How Emerging Tech is shaping the future of the Restaurant business
The restaurant industry was hit hard during the COVID-19 pandemic, with dining restrictions, social distancing, and heightened hygiene regulations dramatically changing the landscape. However, these challenges also paved the way for innovation, pushing restaurants to embrace digitalization much faster than anticipated. This shift isn’t just helping restaurants recover from the pandemic—it’s revolutionizing how they operate, making them more efficient and customer-centric than ever before.
In this article, we’ll explore four major technologies reshaping the restaurant business and how industry players can implement them successfully. Additionally, we’ll introduce how AAA Food Handler, a company with over 35 years of experience in food safety and training, is aiding restaurants in navigating these changes to ensure food safety and regulatory compliance.
4 major Technologies Transforming the Restaurant Business and How to implement them successfully
These four cutting-edge technologies are revolutionizing the restaurant business, offering practical solutions to boost efficiency, enhance customer engagement, and streamline operations.
1. Online Menu: More Than Just a Convenience
Before the pandemic, most menus were physical, printed, and presented to customers in restaurants. However, hygiene concerns in recent years have made online menus a necessity. Many establishments turned to QR codes, allowing customers to view the menu on their smartphones. Beyond hygiene, digital menus offer significant opportunities for engagement, customer acquisition, and even direct sales.
By partnering with UX/UI designers, restaurants can create attractive, easy-to-navigate menus that can be accessed from Google Maps, restaurant websites, or via QR codes in the venue. What’s even better? These online menus can be optimized for search engines, enabling them to serve as lead-generation tools where customers can place orders directly from the site.
To take full advantage of digital menus, restaurants must ensure:
- A mobile-optimized version of the menu.
- Fast loading times and small file sizes.
- Menu visibility on search engines (using CDN services like AWS CloudFront).
 2. Delivery Services: The New Restaurant Norm
During the pandemic, restaurant owners were faced with the challenge of rapidly implementing delivery services. But even post-pandemic, delivery has become a staple for many. Offering delivery doesn’t just meet customer demand—it’s a revenue stream that continues to grow.
There are various ways for restaurants to implement delivery:
- In-House Delivery Fleet: Larger chains may find it feasible to hire delivery drivers using their own vehicles or investing in service vehicles. This approach allows for more control over the delivery process but comes with higher operating costs.
- Food Delivery Networks: Partnering with established food delivery networks can broaden a restaurant’s reach by tapping into its extensive customer base. However, this can limit the restaurant’s direct online marketing efforts, as the network may dominate search visibility.
- Independent Driver Services: For those with available resources, setting up a delivery system akin to a cab service using independent drivers offers a flexible solution, balancing between control and cost.
For smooth delivery, kitchens must be automated to match orders efficiently, with proper packaging and labeling to reduce errors. Integrating delivery management modules or using third-party services can help streamline the process.
3.Supply Chain Automation: Streamlining Efficiency
Automated systems streamline supply chain management by performing routine tasks and gathering crucial data on orders and warehouse operations. Leveraging this data, developers can create systems that autonomously reorder units from suppliers, adjust inventory levels, and optimize inventory and food waste. This results in better tracking of product timing and availability, enabling managers to make informed adjustments.
Key Benefits:
- Efficiency: Automates routine tasks, reducing manual effort and minimizing errors.
- Data-Driven Decisions: Utilizes collected data to optimize inventory and reduce waste.
- Real-Time Adjustments: Tracks product timing and availability, allowing for timely management decisions.
Potential Bottlenecks:
- Data Entry Challenges: Requires a fast, accurate, and unified data entry system. Working environments can impact data accuracy, necessitating user-friendly interfaces and scanning technology.
- Enhanced UX: Utilizes scanners, AI assistants, and AR to improve item recognition and inventory management.
- Consideration of Factors: Automates stocking while accounting for shelf life, storage conditions, and contingencies to prevent wastage.
- Continuous Improvement: Regularly examine operational processes, interview staff, survey facilities, and review quality control to ensure automation success.
At AAA Food Handler, we understand the importance of maintaining food safety while embracing these new technologies. Our extensive experience in food safety training ensures that restaurants don’t compromise safety when automating operations. We train staff to use technology while keeping hygiene and regulatory compliance in their minds.
4.Business Intelligence: Data-Driven Decisions
Restaurants today have access to vast amounts of data, from online orders to customer feedback. This data, when harnessed properly, can provide valuable insights for decision-making. Business Intelligence (BI) tools collect and analyze data, allowing restaurants to:
- Adjust pricing strategies.
- Streamline operations by identifying inefficiencies.
- Optimize staffing and operational costs.
One challenge restaurants face is ensuring BI tools can integrate seamlessly with their existing systems. Some technology vendors may not be compatible with a restaurant’s infrastructure, leading to missed opportunities. By working with the right tech partners and adopting flexible systems, restaurants can unlock the power of data to make smarter, more informed decisions.
The Future of Restaurants: A Blend of Tech and Expertise
As restaurants navigate the post-pandemic world, digital technologies are more crucial than ever. From online menus and delivery systems to supply chain automation and business intelligence, emerging technologies are helping restaurants save money, improve efficiency, and deliver higher-quality food.
AAA Food Handler is here to support this transformation. With over 35 years of experience in food safety training and management, we ensure that restaurants implement these technologies without compromising on food safety. Our team of experts works hand-in-hand with restaurants to create robust training programs, guide them through new regulations, and ensure that their operations run smoothly and safely in this tech-driven era.
For restaurants, the future is digital, and with the right tools and expertise, it’s bright.
FOOD
HANDLER
Starting at $6.95
FOOD MANAGER
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Starting at $49.95
ALCOHOL TRAINING
Starting at $7.95
FOOD
HANDLER
Food Handler Reviews
4.9
Food contamination
Overall it was really helpful each module had good information about hygiene and food contamination I gained a lot of knowledge about it
Mayra Lopez
Overall it was really helpful each module had really good information I learned a lot about hygiene and about food contamination
Observaciones
Muchas gracias! Por sus concomitants, me seven mucho…
Is god have it in spanish
Thank you for heaving this curse in spanish, is more easy to understand in my mother tong, but overall it is a very intuitive, easy and comprensive curse!
No Title
No Title
Una puebra increible y de muy grande ayuda
Fue algo muy importante y de gran aprendizaje para mi, al aprender todo lo necesario para dar un buen servicio, sin duda estoy muy agradecido por la guia de estudio, esoy listo para dar un excelente servicio
IM SOO HAAPY
I AM VERY HAPPY TO HAVE LEARNED
muy buen curso
tome este curso para mi daycare y me gusto mucho.
No Title
No Title
Nadia ALVARENGA
Bad
Horrible
No funcionĂ³ bien đŸ™„đŸ™„ ademĂ¡s no es para trabajadores de Sanitazion ademĂ¡s la aplicaciĂ³n es mala no se escucha los audios
na
na
na
na
Todo estuvo muy bien aprendĂ mucho
Todo estuvo muy bien aprendĂ mucho sobre la manipulaciĂ³n de alimentos
Great
Was super easy and fast to get done !
Great
Very fast and easy to get done!
Muy informativo
Excelente informacion
food handler
very important information, keep it always in mind while working in kitchen
stronge rules.
Food Handler Reviews
4.9
Food contamination
Overall it was really helpful each module had good information about hygiene and food contamination I gained a lot of knowledge about it
Mayra Lopez
Overall it was really helpful each module had really good information I learned a lot about hygiene and about food contamination
Observaciones
Muchas gracias! Por sus concomitants, me seven mucho…
Is god have it in spanish
Thank you for heaving this curse in spanish, is more easy to understand in my mother tong, but overall it is a very intuitive, easy and comprensive curse!
No Title
No Title
Una puebra increible y de muy grande ayuda
Fue algo muy importante y de gran aprendizaje para mi, al aprender todo lo necesario para dar un buen servicio, sin duda estoy muy agradecido por la guia de estudio, esoy listo para dar un excelente servicio
IM SOO HAAPY
I AM VERY HAPPY TO HAVE LEARNED
muy buen curso
tome este curso para mi daycare y me gusto mucho.
No Title
No Title
Nadia ALVARENGA
Bad
Horrible
No funcionĂ³ bien đŸ™„đŸ™„ ademĂ¡s no es para trabajadores de Sanitazion ademĂ¡s la aplicaciĂ³n es mala no se escucha los audios
na
na
na
na
Todo estuvo muy bien aprendĂ mucho
Todo estuvo muy bien aprendĂ mucho sobre la manipulaciĂ³n de alimentos
Great
Was super easy and fast to get done !
Great
Very fast and easy to get done!
Muy informativo
Excelente informacion
food handler
very important information, keep it always in mind while working in kitchen
stronge rules.
Starting at $6.95
FOOD MANAGER
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Food Manager Reviews
4.9
great
I learned a lot
It was informative
It was informative.
Aprendi mucho gracias
Muy buena experiencia
"Quick" and easy
Was very easy to understand and well paced. Not overly stacked with useless dialogue but just enough to get you to understand what and why.
No Title
No Title
Great explanation
muy bien aprendisaje
aprendi mucho muchas gracias por este curso para mi fue genial
too long, redundant and time consuming
too long, redundant and time consuming
Safety First
I think that I have already had the basic needs and knowledges for managing the Food Handlers. The courses were not too short or too long. Easy to understand and easy to approach. Highly recommended.
me gusto
me enseno much as cosas nuevas
No Title
Super clear and concise- just wish we could rewind w/o having to watch the whole video again
No Title
IMFORMATIVE
HELPED IN WAY I CAN EXPLAIN
excelent
fue todo UN retro que al final logre
excelenet
todo estubo excelente El curso
It's easely to lern
It’s easely to lern
Manager
Gave me some good points to pass on my team and myself. Easy to follow and not to dragged out on the info.
Comprehensive course.
The course was not painful. It was appropriate in length and in content.
The poses of Maria were very entertaining
The training was pretty straight forward and understandable. The only issues I had were you can’t rewind the video, only restart the entire clip which means if you missed one detail you have to sit through the entire clip again for that one moment. Another issue I had was certain modules would have severe delay from the audio to video, and refreshing the page did not help the issue.
Food Manager Reviews
4.9
great
I learned a lot
It was informative
It was informative.
Aprendi mucho gracias
Muy buena experiencia
"Quick" and easy
Was very easy to understand and well paced. Not overly stacked with useless dialogue but just enough to get you to understand what and why.
No Title
No Title
Great explanation
muy bien aprendisaje
aprendi mucho muchas gracias por este curso para mi fue genial
too long, redundant and time consuming
too long, redundant and time consuming
Safety First
I think that I have already had the basic needs and knowledges for managing the Food Handlers. The courses were not too short or too long. Easy to understand and easy to approach. Highly recommended.
me gusto
me enseno much as cosas nuevas
No Title
Super clear and concise- just wish we could rewind w/o having to watch the whole video again
No Title
IMFORMATIVE
HELPED IN WAY I CAN EXPLAIN
excelent
fue todo UN retro que al final logre
excelenet
todo estubo excelente El curso
It's easely to lern
It’s easely to lern
Manager
Gave me some good points to pass on my team and myself. Easy to follow and not to dragged out on the info.
Comprehensive course.
The course was not painful. It was appropriate in length and in content.
The poses of Maria were very entertaining
The training was pretty straight forward and understandable. The only issues I had were you can’t rewind the video, only restart the entire clip which means if you missed one detail you have to sit through the entire clip again for that one moment. Another issue I had was certain modules would have severe delay from the audio to video, and refreshing the page did not help the issue.
Starting at $49.95
ALCOHOL TRAINING
Alcohol Training Reviews
4.8
very informative
I like that there are small test review between segments
NOT BAD BUT....
could be better. thank you for your help and support.
No Title
No Title
No Title
No Title
review
very informative
No Title
good
this ia a good training but its supper time consuming
Straightforward Education
Easy to follow and use for RBS certification.
Painless
Like the videos.
Great Alcohol Service Training
Checked all the boxes, was easy to follow and really helped me get up to date on everything I needed to know!
No Title
Extensive but clear and concise
No Title
The module videos were engaging.
No Title
No Title
food handler/ alcohol
i learned so many things and taking this curse was helpful in so many ways that can help you later on in your jobs or in life since it gives you good info
not bad
long
great course
The course was very interested! I highly recommend this course.
Informative Training
The course was straightforward and informative. I appreciated that the modules weren’t repetitive.
Alcohol Training Reviews
4.8
very informative
I like that there are small test review between segments
NOT BAD BUT....
could be better. thank you for your help and support.
No Title
No Title
No Title
No Title
review
very informative
No Title
good
this ia a good training but its supper time consuming
Straightforward Education
Easy to follow and use for RBS certification.
Painless
Like the videos.
Great Alcohol Service Training
Checked all the boxes, was easy to follow and really helped me get up to date on everything I needed to know!
No Title
Extensive but clear and concise
No Title
The module videos were engaging.
No Title
No Title
food handler/ alcohol
i learned so many things and taking this curse was helpful in so many ways that can help you later on in your jobs or in life since it gives you good info
not bad
long
great course
The course was very interested! I highly recommend this course.
Informative Training
The course was straightforward and informative. I appreciated that the modules weren’t repetitive.
Starting at $7.95
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