Agenda
Our daylong conference provides an ideal platform for operators, suppliers and technology leaders to converge to shine a light on the leading tech innovations in the sector.
REGISTER YOUR INTERESTSessions
A blend of presentations, panel sessions and networking time, Hostech is the perfect place to discuss market disruptors, best-in-class concepts, headwinds and opportunities.
While speakers for 2023 are to be announced, take a look at this year's sessions below.
The Four Pillars: Jatin Chandwani, chief technology officer, KFC UK & Ireland
Jatin will share progress on the four pillars of the company’s digital and technology strategy. In an exclusive Hostech presentation, he will discuss the brand’s focus on digital experiences, data analytics, restaurant automation and proactive service, as the strategy enters its third and final year.
Digital milestones: Neil Miller, chief customer officer, itsu
The shift from footfall to fingers: Having worked with McDonald’s, KFC, Samsung, Adidas and now itsu, chief customer officer Neil Miller will discuss how key digital milestones have impacted F&B, including the explosive growth of e-commerce and the advent of smartphones. He will also put the direct-to-consumer goldrush into context and set out the challenges itsu
Loyalty: Sarah Venning, chief information & transformation officer, Pret A Manger
Sarah will discuss the pilot launch of Pret’s highly anticipated loyalty scheme, Pret Perks. Now being beta tested with its Pret Coffee Subscribers, Pret Perks will allow customers to earn stars every time they shop or use their coffee subscription at Pret or via Click & Collect. The scheme is the latest step in Pret’s omnichannel transformation plan, which aims to bring Pret to more people and enhance its digital offering.
Data Panel: Hannah Berry, director of marketing & communications, Corbin & King, Nick Liddle, commercial director, Vita Mojo & Erica Livermore, chief technology officer, Fridays
There was exponential growth of digital adoption driven by Covid-19, but wholesale digital transformation remains a work in progress. This panel will explore how businesses are capturing customer data, in order to drive sales through targeted marketing, boost operational efficiency and inform effective menu engineering.
Digital engagement panel: Ben Hibbard, head of marketing Turtle Bay, Libby Andrews, marketing director, Pho, Nish Bhattarai, digital marketing lead, Pizza Pilgrims
Social media continues to be a cost-effective way of targeting consumers, but the hospitality sector is yet to fully take advantage of it. Our panellists discuss how they are harnessing platforms such as Instagram and Tik Tok to get bums on seats and how they manage to keep pace with the fast-moving world of digital media.
Delivery Panel: Daniel Smith, delivery director, McDonalds UK&I, Max Rawlinson, commercial director, Deliveroo Editions
Delivery emerged as a clear winner during the pandemic, helping brands reach customers during Covid and accelerating consumer trends around convenience and on-demand. With digital sales reshaping the sales mix of forward-thinking operators, managing this new capacity with efficiency and speed is an increasingly central part of the conversation. In this panel we will explore how brands and aggregators are using tech to manage this surging demand.
Reputation Panel: Chris Sparling, CX strategy director, Reputation and Megan Burton-Brown, head of marketing, Tortilla
Managing reputations across multiple channels, in the pandemic and beyond.
With restaurants and pubs still feeling the impact of the pandemic, having a strong online reputation and robust customer experience strategy could be the difference between success and failure. Our panel of experts will share how they have managed the plethora of feedback about their brands and how it can positively impact their digital presence and improve guest experiences. We will also discuss what the future of CX looks like as businesses start to take an increasingly omnichannel approach.
Payment: the $100m question: Victor Lugger, co-founder & CEO, Big Mamma Group & sunday
Victor describes his unique journey as an operator launching and attracting $100m funding for sunday, a dedicated tech solution for restaurants, and its progress so far.
Digital only foodcos: Anton Soulier, founder & CEO, Taster
Redefining a 21st century restaurant group: With the delivery-only market predicted to grow to $1 trillion by 2030, Anton Soulier, founder and CEO of Taster, will speak about how his company took the decision to build its own digital solution in-house. He will also give an overview of how tech enables digital-only food companies to expand at pace, and how digital solutions can help make operations more efficient and increase margins by tackling issues such as food waste.
REEF Technology - Digitising urban spaces: Chris Sargeant - VP REEF Kitchens Europe
With a commitment to open 700 Wendy’s delivery kitchens in the U.S., Canada and the UK over the next five years, REEF Technology bills itself as the largest operator of mobility, logistics hubs and delivery restaurants in the world. In this exclusive presentation, VP REEF Kitchens Europe Chris Sargeant will talk about how the SoftBank-backed tech company is expanding its UK operations by bringing delivery-only kitchen partnerships to repurposed urban environments.
Automation & Robots: Barney Wragg, CEO, Karakuri
Staffing is one of the biggest challenges facing the hospitality industry, with food quality and wastage not far behind. In this innovator session, Barney Wragg, CEO of Karakuri, will set out a vision of robots and humans working efficiently in partnership in the kitchens of tomorrow – and share insights from a pilot at Ocado's staff restaurant, where Karakuri's Semblr robot has been trialled for the last three months.
Tech ecosystems: Whitney Myrus, founder and managing director, Franchise Growth & Development
Whitney will discuss how he has successfully brought restaurant brands including The Halal Guys, Eggslut, and Orange Buffalo to the UK via franchising and how he has led the procurement of multiple technology sets to create technology ecosystems that are cost effective but also provide valuable customer and business insights.