "We are pleased to work with our partners as we take key steps toward making progress in reducing waste and advancing our sustainability efforts."

"Colorado State University's residential dining services team has been eager to bring Topanga.io's ReusePass program to campus in partnership with Grubhub to expand on our sustainability initiatives," said Patrick St. Clair, assistant director, support services at Colorado State University. "It's efforts like this one that allows us to continue driving forward-thinking efforts and innovation within our residential dining program while leveraging and growing our program technologically. Today, we're excited to offer the Reusepass program to our students, faculty, and staff."

Grubhub partners with more than 270 college campuses across the United States to give students the ability to integrate meal plans directly into their Grubhub account and access restaurants both on- and off-campus for delivery and pickup. Topanga has helped QSRs, grocery delivery, and meal prep companies launch data-driven reusable packaging programs and is excited to bring their innovative technology to campuses nationwide. To date, they've helped their clients manage 1,200,000 reusable assets. 

Restaurant workers are feeling stressed by current working conditions. 

Kuru Footware surveyed 800 foodservice workers to take a pulse on their feelings—from how they like their current job, to whether or not they plan to leave the industry.

This survey's findings mirror what operators are saying.  According to the latest National Restaurant Association Business Conditions survey. 89% of operators say labor costs are a significant challenge.

Key findings of the Kuru survey, conducted December 2022: 

• 68% feel there's a staff shortage right now
• 58% of restaurant workers report they are happy or extremely happy when asked about job satisfaction
  
  Invest in Systems to Keep Restaurant Workers Motivated
   
• 56% say they feel burned out by their job right now.
• 57% say they are satisfied with their current wage.
• 62% said they’ve considered leaving the restaurant industry in the past month 
• More than one in four (27%) of them think they will have left the industry a year from now. 

The full survey summary is available here.
 

METHODOLOGY AND SOURCES

KURU Footwear surveyed 800 Americans 18 years and older, who currently (as of December 2022) work in the food/restaurant service industry. KURU Footwear proprietary survey, conducted December 2022.

Hospitality Ventures Management Group (HVMG), an Atlanta-based, private hotel investment, ownership and management company, announced that Cory Chambers has been promoted to the newly created role of chief commercial officer and senior vice president, business intelligence. In his new position, Chambers will be responsible for leading the HVMG Revenue Excellence team in maximizing market share growth and bottom-line profitability. Central to the new role will be driving HVMG’s business intelligence strategic initiative of creating forward-looking, predictive analytics. Over the past eighteen months, comprehensive data warehousing and visualization platforms have been built to enhance real time decision making for company leaders and results for investors.

“Since joining HVMG nearly a decade ago, Cory has proven his ability to develop and deploy tools, processes and strategies that drive excellent revenue results,” said Robert S. Cole, president and chief executive officer, HVMG. “During his tenure, HVMG has experienced five consecutive years of same-store portfolio wide year over year market share growth, including a 7.6% increase in 2022, our best year yet. Cory has attracted and developed some of the best revenue talent in our industry, earned the trust and respect of our owners & brand partners, and has been a contributor, mentor and leader throughout our organization. I am incredibly appreciative of his can-do attitude, his tenacity and how he has made us a better company.”

A 20-plus year hospitality veteran, Chambers previously was vice president of revenue generation at White Lodging where he oversaw sales, revenue management, eCommerce and communications for the company’s full-service portfolio. His previous roles with White Lodging include corporate director of sales and marketing and pre-opening director of sales and marketing at the JW Marriott Indianapolis. Chambers began his career with Marriott International where he held several sales and marketing leadership positions throughout the United States at hotels ranging in size from 300 to 1,300 rooms. Chambers graduated from James Madison University and received his MBA from Babson College in Boston, Mass.

“I’m passionate about driving results, helping others use data to make great decisions and growing HVMG’s brand in the eye’s investors, brands and most importantly, our associates,” Chambers said. “This is my dream job, and I look forward to growing with HVMG as the company pursues its own expansion efforts.”

myDigitalOffice (MDO), a hotel data platform, has added InTouch Data (InTouch) to its suite of data and business intelligence solutions. Acquiring InTouch, an Australian-based decision intelligence solution, paves the way for stronger relationships with hotel operators and integration partners globally. 

The acquisition of InTouch, an Australian company specializing in decision intelligence for hotels, enables MDO to:

●      Strengthen its certified APIs, integrations, and relationships with key solutions providers, including Amadeus, Oracle, Infor, and several others.

●      Grow its hospitality intelligence portfolio to include global luxury brands like Accor, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, and Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts.

●      Accelerate expansion in the Middle East and Asia Pacific global markets.

InTouch, founded in 2001, has developed a user-friendly and accurate platform that captures all of a hotel's revenue streams in one place and helps owners and operators make profitable decisions. "Making business decisions has become much more efficient. And because we now have a greater breadth of data, we’re able to discover new insights and findings, plus look at our business more holistically. All of which help us to reinforce a culture of informed decision-making based on data and insights. Put another way, we now make decisions with confidence." Alex Lee Chief Commercial Officer with the Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts Group.

“Now more than ever, hotel owners and operators are laser-focused on insights that help them drive more to the bottom line,” says MDO CEO Ali Moloo. "Both MDO and InTouch share a common goal of empowering hoteliers with centralized, high-quality, accurate data to make more confident real-time business decisions.”

“InTouch has been connecting siloed data to thousands of hoteliers for more than 20 years,” says Ryan Smith, CEO at InTouch. “We live and breathe hotel data and decision intelligence, and we’re excited about this opportunity to scale by joining the industry’s fastest-growing hotel data platform.”

Focus on Integrated BI Platform 

The acquisition of InTouch follows MDO's strategic investment from Cove Hill Partners in January 2022 and following that, the acquisitions of Focal Revenue, a hospitality revenue intelligence software company, and Datavision, a leader in hotel data analytics and business intelligence for luxury resorts. In the past 18 months, MDO has significantly scaled its team of employees worldwide and has made key leadership appointments with a strong emphasis on establishing itself as a trusted partner to hotel groups of all sizes. These successes were recognized when MDO was again named to Inc 5000’s Fastest Growing Private Companies in America, where they ranked #608 overall and #6 in the Travel & Hospitality vertical. In December, CEO Ali Moloo was named a 2022 LODGING Luminary by LODGING Magazine.

"We are proud of the progress we have made and are committed to continuing to evolve and improve our offerings to meet the changing needs of our customers," says Scott Ryan, President of MDO. "We look forward to serving our current and future customers by making data work for hospitality, not hospitality work for data."