- 5 months ago
André Moraes, Global Digital Marketing lead at PepsiCo, is helping restaurants grow with digital tools and local marketing support. From menu optimization to community programs, Pepsi has become more than a beverage brand. It is a growth partner for restaurants everywhere.
Watch now to learn how Pepsi supports restaurants with free tools, invests in local businesses, and helps strengthen communities.
Watch now to learn how Pepsi supports restaurants with free tools, invests in local businesses, and helps strengthen communities.
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NewsTranscript
00:00If somebody's watching this and they are a Pepsi partner, how much does this cost?
00:03Nothing.
00:04I'm sorry, how much?
00:05It's completely free.
00:05What?
00:06Everything that we offer to our customer partners is completely free.
00:16Welcome to Restaurant Influencers presented by Entrepreneur.
00:19I'm your host, Sean Walcheff.
00:21This is a Cali BBQ Media production at the Pepsi booth at the National Restaurant Association
00:27show 2025.
00:28I can't tell you how cool this is for me.
00:31Thank you to Toast, our primary technology partner, for believing in storytelling, giving
00:36us the opportunity.
00:37There's 55,000 people that attend this show, over 2,000 vendors, over 100 countries represented.
00:43And I know how hard it is to work in the restaurant business because I've got a team that's working
00:47in San Diego right now.
00:49But our goal with this show is to share stories from the show that can hopefully help your
00:53restaurant.
00:53So thank you for paying attention.
00:55Thank you for following.
00:56Thank you for subscribing.
00:57Andre Morais, second time on the show.
01:00Hey, great to be here.
01:01Welcome back.
01:02A return guest.
01:03You know, there's very few people that have been return guests on the show.
01:05Is that kind of like an SNL host thing?
01:07It is.
01:07It's a very big deal.
01:08I've done it twice now.
01:09It's a very big deal.
01:10All right.
01:10Welcome back.
01:11Can you give us high level?
01:13What's your position at Pepsi and what are you guys building?
01:15Yeah.
01:16No, thanks for having me here again.
01:17And super excited to talk about what we're doing here, but also what we do at Pepsi in
01:22the digital lab.
01:23And so I head up global digital marketing for PepsiCo away from home.
01:27So working with food service customers, restaurants to hospitality, recreation, retail, everyone
01:34that's serving food with our products.
01:37And our focus really is on helping our customer partners grow their digital ordering, whether
01:43it's online sales, online ordering, or even on-premise, kiosks, menu scans, anywhere where
01:50you're having a digital interaction with your guests and you're not getting to actually have
01:54one of your team members influence that experience.
01:57How can we help our restaurant partners?
01:59How can we help our customer partners to exceed and excel in their digital ordering practice?
02:05And that's our mission.
02:05What's really cool for me is, obviously, we pour Pepsi at Cali Barbecue, but learning
02:11about digital labs when I first had you on the show, to think about the investment that
02:15Pepsi's making and something that is so mission critical.
02:18I mean, our other show that we do, which is our deep thesis, is called Digital Hospitality.
02:23It's understanding that every business now, especially brick and mortar businesses, need
02:26to have a digital first presence.
02:28We need to build for digital the same way we build for our four walls in our business.
02:32Totally.
02:33But we also have to understand that we're in the hospitality business.
02:35So customers are at all these different touch points.
02:38Can you kind of walk us through what Pepsi's doing from a Local Eats standpoint?
02:44Absolutely.
02:45So Local Eats is our program specifically focused on local restaurants.
02:50And so if you've got one location to even upwards of 100 locations, but focused on kind of local
02:56markets, we're here for you through the Local Eats program.
03:00And what Local Eats is, is it's a program that's designed to take care of the restaurant from
03:04a number of different angles.
03:06First and foremost, when a guest walks in the door, right?
03:09What's the experience like there?
03:11So from a Local Eats perspective, we help just make sure that our restaurants are outfitted
03:16inside and out with all of the right materials from a point of sale perspective and everything
03:21that they need to really tell the story of their food and navigate the guests through the ordering
03:26experience there.
03:27But from a digital standpoint as well too, we're looking at that guest that's actually trying
03:32to figure out where to go eat, right?
03:34And so Local Eats has traffic driving media that we actually invest in on behalf of our
03:39customer partners to promote their restaurants, to drive guests to their restaurants.
03:44And it's not just digital media as well too.
03:46It's also out of home media.
03:48It's presence across our TV advertising.
03:51Anything that we're doing where we are talking about Pepsi with food, we're talking about Pepsi
03:55with food at our restaurant partners.
03:57We're talking about our Local Eats restaurants as well too.
04:00And so we're driving traffic to our restaurant partners through Local Eats.
04:03We are helping them convert that traffic to them better too.
04:08And that's one of the key elements there as well too.
04:10It's not just getting people in the door or on the app or on the website, but it's actually
04:14getting people to place an order.
04:16So one of the parts of Local Eats, for example, is we'll do professional photography of the food
04:21at our restaurant partners.
04:23That's amazing.
04:23We'll send a photographer out.
04:24They'll do the shots.
04:26We then have our menu optimization team that goes on any of their platforms, whatever point
04:30of sale system you have, whatever online ordering platforms you have, first party, third party,
04:34and we'll optimize your menus with you.
04:36Make sure that all the photography is there, that everything looks beautiful, that the menu
04:40experience is also one that entices guests to order and to browse the menu as a whole
04:46as well too.
04:47And then capture those conversion rates.
04:49The last part is how do we retain guests?
04:52So we're all about really making sure that we're reaching, converting, and retaining guests
04:56for our customer partners.
04:57And to wrap all of this, the last thing I'll say too is part of the Local Eats program is
05:03a community program.
05:04We call it the Digital and Delivery Community Program.
05:06And it's a series of weeks of a course.
05:10You actually get to join with other restaurant operators live with our team and a number of
05:15other partners that will coach you through several of the critical elements of mastering
05:22digital and delivery ordering.
05:24And our restaurant partners come out of that with great insights on how to improve their
05:28website, how to improve their digital ordering, but also the right partnerships and the right
05:32connections with us to get that all done.
05:34Can you bring us back to the beginning?
05:36When did you realize when you were building out this Digital Labs team, when did you realize
05:40the need?
05:41And what did you expect in the beginning and what has come since that?
05:45So as a company, PepsiCo, we kind of saw the need coming up.
05:50Our insights team was already kind of flagging the trend in rise in digital ordering as early
05:57as 2016, 2017, pre-pandemic, when things started to accelerate a little bit more.
06:02And so the Digital Labs started in 2019, pre-pandemic as well too, to start setting up our customers
06:08for online ordering.
06:09And what a perfect timing that was, because once the pandemic hit, we were equipped to
06:15actually support our restaurant partners.
06:18And what started as an effort to make sure that we're bringing the right perspectives,
06:23that we're bringing the right guidance, and that we are supporting through our products,
06:27through our marketing as well, to how to help our restaurant partners grow, became actually
06:33a growth engine for our restaurant partners, where we're not just providing the context
06:38and point of view and some guidance, but we're actually going one-to-one, hands-on.
06:45We have digital leads across the country that partner personally with our restaurant partners
06:50to understand where they are in their growth journey and provide proprietary tools and services
06:56that we've developed and also set them up with the right partners that we have through
06:59our strategic partnerships.
07:01Can you tell me a little bit about, you had the thesis, you started doing the work, and
07:06now what have you seen now here in 2025?
07:09Yeah, it's been amazing.
07:11It's been one of those things where we just get to-
07:13You're like, yes.
07:14Yeah, we get to reflect on it and just see how much good that we're actually doing for
07:19restaurants, right?
07:20And that's, I think, the last time we talked even too, I mentioned this is the measure of
07:24success for us, right?
07:26If our restaurant partners are growing and if they like what we're bringing them, then
07:31that's the measure of success, right?
07:32Guests are ordering, they're going to our restaurants, they're excelling through the tools and services
07:38and partnerships that we're offering.
07:39So what are we seeing today?
07:41Today, we've actually, through our menu optimization program called Menu Pro, we've worked with over
07:46200,000 restaurants to optimize their menus.
07:50It's over a million menus that we've optimized today.
07:53Over a million menus we've optimized today, globally even too, because we're actually
07:57all over the world with the Digital Lab and Menu Pro.
08:00And what that gives us is tremendous insight to continue to improve.
08:05What are the levers that need tweaking?
08:07What are the changes that we make to customers' menus to make sure that their guests, when they
08:13go on there, are ordering, right?
08:15So that's one of the things where we just continue to see double-digit growth in overall digital
08:20sales for our restaurant partners through it.
08:22We see growth in beverage sales, of course, as well too, but it's profitable growth, which
08:27is what we're really excited about for our restaurant partners as well.
08:30And what we see now through MediaPro as well too, which is our new solution driving traffic
08:36and media to our restaurant partners, is we're starting to see the results as well too of driving
08:41not just digital traffic, but foot traffic, right?
08:45And how important is that to make sure that the digital guest is also an in-person, on-premise
08:51guest to our restaurant partners?
08:53So there's so much we could talk about and I could go on and on and on, but really what
08:57we're seeing is results.
08:58And we're seeing growth and we're seeing how we are truly coming through as the growth
09:03partner for our restaurant partners.
09:05Did you know that Toast powers over 140,000 restaurants across the United States, Canada,
09:12and UK?
09:13It's an incredible company.
09:14I'm on the Toast Customer Advisory Board.
09:16They are proud sponsors of this show, Restaurant Influencers.
09:19We couldn't do it without their support.
09:21They power our barbecue restaurants in San Diego.
09:24If you have questions about Toast, if you're thinking about bringing Toast on to be your
09:29primary technology partner at your restaurants, please reach out to me.
09:33I'm happy to get a local Toast representative to take care of you.
09:36You can reach me at Sean P. Welchef on Instagram.
09:40Once again, thank you to Toast for believing in the power of technology, the power of storytelling,
09:45the power of hospitality.
09:47Back to the show.
09:48Well, I mean, if I'm open and transparent with the audience, which we always try to do
09:51is we went through the Menu Pro optimization with the Southern California team.
09:56Shout out to Kelsey.
09:57They came out to our restaurant.
09:58Eric, myself, we sat down and we went through the Menu Pro.
10:01We have a lot of work to do.
10:03We're a media company and we have a lot of work to do.
10:05But it was really cool to see how many different ways, like you said, over a million menus.
10:11When you think of data storytelling, how can you make an impact on a small restaurant
10:16group like ours all across the country, all across the world?
10:19Well, you take that information and you make it accessible, right?
10:23You make it accessible.
10:24You get people on the team that if somebody's watching this and they are a Pepsi partner,
10:28how much does this cost?
10:30Nothing.
10:31I'm sorry, how much?
10:31It's completely free.
10:32What?
10:32Everything that we offer to our customer partners is completely free.
10:36Yeah.
10:37And that's what we focus on as well, too.
10:40We want to make it easy.
10:41We want to make it accessible.
10:42And we want to bring that expertise that we have with working with global customer partners,
10:47working with menus around the world, media, the powerhouse that Pepsi is from a marketing
10:52perspective, bringing that for free to all of our restaurant partners.
10:56So if you're a Pepsi port, reach out.
10:58So why?
10:59I know Pepsi has been showing up very big in industry events recently.
11:03You're supporting so many restaurant owners all over the country.
11:06Why is it so important for Pepsi to show up here at the National Restaurant Show?
11:09The National Restaurant Show is vital for us.
11:14It's in our blood, right?
11:16It's restaurants.
11:18And these are key partners of ours.
11:20We're really excited to connect with new partners, get to know people who are exploring us,
11:26but also meet with industry peers, tech partners, everybody that's here as well, too.
11:31We come to share.
11:32We come to learn.
11:33We come to connect.
11:35And that's really important to us.
11:36But really, what we're really excited about are the conversations that happen here at the booth.
11:41As people are going to come through the local eats, see the Russell's barbecue transformation
11:45that we're showcasing here, go into the digital lab area, get to experience a bit of the capabilities
11:51that we offer with a teaser of what we're launching now as well, too, right?
11:56And always something new.
11:57That's what we get excited about.
11:59Being at NRA, being at the National Restaurant Association Show here is the opportunity to connect,
12:03to share, to learn, and to partner.
12:06Can you give us an idea of what you guys did for Russell's Barbecue?
12:10We believe a rising tide lifts all ships, and we love that you guys have a barbecue partner in here.
12:15Tell us what you guys did for that.
12:16Yeah, absolutely.
12:17So Russell's Barbecue, we took them through a full suite of local eats transformation.
12:21Everything from menu optimization to the photography, media, out-of-home, digital media, traditional
12:29media, really the key drivers that are part of the local eats package.
12:34And so what you see here is you'll see a bit of the before and after, and you'll see what
12:38their business looks like today, their digital business looks like today, but also what their
12:42on-premise.
12:42We try to recreate a little bit of the experience of what does it look like when we bring in
12:46some of the point-of-sale marketing materials, some of the elements that we help to beautify
12:51the internal presence, and to drive consumers to order as well too, but then we're sharing
12:57the results as well, and we share the results of one partner, and then we share the results
13:02in aggregate across many of our other partners, including you guys, and that's what's really
13:07exciting is that it's not just one.
13:09So it's every partner that we focus on, everyone that we work with, we get to see strong results,
13:16we get to share the performance of whether it's media, menus, photography, our marketing
13:22work, anything that we're doing really is driving results.
13:25Yeah.
13:25I mean, I love the fact when we went through the menu pro optimization, they taught us that
13:31you guys have a partnership with Google.
13:32We were just filming yesterday at the Google offices, and Google's doing a lot of really cool
13:36things to help small businesses.
13:38Can you share a little bit about what you guys are doing with Google?
13:40Yeah, absolutely.
13:41As a former Googler myself-
13:43Oh, really?
13:44Stop it.
13:44Yeah, yeah, yeah.
13:45I didn't know that.
13:45Before coming to PepsiCo, I was at Google and working with restaurants as well too.
13:50So you know a couple of people at this.
13:52Yeah, yeah.
13:52180,000 person.
13:53One of the key things that I knew as well too is just the power of data, the power of storytelling
14:00in the right way to consumers in the moment that they're in, whether they are watching videos
14:05on YouTube, whether they are browsing the web, whether they are searching for something specific.
14:11There are moments in the journey where we want to be telling the story of our brands,
14:15of our partners in different ways as well too.
14:18So one of the ways that we partner with Google, for example, is through our Media Pro program,
14:23where we actually, for every customer that optimizes their menu, we buy Google search
14:29media and Maps media for them on their behalf.
14:32For every location that's been optimized, we then, after the optimization, we drive traffic
14:36to them.
14:37Why do we do it that way?
14:38Because we want to make sure that the traffic that's going is arriving in an optimized menu
14:42at an excellent experience already.
14:44So we first tweak the experience, make sure that the conversion rates are going to be high,
14:48and then we drive the traffic to that.
14:50And that, again, is free of cost to any of our partners.
14:52And we make that investment on their behalf.
14:54That's amazing.
14:54What is Pepsi Drips?
14:57Ah, Pepsi Drips.
14:58Pepsi Drips is exciting.
15:00You guys can see it maybe a little bit right behind me here.
15:03And Drips is such an exciting news from us.
15:08It's such an exciting new effort where we're really leaning into this trend that our insights
15:13team, our culinary teams, our brand teams have seen, where just you and I, consumers,
15:19everybody watching this, we're experimenting with our beverages.
15:23We like taking what we have in our fridge.
15:25We like taking what we have in our pantry and creating a new experience out of it.
15:28And that's really what beverages are.
15:30It's an experience opportunity, too.
15:31We have lots that we can talk about in terms of hydration, but we can also have a great
15:37conversation about the gatherings, the social connections, the moments in which we like to
15:42enjoy a beverage as an experience as well, too.
15:44And so what Drips is, is it's leaning into that trend, into that insight to create this
15:49beverage mixology moment where we take our beverages and we pair them up with mixers and
15:56creams and flavors and lots of other add-ins there that you'll see, whether it's pickle,
16:01or other fruits as well, too, to just create these unique flavors, these unique drinks that
16:08take us to new experiences.
16:10Right.
16:10How are you guys helping on the third-party delivery for restaurants?
16:14Ah.
16:14Yeah.
16:15So on the third-party delivery, we have strategic partnerships with all of the aggregator partners.
16:18Yep.
16:19So whether it's DoorDash, Uber Eats, you name it, we've got strategic partnerships in place
16:24where we actually are able to bring benefits to our restaurant partners.
16:27Okay.
16:28Whether it's our benefits from a media buying perspective and just making sure that promotions
16:33and offers are easier to place and also cheaper to be transparent for our restaurant partners
16:38to actually run.
16:39So that's one of the advantages we bring to them on third-party delivery.
16:43The other one is through our menu optimization service, for example, I should add that our
16:48menu pro service, it's one-to-one, hands-on, but it's also across any aggregator platform,
16:54any point of sale system.
16:56We partner across point of sale aggregators, everyone to make sure that our AI based system
17:02is actually able to just continuously keep menus updated.
17:05So if you've ever experienced an issue with one of your third-party delivery menus where
17:10an item fell off or something wasn't right, the price didn't update, a picture changed,
17:15our system actually continuously monitors for that, just make sure everything stays updated.
17:19That's amazing.
17:20And then we help with the data and understanding about traffic, about conversions, and also
17:26about kind of who are the guests that are coming to your menus?
17:29Who are the guests that are coming to your third-party delivery?
17:31And how can you retain them?
17:33How can you convert them more frequently?
17:34How can you increase their check size?
17:36Those are some of the key focus areas that we have with third-party partners, but you'll
17:39see some of them throughout our booth this weekend as well, too, as they're coming by and sharing
17:44about our partnership with them, too.
17:46And so we're super excited about being able to provide some benefits there.
17:49So you have a really cool tool that somebody that's watching this would be able to participate
17:53in.
17:54It's an audit tool.
17:56What's the audit?
17:57Ah, so we've got two audit tools that I'll tell you about.
18:00One, which is what we know, what we've talked about before.
18:04And another one is, I'll call it an audit tool for now, but I'll introduce it to you in a
18:08moment, which is more of a learning tool as well, too.
18:12And so the first one is called Menu Pro Audit.
18:14And Menu Pro Audit is a proprietary tool we've built that monitors the menus of every restaurant
18:20in the country, digital menus, whether it's aggregator menus, first-party menus.
18:25We are, on a monthly basis, analyzing those, auditing them across all of the key elements
18:31of menu optimization to understand how well our restaurant partners and any restaurant
18:36out there is doing from a menu optimization perspective.
18:38So if you are one of our restaurant partners and you come to us and you say, hey, I want
18:43to learn more about Menu Pro, I want to learn more about Menu Optimization, I'm not going
18:46to give you a generic playbook.
18:48I'm going to give you your playbook.
18:50I'm going to give you your guide that's based on your audit for your restaurant, and we'll
18:54give it to you right then and there because it's live.
18:57It's dynamic.
18:58We can pull it right here for anyone coming to visit us.
19:00We can pull your audit.
19:01We can show it to you with your recommended next steps, with your action items and the lifts
19:05you can expect from making those changes.
19:07So that's one of the audit tools we have, and that is super powerful.
19:11The second one, which we'll be talking about here today and introducing our National Restaurant
19:17Association guests too, is Blueprint.
19:20And Blueprint is completely new, something we're rolling out now.
19:24And what Blueprint is, is meant to be the blueprint for growth for our restaurant partners.
19:29How can we actually guide our partners in growing their digital business, but their overall
19:34presence as well too?
19:36And so what we've heard from restaurants is, this is all great, but I need someone to walk
19:42me through this.
19:42And we have that one-to-one touch point, the consulting, the service there, but we wanted
19:47to go a step further.
19:48What if every restaurant partner had a chief digital officer?
19:52What would that look like?
19:53Right.
19:53What would be the plan they would put together for them?
19:56And that's what Blueprint is.
19:58Blueprint, you come in, you answer a couple of questions, you help us navigate.
20:02It's a conversation.
20:03And think about it as kind of like your digital assistant and your chief digital virtual officer,
20:09so to say.
20:10Right.
20:10But Blueprint then learns about your business, learns where your strengths and your opportunities
20:15are from how you're reaching, converting, and retaining guests, and creates a customized
20:20one-of-one plan for your business to help you grow with what are the near-term things
20:26you need to do?
20:27What are the long-term things you need to do?
20:28And it's an ongoing living, breathing tool as well, too.
20:33As you make changes, update that you've made those changes, and we'll update our scoring,
20:38our analysis, our audit of your business to recommend you the next steps as well, too.
20:42That's really cool.
20:43If you guys are watching this, please subscribe to our Restaurant Technology Substack newsletter.
20:48We did a full audit menu pro at our restaurant.
20:53We didn't score very well.
20:54That's a teaser.
20:55But our goal is to build in public.
20:57So we're going to take those learnings.
20:59We've already optimized the menu.
21:01The team at Pepsi has done an incredible job optimizing our toast menu, our DoorDash, our
21:06Uber Eats menu.
21:07We're going to share those results, but we'll put a link in the show notes so you guys can
21:11check that out.
21:12Final parting words.
21:13What gets you hopeful for 2025 and beyond for restaurants?
21:17There's so much.
21:18There's so much that gets me hopeful.
21:19I think what gets me hopeful is that we're seeing that consumers, the guests, continue to
21:26want to go to restaurants, continue to want to eat out, continue to want to order in.
21:30And restaurants, more than ever, increasingly a part of our lives, increasingly a part of
21:35how we connect, how we build community, how we build our lives as well, too.
21:39And so I'm just thrilled to be a part of what we're doing with Local Eats, with the Digital
21:44Lab.
21:44I'm hopeful for the continued success that we're going to be able to drive to restaurant
21:48partners.
21:49And I just love the stories when I hear them of, you know, we're being able to stay in
21:54business.
21:54We're being able to continue to grow.
21:56We're expanding because business is doing so well.
21:59That's what keeps me hopeful.
22:00That's what keeps me going.
22:01That's what keeps me really, really energized about the work that we're doing and about
22:05restaurants in 2025.
22:06Oh, what keeps me hopeful is when you get a brand as big as Pepsi, it's the humans.
22:11And from the time that we started working with Pepsi at our barbecue restaurant at Cali
22:15Barbecue, Josh Bowman, who has moved up many levels now, he treated us like leaders.
22:21He knew what we wanted.
22:22He worked so hard with our U.S. foods relationship to help us build a better bar program, a better
22:27restaurant program.
22:28And everybody that we've worked with here at Digital Labs, you guys have been awesome.
22:31That's awesome.
22:32If you guys are watching this, please contact your local Pepsi rep.
22:36Find out more about Digital Labs.
22:37Find out about Menu Pro.
22:38Find out about the audit tool.
22:41And improve your sales.
22:42You know, use these tools that are literally helping us build more profitable, more sustainable
22:47and more impactful restaurants.
22:48Absolutely.
22:48And if you're a local restaurant, pepsi.com slash loco eats.
22:52Perfect.
22:52That's a great place to get started and learn more, get started on your journey with us.
22:56Amazing.
22:56Well, thank you all for watching.
22:58We appreciate it.
22:58Please subscribe.
22:59Please share with a restaurant friend.
23:01And as always, stay curious, get involved and don't be afraid to ask for help.
23:04We'll catch you guys next episode.
23:09Thank you for listening.
23:10If you've made it this long, you are part of the community.
23:13You're part of the tribe.
23:14We can't do this alone.
23:15We started, no one was listening.
23:17Now we have a community of digital hospitality leaders all over the globe.
23:21Please check out our new series called Restaurant Technology Substack.
23:25It's a Substack newsletter.
23:27It's free.
23:27It's some of our deep work on the best technology for restaurants.
23:31Also go to YouTube and subscribe to Cali BBQ Media.
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23:37We've been putting out a lot of new original content.
23:39Hopefully you guys like that content.
23:41If you want to work with us, go to betheshow.media.
23:44We show up all over the United States, some international countries.
23:48We would love to work with you and your growing brand on digital storytelling.
23:51You can reach out to me anytime at Sean P. Welchef on Instagram.
23:55I'm weirdly available.
23:56Stay curious, get involved, and don't be afraid to ask for help.
23:59We'll catch you next episode.
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