The Future of Restaurant Tech: Insights from Chris Hellmann

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: restaurants are stuck with outdated routines that cost them ⁓ tons dollars in profit, quality of product, as well as safety of their team members. ⁓ But if solution ⁓ is out it really is quite simple. Chris Hellman and the former ⁓ Coke executive ⁓ turned into executive at ⁓ RTI, ⁓ talk the oil management system that they have been ⁓ Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: Welcome back to the restaurant technology guys podcast.

I think everyone out there for joining as I like to say each and every time I know you guys have got lots of choices. So thank you for hanging out today. We are joined by someone that has a fantastic history kind of in restaurants and lots of different ways that Chris has served the restaurant. So Chris, why don't you introduce yourself to our listeners real quick?

Who is Chris talk a little bit about? No, we can talk a little bit about your background and then kind of what your. Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: deploying for the last number of years.

They've also been a sponsor on the show and he and I talk quite a bit about how they continue to make oil management safer, cleaner and more profitable and how quite honestly people underestimate how much extra oil they're using and it's really costing them profits when they are frying food. He shares really cool insights as to how to get brands to adopt change and what real change management looks like to solve. Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: your most recent role was because you're working with for the last couple years one of our long-time partners.

Chris Hellmann: Yeah. No, that sounds good, Jeremy. Thanks. My name is Chris Hellman and I have been ⁓ and around food service and restaurants most of my life, really.

⁓ started working in the restaurant business at 15, veered off for a while, tried to have a career in advertising and marketing and that led me to Coca-Cola. Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: problems that we all face. He also talks quite a bit about their sustainable sustainability efforts and how we continue to restaurants to ⁓ food but do it in a sustainable way that's making the world a better place.

If you don't know me, ⁓ name is Jeremy Julian. I am the chief revenue officer of CBS Northstar. ⁓ wrote the Northstar.Sol solution for multi units.

⁓ check us out ⁓ CBSNorthstar.com ⁓ now. Chris Hellmann: And at Coca-Cola, I spent 30 years at Coke and I was primarily on the food service side, so the fountain business. I left Coke in 2020 and I met up with the principals of restaurant technologies, Jeff Kiesel and Alyssa Partay.

And it was striking how similar, how different but similar the businesses were between what I was doing at Coke and what restaurant technologies does. Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: on to the episode. Chris Hellmann: talk about that in more detail as we get into it.

So here I am, a long time Coker that left and retired and really didn't have plans to go back to work for another company. I found this business and they found me. And it great because I didn't have to learn a whole new business language. ⁓ was like many of same customers I've called on for many, years while I was at Coke ⁓ are customers restaurant technologies.

⁓ So I that's kind of, is a high level summary, you I've been working for 40 plus years and I'd say 90 % of that has been in food service. Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: I love it and I tease that I could probably be a multimillionaire if I would just start like a therapy group for extra restaurant people or people that are trying to get out of restaurants because your story is all too familiar with a lot of people. I too started when I was 14 working in restaurants and my 17 year old just got his first job at the barbecue place up the road and he comes home exhausted, stinking like barbecue every night and I tease him.

like, it's hard work, man. You know, got to take care of those people that take care of you and so. Chris Hellmann: Yeah, even that's lovely. Yeah.

Literally. Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: I do have a fundamental belief that think everybody in the United States should work in the service business in one way, or form. So the fact that you came up through that is awesome. Chris Hellmann: Yeah.

Jeremy, my first job was at Ponderosa Steakhouse in Canton, Ohio as a dishwasher, and I moved my way up to fry cook. So I felt like I had a pretty good trajectory there. And then, you know, I went to other restaurants and a bunch of chains and independence later. Most of my college I spent working in restaurants also.

So ⁓ I agree. I think my Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: That's awesome. Chris Hellmann: many of my four kids, three of them, think maybe all of them have worked in restaurants at one point in time or not, you know, so I agree with you though. great training for lots of things.

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: That's awesome. Yep. it's funny, I too have four kids. ⁓ Many long-time listeners know that.

I went out to a restaurant opening this weekend and my 10-year-old, who's my youngest, I've got 20 down to 10, my 10-year-old finally got to go to a kitchen for the first time. We were doing like a... ⁓ new restaurant friends and family and they invited us back in the kitchen. She's like, this is so cool.

I was like, babe, every one of your siblings has gone through this and all of them have worked in some form of food service so far. now my 17 year old, he's, I was traveling down and down your neck of the woods and got to see him last night after his shift and kind of picking on him. I'm like, it's a harder than it looks, right buddy? He was like, yeah, man, just keep running your raggids.

So Chris. Talk to me a little bit. Why don't we set the stage for what you were doing at Coke? Because I think it's pretty impressive what you guys were able to do and kind of how much you guys have been scaling.

Because I think it'll really go into our conversation about why you felt like there were such similarities with what you were able to do with RTI. Chris Hellmann: Sure, sure, Well, I started at Coke when I was 28 and I was coming out, I worked at an advertising agency in Atlanta I thought my career was all gonna be in advertising, right? And ⁓ so got an opportunity with Coke in the marketing group. And I thought for sure this is going to be two or three years.

I'm going to do this and build my resume, build the client side of marketing, and then go back to an advertising agency at a bigger job and further ahead. Well, best laid plans, right? So that two-year plan turned into 30. my career at Coke was really mixed.

I ⁓ I in marketing. I moved after about or six years in marketing. moved to a sales role. I running the Sonic restaurants business for Coke.

⁓ Went back into marketing for a while. Then I went and did an international position in commercial leadership. ⁓ There again, with many restaurant brands around the world. And then I ran the global subway business for Coke.

So that was... Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: Okay. Chris Hellmann: one of the highlights of my career. was in a moment where Fred DeLuca was still alive, the founder of Subway, and the was ⁓ really and on fire and growing and a lot of expansion, a lot of international expansion.

And like I said, I ⁓ had the for that P &L for all of the Subway restaurants for Coke, all the business that ⁓ we did Subway. From there, I... Completely changed gears and I went and I was the general manager and VP for the freestyle division So, you know, you might say well gosh is a marketing guy sales guy qualified to go run a technology department? That's all about innovation and and equipment innovation And I wasn't but I sold candidacy and I sold myself in the interviews as I'm not an engineer I'm not a I don't have a strong technology background But what I've been able to demonstrate along the way in many different jobs here at Coke, is, you know, successful business planning and results.

And I said, what freestyle, this is about seven or eight years into the ⁓ of freestyle. So what freestyle needs right now is a rock solid business strategy and plan. I mean, there's 130 engineers that we're working on it every day and they're going to do engineer things, right? But they need to be all connected to what the Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: Yeah.

Chris Hellmann: the macro business strategy is. I did that role for five years, right until COVID. And that kind of, ⁓ we a little bit about earlier, but that kind of, that shut down for a short amount of time. And then that's when I left and retired.

You want me to go on to the restaurant technology piece? ⁓ Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: Well, yeah, I'd love to talk a little bit about kind of the challenges that you had to overcome, because I remember when Freestyle first came out, I remember there was a pay way that, know, kind of when pay way was taken off, they were the first brand that I would go into and there would be cues, you know, like and again, you guys did a lot, you know, to really market it and make it make it almost a destination.

mean, I think of it as a place that people choose. always gotten my wife is a diet coke drinker. And so we if it's Pepsi, she doesn't go and I'm not that's not. Chris Hellmann: Yeah.

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: to throw any shade of Pepsi, great brand, great product. But my wife is a Diet Coke drinker there's a lot of people in the world that are that way. And then I think freestyle turned into for me, one of those really ways that people are driving behavior because the product is good. I think of why I'm asking about that Chris is, engineer, was great, the way they did the inserts and.

Chris Hellmann: Yes, sir. Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: the whole nine yards, early on, I even remember when the machines would break down and they couldn't figure out how to use them and all of that. And you talk about the sales aspects of it because ultimately you're trying to deliver a great product. And part of why I'm asking about what you ran into on the sales marketing side for Freestyle, I think comes into product and innovation with what RTI.

And we've had three four people on the show and it's amazing to me. I know that we'll get there. can tell bad oil and you can tell good oil and you can tell well maintained oil and you can tell, know, so I'd love for you to talk a little bit about those learnings and how you were able to bring some of those to, you know, those over to RTI. Chris Hellmann: Sure.

Well, me kind of hover a little bit in the freestyle world. One of the biggest learnings I've had along the way about the restaurant business, whether you're selling to the restaurant business you're working in the restaurant business, the is there to serve guests. ⁓ And was an amazing invention. The technology was created Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: Yes.

Chris Hellmann: built off of microdosing from the medical field. It's just of amazing really to be able to do 200 flavors and brands out of that footprint is crazy. What we underestimated was the impact on the ecosystem in the back room. What I've over and over and over again in the restaurant business is if you bring something that is Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: Yes.

Chris Hellmann: too complicated or is gonna get in the way of serving guests and is off of normal line of business, you got real challenges built in. If I'm Wendy's, I'm in the business of delivering great hamburgers across the counter over and over over again, right? I'm not in the business of taking care of some complex technology. Sure, it can grow my business, but it can also kind of get in the way of my business So I think we learned early on in the freestyle days We can't give the operators too much task or homework That's different than serving their their guests or that's that's off that path And I swear Jeremy.

I've learned that over my career over over and over again I think we got better and I think it's even better now. I've been gone for five years, but the pathway and the in freestyle have all been about simplifying the original proposition, right? So I think that whether you're selling a point of sale system or a soft drink dispenser or a coffee maker or an oil system, the value that has to be real is that ⁓ it complements Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: Yeah. Chris Hellmann: the systems that are in place.

It either makes them more efficient, faster, better, better tasting. If you have a novelty that is a nice shiny object that may drive some traffic in the short term, but is too hard to deal with and ⁓ sustainable, ⁓ where you get in trouble little bit in this industry. Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: I love that thought and I think that all too many, it's funny because I get on calls with engineers and I get on calls with people that are writing cool software and they're like, I just don't understand.

The math on the spreadsheet just works. it's like, don't comprehend. These people have tens of thousands of things to do every week. ⁓ so you've got to figure out how to save them time, ⁓ them money so that they can hire more to be able to do this work.

But if it's not complimenting what they're already doing and already part of a workflow ⁓ making it better, ⁓ you're ultimately going to if it it makes their job harder they're going to buck the system and so I guess let's let's. Blow that into where you've seen RTI grow over the last 3 4 years and I guess what caused you I guess let's start with the founding founding principles that you met with because I love their story and I love who they are and I love how passionate they are about doing exactly what you talked about them hoping that that's kind of what made you come out of retirement to spend some time with them and then let's talk and we can jump into.

Kind what you've seen at RTI over the last couple of years. Chris Hellmann: Well, sure. First, did hit it off with the CEO, Jeff Kiesel, and Alyssa Partay, was at the time, she was the chief people officer. And we actually met in the back room of the Zaxby's.

was first time I met those guys, right? In Atlanta, was introduced to them through someone who had been on their board, who used to be one of my bosses at Coke. So that's how we got the introduction. They came into Atlanta to meet with me.

⁓ and we were just going to have dinner and talk about, you the time they didn't have a chief commercial officer. So we were just going to chat, right? ⁓ I meet these guys in the back room and man, the CEO and the chief people officer, they knew so much about the back room of that restaurant. It blew me away.

You know, like this isn't, they're not, this isn't the first time they've stepped into the restaurant, you know, or into the back room for that matter. Jeff knew the system from end to end. And he understood the business and he understood what I was just talking about too about making it frictionless. And it was kind of overwhelming and it was really exciting.

And so from that first meeting, there's part of it that was people. But then as I got into the actual business of what they do, a things. So it's ⁓ end end ⁓ oil Truck pulls up, delivers fresh oil, kind of through a fire hose into a tank in the restaurant. That gets sent to the fryer as needed.

then the used cooking oil goes to a second tank. And then the truck comes back and we recycle that. So actually not back, but when the truck delivers fresh, they also take away. ⁓ it's a really, it's a closed loop.

And as I dug into it more, there's no real organized competition for that. There's companies that take away used cooking oil and they're certainly obviously Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: take back their waste. Chris Hellmann: plenty of companies that deliver a fresh. And there's some systems that are kind of like RTIs, not exactly.

So as a marketing guy who's looking at a market and looking at this and saying, holy crap, they've got about 15 % market share in a huge ⁓ that doesn't have a lot of organized competition. Okay, those are pretty cool things. ⁓ Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: with a huge, huge upside, right? Mm-hmm.

Chris Hellmann: And as I got into it more, what I really learned is that the competition, there's plenty of competition for pieces of it, but the main competition for RTI is status quo. Even though commercial kitchens, though, most of the operators will always tell you the worst part is oil, dealing with oil, dealing with oil, dealing with hot oil, moving oil, moving used cooking oil, they know how to do it. Restaurants have been using cooking oil forever and ever. our ⁓ one of our biggest challenges is translating that value proposition into, we're going to transform your oil business.

And that's a little bit of a hard sell when you've got a restaurateur who's been doing something for a long time and doesn't want real disruption, right? Doesn't want to, okay, I got to install these and it's a five-year agreement. so... proud to say we've grown quite a bit over the last three years and I still think there's an amazing runway.

But that's what really attracted me to it. The opportunity, the addressable market. And then mean, this is a bit more personal, but I've sold a lot of plastic in my time and I've sold a lot of sugar in my time. And the notion of a system that actually recycles all of this used cooking oil, 350 million pounds to be exact, and puts it to good use instead of a landfill was also kind of attractive to me too.

So I like what they do from end to end. Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: I love that. And again, I think one of the big things that has had me want to partner with them so much is better for the ⁓ ⁓ better for the, they're better, you know, it helps on the consumer side. ⁓ helps on the operator side and it helps on the kind of overall global side, because they're going to use cooking oil.

⁓ not going to get away from French fries and fried chicken and all of that. So ⁓ we are going to do it, how do we make it easier, better for the guests? And guess I'd love for you to talk a little bit about the value proposition. ⁓ for those listeners that might be out there that are like, dude, I've been doing this forever.

I do it this way. I get my 50 gallon drums. They're out by the dumpster and I have it all figured out. Why is it better for the consumers?

Let's start at the consumer side because we've talked about it on different shows, but it is so much of a better product. And now that I've gotten educated, I can tell when it's ⁓ I can tell when it's not being done and it annoys the crap out of me. No different than I'm in the point of sale business. Chris Hellmann: Thank Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: Every restaurant I go to, know what point of sale they have.

know where they were before. So ⁓ in that, I now notice it. So I'd love for you to talk a little bit about the value to the consumers before we kind of talk about the value to the restaurant tours. Chris Hellmann: Well, first I will say I'm a big diet coke drinker too and I know when I get one that's out of date.

You know what mean? It's like this, you know, look at the bottom of the can, it's like, okay, this is out of date three months. You can just tell. Yeah.

value proposition, I've spent ⁓ of my career working on value propositions for the restaurant industry. ⁓ ⁓ Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: ⁓ huh. Yep. Yeah, or the mix is off.

The mix is off on a fountain, right? You can tell. You're like, you know, that's gotta drive you crazy. Chris Hellmann: This one is so compelling to me on so many different levels, but I'll start with the consumer.

Fresh cooking oil matters. If an outlet, if an operator is overusing their cooking oil, and ⁓ gonna affect food quality. And if they have no real mechanism to tell when it's time, they're counting the days or the hours or the pounds of food they're putting through there, it's not that scientific and... then all of sudden you have a 16-year-old kid like I was working back in the day that doesn't really know or care.

It's going to affect food quality. So that's big, big part of our value proposition. parts that are super compelling to me are when you start getting back ⁓ into the and the chaos of a commercial kitchen. Because the...

One of the greatest parts of our value proposition is safety. When you're not moving around oil, you're going to cut down on injuries. It's a fact. ⁓ by way, we actually help operators save on their insurance.

Because we can and now insurance companies, they know us too, that insure the restaurant business. When you have the RTI system in there, it's safer. Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: Yeah, there's not hot oil getting moved around the kitchen. So ⁓ ⁓ you say on the flip side to those operators that are like, well, now you got the fox wash in the hen house.

⁓ going to tell me my oil is out of date, even if it's not out of date, because they sell more oil. ⁓ I guess I'd love for you to ⁓ that myth. I know the answer, but I'd love ⁓ those that haven't heard the previous episodes. Chris Hellmann: teeing me up here well, great part of our value proposition is guess what?

When you go with the RTI system, you use less oil. It's really super counterintuitive, but when you're cycling it and monitoring it, because sometimes are changing out their oil too much, too frequently. But now, yeah, they're using too much. They're using too much.

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: they're using too much. I've heard that argument before. Chris Hellmann: We literally have a minimum of 5 % goal of less oil. So we go in and we say, willing to sign up for 5 % less, but ⁓ of our customers actually, it's greater than that.

And have a tremendous amount of data that we simplify with the ⁓ operator our portal that they can monitor and they can watch when ⁓ their are changing out their oil, when they haven't changed out their oil, how much their usage is. And for brands that have multi-unit franchisees, mentioned Zaxby's earlier, we can go in and sit with Zaxby's, and we have recently, and they can plot out all their stores. And they can show, OK, these stores, for the of poundage of food that they're putting through, they are using this much oil, they're using too much.

So we've got to go talk to them and teach train them on how to use the right amount of oil to ⁓ save money. But I don't want Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: Mm-hmm. Chris Hellmann: think we save operators money, but that's never how I would lead with our value proposition. ⁓ there and it has to be there because of the just the margin compression that operators are feeling right now.

They can't, they can't go spend a lot more, right? But the safety the food quality piece, ⁓ the efficiency, the employee satisfaction, you know, and ultimately the cost savings is all of those things is Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: Yep. Chris Hellmann: that the people and what they do I think is good is what brought me out of retirement. I should say, because it sounds like maybe I'm giving a little bit of a sales pitch here, but I am retiring again.

This is it. I don't know if you mentioned that a hundred times. My days at RCI are done. Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: Yeah, yeah.

I have not mentioned it yet it was coming it was coming it. So for those listeners that are listening to this by the time this episode comes out Chris will be off on the lake somewhere, know, you know, on the on the Chris Hellmann: Well, my Westwire building, we're building out a Sprinter van right now, so we'll see how that goes. Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: you. So one last thing that I want to kind of I guess let you brag a little bit about on RTI and ⁓ your Diana ⁓ came a couple maybe 18 months ago to talk a little bit about your guys's initiative to recycle that oil ⁓ and does it go and why is it such a big piece of what it is that you guys do because you guys could ⁓ just it in the landfill and it costs you probably cost you more money as a business ⁓ to it and turn it back into.

good for the world or better for the world than it would be otherwise. And I'd love to help you, know, tee up to just kind of brag a little bit on what RTI does there. Chris Hellmann: Yeah. Well, it's not all philanthropic, right?

There is a market for used cooking oil. ⁓ because of our process and our ability to extract it right out of the restaurants, that's some of the most valuable used oil out there. You can get oil from a lot of different sources. ⁓ But where it Jeremy, is biofuel.

So it all comes biofuel. we have agreements with Phillips 66 and other refineries who take that oil. and they turn it into fuel. So there's a value to that oil.

And what we do with our customers is we track all of that, how much we're pulling out of a restaurant. And have a deal, an arrangement where we share in that value with our customers. So if we extract X amount, we turn it into biodiesel, we literally will rebate that back to our customers. So when they see an invoice from RTI, ⁓ that is for their fresh cooking oil, they'll see also a rebate on there for the used cooking oil, and we can track it down to the pound.

So a lot of companies out there that will collect used cooking oil, but it's nowhere near as scientific. And maybe you'll get some rebate money, maybe you won't. Maybe pick it up when they say they're going to, maybe they won't. But since ours is in the same process as delivering the fresh, you're never sitting on ⁓ a lot used cooking oil.

So is a good thing, but there's a business side to it, right? That has value to it that we've been able to tap into and share with our customers. Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: Yeah, no. I, again, I do think it's still, while it's not 100 % philanthropic, it's still so much better than the alternative, which oftentimes is not good for the world.

Chris Hellmann: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, last year, I think we did somewhere in the neighborhood of 350 million pounds of recycled oil. that the largest recycler of ⁓ oil in the US.

And that's important. mean, business or not, that's oil that's not going into a landfill, like you said. Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: Love that. Last question, guess, ahead of retirement, Chris, you talked a little bit earlier ⁓ just kind of ⁓ your when you've gone into restaurants.

⁓ Are any other learnings that you would give our listeners as they're ⁓ kind trying to grow, trying to grow their business, trying to help their business, help serve customers, help gain more customers? whether it's a restaurant brand, because there's restaurant brands, a lot of restaurant brands that listen to this. There's a lot of restaurant technology companies that are on the show or listen to the show. What are some learnings and some things that you would, I guess, remind people ahead of retirement?

What are these gifts that you would give, Sam? You got to think about these one, two or three things. Chris Hellmann: Yeah. Well, start with a little bit of empathy for ⁓ operators right now.

It is tough. mean, it is the compression that operators are dealing with right now is ⁓ significant. yeah, it is. And it is ⁓ the from COVID through where we are today.

I think many operators kind of during and just after COVID Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: It's rough. Chris Hellmann: we're able to pass along a lot more pricing. I mean, we've just seen it. We've seen in the same store sales have gone up, but traffic has been flattened down.

So how does that happen, right? Price. I think consumers are in a situation right now across the board where they're watching every dollar they spend and they kind of said no more to price increases in food service. So.

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: Yes. Chris Hellmann: That's not anything any of your restaurant operators are listening to this and saying, ⁓ God, that's a great insight. They're living it every day, right? That it's just that's what they're living right now.

So I think the the the answer is tightening down on the the differentiation and the value that you deliver to your customers, to your consumers. Right. It's that I'm not spending money at restaurants because I am, but I'm being more selective. I'm not saying you know you got to add in all this extra quality or high quality It's like what you're good at you've got to double down and be really good at what's driving your customers to your outlets is You just have to be better than anybody else because customers are voting pretty quickly now because of the inflation and the shortage dollars they have So I that's one I think to the people who service the restaurant industry I'll go back to what we talked about earlier Jeremy and that is your value propositions better really add value.

Because if not, you're not going to be around very long. You're not going to be able to go to this industry very long before it becomes evident that this was a good idea or this was a nice thing to maybe drive a little bit of traffic quickly, but it's not sustainable. It's got to be sustainable. It's got to deliver value, especially today against all this compressed margin.

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: Yeah, because they're they're they're operating with less people in the stores. They're operating with less profitability. You know, many many operators are operating with less people, so it's like it's got to be additive to not extra work for them. It's got to be additive to their bottom line.

You know, bar none, or you're not going to last long to your point. Chris Hellmann: No, you're not. don't think so. And I think that that comment you just made about less ⁓ there really ⁓ a and it's going to continue, I think, to automate more and more parts of the commercial kitchen.

But they have ⁓ to really deliver real value, real value to P &L and real value to the process. Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: Yeah, we talk about it often on the show of tech for tech sake is is worthless. It's gotta deliver business value to the customer to the operator to the to the business unit above above store corporate or all three. You know the best are the ones that deliver to all three.

It's better for the customer. It's better for the operator in the stores, and it's better for the bottom line of the business and so. ⁓ I love that. Chris Hellmann: Yeah.

Yeah. kind of That's right on. I couldn't agree with that. And I'll just, I'll also say this, but in your parting, guess, but one of the things that's always driven me and drove me to the restaurant industry and has kept me in it is look at what's happened since COVID in the restaurant business.

The innovation that operators have have muscled through is it's amazing. Whether it's the different forms of delivery or takeout or ordering through apps. It's, it's a source of pride for me. I mean, it's like, Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: Mm-hmm.

Chris Hellmann: nice to say we work in this industry because this industry came out swinging during COVID ⁓ some really great things happened. Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: Yeah. Well, the creativity of the operators is amazing. shared with you before we hit the record button, I was with an operator this week and ⁓ were joking about something.

like, dude, we'll figure it out. We're operators, ⁓ got it. ⁓ were teasing about systems going down. He's like, dude, we just go manual then.

He's like, I lost power in a store, but my hood was still working. So we're cooking burritos for people. It's ⁓ just they do and I love it. ⁓ And part of what I think brings us all back to, and really restaurants are so much at the center of our communities.

Chris Hellmann: I'm a lever food. Jeremy Julian - Restaurant Technology Guys: in the United States and really around the world is a lot of people gather around food. So it's so important to make sure that they can be successful and continue to thrive because if they don't, we all lose something. Awesome.

Well, Chris, I know that you're off, riding off into the sunset, but if people want to learn a bit more about RTI and how they could engage with them, how would you suggest they go there and ⁓ what can they expect to have happen? Chris Hellmann: For sure. For sure. Well, the easiest way is just to go to the website, right?

So Restaurant Technologies, Inc., RTI, you can find us online. Yeah, and if you're interested, there's plenty of opportunities on our website to say, I'd love to hear a little bit more about it. you'll get a live body.

Someone will follow up with you really quickly. Yeah. Thank you.