The COVID-19 pandemic has forced restaurants to rethink how they get their food into customers' hands, and technology has allowed them to get really creative with service. That's led to a real opportunity for restaurants of all service models to innovate—which is exactly what McAlister’s Deli is doing.
Prior to the pandemic, McAlister's was doing dine-in, carryout, and third-party delivery model, while also testing curbside. After the pandemic, though, it’s expanded those service channels to include direct delivery, system-wide curbside, and even tableside delivery. It's managed all of this with a robust digital evolution, one that has led its digital sales to more than double in the last year and its loyalty program to grow seven-fold.
McAlister's president Joe Guith joins the podcast to talk about how the new service formats have changed McAlister’s growth trajectory, how the brand has found efficiencies in its model, and how it plans to become the next billion-dollar brand.
This episode is brought to you by Lamb Weston.
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