Wade discusses the importance of seamless integration between physical and digital experiences. He describes a future where tech enhances operational efficiency, while preserving the people-first nature of hospitality.
Wade discusses the importance of seamless integration between physical and digital experiences. He describes a future where tech enhances operational efficiency, while preserving the people-first nature of hospitality. Wade envisions a future where every channel for accessing food is not only more convenient, but still preserves the fundamental desire for human connection around a table.
Welcome to Elevating Brick and Mortar. A podcast about how operations and facilities drive brand performance.
On today’s episode, we talk with Wade Allen, EVP of Strategic Growth at Costa Vida. Costa Vida is a Mexican coast-inspired restaurant franchise. Today Costa Vida has restaurants in a growing number of US States and in Canada, and is positioned to be one of the fastest growing restaurant franchises in North America.
GUEST BIO:
With over 22 years of experience in the restaurant and retail industry, Wade is a seasoned executive with a passion for leading teams to drive transformative business strategy and digital innovation. He’s currently serving as the EVP of Strategic Growth for Costa Vida Fresh Mexican Grill, where he spearheaded initiatives in Marketing, IT, Off-Premise, Analytics, and Guest Insights contributing to the brand's ongoing success. During his nearly decade-long tenure at Brinker International, he held diverse executive roles, including Chief Digital Officer (CDO), Chief Information Officer (CIO), Head of Innovation, and VP of Marketing. Hisstrategic leadership played a pivotal role in shaping the company's trajectory and fostering innovation across various domains.
Wade is recognized for his commitment to building innovative digital and mobile customer experiences, leveraging integrated marketing principles, data insights, emerging technologies, and consistently delivering solutions that resonate with today's tech-savvy consumers. His expertise lies in restaurant and retail innovation and operations, marketing, information technology, data security, customer loyalty, digital transformation, mobility, digital strategy, and advanced analytics. He specializes in navigating the complex landscape of our industry, consistently pushing the boundaries to stay at the forefront of innovation.
TIMESTAMPS:
**(00:41) – About Costa Vida
**(01:47) – About Wade’s role
**(06:35) – Expectations in dining
**(12:15) – Macro trends
**(15:18) – Keeping up with consumer needs
**(28:23) – Addressing the labor shortage
**(26:52) – Tech in the space
**(37:09) – Sid’s final thoughts
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LINKS:
[00:00:20] Sid Shetty: Hello, everyone. Welcome to season three of Elevating Brick and Mortar.
[00:00:24] Thank you for joining us. I am here today with Wade Allen. EVP of strategic growth at Costa Vida. Wade, welcome. Thank you for being here.
[00:00:32] Wade Allen: Thanks, Sid. Thanks, great to be here.
[00:00:34] Sid Shetty: So, Wade, for folks in our audience who might not be familiar with the brand, can you tell us a bit more about Costa Vida?
[00:00:41] Wade Allen: You bet. Costa Vida is a fast, casual, uh, Mexican Baja grill. Um, and the focus of us, our organization, is bringing fresh Mexican food in a Baja style to the United States. And we are mostly centered in and around the western U. S. So you'll find us in Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, a little bit in Canada. Um, been around about 20 years. And, uh, great fresh Mexican cuisine, big burritos, big bold salads, great flavors, awesome queso, and fantastic desserts.
[00:01:15] Sid Shetty: I love it. As EVP of strategic growth, what are you responsible for?
[00:01:21] Wade Allen: So my focus is on IT marketing, off premise analytics. That's really where I spend a bulk of my time and really strategically thinking about how we're going to create growth for our brand through those different departments and channels of our business. Really where my passion lies, it's around that tech marketing kind of collision. The off premise world has now exploded.
[00:01:46] Sid Shetty: Yeah. You know, I've actually heard you speak at a couple of events before, right, specifically the, the Myrtek conferences, um, and I'd love for you to share your journey with us. Like, what got you to the role that you're in today and what attracted you to the hospitality industry?
[00:02:03] Wade Allen: Yeah, man, I wish I could say it was planful.
[00:02:06] Sid Shetty: Yeah,
[00:02:06] Wade Allen: It's like most things in life, we kind of fall into it, right? I was, I left business school and was working for agencies across the country doing kind of different mobility and digital stuff. I was just getting out of a start up organization that had been sold to a large, um, media conglomerate, WPP, if you know who they are. And as I was editing that, I, I bumped into, uh, a colleague who said, Hey, I'm, I'm, I'm consulting with Uh, Brinker International, and man, they could really use your skill set. They're struggling with trying to figure out what to do with their marketing and making it more digital. They're struggling with, um, the blue sky capabilities going to mobility.
[00:02:46] They really don't understand this space. And so, I had an interview, next thing I knew, I was a Vice President of Marketing, kind of leading their digital charge, and I was with that organization for five years. Four, uh, four different roles, ten different years, uh, with them consecutively, and, uh, last March, um, I parted ways with Brinker and, uh, came to Costa Vida and couldn't be more excited.
[00:03:12] Costa Vida is a much smaller brand than, uh, Chili's and Amagiano's and Brinker, about a hundred restaurants. But man, the passion I have for the hospitality space now, for For, uh, being in it over 10 years is just everything for me. I love it. It's sensational. I love the people in it. Uh, and there's still tons of opportunity for growth, uh, in the restaurant space.
[00:03:33] Sid Shetty: That's fantastic. Thank you. So you've had senior leadership roles in customer engagement, innovation and transformation. Um, you know, can you share with our audience what excites you about this business? And why do you do what you do?
[00:03:50] Wade Allen: You know, I, I've always been a very outgoing, uh, well connected person. I love the people aspect of this business. It's one of the few industries where you manufacture and immediately sell it. It's not stored on a shelf. It doesn't go to some warehouse. Like you're in the moment and you can see people's eyes and smiles as you're going through this process.
[00:04:11] And I think there's something about sharing a meal and that hospitable component that just draws me every day. I love the, um, the tech opportunity in this space. I think for years it was underserved. Now there's a lot today that's here, but it draws me every day to create innovation, create new things, meet guests needs, and at a point in time where our guests are constantly on their phones, constantly pressed for time, constantly looking for innovative food that they can take with them. And that's where my passion lies. I love that aspect, and I think there's a huge opportunity to continue to serve this industry there.
[00:04:49] Sid Shetty: Wade, as you look at the, you know, Cosa Vida brand and you've been there for a few months now, what kind of impact are you looking to make? And what kind of experience are you looking to deliver to your, to your, to your consumer?
[00:05:03] Wade Allen: One of the things I've identified as I've come in is building process, um, really getting focused on operational excellence. Um, you know, team member engagement is critical for this organization, we gotta, we gotta ground ourselves there, we gotta build some brand standards and consistency, um, and then we ultimately gotta build, like we talked about, like I talked about a minute ago, process and system improvements. So I'm focused on those three things. The brand is fantastic, it has all fresh foods, in fact, I don't believe we have freezers in our restaurants. Right? Everything is freshly prepared. Um, it is a really phenomenal experience, and if you haven't tried it, you should. It's pretty remarkable. But they've had that aspect of delicious food, great hospitality, and high quality ingredients.
[00:05:49] I think what they have lacked has been that kind of process structure, brand standards, and team member engagement. And so that's where I'm highly focused. And that's where I think this brand can unlock a trajectory. Not unlike some of the bigger brands that you've seen take off after being around for 20 years and have now reached thousands of units. That's what drew me here and that's what I'm actively working on now as I begin to lead over the next nine months kind of establishing what we're going to do.
[00:06:18] Sid Shetty: So when you look at the industry as a whole, right? Um, and the hospitality space. What, what should the North star be for, you know, any brand, uh, and, and what do you think, you know, just having the experience that you have, what brings the customer back.
[00:06:35] Wade Allen: The expectations in in dining actually aren't very high, believe it or not. Um, and I think, I think many of us can probably relate. That's actually going after through COVID. It's gotten to a place where they just want to have a great meal at a great value, a place where they can either gather with friends and family, or something that they can take off premise, and, and that every item is right, and they have everything that they wanted in that.
[00:07:01] Um, and so I think that's the challenge. The challenge today in dining whether it's in your restaurant or out of your restaurant is creating that optimal guest experience and I think what keeps the guests coming back is just meet that expectation. I'm not asking for balloons at a party or, you know, fine dining may be a little bit different, but for fast casual, it's a quick bite to eat in a clean restaurant that's well maintained. Or it's a quick and efficient way to get the food home to my kids so that, um, my, and I can speak from experience, my son who has autism doesn't lose his marbles because we forgot his chicken nuggets, right? That's the thing that we can't have happen in dining. So, I talk about low expectations, I actually think low is probably the wrong word.
[00:07:48] It's just, they're not, they're not grandiose or outrageous. And we as restaurant companies, if we can just meet those expectations, our guests will continue to be loyal. It's when we screw that up, don't admit it, continue to sweep it aside, blame DoorDash or blame somebody else that our guests get frustrated, and that's when we lose it.
[00:08:10] Sid Shetty: You know, I want to talk about some macro trends and, you know, especially like what has happened over the past three years, but before we go there, um, can you share your views on the role of design and construction and architecture and facilities in delivering, you know, your brand promise, because a lot of the folks in our audience are, you know, from those functions and Many times it's not really evident, uh, at, you know, at the C level, um, the C suite as to what impact they have, where in fact, I believe there's a huge impact, right? But what are your thoughts on that?
[00:08:46] Wade Allen: Oh, it's huge. It's everything. I mean, uh, well, I talk a lot about tech and innovation and marketing. The reality is people don't choose a restaurant or a place to eat unless it's clean, well maintained. It's, uh, it's got the integrity that you want when you walk in. Because the moment that you walk into that restaurant, most guests, whether they can overtly see subvertly kind of know something's wrong, they can tell.
[00:09:12] The, the paint's off things aren't right. It's old, it's got an odd smell. It's not been cleaned. Right. So the, the, the building, the facilities, the care of the, of the unit itself, as well as all of the kicking cooking equipment, the even down to the smallwares, it all matters for guests. And it's one of those gut feels as a, as a customer that you walk in, that you can tell something's off if those things have not been maintained well.
[00:09:41] Sid Shetty: Right, because as a consumer, like, you know, I have two young kids, you know, three and five, and it takes a lot to leave the house. And if I'm going to go there and sit down in a restaurant, you know, I want I want the experience to be great. I want the table to not wobble. I want the lights to work. I want the, um, the cushion to not have holes in it. You know, that's all, um, you know, basic expectations to your point. And then the food and the service kind of, you know, either. Make the restaurant a place I will go back, you know, with my family or never drive by that place again, right? And, and I don't think, um, it's in general, people appreciate how important that initial few moments are when a consumer walks through the door.
[00:10:28] Like that either tells them, this is a warm. inviting space that you're going to have a good time at, or it's going to be transactional where you just come in, eat your food and leave. And then you just don't think about it. Right?
[00:10:43] Wade Allen: Yeah, you know, I heard, I heard something the other day from one of our guests, and they said, um, it was really, really interesting, they said, um, your care in taking care of the bathrooms, or care in taking care of the floor, is an indication of the quality of the food that comes out of the kitchen.
[00:10:57] Sid Shetty: That's
[00:10:58] Wade Allen: Right? And if operators really understood that, how much care would you take on every detail? Because, like you said, I don't think they're outlandish. It's just, they can stay home in the comfort of their home where the seat cushions aren't ripped. Where the paint isn't falling off the walls. Where the tile isn't broken and have a great meal. So if we want to invite them in, we need to make sure it's truly an invitation into our home. And that home is clean, pristine, prepped, ready to go, with smiles, and really hospitable people.
[00:11:28] Sid Shetty: Yeah. So let's talk about some macro trends, right? I mean, the restaurant industry seems to be booming right now. I mean, the last time I think I heard some stats, I think John Taffer gave them at one of the Mertek conferences, he shared that in house dining It's back to pre COVID levels. And, you know, historically takeouts have been 5 percent or so of the business.
[00:11:53] Today it has boomed to like 20 to 25 percent of the business. So the overall pie has gotten bigger. Like the business is, has grown by 20 to 30%. Um, one, like do you still see that trend today? And, and how does that impact how restaurants think about the business and how they invest in their consumer?
[00:12:15] Wade Allen: Yeah, I mean, I spend a lot of time looking in industry trends. Um, I don't know if you're familiar with Black Box or NAP or some of these other organizations, but I spend a lot of time looking at sales. and traffic. And I think the comment made earlier that the restaurant has kind of returned to these pre COVID levels. They're strong and they've added additional meals, um, more than they ever had before without adding additional day parts. And I think that's interesting because that's what you get from these delivery companies and what you get from the to go aspect and that's where the pie has grown. I think the interesting thing that I continue to watch closely is The pricing dynamic and the inflationary dynamic that's still kind of got this hangover where companies, restaurant companies, have continued to take price to keep pace and as they've come back around this new year and they're starting to cycle year over year they're realizing that the consumer is well aware. They're well aware that that restaurant company took 6, 8 percent last year on the check. And some of those people are starting to choose with their dollars to go to different places. McDonald's just had a conversation about this, about getting back to a more value consumer and appealing to that value consumer because they had kind of left them from the pricing.
[00:13:30] So, so you're, I think there's this, there's this pull, right? There's this, hey, we've got a boom going on and we're, we're supplementing more meals than we ever had before with dining opportunities. But we've got this inflationary pricing aspect that's kind of pulling back on consumers. And now they're trying to, they're starting to be very selective on where they spend their money. Um, so it goes as far as it did pre COVID.
[00:13:54] Sid Shetty: Interesting. So, you know, if you look at the past three years, I mean, we're talking about expectations, right? It just feels like today, there's a lot more choices. Consumers have higher expectations that they had before COVID happened. They're also interacting with the brands. In more ways than before, right? Like today, you know, you can order from the restaurant's own website. You could use Uber Eats. You could use DoorDash. You could use, you know, a host of other services. Um, and then ultimately, like how that food is delivered to your door. Also impacts the experience you're having, plus it impacts the in room, uh, dining experience, right?
[00:14:42] So if I'm going to now compete with the kitchen and with Uber Eats and DoorDash for how quickly my meals served while I'm in the restaurant. You know, that's probably going to impact like how restaurants think about their business and how they're able to serve the customer where they are. So can you share a little bit about, you know, one, how are the physical locations changing to adapt to today's world? And then two, how do you ensure that all the touch points that a restaurant or a brand has with a consumer are consistent and as per your expectation.
[00:15:18] Wade Allen: Yeah, the latter part of that question is probably the tougher one. Uh, but, but I'll, I'll talk to them in the same sequence you, you asked them. So I think first and foremost, um, the restaurant physical structure has been slow to change up until the point of about COVID, right? It's just been this is the way we do it. There's a front door. There's a host or you come through the line. This is what happens. This is how we how we do things around here, right? I think COVID, COVID shook. The rest, well I know it shook, it shuddered us, right? And we realized really quickly, if we want to stay in business, if we want to continue to meet the guests needs, we've got to think outside the box. And then you saw all of these kind of infrastructure changes start to take place in the restaurant. Oh my gosh, if our business is going to pivot with a mix more towards off premise or delivery, we've got to have a way in order to pack those orders, make sure we get the right items in the bag, make sure it's fast and efficient, right?
[00:16:14] Guests now are coming in with their mobile phones. That can completely change the dynamic of an in restaurant experience, right? Do we have charging capabilities? Are people going to interact with it? When I walk up to ask for the order, if I'm the wait staff, I've seen it, it takes minutes and minutes and minutes for people to actually review the menu because they're waiting and screwing around on their phones or doing something, or it changes the dynamic.
[00:16:38] So the physical restaurant Has and will continue to evolve based on this consumer insatiable desire to have mobility in their hands, convenience at their fingertips, and, um, and, and I do think there will always be a place for it, put the phone down, sit down, sit eye to eye, have a great conversation, and eat a great meal.
[00:17:02] That will probably, at its core, stay pretty sound. Like there may be some edits in how you order different things. But the physical locations of how we get food out the door, how people work in the restaurant, how the lines look, how mobile mobility continues to change, that, that's going to continue to evolve. And the smart restaurant concepts are starting to look at their mix and understand and know their customers. Okay, where do our customers come? Are they the same? Are they different occasions? Are they different people? Which then leads to the next part of that question, which you ask is how do you make sure that each one of those touch points are seamless, integrated, they don't feel disconnected and disjointed, right?
[00:17:42] I think that's where you were going with that question. So that latter part leads right into, okay, well physical infrastructure is one piece of that. But it's also now this world that lives in the, in the digital world, how do you replicate the, the, the great physical structure that you've had for years to be just as easy?
[00:18:02] So let me give you an example. When I walk into Costa Vita Fresh Mexican Grill, I walk in and I see the menu board. I quickly make a decision and I greet somebody who knows how this process works. And they take me almost by the hand. Right? Across from the counter, and they walk me down the line to get the right tortilla, to make the right beans, get the perfect protein, add all the extras that I want, and make sure I get a great drink and a dessert to have a fantastic meal.
[00:18:30] That's taken care of in the physical structure. You have to replicate that to some extent. In the digital world now as everybody's kind of running to this digital place. And so how do you make it so simple, so easy, big, bold pictures, minimal text, very intuitive design in your web and app so that guests feel just as at ease going through your web and app experience as they would if they just walked in your restaurant and met your, uh, your, your tortilla maker right behind the line and he or she led you down that process. So, each one of those touch points have to be really, really refined. Delivery is the same thing. We're, we're kind of at the mercy of our, of our partners over there at DoorDash, Uber, Grub, and the like. But our Our voices are not lost.
[00:19:16] So helping them understand the importance of, Hey, these are the things that matter in the design. These are the things that matter with the food. We want to make sure that those are front and center to our guests. So I think as you think through each one of those touch points, you have to be very focused on ensuring the guest doesn't get lost, or frustrated with that experience.
[00:19:34] Sid Shetty: right. I mean, and the consumers, so they have optionality, even like at the physical location, right? You know, drive thrus are made to come back. You know, what are your thoughts on drive thrus? Like, are they, that's something which I'm Like, you know, became very evident that it was going to, uh, make a comeback during COVID. Um, but it seems like that trend has continued because now consumers are like, Oh, I like this option, right? So it's not that you can only have that option, but if you do it well, it's another avenue through which you interact with your consumer. Um, you know, I'm sure. restaurants have to expand their kitchen or, you know, divide how their kitchen, you know, services, takeouts and drive thrus and in room dining.
[00:20:20] And all that needs within the restaurant business to think about design and construction, like how is that how does that make its way through to someone, you know, like you who's thinking about customer engagement, who's thinking about, you know, keeping the same brand experience, like how is that connected?
[00:20:40] Wade Allen: It is critical. The structure of the restaurant and the multiple make lines in order to facilitate the different channels in which the food goes is absolutely critical in providing an optimal guest experience. So as I think about it, um, and I've had this conversation with our head of operations and our head of design and development, um, We now have gone to the place where, and you're right, first of all, drive thrus have made a comeback, right?
[00:21:05] And no small way with the big players out there, the McDonald's, the Chipotle, the other players, because they've made it a priority of convenience. We're seeing it in our business. Inside from a construction standpoint and from a development standpoint is we have to make sure that we have individual processes and lines associated with those channels.
[00:21:29] So let me give you an example when we have If we're in our restaurant, we have a make line, that's what we call it right where you make the food you put together for the guest, that's dedicated to the in restaurant experience, it goes really smoothly when you try to pile on a to go and or a drive thru, and or a delivery on that same make line, it gets chaotic, items get missed, guests get frustrated on all fronts.
[00:21:53] So what we're now focused on is as we've changed the construction aspect of the restaurant, we make sure it leans towards facilitating where the, where the guests need to get their food. So now we have a make line in just delivery, or sorry, in just a drive thru. That's just the make line. Then we'll have another make line for the guest.
[00:22:14] And sometimes we'll have a third, in many cases we have a third make line that's just for to go and deliver it. And we're routing all of the kitchen, all of the kitchen display systems are being routed the right point of sale information per that order to ensure that that group of individuals are just working on the orders related to that channel.
[00:22:31] And when we do that, man, our business runs super smooth, we can bring more volume in and we get better guest ratings across the board.
[00:22:40] Sid Shetty: That's very interesting. So What are your thoughts on, on people and talent? Because one of the things we also hear about is, you know, there's all these changes that you need to make, but there's also this whole, you know, primary notion of meeting the customer and delighting the customer and sometimes. If you don't have enough people to man the lines and, and serve the guests, you know, you're competing for the same resource, right?
[00:23:08] Have you, have you found in your business that, um, you know, finding people who can, uh, really do what you need them to do is, is easy? Cause there seems to be a shortage, uh, of labor as well in the market right now, right?
[00:23:23] Wade Allen: Yeah, it's not easy. I mean, I wish I had the answer to this. And, and, and to be honest, many of the states in the United States are making it harder as we continue to ratchet up that minimum requirement of pay to where, um, you You know, it's, it's, it's really difficult to find people, one, who love this industry and want to be in it and then two, who are committed to the task to ensure the guest has a phenomenal experience.
[00:23:47] I mean, you know this as well as I do, when you meet somebody who's truly hospitable, it's a warm handshake, you just want to be around them, have a beer with them, hang out with them, right? Um, not everybody has that characteristic and so this is the battle we constantly struggle with. I, I do think That, um, this will continue to be a battle, but I, I, there's hope on the horizon.
[00:24:07] And I say that because I believe that through some computer vision, some smart AI operations, we're gonna get to a place where the job in the restaurant will become easier to ensure that you're delivering a high quality product, the right items, the right quality, uh, ingredients. Um, but the task to know exactly how to do that will be offloaded. You know, in a big way to the computing systems. So think of it like, um, a, a double checker for me, right? I'm going fast. I've got people coming in and being hospitable. I forgot to add the cilantro. I think there will be AI solutions that will join us and say, No, no, hey, you forgot that. Quickly add that.
[00:24:51] And let's, let's make this a great experience. And that can be a game changer for our industry as we continue to want to be a people first industry. We're battling with these higher wages every day in the restaurant space, but we need the turnover, or we're constantly dealing with this turnover battle, and we need that to go down. So I think that's where the hope on the horizon is, is it lies within this AI operations or computing vision operation solution. Um, that, that I've started to catch wind of or see that could potentially change our industry.
[00:25:20] Sid Shetty: Yeah, I mean, the hospitality business is a tough business, right, in general. I mean, there's so many factors to creating a great experience. And, you know, the associate who's in the restaurant serving your, your customer needs to also be in the right mind space. I mean, the physical space has to be comfortable. So if your physical space is, you know, don't have the air conditioning working, Or something's not right. And it's not something which, you know, would be pleasant to be in for 12 hours a day. They're not going to have a smile on their face and they're not going to welcome your guests with that same kind of, um, you know, warmth.
[00:25:56] Um, and then now you put, throw in the fact that, you know, there's less resources. Um, and so what we're seeing is. Restaurants leveraging, like you said, AI and, and robotics and technologies to actually augment, um, the resources that are available. And so then you can then make it easier for the associate to basically spend time at the front of house and the back of house and not be exhausted, right? What are your thoughts on like how that's going to You know, um, improve or become a very natural part of our life going forward, because as an operator, you see one thing, right?
[00:26:36] If it's back of house, but also like front of house, we're seeing some interesting things being done, like with robotics, you know, you know, robots, you know, um, busing your tables, delivering your drinks and, uh, some very cool and interesting things happening out there. What are your thoughts on,
[00:26:52] Wade Allen: yeah, I, I believe in this space. I, I think it is the only way, and you, you hit it on the head when you said, You can't deliver a fantastic experience if you yourself are in an uncomfortable situation or uncomfortable experience, right? And you think back to those team members that are making an hourly wage. You want them to be happy, hospitable, warm smiles, engaging. But if their feet are killing them and the work is just, uh, grinding to where they're not happy. It's going to be really hard for them to have that smile on their face and be hospitable. So I do think there's going to come a point, and it's already started, right?
[00:27:26] I've been working on some of these things, even before when I was at Brinker, and now even here at Costa Vida, of how do you, one, improve the team members experience, but two, how do you just improve, um, the overall restaurant experience so that people can be more of the Um, less of the manual element and more of the hospitable and thinking element.
[00:27:44] Because that's what we really want, right? At the end of the day, we're not, we're not worried about who's scooping the, the orange chicken. We're worried about that it's done correctly with intent and, um, shared appropriately with the guest, right? That's what really, really matters. And then if something got missed, they can immediately step in and solve that.
[00:28:03] So I am very Very passionate that this industry will have to evolve and not terribly dissimilar to think about a manufacturing line when they were building cars. 25, 30 years ago, there was no robotic arms, right? It was people stapling stuff together and tacking stuff together. Now you've got a whole robotics component, but people oversee that.
[00:28:24] They're using their minds to kind of get this, this component. I think the same thing you've seen, you're going to see, or we have seen, so we saw it in manufacturing. I think you're going to start to see it in all walks of life that have an element of fairly manual laborious type activities, right? Um, so I'm big on that.
[00:28:43] Sid Shetty: What are your thoughts on the consumer? Like, you know, is the consumer ready for, for this kind of change? Because, you know, the restaurant business, like the hospitality business hasn't changed in many ways, you know, for years, right? Like, you know, consumer expectations, you know, you, you walk in and you, you, there's a certain Um, a certain expectation you have when you walk in through the door of what does it mean to eat at a restaurant, right? But now with robotics and then actually even for deliveries, right? I've heard you, you know, speak about drones being tried out, autonomous vehicles being used. Um, is the consumer ready for that kind of change? Are they embracing it? Or are some of these things going to just require time for people to embrace it, you know, and, and be comfortable with what it means to order food or go in and eat in a restaurant.
[00:29:37] Wade Allen: Yeah, I think we're bleeding edge, right? So I think people who are working with drones and robotics and Arm robotics and AI stuff. It's still very bleeding edge. I mean think about how much that your life Your both of our lives have changed since the iPhone came out in 2008 right, I mean it has We don't think about it, but there's no more alarm clocks.
[00:29:57] There's no more radios. There's like everything that we had a gadget for. It's all being condensed into one that we carry in our pocket. And, and I, and I use that because it was a massive shift when it happened and it was, there was probably some resistance and probably some confusion around it. But as we got into it, it became the expectation. I think it's important to know when a Walmart. Or when an everyday walk of life, big, uh, restaurant chain, or a big restaurant, or a, uh, grocery company starts to move in this direction, and it starts to become commonplace, everything shifts.
[00:30:36] Right? Everything has to shift, because the expectation has now shifted. And that's what we're starting to see. We're starting to see some things with some big companies getting ready to make some announcements with robotics, and drones, and autonomous vehicles. That will set the standard of what the new norm is. So, your question to me was, are people ready for it? I think we're still bleeding edge, but I think we're closer than we've ever been to see this tip and become the new norm and customers to expect it.
[00:31:07] Sid Shetty: As you look into the future, you know, kind of building on the answer you just gave, what does, what does guest experience look like 10 years from now, um, and just the hospitality industry in general? Uh, how, are we talking about a 20 percent shift in how things are today or are we talking about, like, complete transformation and disruption, kind of like, you know, what the iPhone did for, for, um, you know, our phones and telecommunication?
[00:31:39] Wade Allen: I'm a bit more pragmatic in my, in my casting to the future. I actually don't think, I mean, we've been going to restaurants, since, I don't know, Roman times, right? On the road to Rome and stop off and grab a bite to eat at a location of somebody's home that was feeding you. So, I can't believe that dining and dining out will have a, um, you know, such a paradigm shift or such a, you know, a watershed moment that all of that will just massively go away. Like, I just don't think that's going to happen. There's always going to be a fundamental core of wanting to connect around a table.
[00:32:15] Sid Shetty: Yeah,
[00:32:15] Wade Allen: Eye to eye, and in a physical location. And, and having food. Um, but as I look to the future, I think the biggest shift that people, that I would predict to be, will be every one of these channels, every channel to get food will become easier to get. So whether it's delivery, whether it's off premise, whether it's drive thru, all these things will only get easier and easier and more seamless. And I think they will become more and more tethered with whatever it is, the proverbial iPhone or Oracle or whatever that we're using to ask it to get me. I think that's where the convenience will be.
[00:32:52] So today we have to go to a website, we have to go through an ordering process, and we have to submit it. I believe that the future, 10 years out, will be that the device in which we actually interact with will be more or less visible, right? It'll be more a part of us. And the, the The process will be more verbal commands or, heaven forbid, thinking commands, but it'll just be more seamless in order to make that happen.
[00:33:20] Um, and I think that's the real, the movement that will happen in dining. It'll be less around that we don't sit down at tables and, you know, I think that's still going to happen. And yeah, we'll have some robotics and we'll have some things that happen, but only if it makes the experience better, less clunky and less friction, or yeah, with less friction.
[00:33:38] Sid Shetty: I love that. Yeah, I think you're 100 percent right. I think at its, at its core, you know, food and, you know, dining is a way that connects us and it's about family and friendships. And it's about the human interaction. And so I think that won't change everything around it that helps enable A better seamless experience that might change. And I think we just, you know, as, as, as an industry have to be prepared for it. Like adapting is going to be the name of the game, right?
[00:34:09] Wade Allen: That's right. Yep, totally agree.
[00:34:12] Sid Shetty: So, so are there any technologies or trends that are not ubiquitous, that are not known or being spoken of today that, you know, you being on the inside, you know, uh, have maybe previewed to or have seen or have heard of or getting wind of that excites you, that you think like, you know, will, will play a role in, in a few years from now?
[00:34:34] Wade Allen: Well the one, I'll just talk to the one that I'm super excited about the last couple of days, um, and weeks is, is uh, we kind of addressed it but not in specificity. Um, computer vision is something that I just think is remarkable. You know, this, this ability to have, um, compute on premise but store things in the cloud and to do it in such a way that would capture video. To either enhance the team members experience or enhance the guest experience. And I think we talk about these things, but we don't really, we can't really grasp them until we put them into an application. And one of the applications I've recently kind of stumbled across is this ability to make sure that we get the right item in the bag in the to go world.
[00:35:20] And that is so hard to do. I know that sounds crazy. There's the kitchen display system. There's the order. Have a process, bag it up. But when the world is exploding at 6. 30 on a Friday night, and you've got 30, you're backed 30 orders, you're just flipping food as fast as you can go. But to see this way, this, what could be with Computing Vision to help our operators reduce the guests with a problem is Massive.
[00:35:48] I mean, it is massive and it's massive not just for our organization of a hundred restaurants, but it is the total addressable market is billions of dollars returned to restaurants because every time you miss an item in an off premise experience, you not only ruin that meal, but you, you, you're giving up future meals.
[00:36:09] Because of the guest's bad experience not wanting to come back because they're afraid that you're going to do it again. So, for me, right now, that tech, that, that kind of computer vision with AI processing in the cloud, with compute on the edge, is really, really interesting in just that application. But I think there's probably ten other applications in the restaurant that it could, it could, it could change our industry.
[00:36:30] Sid Shetty: I love it. That, that sounds fascinating. Um, well, with that, I just want to say a huge thank you, Wade. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation. Thank you for taking the time.
[00:36:39] Wade Allen: Sid, thanks man. It's been awesome being here. Appreciate it.
[00:36:42] Sid Shetty: Thank you. And for folks in our audience who might want to look you up or, or find you, where can they find you?
[00:36:48] Wade Allen: I'm a LinkedIn guy, so if you can find me on LinkedIn, Wade Allen, uh, just search for, for my name and my mug. You'll find me. And I'd love for people to, to link in. I'm a, I'm a huge connector. I love it. I.
[00:36:59] Sid Shetty: Perfect. Well, with that, I just want to say a huge thank you again. And to all in our audience, thank you for joining us, and I'll see you on the next episode of Elevating Brick and Mortar.
[00:37:08] music break
[00:37:09] Well, that was Wade Allen, EVP of Strategic Growth at Costa Vida. Today, Wade and I discussed the state of the restaurant industry in a post COVID world and the changes we're seeing for both restaurant brands and customers. We all know this. It's easier than ever to stay home. So restaurants need to do everything they can to make their spaces appealing, comfortable, and more efficient.
[00:37:36] Wade is really passionate about the importance of the guest experience beyond the restaurant physical walls as well. He shared not only how restaurants are dealing with this today, but how technology will transform how brands deliver a great experience in the future. One thing's for sure. Adapting is going to be the name of the game. Thanks for listening. With that, I'm your host, Sid Shetty, and I'll see you on the next episode of Elevating Brick and Mortar.