Pinnacle Awards - Dec 2021
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
THE <strong>2021</strong><br />
PINNACLe<br />
<strong>Awards</strong><br />
COMPANY<br />
OFTHE YEAR<br />
(l to r) Frank Hennessey,<br />
CEO; Julie Denton, Chief<br />
People Officer; Ken<br />
Grondin, Chief Financial<br />
Officer<br />
Change<br />
Makers<br />
Recipe Unlimited is accelerating the<br />
foodservice evolution<br />
BY DENISE DEVEAU | PHOTOGRAPHY BY DANIEL ALEXANDER<br />
When Frank Hennessey returned to Recipe Unlimited as Chief<br />
Executive Officer three years ago, he recognized an opportunity<br />
to shape the future of the industry. “The main driver<br />
for me coming back was to change the way chain restaurants<br />
operated into the future.”<br />
Change is nothing unusual for a company that was founded in 1883 as The<br />
Canada Railway News Company, and later re-named CARA Operations. Today,<br />
Recipe operates more than 1,300 restaurants in more than 300 communities in<br />
Canada, as well as 61 international locations.<br />
Recipe owns and operates some of the country’s most iconic brands, including<br />
Swiss Chalet, St-Hubert and Keg Restaurants. It continues to look for complementary<br />
brands to round out its ever-evolving portfolio, as well as launching<br />
new brands such as its Ultimate Kitchen (Malgam in Quebec). The multi-brand<br />
takeout-and-delivery concept was launched in 2019, and has just opened its fifth<br />
location. This alternative channel allows customers to get more choices via a<br />
single delivery service and reach more guests in downtown urban centres where<br />
finding locations to build is cost prohibitive, explains Hennessey.<br />
“We mix and match brands inside the kitchens to fit the area,” explains<br />
Hennessey. “They also provide a test centre for us for equipment and technology.<br />
We intend to build these in strategic areas to complement rather than replace<br />
our existing brick-and-mortar locations and have signed for two new locations<br />
in the GTA.”<br />
Even if you go back to the origins of the company, it has always evolved with<br />
the times, he says. That evolution has accelerated with the rise in technology<br />
adoption and the profound impact the pandemic has had on the industry.<br />
22 FOODSERVICE AND HOSPITALITY NOVEMBER/DECEMBER <strong>2021</strong> FOODSERVICEANDHOSPITALITY.COM<br />
FOODSERVICEANDHOSPITALITY.COM<br />
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER <strong>2021</strong> FOODSERVICE AND HOSPITALITY 23
Change language