FoodCentric Show 2022, Quad Cities

Left to right: Ray Ceresa Bloomington Franchise, Jimmy Holt President/CEO of Barrel House, Mike Goodwin District Manager Barrel House, and

Chris Posey Director of Franchise Sales & Marketing Barrel House.

The team was able to attend the FoodCentric show here in the Quad Cities, which is the home office of Barrel House. This is a great way for us to evaluate new or current vendors and their offerings. With continued supply chain issues, it’s imperative that we stay ahead of the curve when it comes to availability, innovation, trends, and pricing. Even small things such as napkins, cleaning chemicals, togo trays, and so on can effect our franchisees profitability and overall brand experience for guests. As we look to grow from an emerging brand to a leader in our franchise segment, it’s our job as a franchisor to ensure we are monitoring all aspects of our brand and the cost associated with running a successful Barrel House.

Left, Andrew Stokes Restaurant Success Manager for Barrel House and Jimmy Holt President/CEO discuss togo containers.

Even items such as togo containers and their design attributes are something we constantly test and monitor. With food delivery orders projecting a 10% year over year rise in orders up through 2026. This brings about a new challenges when it comes to ensuring our food is as amazing delivered as it is during a dine-in experience. Things like proper venting to ensure low moisture build up, size to plate in, sustainability, soak through, and other factors all come in to play in something as small as a togo container. We are constantly evaluating and testing new products to ensure the best cost for our franchisees, while ensuring the best experience for our guests.

The team was quickly taking notes and trying samples at many vendor booths, and we are extremely excited to test some new items out at corporate. Our goal in being a brand leader is to monitor, explore, test, evaluate, and execute for our franchisees. This enables us to mitigate issues and costs, while increasing profitability, longevity, and positive brand experience for our guests through our franchisees.