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Papa Johns names chief digital, technology officer

ATLANTA — Papa John’s International Inc. appointed Kevin Vasconi as chief digital and technology officer, effective Sept. 9. In his new role, Vasconi will be responsible for guiding the development and execution of Papa John’s long-term strategy across the entire digital and technology ecosystem, including customer-facing, restaurant and corporate technology.

Vasconi will oversee enterprise architecture, engineering, data analytics, enterprise technology, information security and the advancement of scalable, cost-effective technology capabilities for the franchise system globally. He will work closely with the marketing team and restaurant operations to develop innovative solutions to deliver superior quality pizza to Papa Johns customers worldwide.

Vasconi will report to Todd Penegor, president and chief executive officer of Papa Johns, and serve on the Papa Johns executive leadership team.

“Kevin and I worked together at The Wendy’s Co., where I experienced first-hand his ability to lead technology innovation that delivered significant impact for our customers, team members and franchisees,” Penegor said. “His experience spans a number of industries, though his leadership in QSR, in particular, has been recognized in the industry and has served as an inspiration for other peers in our category. I look forward to Kevin’s partnership across our leadership team to build on the success Papa Johns has had in the digital space, while also leveraging technology to develop even better platforms, partnerships and systems to enable us to build for the future.”

Most recently, Vasconi served as chief information officer for The Wendy’s Co., where he tripled its e-commerce business over three years through a customer-centric focus that leveraged technology to build brand loyalty. Previously, he worked at Domino’s for eight years, serving as executive vice president and chief information officer. Vasconi has had a career in technology spanning over 35 years.

“I am excited to join the talented team at Papa Johns and lead our technology strategy as we look to create great experiences for our customers and team members around the globe,” Vasconi said. “I have a passion for the restaurant industry, where I’ve spent the past 12 years of my career, because of our ability to impact so many consumers through technology every day.

“Papa Johns is a brand I’ve admired given its continued innovation in the technology space. With the digital space in QSR becoming more competitive than ever, there’s both great challenge and opportunity ahead. I’m looking forward to working with the executive team and our technology team to unlocking growth for Papa Johns.”

Additional changes to the current executive leadership team include the expanded roles of Ravi Thanawala and Joe Sieve, effective immediately.

Thanawala has been named chief financial officer and executive vice president, International. Through his expanded position, he will now manage the company’s international business, which includes markets outside of the United States and Canada, along with his CFO responsibilities.

Sieve has been appointed chief restaurant and global development officer. He will now oversee all global development, as well as corporate and franchise restaurant operations.

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Retail workers hail New York’s new panic-button law

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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul last week signed a retail worker safety act into law requiring retailers to take certain actions to promote safety at stores, including precautionary measures like better lighting, adequate staffing, employee training and more.

Under the new law, companies with 50 or more retail employees must install panic buttons, which the legislation defines as “a physical button that when pressed immediately dispatches local law enforcement to the workplace.”

Panic buttons installed only about a week ago were instrumental in limiting the number of casualties during a school shooting in Georgia this week where four people, including two high schoolers, died, law enforcement told reporters Wednesday.

Retailers have made violent crime at stores a centerpiece of their lobbying efforts at the state and federal levels. Last year, David Johnston, vice president of asset protection and retail operations at the National Retail Federation, told members of a U.S. House Homeland Security Committee panel that retail “employees are fearful” about what he said was a rising problem of often violent crime at stores.

That’s backed up by other research. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union found that over 80% of respondents to a survey of its members said they’re worried about an active shooter coming into their workplace and that nearly two-thirds were harassed or felt intimidated by a customer, co-worker or manager in the last year. Similarly, a survey by Theatro, a mobile communication platform for frontline workers, found that 80% of store workers don’t feel protected by their employers, and that 72% were ill-equipped to respond to threats because their store was understaffed.

However, several retail organizations, including the National Retail Federation, the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the Retail Council of New York State, opposed New York’s legislation, according to an August letter from the groups to the governor. In that letter, they called for a “genuine, holistic approach to store and community safety,” but said they urged a veto on the bill due to its “specific provisions,” including panic buttons.

“The costly mandates proposed in the bill — including the installation of panic buttons — will do little, if anything, to address recidivists entering stores with the intent to engage in illegal activity such as shoplifting and assault,” the letter reads, citing an earlier statement from the New York Police Department’s community affairs bureau that said panic buttons are “not advisable.”

Walmart reportedly opposed the legislation, including the panic-button requirement, according to statements made to Reuters by Dan Bartlett, the retail giant’s executive vice president of corporate affairs, in which he also downplayed the scale of threats at stores. Walmart declined to comment to Retail Dive.

As public spaces, stores and malls are vulnerable to gun violence including mass shootings, with the number of incidents escalating in recent decades. Along with the tragic nature of these events, retailers as a practical matter face liabilities when they occur, and laws like New York’s new retail safety act and similar legislation recently passed in California are likely to increase that risk, experts say.

Most importantly, the new law will make both workers and shoppers safer, according to RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum.

“The preventative measures this law provides will help stop violence and harassment before it starts, but even more importantly, will more safely assist workers in getting help quickly in the event of an emergency,” he said in a statement. “From West Hempstead to Buffalo, union workers have suffered grave losses to senseless store shootings. The provisions in this bill can help to save lives, and with Governor Hochul’s support and swift implementation we know we will all be safer.”

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Hershey launches Shaq-A-Licious XL Gummies

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Hershey is debuting Shaq-A-Licious XL Gummies as part of its partnership with basketball star Shaquille O’Neal.

Shaq-A-Licious XL Gummies come in Original and Sour varieties. The Original features peach, berry punch and orange flavors shaped like the legendary player’s head. The sour version includes gummies shaped like Shaq’s legendary nicknames, Diesel, The Big Cactus and the Big Shamrock. They come in pineapple, mixed berry and watermelon flavors.

The extra-large size is a nod to the 15-time all-star’s self-proclamation of being the “biggest kid in the candy store.” Shaq-A-Licious XL Gummies are rolling out to major retailers this month.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Shaq, a candy lover and cultural icon, to bring more fun to our gummy products,” Vivek Mehrotra, Hershey’s brand manager for sweets, said in a comment provided to Food Dive. “The gummy market is booming, growing nearly twice as fast as chocolate, offering us a dynamic space for innovation and creativity.”

Hershey first touted the Shaq gummies in February at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York gathering in Florida.

At the time, CEO Michele Buck said the offering provided an opportunity to tap into the basketball great’s “connectivity with consumers, especially young diverse consumers, who are our key target on the gummy segment.”

Demand for gummies spiked during COVID-19 as consumers snacked more at home. Since then, the popularity hasn’t let up. The gummy candy market is forecast to reach $750 million in 2032 from $495 million this year, a compound annual growth rate of 6.4%, according to data from Market Growth Report.

Hershey has spent millions of dollars to shore up its gummies production capacity, which is expected to surge 50% in 2024. As a result, the food manufacturer now has additional flexibility to boost innovation, invest more in promotions and get additional SKUs carried at retail.

Along with the Shaq gummies, Hershey’s Jolly Rancher brand earlier this year debuted Awesome Reds, a sour gummy mix with flavors like cherry, pomegranate, watermelon and fruit punch. This month, it is launching Jolly Rancher Ropes in two flavors – Green Apple & Watermelon and Blue Raspberry & Cherry.

Gummies have proven to be a popular platform for innovation among the major confection companies, including Hershey, Mars Wrigley and Ferrara. They have attributes such as being shareable and viewed by consumers as a more permissible indulgence.

The candy also allows companies to leverage the reputation of well-known and easily recognizable brands. For example, Jolly Rancher is known for its fruit-flavored hard candy, and companies can extend this brand into new categories such as gummies.

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NutriFusion Partners with Drink Todo

NutriFusion®, creator of concentrated micronutrient and phytonutrient-rich food ingredient blends sourced from fruits and vegetables, announced that it has been selected as a supplier of choice by Drink Todo, a full meal replacement drink that features the ultimate pairing of taste and essential nutrition and designed to support a healthy, faced-paced lifestyle.

A breakfast smoothie created to replace breakfast, Todo provides prebiotics, adaptogens and antioxidants, is filled with fiber, and offers a milk base of 25g of complete protein, fully devoid of artificial sweeteners or added sugar. The drink’s fiber comes from various fruits and vegetables, including spinach, broccoli, kale, pumpkin, chlorella, sweet potato, cranberries, shiitake and maitake mushrooms and sunflower seeds.

In addition to its notable amount of fiber and protein, todo provides 57% of a recommended daily intake of calcium and 21% of your recommended daily intake of iron, not to mention that it’s an active source of support in efforts around weight loss, muscle building and recovery and gut health.

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Stall in sequential improvement as consumers still feel challenged

KANSAS CITY — For the food industry, the expression “sequential improvement” has emerged as a candidate for catchphrase of the year, or at least the first half of 2024. Used by executives and investment analysts to demonstrate improving financial trends, the term has been intented to show optimism about prospective results for the balance of the year.

Josh Sosland, editor of Milling & Baking News.
Source: Sosland Publishing Co.

To date this year, the expression has appeared in BakingBusiness.com news articles, in quotes and otherwise, at a rate 260% greater than the average of the previous 15 years. Its popularity reflects that while sales volume figures have been persistently bad for the last several quarters, decreases at many companies had grown steadily smaller in the final quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024.

Leaning into the sequential improvement trend, executives hypothesized the effects of ending emergency food assistance payments would be lapped in the later parts of 2024, and consumers would show signs of acclimating to higher prices for food products.

Optimism in the grain-based foods sector was fueled by US Department of Agriculture data showing flour production in April-June 1.9% higher than the same quarter in 2023. While up from the year before, production of 104.9 million cwts was below 2022 production and was just slightly above the average of 104.1 million cwts milled in the second quarter in the years between 2015 and 2020.

For some food and beverage sectors, second-quarter sales in several segments, particularly grain-based foods, suggest that reality is not playing out as the industry hoped. It turns out the adage “past performance is no guarantee of future results” also applies to the continuation of sequential improvement. At some point, the sequences stop improving.

Of the top 25 food and beverage categories tracked by Circana, 12 experienced sales unit volume decreases in the 13 weeks ended June 30, versus the same quarter in 2023. Another five enjoyed growth of less than 1%.

The widest decreases were sustained in chocolate candy, down 11.9%, and non-chocolate candy, down 7.9%. Among grain-based food categories, bread and rolls were down 1.5%; cookies, down 0.1%; ready-to-eat cereal, down 1.8%; crackers, down 1.8%; snack bars/granola bars and clusters, down 3.6%; and salty snacks, down 0.7%. Also losing ground during the period were numerous beverage categories, including beer, down 1.8%; wine, down 5.1%; and ready-to-drink tea and coffee, down 6%.

The quarter was not without winners. Taking volume at the expense of grain-based foods were several dairy categories, including natural cheese, up 2.2%; dairy milk (now a smaller category than natural cheese), up 0.1%; yogurt, up 5.1%; and ice cream, up 1.6%.

Consistent with these trends, the food category has widely underperformed the overall stock market so far this year. The Grain-Based Foods Index through the end of July was down 3%, versus a 17% gain for the S&P 500. Performance on a company-by-company basis was more erratic, as exemplified by ADM, down 12%; Bunge, up 11%; Flowers Foods, down 1%; General Mills, up 1.3%; Kraft Heinz, down 9%; Mondelez International, down 8%; and Grupo Bimbo, down 21%.

Halfway through the third quarter, flour milling sources have indicated flour demand is flat at best, suggesting the food industry continues to await a recovery in consumer demand.

Even as they spoke hopefully about prospects for later in the year, many companies left guidance unchanged and offered words of caution. For example, Grupo Bimbo said it was hesitant to raise guidance “mainly because the overall consumer environment in North America continues to be challenging.”

Flowers Foods’ leadership said it was comfortable with the middle of its financial guidance but also recognized the risk from “the potential impact of an uncertain economy on the consumer and promotional environment, and the transition of our California distribution.”

It is now four years since what had been generally predictable patterns in consumer consumption were disrupted. When it is that demand trends will regain the consistency that had been the norm in the past remains to be seen.

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Papa Johns hires ex-Wendy’s exec. as chief digital officer

Papa Johns International Inc. announced Monday that the company has hired former Wendy’s chief information officer, Kevin Vasconi, as the Atlanta’s-based pizza chain’s new chief digital and technology officer. The announcement comes a month after Papa Johns hired former Wendy’s CEO Todd Penegor as CEO, succeeding Rob Lynch, who left the company earlier this year to head Shake Shack Inc.

Vasconi worked for Wendy’s for four years, where he led the company’s transformation and was able to triple its ecommerce business in three years and leverage technology to build Wendy’s loyalty program. Besides serving as chief information officer for the brand, Vasconi was also an executive advisor to the CEO until April 2024.

“Kevin and I worked together at The Wendy’s Co. where I experienced first-hand his ability to lead technology innovation that delivered significant impact for our customers, team members and franchisees,” Penegor, Papa Johns president and CEO said in a statement. “His experience spans a number of industries, though his leadership in QSR, in particular, has been recognized in the industry and has served as an inspiration for other peers in our category. I look forward to Kevin’s partnership across our leadership team to build on the success Papa Johns has had in the digital space, while also leveraging technology to develop even better platforms, partnerships and systems to enable us to build for the future.”

Prior to working for Wendy’s, Vasconi worked at Domino’s Pizza for eight years as executive vice president and chief information officer, where he was in charge of building domestic and international eccomerce business.

In his new role, Vasconi will be responsible for “guiding the development and execution of Papa Johns long-term strategy across the entire digital and technology ecosystem,” which will include both customer and restaurant-facing technology like data analytics, enterprise technology, information security, and scaling capabilities for the global franchising system.

“I am excited to join the talented team at Papa Johns and lead our technology strategy as we look to create great experiences for our customers and team members around the globe,” Vasconi said in a statement. “Papa Johns is a brand I’ve admired given its continued innovation in the technology space. With the digital space in QSR becoming more competitive than ever, there’s both great challenge and opportunity ahead.”

Ravi Thanawala, who served as interim CEO while the company looked to replace Lynch, will return to his position of chief financial officer while also adding the role of executive vice president, international.

Additionally, Joe Sieve, who previously served as Papa Johns’ chief development and operations officer, will have an expanded role of chief restaurant and global development officer.

Contact Joanna at [email protected]

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Eriez Names Todd Loudin as VP of Global Sales

Eriez has appointed Todd Loudin as vice president of global sales.

In this role, Loudin will leverage his expertise to drive revenue growth and enhance Eriez’s global market presence.

With more than three decades of experience in international business and sales management, Loudin has a track record of success. He most recently held a senior executive position at Valmet, a global leader in flow control solutions, where he expanded market share and strengthened customer relationships.

As part of the Eriez executive leadership team, Loudin will apply his understanding of international sales dynamics and pipeline management to advance Eriez’s efforts to diversify its business worldwide.

“We are proud and excited to welcome Todd to the Eriez team,” says Eriez President and CEO Jaisen Kohmuench. “Todd’s visionary leadership will be integral to our work to more closely unify and better support our 12 global subsidiaries across six continents. We are confident that Todd’s contributions will have a positive impact on shaping Eriez’ future and elevating the organization.”

Loudin earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing and business from Kent State University and an executive MBA from Loyola University Maryland. Throughout his career, Loudin has been engaged in prominent professional organizations, including serving on the International Society of Automation (ISA ANSI) Standards Committee for more than 12 years.

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Appliance Brands Try to Tap Into AI Zeitgeist With AI-Powered Food Recognition

This weekend at IFA, several big appliance brands used the show to tell the world that they are all in on AI, mainly through the integration of cameras into their ovens paired with software to enable personalized recipes and customized shopping lists.

Siemens showed off the iQ 700 oven has a built-in camera that recognizes over 80 different dishes and automatically adjusts to the ideal cooking settings. This feature allows users to place food, like a frozen pizza, in the oven and hit start for optimized cooking. The updated model offers more food recognition capabilities than previous versions and includes an optional steam function to achieve a crispy crust on baked goods.

Hisense debuted the Hi9 Series Oven, equipped with AI-powered InCamera technology for intelligent baking with over 140 pre-programmed recipes. The company also introduced a smart fridge in the Hisense Refrigerator PureFlat Smart Series, and its description sounds like they’ve been taking cues from Samsung and the Family Hub. The company described the fridge as “a home appliance control center” that “allows you to adjust temperature settings remotely through the ConnectLife app.”. The fridge also has AI-powered inventory tracking, though the company was light on details about how the tracking feature works.

Beko also let everyone know that they are trying to jam AI into as many things as possible, including their ovens. Like with HiSense and Siemens, they pointed to camera-assisted cooking in their ovens. From the release: “Beko brings AI-assisted camera technology to its Smart Home ovens, delivering a self-improving cooking experience for optimal results in the kitchen whatever the dish. With food recognition and cooking suggestions across more than 30 different food types, the new Beko Autonomous Cooking technology uses AI to finish cooking according to personalized browning levels.”

Ovens with cameras and food recognition aren’t exactly new, as we’ve been seeing this feature for the better part of a decade since June (RIP) debuted the technology. The appliance industry often displays a herd mentality, and clearly, the herd feels they’ve got to show off their AI chops, even if the technology is somewhat pedestrian at this point.

Electrolux Debuts Taste Assist AI on AEG Line

Not every new AI-feature introduction at IFA was tied to integrated cameras and image recognition. Electrolux introduced its AI Taste Assist feature on its AEG line of kitchen appliances. According to the announcement, AI Taste Assist will take recipes from the Internet, import them, and send cooking instructions to the oven, but not before it recommends ways to enhance and optimize the cook. In a demo on-stage by Electrolux at IFA, the company emphasized how the new feature was meant to overcome what they called the “cooking gap”, which they described as the limitations of existing recipes and the enhanced capabilities of modern cooking equipment. The feature that Electrolux primarily promoted to bridge this gap was steam cooking, a feature that was injected into a lasagna recipe in an on-stage demo of the Taste Assist feature by Christopher Duncan, Electrolux’s SVP of Taste for Europe.

One notable absence at Electrolux’s IFA new conference was GRO, the next-generation modular kitchen concept the company announced in June of 2022. All indications are that the Swedish appliance brand has not made any progress in commercializing GRO, probably partly due to the company’s struggles over the past couple of years. The company laid off approximately three thousand employees last year, and earlier this year, it saw the departure of its longtime CEO, Jonas Samuelson, as the company continued to struggle post-pandemic and in the fast of increased competition from Asian appliance brands.

SideChef Unveils AI Feature in App That Creates Step-by-Step Recipes From Photos of Food

SideChef recently introduced RecipeGen AI, a new beta feature that generates step-by-step recipes from a photo of any dish. Users can upload pictures of meals from restaurants or social media, and the app will provide a shoppable recipe based on the image.

From the release: “We are living in exciting times, where every inspiration can become a person’s reality,” says SideChef Founder & CEO, Kevin Yu. “At SideChef we’re excited to be the first to use AI to allow any home cook to make their food inspiration a reality for themselves and loved ones, with a single photo!

CNET writer Amanda Smith gave the app a test drive and came away with mixed feelings. While the app successfully identified many ingredients, it missed key components in some cases, such as sourdough focaccia and strawberry butter. It also occasionally added ingredients that weren’t in the dish, like bell peppers, leaving Smith feeling the accuracy was somewhat hit or miss.

Smith’s takeaway: Succes “depends on the recipe. It has a hard time with nuance and, like other AI tools, tends to make it up if it’s unsure. It’s a handy little app that could be used to inspire new ideas and ingredient concoctions or if you’re in a restaurant and don’t want to bother the waiter with dish details.”

Samsung Food Also Debuts AI-Powered Shopping Lists From Photos

SideChef isn’t the only smart kitchen company debuting photo-to-recipes/shopping lists powered by AI in their apps. At IFA last week, Samsung announced new AI-powered meal planning and food management features. The Vision AI feature now allows users to add ingredients to their Food List by simply taking a photo with their smartphone, expanding beyond the previous limitations of Samsung’s Family Hub smart fridge. This list can be used to suggest recipes, prioritize items nearing expiration, and automatically update after meals are cooked or ingredients are purchased.

Additionally, the company announced a new premium tier called Samsung Food+, a $7/month subscription service offers personalized weekly meal plans, tailored to users’ nutritional goals and dietary preferences, and tracks macronutrients and caloric intake. This premium tier also integrates more advanced AI functionality, allowing users to customize recipes and receive a full week of meal recommendations, helping reduce food waste and simplify grocery shopping by making the app a central hub for food management and meal preparation.

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Pilgrim Foodservice opens depot in Colchester

Colchester, Essex, UK: Pilgrim Foodservice has officially opened its new depot in Colchester. It will enable Pilgrim Foodservice to expand its operations, ensuring more efficient deliveries of its products and services across Essex, Suffolk, and London.

Charles Bateman, managing director of Pilgrim Foodservice said: “The positive customer feedback we’ve received since the depot started operating reflects the dedication of our Colchester team, and the ribbon-cutting ceremony felt like the perfect way to celebrate this exciting new chapter.”

One long-standing customer said: “The new Colchester depot has significantly improved how we purchase our stock. The quality and freshness of the products are second to none, and we’ve noticed that all of our deliveries are arriving earlier which is great for us.”

Pilgrim Foodservice supplies a wide range of products, from fresh produce and pantry essentials to premium meats from the company’s in-house butchery, C.J. Butchers. The company delivers these products to independent restaurants, hotels, and cafés across East Anglia, the East and West Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber, and London.

Pictured above are: Mayor of Colchester, councillor Lesley Scott-Boutell, who opened the site, with the Pilgrim Foodservice team

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