Good morning! You know what they say about March — it’s just winter’s way of gaslighting us into thinking warmer days are coming. 🤞

In the meantime, let’s talk about tech that’s turning food safety monitoring, waste reduction, and kitchen efficiency upside down (in a good way).

What’s on tap in this issue:

• Hot tech for cold storage
• Smart sensors, smart moves
• Spoil not, waste not

🎭 We’ll be in the Big Easy on March 17th for R365’s 2025 Restaurant Transformation Tour. Interested in attending? We can get you discounted tickets — just reply to this email with “R365 2025” and we’ll get in touch.

​​​​​Industry news

What’s cookin’ in the industry?

Temp sensors and AI automation are flipping the script on kitchen ops six ways to Sunday. 🔥

Hot takes on temp monitoring & waste reduction

🔥 Food waste is burning your profits — With food costs accounting for roughly 1/3 of expenses, 5% of restaurants are saving thousands of dollars in waste reduction thanks to smart temp sensors.

One 67-location Wendy’s franchisee saved $104K by using smart temp sensors — $20K on fridge repairs and $84K on food waste.

The struggle is real:

• A single restaurant wastes 25,000-75,000 pounds of food every year.
• 85% of food safety and product loss issues are linked to time and temp.

🌍 The cold, hard truth: food waste is a climate problem — Food waste isn’t just hurting your bottom line — it’s a full-blown environmental crisis.

• U.S. restaurants toss 4 to 10% of their food inventory.
• Food waste is estimated to be the culprit of 58% of landfill methane emissions, AKA a “super pollutant.”

Learn how to tackle this issue in the “Timely tips” section below…

​​​​​​Smart kitchen revolution: thanks to AI and IoT​​​​​​

The future of restaurant kitchens isn’t just coming — it’s here. Smart tech is making sure fries are crispy, walk-ins are cool, and your kitchen runs at peak performance.

🍗 Wingstop’s high-tech glow-up — Wingstop’s techy kitchen revamp is going all in on AI-driven efficiency. The goal? Faster workflows, more consistent wings, and sky-high team engagement.

• They’re betting on the kitchen modernization effort to help hit their goal of 10,000 restaurants averaging $3M+ in sales.

🔌 You down with IoT? (Yeah, you know me) — IoT tech keeps restaurant kitchens on point, ensuring safe, consistent food temps and considerably less waste. Smart sensors optimize energy use, slashing costs and boosting sustainability.

• The result? Safer food, a greener footprint, and a dining experience that’s smooth, smart, and stress-free.

Timely tips

Use these tips to protect your inventory and monitor your equipment — auto-magically.

✴️ Get sensors on the scene — Install smart sensors to monitor and track your restaurant's equipment's temperature and humidity levels. Equipment like coolers, refrigerators, and freezers. Proper placement ensures accurate monitoring and helps in maintaining consistent environmental conditions to protect your inventory. (At ResQ, we offer help to install IoT sensors)

📊 Data knows best  — Regularly review collected data to identify patterns or recurring issues. Analyzing trends can help you predict equipment failures so you can take proactive measures to maintain optimal storage conditions.

With ResQ sensors, you get the data, AND if something breaks, you can dispatch a trades vendor within seconds so you don’t lose product.

🔄 Let it flow — Maintain good ventilation in storage areas to control humidity levels and prevent mold growth. Proper airflow helps in sustaining consistent temperatures, essential for prolonging the shelf life of perishable items.

From the community​​​​​

Stay chill: IoT sensors keep frosty brews just right 🍻

Nothing spoils a good time like a warm beer. Just ask Lariat Lodge Brewing Co. — a Colorado brewpub that knows “ice cold” is the only way to serve up a brew.

The team at Lariat Lodge knew they needed a smarter way to monitor their food and beverage storage and prevent inventory disasters.

Enter ResQ Sensors, their new equipment digital watchdogs.

Now, instead of relying on manual checks and hoping for the best, the team gets real-time alerts the second a temperature creeps out of range. Whether it’s the walk-in cooler, the keg fridge, or a freezer, they know instantly when something’s off — before it turns into a 5 figure problem.

If a tech is needed, they can immediately create a work order to get a trades vendor on site asap.

With 24/7 monitoring and automated alerts, ResQ sensors take the guesswork out of equipment monitoring — so Lariat Lodge can focus on what they do best: pouring tasty brew for a thirsty crew.

Smart move? We think so. 🙌

Want to get sensors set up? Reply to this email.

Break time

Hey Elon…

If connecting temp sensors is wrong, we don't wanna be right.

— Kareem at ResQ

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Shameless plug

What does ResQ do?

ResQ is the ONLY facilities management platform that streamlines restaurant R&M operations and enhances oversight.

Operators can efficiently track assets, create work orders quickly, and choose from a network of quality trades businesses to work with.

ResQ makes it possible to cut costs, save time, and scale — all at the same time

Love free samples? We do, too. Schedule a FREE demo to see how ResQ can help you kick R&M chaos to the curb.