Kanpla

Fifteen years ago Lidl sold you bulk. Now it sells you a coffee and a croissant on the way in. Alexander Breuckelmann runs 600 restaurants for Compass Group Germany. He came up through retail, and he counts that bakery as a direct competitor. Most of the industry doesn’t.

Most operators defend standards as a margin story. Alexander Breuckelmann defends them as a hiring one. With fewer people available and onboarding time at a premium, the value of a standard is how fast it gets someone confident on a line. Customisation carries a labour cost that rarely makes it into the argument.

A rare admission from someone running a national market: “One piece we have not really tackled yet is made to order.” At Starbucks, McDonald’s and Burger King, 70 to 80% of items are customised. In contract catering the peak hour still wins. Alexander Breuckelmann on why that gap is closing whether operators are ready or not.

"The guests are gifted, but I need to fight for every euro." That is how Alexander B. describes running 600 restaurants and 800,000 guests a week. In this week's Served., Peter Baech sat down with Alexander, COO of Compass Group Deutschland. He came into contract catering from the outside: Lidl, then Burger King Germany, then Selecta. One year in, he is still reading the market with retail and QSR eyes, and the diagnosis is uncomfortable. In this episode: → Why the Lidl bakery at the entrance is a competitor → The two ways to grow revenue, and why one is closing → Why standardisation vs customisation stopped being a trade-off → Why made to order is still unsolved, when QSR customises 70 to 80% → What Burger King franchisees do that canteen managers do not → Why Germany still runs its own restaurants, and what that opens up The fight is no longer over the lunch hour. Full write-up + video snippets: https://lnkd.in/dZKv2-ti

Meet the POS team. Classic till, self-service kiosk, AI trayscanner, click and collect app. Four ways to serve, one platform built for contract catering. Swipe to meet the line-up.

Six products. One platform. Every point of service. EPOS, kiosk, guest app, catering, AI Vision and digital signage, all connected, all built for contract catering. Swipe through the platform.