Why are grocery prices going up so much? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Christine LaFave Grace, the executive editor of RB sister publication Winsight Grocery Business, to talk about last week’s consumer price index data. The CPI rose 8.3% in April. Food prices have soared, rising 9.4%. That includes 7.2% at restaurants. But at grocers, prices are up 10.8%. This affects restaurants in two ways. First, it increases overall costs for the base consumer, which may cause them to cut back on spending. Yet they also see the prices and start dining out instead, especially given the 3.5% gap in pricing between the two industries. And indeed, restaurant and bar sales have continued to thrive this year. We talk about this issue from the retailers’ perspective. Why are grocery prices increasing so much? How are consumers reacting when they do shop for their groceries? And how long is this all expected to last? We also provide some context on what this means for restaurants.

Restaurants aren’t the only businesses with labor problems. Distributors have their own challenges that are also driving up costs for operators. This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Terry Walsh, the president of small California distribution company Southwest Traders, to discuss the impact of the labor shortage on distributors and how that affects restaurants. A lack of truck drivers has been an increasing problem for distributors for years but was worsened during the pandemic, which has played a major role in an increase in supply chain costs while causing problems with delayed or even cancelled deliveries. But a warehousing worker shortage has also caused problems. Terry talks about these roles, why companies have had problems getting these workers, and what distributors are doing about it. He talks about their impact on operators and overall costs and what steps operators can do to make life easier on drivers. Walsh has more than 30 years in the distribution business and has president of Southwest Traders since 2016. He has spent 14 of those years on the board of the International Foodservice Distributors Association.

How did Crumbl Cookies go from an off-the-wall idea between two cousins into one of the country’s fastest-growing restaurant chains in just five years? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Jason McGowan, the CEO and cofounder of the fast-growing cookie chain, to talk about its history and its growth. McGowan founded the brand with his cousin, Sawyer Hemsley, in 2017. The brand has since grown to more than 400 locations that largely sell just cookies (as well as some ice cream). It was the fourth fastest-growing restaurant chain in the country last year, according to the Technomic Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report. Sales are up nearly 500% since 2019. But there is a real foundation here. Crumbl’s locations average $1.7 million and generate more than $350,000 in net profit by largely selling just cookies. It also has a massive social media following. McGowan talks about the company’s unique formation, its quick rise and the strategy behind its success. He talks about the company’s franchising strategy, which has thus far completely avoided any sort of advertising.

What can operators do to avoid raising prices too aggressively? Or should they? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features John Gordon, a restaurant consultant out of San Diego, to talk about the industry’s historic level of menu price inflation and whether consumers will ultimately respond. Restaurants are raising prices at historically high rates, including 6.9% year over year in March, continuing a high run of price inflation. Restaurants are doing this because their own costs are soaring. Consumers at least thus far have yet to reject these higher prices. Gordon discusses why consumers haven’t yet rejected higher prices. He also discusses how long this will last. There are growing fears that consumers will shift their spending habits in response to inflation. Yet operators’ own prices continue to increase. Gordon discusses what they can do to avoid further price increases, and a potential consumer blowback, without having their margins hurt even more.

How did a small hot dog chain handle a sudden rush of customers after the pandemic? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features J.R. Galardi, the CEO of the Galardi Group, parent company of Wienerschnitzel, Tastee Freeze and Hamburger Stand. Galardi was named CEO earlier this year but had been president and chief operating officer before that and has grown up with the concept, which was founded by his father and later run by his mother after he passed away. He talks about taking over a family business, including some of the pressures, challenges and opportunities that presents. J.R. talks about what he plans to do with the brand. He also talks a lot about the state of the business, including labor issues, supply chain concerns, franchising and expansion strategies. Galardi discusses how much demand there was for the drive-thru after the pandemic, the challenges that presented, and what the company did about it.

What chains recovered the most from the pandemic? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive” features Joe Pawlak, managing principal with RB sister company Technomic, to talk about the latest Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report. The 500 largest restaurants grew sales by 18% in 2021—and more than 8% over 2019, effectively recovering from the pandemic. They generated $361.2 billion in total sales. Pawlak talks about why they’ve been able to grow more quickly than anybody anticipated. He talks extensively about what sectors did best, notably fine dining along with some of the biggest chains in the U.S. Among the companies featured in this podcast are McDonald’s, Burger King and, of course, Chick-fil-A.

What are consumers getting when they order from a virtual kitchen? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features our editors speaking of their recent taste test of a handful of virtual brands. The project was spearheaded by Senior Technology Editor Joe Guszkowski, who wrote about the experiences in a piece last week. We are joined by Editor-at-Large Peter Romeo and Senior Independents Editor Heather Lalley. The brands we tried were MrBeast Burger, Man Vs. Fries, Grilled Cheese Society and Another Wing by DJ Khaled. We rated them on delivery quality, food quality and appearance and overall value. You should check out the piece, which ran last week. The editors discuss the results of their orders, including which brands they prefer, which brands they disliked, and their overall value. We discuss how much this says about delivery charges, and whether we would order this in the future.

Wendy’s has some big plans to add a lot of restaurants. This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Abigail Pringle, the president of international and chief development officer for the burger chain Wendy’s. She talks about the chain’s numerous expansion strategies. Wendy’s has a lot going on. The company has a deal with Reef Kitchens to expand into 700 ghost kitchen locations around the world. Pringle talks about the potential impact that deal will have on the company’s expansion strategy. She also talks about the company’s move into international markets. Wendy’s recently opened units in the United Kingdom and is now targeting Mexico for expansion, among other locations. Pringle also talks about why Wendy’s has been behind its top competitors in international expansion. She discusses the chain’s recently announced Own Your Opportunity recruitment effort, which is designed to increase the diversity of the Wendy’s franchise system. That effort includes considerable work on financing. Pringle talks about how that recruitment effort fits in with the chain’s development strategy.

Restaurants’ supply chain headache has evolved into a migraine. This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Keith Anderkin, the chief supply chain officer for the fast-casual chicken chain Zaxby’s. Chains have been increasingly giving c-level status to their top supply chain officers. Anderkin took his position last year, and we wanted his insights into the challenges with the supply chain—why costs are going up so much, and what the company is doing about it.

The pandemic has changed restaurants’ deals with beverage companies, maybe forever. This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive” features Tim Harms, CEO of the consulting firm Enliven, to talk about the market for beverages at restaurants. Enliven works with restaurants and other clients to negotiate their beverage contracts. Harms was recently named the firm’s CEO. He discussed the state of beverage deals on the podcast, and how much the pandemic changed demand for restaurant beverages. Growth in takeout and delivery has led to decreased beverage attachment, which has changed the way restaurants have to think about their beverage contracts.