Full-Service Hospitality Agency Created to Propel Brands Forward in Ever-Changing Landscape
After more than 20 years serving the hospitality and restaurant industry as an owner-operator, senior marketer and talent developer, Sri Divel has founded The Culinary CMO, a full-service hospitality agency offering a comprehensive and complementary suite of services designed to propel multi-unit brands and independent restaurants toward enduring success. Central to the agency’s mission is how it seeks to leverage and develop talent within a restaurant’s team to discover and harness untapped marketing potential to increase brand awareness, attract new guests, and drive revenue growth.
The Culinary CMO’s broad scope of services include branding, social media, loyalty app development, data analytics, website development, photography, video, curated events, public relations, and more, essentially providing owners and operators the benefits of an experienced and proven CMO, or an extended team for an existing CMO or marketing department head.
Divel’s team now works with several restaurant brands including national brands Pokeworks and Nekter Juice Bar, regional brands including Mama’s Hospitality Group and Salt Creek Grille, independents such as Dos Amigos Cantina and Hook & Hand, and legendary restauranter David Wilhelm’s new Tavern at the Mission and Tavern House Kitchen + Bar.
“After more than 20 years as an owner-operator of full-service, fast casual and quick-service restaurants, I thoroughly understand the passion, energy and pain points it takes just to open the doors of a restaurant,” said Divel. “Then comes the unrelenting determination and endurance to ensure the best possible guest experience while also growing profitability and creating a safe and enriching environment for the in-house teams. The Culinary CMO was created to have all the systems, tools and processes in one place to make marketing and training efforts seamless for operators, chefs and owners.”
Additionally, The Culinary CMO will soon launch an innovative digital training program designed to instruct and coach restaurant managers to create and implement powerful, effective and cost-efficient marketing strategies within approximately one month. “Essentially, this fast and effective training program gives restaurant managers the training they need to create clear and concise marketing strategies to promote and build loyalty among new and potential guests,” said Sri.
“We are thrilled to be a part of Sri’s remarkable professional growth and personal enthusiasm,” said Pete Truxaw, founder, Mama’s Hospitality Group. “Sri’s genuine enthusiasm in sharing her unique talents with us and those around her makes her a true success in our industry.”
From Classically Trained Chef to Owner-Operator
With more than two decades of diverse and meaningful experience in the hospitality industry, Divel has enjoyed a truly elaborate career encompassing all aspects of the food and beverage space. She began as a classically trained chef graduating from the celebrated Art Institutes of California and has achieved a Level 1 Sommelier Rank with the Court of Master Sommeliers. Her passion is telling the tale of food experiences that are a labor of love for the teams that envision and create them. This passion for the romantic tale of culinary art and service is what drove the development of The Culinary CMO.
Divel was also one of the original Food and Beverage trainers for the prestigious Montage Hotel in Laguna Beach, California, which was soon awarded, for the first time, the coveted Mobil 5-Star recognition. She continued on to be an integral part of the opening team for Montage Beverly Hills before embarking on a career in the restaurant industry as a marketer, trainer, menu developer, and owner-operator.
Divel is also a member of the Les Dames Escoffier, a group of industry women who empower and give back to the culinary industry through leadership, mentorship and education. She also continues to be recognized and featured in restaurant media such as Nation’s Restaurant News, as well as local media in Southern California including Los Angeles Times, KTLA-TV, KABC-TV, KABC Radio, Orange County Register, Orange Coast Magazine, and Modern Luxury Riviera Magazine, among others.
For more information about The Culinary CMO, please visit TheCulinaryCMO.com, or email sri@theculinarycmo.com.
