Southern Franchise Simplifies Operations While Delighting Customers With New Treat
Embracing innovation requires companies to find the right balance between improving efficiency and respecting tradition. So when Rise Southern Biscuits & Righteous Chicken replaced its popular doughnuts with beignets, leadership looked beyond the practical business advantages of streamlining processes and trimming costs.
Other factors had to be weighed, especially customers’ feelings about the menu change. But with their New Orleans heritage and wide appeal, beignets proved to be an ideal complement to the menu of Southern favorites. “The beignets were an instant hit,” says Brian Wiles (below), chief operating officer of Rise. When they are served hot with a dusting of powdered sugar, beignets remind customers of eating one of their favorite treats at a fair, he says.
When Rise initially began serving beignets, doughnuts were still on the menu. Doughnuts were not made in-house, though, and restaurant staff had to decorate them by hand, adding a labor-intensive step to preparation. Beignets, on the other hand, can be made more efficiently, Wiles says, because they are prepared from the same dough that is used for biscuits. “Since we were already making biscuits, beignets integrated seamlessly into our operations,” he says, reducing prep time, cutting food and labor costs, and decreasing food waste. Once beignets were established on the menu, one of the general managers suggested that the company fully lean into serving beignets, Wiles says, and the company recognized the operational benefits and moved ahead with the change.
Tech-Forward Business
Rise is continually looking for ways to upgrade its equipment, technology and processes to better serve customers, Wiles says. “Currently, we are focusing on improving our holding equipment to optimize food preparation times,” he says. Rise restaurants follow a just-in-time model to ensure that food is as fresh as possible, allowing customers to order online and have their food stored in heated lockers until they pick it up at a designated time. Better holding equipment will keep the food hotter and tastier, he says. The company is also investing in more-efficient deep fryers and new technology in the kitchens to collect more accurate data on the items that are sold.
As part of Rise’s tech-forward emphasis, Wiles says, “we continue to leverage online ordering, self-service kiosks and our rewards app to enhance the customer experience.” Contactless ordering at the kiosks and the food locker technology work together to create a smoother, faster process in the stores for customers, employees and delivery service drivers…