High Traffic Hospitality: Expanding Your Revenue with Automation and Self-Service


Elevate the customer experience and drive revenue in high-traffic environments like airports, hospitals, college campuses, hotels and large scale event venues. This session focuses on implementing strategic self-service solutions to meet the unique demands of these locations.

Panelists
Michael Beacham
President
California Pizza Kitchen
Michael Beacham currently serves as President of California Pizza Kitchen (CPK), where he is driving a renewed focus on growth. A seasoned executive with decades of leadership experience in the restaurant and hospitality industry, Beacham joined CPK after leading international expansion and development strategies for several global brands. His career includes serving as President of Darden International, where he oversaw the company’s international portfolio, and as Chief Operating Officer of Hard Rock Cafe International, managing corporate and franchise operations across more than 70 countries. He has also held senior roles at CEC Entertainment (Chuck E. Cheese’s), Rosinter Restaurants, and Carlson Restaurants Worldwide (TGI Friday’s), where he helped guide growth across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
Benoit Herve
Founder & CEO
LBX Food Robotics
Benoit Herve is a visionary entrepreneur and accomplished executive with over 30 years of experience in technology design, marketing, and product innovation. He holds a master’s degree in robotics and has served at both Fortune 100 companies and high-growth startups. Benoit combined his technical expertise with a passion for French cuisine to design and introduce the ground-breaking Bake Xpress hot food kiosk in 2019. Under his leadership, LBX Food Robotics has become a leader in automated food service, delivering quality and innovation across its expanding national footprint.
Andre Revella
Culinary Executive
Automated Restaurant Solutions Group
Chef Andre, as he is known, is a respected food service executive with a career that spans four decades of leadership excellence. He has created and managed some of the most exciting culinary concepts in America. Andy has held executive leadership and culinary positions for companies like Harrah's Entertainment where he led food service operations worldwide and was the recipient of their corporate excellence award. He was also SVP and ultimately one of the owners of both Steak & Ale and Bennigan’s restaurant chains. He was co-founder of the enormously successful Rainforest Café and owner-operator of BB King’s Blues Café (Memphis and LA)… with a long list of high profile, highly successful restaurant concepts to his credit. He was also one of the founders and the first president of the American Beverage Institute. He was also honored by Pillsbury with “The Foodservice Industry’s Creative Excellence Award.”Andy now serves as the culinary executive the Automated Restaurant Solutions group.
John Varner
Partner
Master Marketing Sunlow
John Varner has been in the foodservice industry for 34 years. He has extensive experience in wholesale distribution and the manufacturers representative fields... most specifically in the area of foodservice equipment. John’s fields of expertise include chain restaurants, college and universities, hotels, hospitals, fine dining, and other areas of hospitality. John and his team at M&M focus on streamlining operations, building labor savings operating systems, reducing food waste, and improving food quality for an operation’s end users. John’s M&M team conducts training, menu development and assists in tailoring an equipment package to meet the client’s needs. Based in Atlanta with equipment distribution relationships in all channels of foodservice throughout the United States, John is highly respected as a “back of the house” specialist and foodservice equipment expert. Believing that an important future of the industry is in automation, technology and vending, John’s company also specializes in vending installation, maintenance and service.
Moderator
Ira Blumenthal
President
Co-Opportunities Inc.
Recipient of the highest honors in the food industry (“Key Person Award,” “President’s Award,” “NRA’s Lifetime Achievement Award”), Ira Blumenthal was Visiting Professor at the University of Notre Dame’s Foodservice Institute and Michigan State University’s Food Industry Institute. He was the CMO of a $1-billion food brand, the President of a $300-million food manufacturing company and later, as a consultant, was the longest continually retained “lead consultant” to Coca-Cola, advising the beverage giant for 26 continuous years. Ira is the author of four books, one a “best seller”… a syndicated columnist… and a public speaker who addressed nearly 3000 audiences on 5 continents. Pertinent to the vending and kiosk industry… just as Ira is credited for being an innovator who helped extend restaurant brands onto college campuses… then later extending restaurant brands into supermarket frozen food cases… and now… so relevant to our conference here today… he is committed to again extending iconic restaurant brands but this time through vending… via his company, Automated Restaurant Solutions.
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