Foodbeast Katchup Foodbeast

Boba goes mainstream in the U.S. as fast-food chains like Dunkin’ Donuts and Del Taco begin serving bubble tea & popping boba pearls.

On today’s episode of The Foodbeast Katchup podcast, we discuss the Boba wave going on in America. Del Taco’s new poppin’ boba in the form of “Sprite Poppers,” allows customers to put cherry or mango boba pearls on top of their Sprite. Meanwhile, Dunkin’ is testing Bubble Iced Tea and Bubble Iced Coffee through mid-August at a few locations in Upstate New York and Massachusetts. We sat down with our dear friend Tai Tran of @AsiansNeverDie, who’s built a community of millions on Facebook and Instagram around comedic moments and culture in the Asian-American community, to discuss the current boba wave hitting U.S. fast food chains.

Thank you all so much for listening! Please review this podcast on Apple Podcasts, follow @foodbeastkatchup on Instagram, and connect with our hosts below:

Elie Ayrouth: @bookofelie on IG & Twitter
Geoff Kutnick: @geoffkutnick on IG & Twitter
Tai Tran: @asiansneverdie on IG
FOODBEAST: @foodbeast on Facebook, IG, Twitter, YouTube & Twitch

www.foodbeast.com for breaking food & beverage news

The global pandemic and the resulting restrictions and limitations brought on the restaurant industry — from prohibited dine-in to a forced pivot to delivery and pick-up only service — has brought on unique challenges to small business owners throughout the country. With restaurants worried about how to keep their heads above water, this necessity has brought about alternative solutions — namely technology that provides answers to keeping revenue streams steady and consistent.

A particular service, named Numa, has helped restaurants explore unique solutions by being an AI-powered virtual assistant and concierge. What’s great about Numa is that it makes a restaurant’s number textable. The technology then answers every voicemail, text, Facebook message and more. Overall it leads to an efficient use of team coordination that has helped many restaurants who have used it.

Foodbeast Managing Editor, Reach Guinto, sat down recently with Tasso Roumeliotis, co-founder and CEO of Numa, and Lex Gopnik-Lewinsky, owner & founder of Augie’s Montreal Deli in Berkeley, CA to talk about the benefits of alternative technology beyond third-party delivery apps and how they could be the next wave in restaurants taking advantage of different solutions to serve their customers.

Thank you all so much for listening! Please review this podcast on Apple Podcasts, follow @foodbeastkatchup on Instagram and connect with our hosts below:

Elie Ayrouth: @bookofelie on IG & Twitter
Geoff Kutnick: @geoffkutnick on IG & Twitter
Reach Guinto: @reachhard_ on IG and Twitter
FOODBEAST: @foodbeast on Facebook, IG, Twitter, YouTube & Twitch

www.foodbeast.com for breaking food & beverage news

In the latest episode of Foodbeast's The Katchup Podcast, hosts Elie Ayrouth and Geoff Kutnick, along with managing editor Reach Guinto, wax poetic, and eulogize just how much Souplantation meant to them, while also exploring the immediately unfortunate prospects buffets have post-pandemic.

Thank you all so much for listening! Please review this podcast on Apple Podcasts, follow @foodbeastkatchup on Instagram, and connect with our hosts below:

Elie Ayrouth: @bookofelie on IG & Twitter
Geoff Kutnick: @geoffkutnick on IG & Twitter
Reach Guinto: @reachhard_ on IG and Twitter
FOODBEAST: @foodbeast on Facebook, IG, Twitter, YouTube & Twitch

www.foodbeast.com for breaking food & beverage news

Famed Chef & Restaurateur José Andrés has positively affected millions through his non-profit World Central Kitchen (WCK). In addition to feeding entire communities devastated by natural or economic disaster in Puerto Rico, Tijuana, Venezuela and beyond, WCK had to pivot its model yet again for COVID-19.

FOODBEAST Co-Founder Geoff Kutnick and Managing Editor Reach Guinto talk to Tank Gonzales, the project lead for a pilot program in Southern California that re-activates closed restaurants and feeds at-risk seniors. Within days Gonzales cold-called restaurants, UPS, senior centers and city officials leading to an operation feeding thousands of people.

To date WCK has provided 3,000,000+ meals across the country during COVID-19, and over 20,000+ in Gonzales’ Long Beach community.

Thank you all so much for listening! Please review this podcast on Apple Podcasts, follow @foodbeastkatchup on Instagram and connect with our FOODBEAST hosts & guest:

Elie Ayrouth: @bookofelie on IG & Twitter
Geoff Kutnick: @geoffkutnick on IG & Twitter
Reach Guinto: @reachhard_ on IG and Twitter
Tank Gonzales: @tanks_travels on IG
FOODBEAST: @foodbeast on Facebook, IG, Twitter, YouTube & Twitch

www.foodbeast.com for breaking food & beverage news

Restaurants are one of the strongest backbones of our community because of how many roles they serve beyond providing sustenance to patrons. They act as a third space for gathering & connecting, they employ tens of millions in the US, they provide tax revenue for our states & local communities, and beyond.

FOODBEAST Co-Founder Geoff Kutnick talks to the President & CEO of the California Restaurant Association, an advocacy group for the restaurant industry with access to many of the forefront politicians reacting to the new economic environment like Governor Gavin Newsom, and LA Mayor Eric Garcetti.

We talk about the ever-slimming margins of restaurants (25:15), how ‘over-built’ the overall restaurant industry was (28:00), how the lost sales tax will affect local communities (34:17), how there are more costs eating up the restaurant ‘pie’ (36:48) and more.

Kutnick also talks to Alycia Harshfield, the Executive Director of Restaurants Care, the non-profit arm of the California Restaurant Association funding restaurant employees directly affected by the Coronavirus. Restaurant Care has received thousands upon thousands of grant requests (47:32), but also have been bolstered by major donations like the $100,000 it received from Skrewball Whiskey Peanut Butter Whiskey (50:12).

Thank you all so much for listening! Please review this podcast on Apple Podcasts, follow @foodbeastkatchup on Instagram and connect with our hosts below:

Elie Ayrouth: @bookofelie on IG & Twitter

Geoff Kutnick: @geoffkutnick on IG & Twitter

FOODBEAST: @foodbeast on Facebook, IG, Twitter, YouTube & Twitch

www.foodbeast.com for breaking food & beverage news

"If 9/11 and the credit crisis were wrapped up into one, this would still be worse."

The Coronavirus has created a crisis in the restaurant industry, and while they’re fighting to stay open, others have already shuttered as they are not built for any other format other than sit-down, dine-in.

In this week’s episode, we are joined by Jonathan Maze, Editor In Chief at Restaurant Business Magazine. Maze breaks down what restaurants are currently going through, and what it would take for them to survive not only now, but in the future.

Also, while self-quarantined, the Katchup crew discusses its own experiences with restaurants at the time of a California lockdown, and how Foodbeast’s coverage has changed since the outbreak.

We also talk to our own resident food scientist, Constantine Spyrou, to get some little known facts about canned foods.

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Thank you all so much for listening! All the Tweets and Instagram tags of you listening mean the world. Reviews you leave on iTunes are also incredibly helpful, if you enjoyed an episode, please drop us some love on the Apple Podcasts store, or wherever your beautiful ears are listening.

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Your Hosts:

Elie Ayrouth (@bookofelie)

Geoffrey Kutnick (@geoffreykutnick)

Your Guest:

Jonathan Maze (@jonathanmaze)

Produced by:

Isai Rocha (@isairocha)

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