I was next visited in Chicago by Craveworthy Brands executives Josh Halpern and Sam Stanovich, who joined the multi-concept operator as chief brand officer and SVP of franchise leadership, respectively, following Craveworthy’s March 2025 move to become a managing partner, investor, and stakeholder in Big Chicken.
The two industry vets explored the nuances of AI, GLP-1s, and why ingredients and preparation could be leading topics in the not-so-distant future.
CHECK OUT THE OTHER FIVE CONVERSATIONS HERE AND HERE AND HERE AND HERE AND HERE
Our full conversation is below. And join us at QSR Evolution (as you’ll see at the bottom) to keep the debates going. Halpern and Stanovich are both on this year’s speaker lineup.
An innovation that’s actually helping restaurants. Go:
Josh: For me, I think it’s Claude, quite honestly. Because we have been able to do so much of the work that would normally take us office time over Claude, so fast. It allows us to spend more time out in the restaurants than we were able to over the last one to three years, which is really, really great.
As a leadership team, you’re only effective if you’re on the front lines in restaurants, understanding what’s going on. But you also have to run the business. Claude helps you on the business side so we can be in the restaurants more.
Sam: I wouldn’t disagree. But instead of Claude, I would say all of AI. Because Claude is probably the most effective tool. But ChatGPT and Gemini have their own strengths, especially Gemini in imagery. And watching what Google is doing, they’re going to sneak up. That’s the dark horse in the race right now. But I think all of AI is changing the landscape quicker and faster for operators, especially for independents and mid-scaled operators who don’t have the budgets to get in the CDPs and resources that most brands do.
This has allowed them to catch up very quickly.
Flip side: Let’s talk about skeptical innovation.
Josh: Also AI. It’s both. I actually went down a weird rabbit hole late one night. I put into Claude if the hospitality industry was one individual, what would their Myers-Briggs profile be? And it came back with ENFP, which makes sense because we’re extroverts who like to nurture, feel, and perceive. And then I asked it, what would be the hardest Myers-Briggs profile for you to emulate, meaning the AI tool? And it said, ENFP. Same one, right?
So, you think about that and it’s like alright, there may be tests that get automated by AI but if we think this is going to be a replacement for people, we’re missing the point on hospitality. At the end of the day, the goal has to be how do we free up more time so people can focus on guests to provide the best possible experience.
Sam: The tech that I’m most skeptical on right now is inventory AI. I’m watching it. Everybody says they have it and the cameras can shoot and point and look at depth and look at sizes. But we’re really not seeing it actually function in units the way they’re saying it works in the demo.
And they’re trying to do it—the large companies. I’d like to see it work because it would take so much time out of counting things. Will it get there? Yes. But is it there today? No. So that makes me skeptical.
Josh: And on the voice side, too, the number of companies that have told me we can totally create Shaquille (O’Neal’s) voice for the drive-thru, give us two weeks and we’ll have it, and then they play me the clip and they’re like that sort of sounds like Shaquille, right? No, it sounds nothing like Shaquille. Some of these companies need to say this is what we can do and what we can’t do, and this is what we’re building toward.
Like anything else, it’s an innovation byproduct.
OK, final question. I’m going to switch up my process here and make this about GLP-1s versus a lookahead. What are your thoughts?
Josh: We’re going to start marketing behind protein and other things because you have to right now. But ultimately, the American diet is still the American diet. And people will have their cheat days, and they will have the moments that they want to eat what they want to eat. By having the best possible food and the best possible service you make sure you’re maximizing those occasions for yourself.
The average person eats out what, 22, 23 times a month? You don’t need all 22 of them, you just need one. And some of those are not going to be GLP-1 related.
Sam: Being a person who’s been on a GLP-1 for three years, I think the evolution is more protein, more specific toward it. And it’s a niche. Is it the macro? No. But is it things that people are cognizant of? Is it an ability for a restaurant to have a good add-on and increase sales? A 100 percent. What Chipotle led with the addition protein bowl, 100 percent. People are doing it. Why not embrace it?
Listen to the trend. Don’t fight the trend.
Josh: I think the trend that will start in food in a bigger way, we’ll be talking about it next year, is less processed. The number of people I know who claim they have a gluten intolerance but then will randomly say, but when I’m in Europe, I can eat pasta.
European pasta has four ingredients in it. We have 22 to 28 ingredients on a pasta box of ours. So, I think we’re going to start to see a pivot toward less processed food, more natural food. I see that more than I see the actual diet changing.
Josh: I would add on, I think people will think more about what restaurants are doing in how they’re preparing. The beef tallow conversation, for example, and so forth. How are they preparing it? What are they doing? And getting back to that old-school diet. You’re going to see winners come out of that.
Josh: The final thing I’ll say is go to the QSR Evolution Conference, September 8–10, in Atlanta, Georgia. I’ll be there. Sam will be there. It’ll be a great time.
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