How will the big Sysco-Restaurant Depot deal affect restaurant operators?

It’s a big question, so we brought in Technomic Senior Principal David Henkes to talk about it for this week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive.

Henkes is a distribution expert with Technomic and we discuss the deal at length, including what it means for both Sysco and for Restaurant Depot. We talk about its chances of getting approved by the FTC, even as independent restaurant operators call for it to be blocked.

We talk about the impact this will have on the restaurant industry and why Sysco wants the retailer in the first place. And we talk about potential challenges for the distributor in integrating Restaurant Depot.

We’re talking the Sysco-Restaurant Depot on A Deeper Dive so check it out.

How will gas prices affect restaurants?

This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Rich Shank, senior principal with the data firm Technomic.

We like talking with Shank periodically to get a pulse on where the industry is at and there are all kinds of questions about it right now, thanks to gas prices.

Gas prices are near a national average of $4 a gallon, according to AAA, up $1 compared with the past year, driven largely by the U.S. attack on Iran.

That has a real impact on consumers at a time when many of them are already feeling pinched by inflation. We ask Shank what kind of impact this will have, what restaurant chains will feel it the most and at what point does it diminish industry growth projections.

We also talk a bit about other issues like beef costs and store operations and what happened with the fast-casual sector.

Always great talking with Rich Shank so please check it out.

What is the state of Fat Brands?

This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Hilary Russ, the editor at large of Law 360.

Hilary covers bankruptcies for Law 360 and we wanted to talk with her about the bankruptcy of Fat Brands, which runs Twin Peaks, Round Table Pizza, Fazoli’s, Johnny Rockets and several other chains.

We discuss what this bankruptcy means. We get at the complexity of the filing. We talk about the performance of the different restaurant chains before and after they were acquired.

Russ also talks about the prospect that Fat Brands CEO Andy Wiederhorn could lose control of the company, but that has not yet happened.

We also ask why Fat Brands was able to raise so much money so quickly after struggling for years to buy even the smallest chains. It’s a major question facing the company.

We’re talking Fat Brands on a Deeper Dive so please check it out.