The winners of the CREATOR Awards tell how to stay relevant

For restaurant operators, the new way of thinking is “How do we learn quickly, test quickly, scale quickly”. But the focus on innovation has to go hand in hand with a renewed focus on people.

That said the winners of the first CREATOR Awards, who spoke on Wednesday at a panel discussion at CREATE: The Future of Foodservice.

Related: Nation’s Restaurant News announces the winners of the first CREATORS Awards

The winners were selected by the editorial staff of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality for their innovation in specific categories.

As representative of the CREATOR of the Year winner Brinker International, which opened up new opportunities with the launch of the virtual brand It’s Just Wings last year, Wade Allen, Senior Vice President and Head of Innovation at Brinker, shared how the casual dining chain is the delivery brought into being the -only Wings concept overnight at 1,000 locations. The move helped Brinker turn on lights and avoid vacation during the pandemic and has grown to a $ 170 million mark.

The key to the strategy was really understanding who the audience was: college-aged men interested in games and sports who appreciate the value of free fries, Allen said.

And the launch opened doors for Brinker to bring more delivery brands to market to make better use of the Chili and Maggiano kitchens.

“We don’t have an undeveloped ceiling” for virtual brands, he said. “It is not [like] You can insert 50 marks in one asset. You have to protect the core assets. “

But the variety of thoughts that lead to such innovation can only be achieved with a diversity of people, Allen said.

James Fripp, Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer at Yum Brands Inc., was the CREATOR Award winner for Leadership and agreed that “connecting to different communities in different ways” is a form of innovation.

“We have to think about innovation, how we can take care of the people while we are doing all of this,” said Fripp. “Because we see people signing out.”

Fripp shared how Yum has worked to build more diversity in leadership and restaurant ownership in the global system and to create safe spaces for dialogue around the topic of inclusion. The multi-faceted approach included town halls, mentoring, and inviting team members to stand up for equity and inclusion.

The company has also introduced “reverse mentorships,” where, for example, a white male leader is paired with a black person to create more personal relationships that the company calls ART: Authentic Relationships That Build Trust.

Fripp said the company is also working to bring the importance of building diversity to business, not just because consumer demographics are changing rapidly, but because the best and brightest graduates of color from the top Schools are encouraged to look into leadership potential employers to see if people of color are represented.

“If not, you might want to really think carefully about whether this is the right company for you,” he said.

Portillo’s Chief Operating Officer Derrick Pratt, who won a CREATOR Award for redesigning its delivery model and building drive-through sales to an average of $ 2.2 million per year, recently announced an IPO that shows how well the iconic hot dog brand has done through the pandemic and recreated itself as an omnichannel operator.

Pratt praised the coveted menu of the brand, the unbelievable quantities with delivery, catering and the strong throughput as well as the overall energy. Portillo’s was able to weather the pandemic without layoffs and preserve its beloved legacy while also becoming a brand that meets the needs of today’s radically changed consumer.

Portillo’s was forced to “learn fast, test fast, scale fast,” he said, in part because of the way the brand maintained intimate relationships with guests and continued to focus on learning.

Robert Earl, co-founder of Virtual Dining Concepts, won the CREATOR Award for Marketing. The company has built a portfolio of delivery-only brands associated with celebrities and social media influences that create instant brand awareness.

“PR is better than advertising. It’s always been our philosophy, ”said Earl, who also launched the iconic brands Planet Hollywood and Hard Rock.

Virtual Dining Concepts is best known for launching the MrBeast Burger brand, a partnership with a YouTuber with millions of followers who can delight an audience.

And it’s not just about celebrity associations, it’s intellectual property too, Earl said. For example, Virtual Dining Concepts offers NASCAR brands that allow consumers to order food from specific regional racetracks while watching the races at home.

This week, for example, more than 100,000 people ordered The Big One, an 8-ounce pork and cheese meatball that is deep-fried, covered in barbecue sauce and served on top of spaghetti, a famous option on Talladega Speedway, said he

Earl said the key to innovation is understanding the changing needs of both consumers and potential restaurant workers who say “no” to working in a hot kitchen, standing in front of you, or working at night. “Nobody knows where any of it will end up,” he said.

Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected]

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