San Carlos, Calif. — Presto Automation Inc., one of the largest drive-thru automation technology providers in the hospitality industry, has promoted Dan Mosher to president and Xavier Casanova to chief operating officer, effective immediately. “Dan and Xavier have been key leaders at Presto and were instrumental in successfully developing and implementing Presto Voice, the industry’s most advanced drive-thru AI voice ordering platform,” says Presto’s chairman and interim CEO, Krishna Gupta. “I am delighted to partner with these two and the rest of our exceptional management team as we continue to …
vendors
Orlando, Fla. — Berner International LLC, a New Castle, Pa.-based manufacturer and innovator of air curtains, has honored foodservice manufacturer’s representative Swanson-Girard Associates (SGA), based in Pineville, N.C, with its Presidential Gold Award for Outstanding Sales Achievement–2021-2022. Brian Paolucci, sales manager with Berner International, presented the award to SGA principals Paul Swanson and Sean Girard at the North American Food Service Equipment Manufacturers (NAFEM) Show 2023 on Feb. 1 in Orlando, Fla. Other honored award winners were: Presidential Silver: Preferred Marketing Group, based in Chatsworth, Calif. Presidential Bronze: LMS Associates, …
Jersey City, N.J. — Imperial Dade, a leading distributor of foodservice packaging and janitorial supplies, has hired Devashish Saxena as its first chief digital officer. He will be focused on identifying how the organization can use the latest digital technologies to create a world-class omnichannel customer experience powered by data science. For over 20 years, Devashish Saxena has built digital organizations and guided them in making data-driven decisions to deliver business impact. Most recently Devashish led digital transformation as vice president, chief digital officer at PPG, a Pittsburgh-based coatings manufacturer. …
— By Hara J. Prager and Tom Coble — Whose leak is it anyway? HVAC provider or roofer? Imagine — it is a beautiful spring day; the air is cool and crisp, the sun is bright, with the promise of summer days near. You’re enjoying your first day off after the holiday rush. At least now, with the ice of winter behind you, you won’t be facing water leaks…right? Think again! On this beautiful 50-degree morning, as you’re enjoying a stroll, you get a panicked call from …
Baltimore, Md. — Vulcan, a leading provider of commercial cooking equipment, has named Alex Piñero as project manager – custom and heavy-duty products for the company. The new hire is part of Vulcan’s efforts to enhance the customer experience with a new design team. The new Vulcan design team is led by industry veteran Dan Montgomery, Vulcan’s director of consultant and design services. As the newest member of the design team, Piñero will be working with the company’s CAD/Revit Designer and will be the point of contact for the management …
San Carlos, Calif. — Presto Automation Inc., the largest drive-thru automation technology provider in the hospitality industry, has formed a collaboration with OpenAI, an AI research and deployment company, to drive greater innovation around its drive-thru AI voice assistant. OpenAI’s ChatGPT API will be used to expand the feature set of the Presto’s drive-thru AI voice assistant (Presto Voice™), resulting in interactions that are more natural and human-like. Presto Voice uses advanced AI techniques including large language models (LLM) and generative AI to understand natural human language and offer logical …
— By Zayn King-Dollie — Utilizing mobile ordering and building design to capitalize on takeout trends. Last year, The National Restaurant Association estimated that 2022 would have record-breaking sales revenue of $898 billion, a 12.4% increase from 2021 and 3.9% above pre-pandemic sales. The predictions signaled an optimistic future, but instead, many businesses now are facing additional hardships brought on by inflation. Even with higher sales, the industry profit margins are 11.5% lower than in 2019. A third of all restaurant operators expect sales revenue outcomes to …
— By Amanda Anderson — When is the last time you looked up? The day starts early with management opening the doors to prepare for incoming customers, following a routine checklist to ensure a successful day. There are drawers to fill, schedules to make, questions to be answered by associates and patrons. But when is the last time you looked up? Or down for that matter? In the blur of day-to-day operations, little details that can have a huge impact are often overlooked when it comes to …
Aurora, Ill. — Palmer Digital Group, a full-service supplier and installer of custom indoor and outdoor digital kiosks, display enclosures and drive-thru digital menu boards, has been selected by The Patio, a high-end QSR specializing in barbeque, sandwiches and salads, to digitize interior and exterior menu board systems at its six Chicago-area locations. PDG’s menu board solutions will completely modernize the in-store and drive-thru customer experience while accelerating the appearance of price adjustments, new menu additions, limited time offers and more across storewide menu board systems. PDG’s solution for The …
Naples, Fla. — LINGA rOS, the all-in-one cloud-based restaurant operating system provider, has appointed Daymion Phelps as its new vice president of sales. She joins LINGA from Heartland Retail. Phelps brings more than 20 years of retail automation solution sales and consulting experience to LINGA with a deep background in the point-of-sale, SaaS and payment solutions industries. Phelps was most recently the director of sales for Heartland Retail, where she focused on providing point-of-sale solutions to growing small business, mid-market and enterprise retailers. Phelps’ professional software sales career began with …