Five Guys, renowned for its indulgent burgers, fries, and casual ambiance, has grown from a handful of restaurants in Virginia in 1986 to become a global sensation with over 1,700 locations worldwide. With more growth comes more complex issues with management, especially regarding access to data and the ability of franchises to operate independently.
Five Guys began searching for a back-of-house platform that would provide access to real-time data and grant franchisees the autonomy to manage labor and food operations effectively. By finding this platform, Five Guys was better able to ensure brand consistency. “We needed a solution that could handle the volume of our operations,” says George Anthony, Crunchtime administrator at Five Guys. “Franchisees range in size from four–100 locations, so operational needs can vary significantly depending on the group.”
Implementing new technology is a challenge, especially when it needs to be rolled out to 1,700 restaurants. However, according to a case study done by Crunchtime on Five Guys’ implementation of the restaurant management platform, the brand was able to implement the platform at all 500 corporate locations within three months. “From there we were able to convince around 120–130 franchises to adopt Crunchtime, and, in the last few years, we added about another 110 franchise locations,” Anthony says.
Crunchtime offers mobile apps to go along with its platform to increase access to data for employees and operators. The apps include Teamworx, Counter, Impact, and Reconciler. “Teamworx allows us to look at sales and compliance requirements to manage shift hours,” Anthony says. “We can schedule each hour based on the number of sales, and make sure we have enough people on a shift to take care of that volume while remaining within compliance guidelines.”
Crunchtime has simplified traditional manual processes with inventory and counting processes. What once was a pen-and-paper job is now loaded into an app and is faster and easier. “We tell our managers they need to be on Crunchtime 10–15 minutes every day to ensure their inventory is accurate by reconciling all invoices,” Anthony says. “Perpetual inventory changes every 15 minutes, so operators must stay up to speed. Crunchtime has great real-time alerts that keep them all on top of this.”
Within the first three years, Five Guys exceeded its goals with Crunchtime. Five Guys is now using Crunchtime’s Impact app to view performance metrics at 50 restaurants and see how actual vs. theoretical food cost variance is performing. Five Guys’ goal is for this metric to be below one percent, and in the three years of using Crunchtime to measure AvT, Five Guys has never exceeded .041 percent.
In the relentless pursuit of perfection, Five Guys has wielded data as a powerful tool to conquer the challenges of growth and autonomy. The brand’s partnership with Crunchtime has become a model of effective collaboration, showcasing the potential of technology to drive success in the ever-evolving landscape of the restaurant industry. Five Guys plans to expand with 100 new U.S. locations with Crunchtime giving the operators insights into data to make those plans a reality.
To learn more, visit the Crunchtime website.
