Top of the morning. Hey July, hit me with your best heat. 😎

Future-thinking restaurants are using tech to guard against food waste and boost their bottom line. 👇 

What’s on tap in this issue:

• Costly cold storage 
• AI helps trim margins
• How to squash work order chaos

Industry news

What’s cookin’ in the industry? 

With margins eroding, you can’t afford waste. ❄️

The chilly truth about food waste + the hot tech to fix it

The last thing you want to do is stroll into your cooler first thing in the morning to find thousands of dollars' worth of spoiled inventory.

According to ReFED's 2025 U.S. Food Waste Report, 43.7% of food waste comes from produce, and another 20.2% from prepared food. Just one missed cooler alarm can take a big bite out of your bottom line.

Here's what most operators miss ↠ Yes, the big breakdowns are soul-crushing, but that’s not what kills you most of the time. It's the 4° temperature drift that nobody catches until it's too late.

But the report had good news too:

📉 Food waste dropped 50–70% in restaurants that empowered staff to flag and report suspected issues. 

🥶 Cold storage is getting smarter with operators turning to IoT-enabled sensors and real-time monitoring, backed by AI, to flag and even predict equipment failures.

📊 AI-driven tech is also being used to forecast demand, extend shelf life, and track waste with image recognition. That means fewer surprises, fewer spoiled goods, and tighter budget control.

How restaurants are using AI to pad their bottom line

Does managing rising costs feel like you're treading water with a vicious leg cramp? Seems like there’s a lot of that going around…   

According to Deloitte’s 2025 report, 88% of restaurant execs say rising input costs are their biggest headache, and 84% are feeling the pressure to upgrade their digital ops to stay ahead. From where we’re sitting, AI is no longer a futuristic flex; it’s today’s table stakes.

🍟McDonald’s is lovin’ it by rolling out AI-powered drive-thrus, predictive maintenance tools, and smart kitchen systems across its 43,000 restaurants worldwide. Their goal is speedier service, reduced equipment downtime, and to grow their loyal customer base from 175 million to 250 million by 2027.

🌮 Taco Bell’s Byte by Yum AI coach offers managers real-time recommendations for staffing, scheduling, and inventory. 500+ locations are already using its AI voice tech. Yum Brands says the AI rollout could help boost Taco Bell’s sales by 8% this quarter.

🥞 Dine Brands (Applebee’s & IHOP) is jumping in too, testing AI for everything from support tickets and guest traffic monitoring to dynamic pricing across 3,500+ locations. They’re aiming to offset expenses like labor costs by reducing staff or, more accurately forecasting them.

Timely tips 

Finding solid trade vendors and managing work orders shouldn’t consume most of your day. Use these tips to get a handle on repair chaos.:

🔎 How to find a vetted trade vendor. The best vendors show up on time, know their stuff, communicate clearly, and get the job done right the first time. Don’t have a vendor vetting system in place? ResQ does. Find trade vendors who’ve got the ratings and repeat customers to back them up.

🌀 Automate your work order workflows. With the right software, your team can instantly see which jobs need attention, whether it’s a quote, a follow-up, or a past-due invoice. Choose a platform that's designed to support both operators and trades.

With ResQ, your vendors get a dedicated work order management platform, complete with model numbers, warranty info, and photos, so they arrive fully prepped and ready to roll. Less back-and-forth. Fewer callbacks. Happier teams (on both sides).

From the community

Kitchen Works turned 40+ years of grit into growth

Servicing NYC’s restaurant kitchens is no small feat, but Kitchen Works has made it their domain for over four decades. Led by Daniel Fowley, the company specializes in the hot side of the kitchen, managing a staggering 20 to 30 service calls a day across restaurants and hotels. 

But even with a deep client roster and years of experience, they were still bogged down by clunky processes, unclear service requests, and missed opportunities.

Before ResQ, logging a service request was a hot mess of phone calls, texts, emails, and inconsistent steps just to get a job dispatched. Now, service calls land in their dashboard, fully scoped, including location, issue details, photos, budget, and timeline. 

ResQ also opened the door to a whole new client base. The expanded exposure helped Kitchen Works grow relationships with larger restaurant groups they hadn’t reached before.

And thanks to the simplified platform, Kitchen Works has dramatically improved how they manage service calls, reducing the time and friction it takes to move from request to repair. 

With all job details centralized, the team operates more efficiently and with fewer surprises. 

Work order chaos doesn’t stop at the operator’s line.

That’s why ResQ vendors now have access to Internal Work Order Status, a smarter way to track every job from start to finish. A direct line of communication with customers eliminates miscommunication or phone tag by providing full job tracking and accountability for both sides. 

Learn more about how ResQ supports both sides of the work order.

Break time

Now, not to brag, but ResQ really does have top-notch onboarding, it’s kinda our thing.

- Kareem at ResQ 

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Shameless plug

What does ResQ do?

ResQ is the most trades-friendly facilities management platform that streamlines restaurant R&M operations, while providing value to the trades industry.

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

Love free samples? Same here. Schedule a FREE demo to learn more about ResQ.