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Key takeaways and the standout restaurant chain from ICRKey takeaways and the standout restaurant chain from ICR

Holly Petre, Assistant Digital Editor

January 17, 2024

 

The ICR Conference, the food and retail industry's investor event, occurred earlier this month with many public companies presenting key findings and future plans.

Executive editor Alicia Kelso attended the conference and was able to speak with executives. Many of those conversations will appear on our website in the upcoming days and weeks.

Today, she spoke with First Bite about what she learned from the 2024 conference and how Papa Johns stood out to her among the crowded rooms.

Papa Johns announced its Back to Better 2.0 strategy, a comprehensive plan focused on driving comp sales, average unit volumes, margins, and net new unit growth. The company spent the past six months putting the plan together, working alongside franchisees for what CEO Rob Lynch said will create “transformational changes in the system.”

Papa Johns has had a remarkable run the past several years, including and especially through the pandemic. One thing impacting franchisees’ margins, however, has been the company’s marketing expenditure. For about the past decade, the company’s required rate has been 8% – 5% for national and 3% for local marketing.

About the Author

Holly Petre

Assistant Digital Editor

Holly Petre is a digital editor for Nation’s Restaurant News as well as the host of NRN’s podcast, Extra Serving, and producer for Informa Restaurant and Food Group’s other three podcasts, One On One by Food Management, Off the Shelf with SN and In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn. Holly holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in Sculpture, fibers and Material Studies and Ceramics from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. A native New Yorker, Holly enjoys her place on staff as the resident pop-culture expert and millennial with a sassy attitude and great sense of style.

Holly Petre’s work on Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality often covers marketing and trends, either aimed-at or examined-through the millennial mindset. Holly is responsible for introducing TikTok and Twitch to NRN and RH readers as well as explaining terms like “Karen” to staff and readers alike. She also spends her time on staff trying not to make every headline a pun.

Holly Petre hasn’t spoken at any events or on panels, but she is readily available with a killer shoe wardrobe and several witty quips.

 

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