Pollo Campero plans to more than double its U.S. store count. But first, it’s halving the number of miles workers walk each day. The chicken chain mapped how workers were moving around stores and revamped its restaurant design to allow people to work more efficiently, reports Bloomberg.com (April 4, 2024). It slashed the number of steps taken by the staff member who ensures orders are delivered promptly and accurately from 18,000 per shift – or 3.4 miles – to 9,500.
“Every step you save adds to the bottom line and saves labor costs,” said the firm’s VP. The reduction can also result in faster service and happier customers. Pollo Campero’s initiative mirrors an industry-wide push for higher productivity as restaurants face elevated costs. While many restaurants now say that staffing and turnover are back to pre-pandemic levels, the median base wage for their workers is 18% higher than three years ago.
These elevated costs have added increased urgency to chains’ quest for efficiency, boosting interest in techniques (such as counting workers’ footsteps), that have been used for years. Higher productivity can help cut costs, the thinking goes, and allow restaurants to serve more customers per hour. Improving the metric — known as throughput in Supp. 7 of our text— can lead to higher sales. Companies looking to boost capacity include Popeyes, which is revamping its kitchens, and Starbucks, which is rolling out machines that brew coffee in 30 seconds.
At a Pollo Campero store in Orlando, the kitchen has a double-sided center island stocked with chicken and sides. Workers assembling orders for the drive-thru stand on the left and those putting together dine-in orders on the right, a setup that prevents them from bumping into each other. Boxes, condiments and napkins are all within reach.
The Orlando location is 2,600 square feet, 9% smaller than the average store blueprint. It also has 20% fewer seats than usual, owing to a shift toward on-the-go eating that has surged. The more compact store requires 10% fewer workers per shift.
Outside, the drive-thru features a digital board that customers can consult before pulling up to the speaker to place the order, helping avoid the “can I get uhhh” when they don’t have enough time to study menus. The goal is to clear dine-in customers in 5 minutes and drive-thru diners in 3.
Classroom discussion questions:
- In what other ways could fast food chains increase throughput?
- What other chains are moving to smaller stores? Why?