Fazoli's Italian Restaurants - Achievement in Management
Company: Fazoli's Italian Restaurants, Lexington, KY
Company Description: Lexington, Kentucky-based Fazoli's is the leading fast-casual Italian restaurant chain in the U.S., with 52 Company-owned and 163 franchised locations in 25 states. The Company and its franchisees employ 6,000+ Associates nationwide. Fazoli's has been the recipient of numerous industry and national awards for excellence in quality, service, branding, leadership and franchise satisfaction.
Nomination Category: Management Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Achievement in Management - Food & Beverage
Nomination Title: Uncompromising Pursuit of Excellence - Fazoli's CEO Carl Howard
Carl Howard has been President & CEO of the 212-unit Fazoli's Italian Restaurantchain for the past 12 years (average CEO tenure in the U.S. is 4.9 years, according to Fortune) and his senior leadership team brings 81 years of combined Fazoli's tenure (13.5 years average) to bear against the challenges of the hyper-competitive restaurant industry.
Despite the fact that the restaurant industry was deeply wounded by the pandemic, with an estimated 100,000 locations permanently closing their doors nationwide,Carl's leadership and vision throughout 2020 propelled Fazoli's to its best sales and profit performance in the brand's 32-year history. The Fazoli's system set 324 daily and weekly sales records throughout the year, while the brand's comparable year-over-year sales performance of +9.0%placed it in the 97th percentile of its competitive set.
The pandemic forced many restaurants to quickly pivot theircore business operations to accommodate mandated dining room closures and seating restrictions. Fazoli's was no exception, but adapted quickly and successfully to meet the growing off-premise dining demand. A 38% decline in dine-in sales was offset by a 62% increase in drive-thru sales and 169% increase in home delivery. Additionally, the company rolled out a chicken wings"ghost kitchen" concept and licensed Wow Boa products to be sold through Fazoli's, collectively generating an incremental $1.6MM in sales.
Carl's mandate to hisOperations Team during the pandemic was "Guests needto SEE clean." Accordingly, Fazoli's invested $1.1 million to add sanitation stations, team member PPE, incremental training and labor, social distancing partitions, etc. The Company's efforts were recognized by the industry when, in May, FastCasual.com named Fazoli's the recipient of its annual "Excellence in Food Safety" Award. The strategic importance of this award during thepandemic cannot be overstated and was a significant contributor to the Company's record sales year.
The Company also opened 4 new restaurants in 2020, representing a 1 .9% system growth rate. This growth rate is below prior years but nonetheless impressive given the severe contraction that occured throughout the industry last year.
In January, 2020 Nation's Restaurant News named Carl Howard one of the industry's most influential CEO's. Carl's commitment to giving back to the industry and sharing his experience is evidenced by his participation last year in 2 national TV segments, 5 full-feature stories, 2 trade-op ed pieces, 3 podcast interviews and as a featured speaker on 2 virtual conferences.
Carl continued his longstanding commitment to giving back to hte communities in which Fazoli's operates. The Company donated over $120,000 to its national charity-of-choice, Feed The Children, as well asnumerous local charities and organizations throughout the year.
Carl and his Team were recipients of numerous awards and accolades once again in 2020, including the following:
-Ranked #31 on Fast Casual's list of "Top 100 Movers and Shakers" (up 7 spots from last year)
-Ranked #9 by Franchise Business Review on it's list of "Best 200 Franchises in America."
-Ranked #9 by Entrepreneur on its list of "Top Food Franchises of 2020."
-Received 3 Gold Stevies in 2020 for Company of the Year (Food &Beverage), HR Team of the Year and -Achievement in Management (Food & Beverage).
-Ranked #158 on Foodservice Database Company's list of 250 largestrestaurant chains in America, measured by system wide revenue.
Finally, Carl's iconic leadership within our industry is illustrated by his involvement in numerous industry consortiums:
-Board Member of the National Restaurant Association's Fast Casual Industry Council
-Committee Member of the Chain Operator's Exchange (COEX)
-Member/Advisor to the Lexington, KY Chamber of Commerce
-Advisor, University of Kentucky Gatton College of Business Membership Program
-Member of the International Foodservice Manufacturer's Association, National Restaurant Association and Kentucky Restaurant Association
Carl's senior leadership unanimously and enthusiastically endorses Carl's nomination for this prestigious award and we thank you for your time and attention!
-Sales and profit performance for 2020 place Fazoli's in the 97th percentile among fast-casual restaurant competitors -Nation's Restaurant News
-Fazoli's invested $1.1 million in COVID-19 related preparedness and response measures in order to keep Guests and Employees safe, while keeping the business operating during 2020.
-In January 2020,Nation's Restaurant NewsnamedFazoli's CEO Carl Howard to its list of "Most Influential CEO's In the Industry."
-In response to the pandemic, the Company successfully launchedtwo "ghost concepts" in 2020 to leverage the growing off-premise meal occasion trend, introducinga chicken wings concept ("Wingville") and licensing Wow Bao products for delivery by Fazoli's. Sales of these new product lines in 2020surpassed $1.6MM.
-In May, 2020FastCasual.comnamed Fazoli's the 2020 recipient of its annual "Excellence in Food Safety Award." The strategicimportance of this award during the pandemic cannot be overstated.
-In June, 2020FastCasual.comranked Fazoli's #31 on its annual "Top 100 Movers and Shakers" list, marking the ninth consecutive year the company has appeared in the rankings.
-In June, the Company was honored with three Gold Stevies by the American Business Awards for Company of the Year, HR Team of the Year and Achievement in Management.
-Entrepreneurranked Fazoli's #9 on its list of "Top Food Franchises of 2020."
-Named by Franchise Business Review to its 2020 list of "Best 200 Franchises in America" for the sixth consecutive year based on franchiseesatisfaction survey results. Ranked #9 among food franchisors.
-Opened 4new restaurants in 2020, a system unit growth rate of 1.9% when most competitors were forced to constrict and/or close units either temporarily or permanently.