BREAKOUT SESSION / MONDAY / OCTOBER 4, 2021 / 4:00 PM
How to Cruise Through Drive-thru Remodels
Finding a drive-thru lane at a fast casual restaurant used to be rare, but they are becoming more commonplace as customers demand contactless pick-up points. This session will feature executives who have incorporated drive-thrus into their business models.
They’ll talk about how to ensure a good ROI as well as pitfalls to avoid.
PANELISTS
Kevin King | Chief Development Officer | Smoothie King
Speaker bio coming soon!
Steve Lieber | VP Franchise Business Development | BurgerFi
Steve Lieber is an expert in designing restaurant concepts, the art of pizza making and is a certified pizzaiolo from Italy. As Vice President of Franchise Development, Steve leads the team who sold over 150 franchises to over 50 franchise groups. His team has sold franchises in 20+ states and international deals in Kuwait and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Our teams built systemwide restaurant sales of $100+ million USD in under 5 years. Steve was on opening restaurant teams for 10+ states in the United States. He taught franchisees recruiting techniques, training and operating systems, professionalism, food ordering and preparation, inventory controls, labor controls, local store marketing to increase sales and profitability of all locations.
Paul Peterson | CEO | Caffeinated Ventures
Paul Peterson is CEO of Caffeinated Ventures, the parent company of Wake Oasis Coffee. Paul’s background in Urban Planning and Design & Construction has helped him see how the physical building can impact the customer experience. Applying these lessons to his current drive-thru coffee shop franchises, as well as the newly created “Coffee shop in a box” concept using cargo shipping containers, elevates the drive-thru customer experience. “One of my first coffee memories is sitting around a campfire with family and friends waiting on the percolator to finish brewing. That simple coffee memory is about more than a brewed beverage. It’s how coffee and people are connected.”
Tabassum Zalotrawala | Chief Development Officer | Chipotle Mexican Grill
Tabassum Zalotrawala joined Chipotle as Chief Development Officer in December 2018. In this role, Tabassum oversees the restaurant development department which has been a driving force behind the expansion of innovative formats including the Chipotlane, which was named one of ‘The Most Innovative Architecture Projects of 2020’ by Fast Company. Prior to joining Chipotle, she spent over seven years at Panda Restaurant Group as Chief Development Officer and Vice President of Development overseeing Real Estate, Design, Construction, Facilities and Strategic Sourcing. Prior to joining Panda Restaurant Group, Ms. Zalotrawala spent over 10 years with Arby’s and Wendy’s Arbys Group in various leadership positions in Development.
MODERATOR
Valerie Cansler | VP of Client Services | Curion
Valerie Cansler earned a chemical engineering degree at University of Florida and started her career as a product developer. She then owned and operated PVR Research, an Atlanta-based research facility specializing in food testing. Her team’s culinary expertise and commercial test kitchens made them a perfect fit with Curion Insights. In 2020, Valerie and her team joined the Curion family, where she is now VP of Curion’s south region. Outside of work Valerie loves a good true crime podcast and can be found cheering at her two kids’ soccer and volleyball tournaments.
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