CEOs from leading multi-unit restaurant companies will discuss supply chain management hot topics at the National Restaurant Association’s newly formed Supply Chain Management Executive Study Group next month in Chicago. The two-day conference will feature several leading restaurant executives discussing the value of managing supply chain issues, including sessions focusing on emerging issues, commodity strategies, and creating a culture of food safety.
“We are thrilled to see the level of engagement in supply chain issues exhibited by executives of some of our industry’s most successful companies, and welcome their insights at our Supply Chain Management Executive Study Group conference,” said Dawn Sweeney, president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association. “Commodity strategies, food safety and traceability, and legislative topics are areas that directly contribute to a restaurant’s profitability, making a supply chain focus of critical importance. We hope our conference will help shed more light on these issues by addressing industry-wide concerns and opportunities.”
A panel featuring top-level restaurant executives titled “Measuring Supply Performance and Communicating Value” will be the first session in the conference lineup starting at 2:15 on May 3. The panel will consist of Don Fox, chief executive officer of Firehouse of America, LLC; Andrew Cherng, founder/chairman of the board of Panda Restaurant Group, Inc., and Carin Stutz, chief executive officer of Cosí, Inc. The panel will be moderated by George Hoffman, president & chief executive officer of Restaurant Services, Inc. (RSI).
Additional conference sessions will include supply chain executives from a range of restaurant companies (including Brinker International, ARAMARK, Au Bon Pain and Del Taco), as well as insights from suppliers, distributors, and analysts. For a full conference agenda, visit the National Restaurant Association’s website.
Part of the Association’s Executive Study Group conference series, the Supply Chain Management group aims to facilitate dialog and best practice exchange around issues such as increasing commodity and wholesale food prices, sourcing of ingredients, and traceability of products. The group will address the full spectrum of the field, including purchasing, distribution, logistics, quality assurance, freight and inventory management, and provide perspective applicable to restaurant operations of all sizes.
Members of the National Restaurant Association receive a substantial savings on registration fees for all Executive Study Group conferences. The Supply Chain Management Executive Study Group conference will be held at Intercontinental Chicago, May 3-4, 2012, preceding the 2012 National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show (May 5-8 at Chicago’s McCormick Place).
For more information on the National Restaurant Association’s Executive Study Groups and to register online, visit www.restaurant.org/studygroups.
Founded in 1919, the National Restaurant Association is the leading business association for the restaurant industry, which comprises 970,000 restaurant and foodservice outlets and a workforce of nearly 13 million employees. We represent the industry in Washington, D.C., and advocate on its behalf. We operate the industry’s largest trade show (NRA Show May 5-8, 2012, in Chicago); leading food safety training and certification program (ServSafe); unique career-building high school program (the NRAEF’s ProStart, including the National ProStart Invitational April 27-29, 2012, in Baltimore, Md.); as well as the Kids LiveWell program promoting healthful kids’ menu options. For more information, visit www.restaurant.org and find us on Twitter @WeRRestaurants, Facebook and YouTube.
