What the data says about restaurant catering today

by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Connect Media

As corporate catering transforms into a critical growth engine for the restaurant industry, top brands will share their battle-tested, data-driven playbooks for scaling high-volume operations at the upcoming Restaurant Catering Workshop.

Before Zaxby’s and Cane’s, there was Guthrie’s: Now, the pioneer is scaling.

by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Connect Media

Guthrie’s, the pioneering 1965 brand that originated the quick-service chicken finger category, is leveraging its streamlined menu, highly guarded proprietary sauce and owner-operator franchisee partnerships to aggressively expand toward a 100-unit milestone.

Texas-Born HTeaO expands with drive-thru store in El Campo

National iced tea franchise HteaO will open a new location in El Campo, Texas, on Saturday, Aug. 1. The store, located at 606 N. Mechanic, is owned and…

Toastique Founder Brianna Keefe details growth from single toast bar to national franchise

Toastique founder Brianna Keefe opened her first location at 24 with no investors, a personal guarantee, and a vision for a concept that didn't yet exist. In this episode of Founderology - Built to Breakthrough, she shares how she built a fast-growing franchise and the leadership decisions that made scaling possible.

Build your leadership team: The team that reports directly to you

by Kathleen Wood — Founder, K. Wood Partners

True organizational growth and scalability require distinguishing between mere managers and genuine leaders.

Miso

Miso Robotics delivers AI automation for restaurants and hospitality. Flippy automates the fry station, reducing labor dependency with consistent execution at twice the throughput of manual operations. Zippy is your employee revenue engine, turning frontline performance into measurable business outcomes in real time.

The 1:1 Personalization Playbook: Using AI to send every guest their own offer

In this session, Hang CEO Matt Smolin, whose platform powers millions of AI-personalized offers a month for restaurant brands, and Rev Ciancio, CMO of Salad House & Handcraft Burgers and Brew, walked through the playbook to start personalizing your own offers right away.

AI and the Future of Restaurants: From Foot Traffic to Predictive Insight

As consumer behavior and privacy expectations evolve, restaurants need smarter ways to understand diners and drive growth. Gladys Kong of Azira and Isabelle Soriano of Goodway Group explore how AI and location intelligence can inform site selection, media strategy, audience engagement, and faster, more informed decisions.