Musings of a West Texas Business Venture

Day One of the NRA Show

I didn't take my laptop today to the National Restaurant Association annual trade show in Chicago, even though there is free WiFi. Last year the place was packed, and there was nowhere to sit (floor or chair) within range. So, instead I took my trusty camera and some notes, and made our way through the first of the exhibit halls.

Erik and I made a run at the show this morning, starting with the Technology Pavilion at the far corner of the main exhibit floor. They had a forum, called Optimize Restaurant Operations with a Broadband Network, and we made it just in time, after getting semi-lost using our Hertz NeverLost GPS system. Overall, I thought the forum went very well, and there was a lot of interesting statistics shared. Most of the forum members are using broadband for exactly what you would expect them to (Email, Credit Card transactions, remote control of POS systems, VPN connections, reservations) -- I didn't hear anything "crazy" going on. Of course, the hospitality industry has a tendency to move very slowly, and most "Fortune 500" companies have been doing these things for years.

Some of the interesting statistics:

1. Cracker Barrel serves more than 600,000 meals per day. Assuming the US has a population of around 250,000,000 .... that means that 6 out of every 2500 people eat at a Cracker Barrel DAILY! They serve almost .25% of the population daily.
   
2. Cracker Barrel used more than 70,000 POUNDS of pancake and biscuit mix EVERY day last year.
3. Cracker Barrel served more than 18,000,000 (yes, million) servings of chicken and dumplins last year.
4. Cedar Enterprises (a Wendy's franchisee) built an entirely new inventory management system / labor system. This isn't anything special by itself. However, the DRIVING force behind their decision to build their own was that they MIGHT be able to save 4/10th's of a percent on their theoretical food cost. That's likely around $4,500 per restaurant (or more than $800,000 per year for all locations). Who knows what the ROI is, but probably within 1-2 years.
   

Overall, I felt that the forum was a venue for New Edge Networks to sell their services. I think they mentioned themselves about thirty times a second, and at the end of the forum, about ten of their staff manned the exit so they could talk to everyone. Yikes.

Several of the booths on the first floor were very well done. EcoLab, which usually has a good booth (last year they had Captain EcoLab), was completely revamped, and doing good things. Very engaging of the average passerby, and everyone there is probably an ex-cheerleader.

I was not expecting, but happy to see, SpotRunner. They are revolutionizing media buying for individual and smaller companies, and are doing an excellent job. I love their product, and use it with clients in more than one sector. Their booth was great, shaped like an eye (oblong and obtuse), and forced you to walk by their sales people and their demo product. They had screens and laptops all over the place with a live Internet connection to try it out while their sales people assisted you. Too busy to stop? Grab a DVD with a demo product inside (it has about 30 restaurant related commercials on it), and follow the insert instructions on getting started. It has instructions, background, and more. A great presentation of their product.

I don't remember who had the sharks -- but it obviously wasn't a great booth (or I would remember). However, the motorcycles were very neat, and extremely well done. This was taken near (but not at) a booth where I overheard an exhibitor complaining that he hated the NRA show. Apparently, they've been coming for years, but sell almost nothing at it. We asked around, and found out that it's really not a selling show. It's a show to talk with the clients, buy dinners, and say hello to people so they do not forget you. More client services kind of things. More marketing.

Another interesting product was this particular item, called a FIFO Squeeze Bottle. This is technology done right, but sold wrong. The theory is that if you put product in, even if you flip it around a little bit, what you pour out will be the first stuff you put into the bottle. This way, you don't have year-old ranch salad dressing in the middle of your bottles. However, it's a horrible name -- as FIFO is a technical term that the average consumer probably doesn't use on a daily basis (except those from Europe, who kept asking me if I was standing in a queue).

At 2pm, we ran back over to the Technology Pavilion, where the place was packed, and took a look at another forum called New Restaurant Technology: Lessons Learned which was headed by someone from JTech (also known as Micros these days). We learned some interesting things there, but mostly just confirmed what we already knew -- that Darden is light years ahead of the pack, that websites and online reservations are becoming more important, that marketing is very important, and that this forum would be very popular (for a few minutes it was standing room only).

Tomorrow, we're going to try and make it to the technology side, as well as the International Pavilion (downstairs). I also need to stop by and talk with a few equipment manufactures about reselling their equipment (for use with our software). The forums do not look to be very interesting tomorrow .... with the exception of the self service (I imagine it is mostly a repeat of last year).

posted by Anthony Presley @ 9:29 PM