One Take CEO Interview with Restaurant Technologies' Jeff Kiesel

In this week’s One Take CEO Interview podcast, Restaurant Technologies chief Jeff Kiesel shares how his business prepared for and then adjusted to a drop in business due to Covid-19 shutdowns.

His Mendota Heights, MN-based company is the nation's most efficient fry-oil business, providing everything from fresh oil appropriate for what's being fried, to equipment in the kitchen that dispenses new oil and then collects used oil. Its 1,000+ employees serve the food service, restaurant and hospitality industries that have been hit hard since mid-March. 

Kiesel explains how the company was able to minimize the level to which revenue dropped, keep most of its workers employed and is now gearing up for growth. What worked well for Restaurant Technologies? Focusing on its core values, doing scenario planning that slanted worst-case and then adjusting spending accordingly, and communicating daily and equally with everyone from executives to front-line employees. 

One Take CEO Interviews are independently produced by former Twin Cities Business Editor in Chief Dale Kurschner to provide listeners with unscripted, unedited discussions on how Minnesota CEOs are leading during the Covid-19 pandemic and its unprecedented impact on their operations, and the economy. 

The first episodes are recorded home-to-home via Zoom, due to then-required "work from home" rules. The host is rusty at sounding good "on the air,” but the CEOs are excellent at sharing how their organizations are prevailing during the greatest economic upheaval and uncertainty in our lifetimes. 

The CEO interview series is sponsored by the Platinum Group, Minnesota's most experienced advisory group helping business owners and leaders with extreme challenges including financial setbacks, lender and landlord re-negotiations, turnarounds and bankruptcies. Kurschner is one of its consultants.

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