If it's related to foodservice, we can help.

The restaurant industry was already one of the most complex businesses in the world before the Fourth Industrial Revolution arrived, introducing new consumer demands for innovation and convenience, new technologies for managing operations and connecting with guests, and a fast pace of disruption that has helped upstart companies and segments leapfrog established organizations. Now, risks are coming out of nowhere, threatening to blindside even the savviest leaders.

Aaron Allen & Associates is a global strategy firm focused exclusively on the foodservice and hospitality industry. Clients come to us when embarking on seismic transformation and initiatives important to the history and critical to the future of their careers and companies. 

We help hospitality businesses be brilliant at both hospitality and business.

Ultimately, we help our clients solve their most complex challenges and achieve their most ambitious aims in areas related to growth, performance optimization, enterprise value enhancement, cross-border expansion, portfolio strategy, sales-building initiatives, opportunity identification, prioritization, and sizing, development of a modernized investment thesis, transformations, and turnarounds. 

Combining deep and diverse experience and expertise and applying a holistic and integrated approach with focus on delivering results (rather than just reports), some of the ways we support our clients include: 

RESEARCH

Research

Industry and Market Landscape | Consumer Trends and Evolving Dining Behavior | Category and Competitive Landscape | Opportunity Identification and Sizing

ANALYTICS

Analytics

Performance Measurement Systems | Predictive Analytics and Models | Matching Performance to Market Conditions | Projections and Forecasts | Qualitative and Quantitative Insights

MARKETING

Marketing

Marketing Audits and Program Assessment | Strategic Plans and Budget Allocations | Go-to-Market Strategy | Toolkits and Playbooks | System-Level MarTech Initiatives

COMMUNICATIONS

Communications

Corporate Communications | Publicity and Earned Media | Reputation Management | Associate Engagement | Positioning and Key Message Development

OPERATIONS

Operations

Operations Audits and Assessments | Guest Journey Mapping and Experience Design | Sales Mix and Cost Optimization | Throughput and Service Time Optimization | Performance Measurement and Optimization

EXPANSION

Expansion

Where to Play, How to Win | Business and Brand Strategy | Feasibility Studies and Business Plans | Investor Presentations and Models | Cross-Border Plans and Budgets

TRANSFORMATION

Transformation

Turnarounds | Renewal and Revitalization | Brand and Portfolio Strategy | Concept and Prototype Development | Corporate Goal Setting and Organizational Alignment

TECHNOLOGY

Technology

Enterprise Systems Review and Gap Analysis | Partner Identification and Sourcing | Establishing Business and Technical Requirements | Integration and Implementation Support

PRIVATE EQUITY

Private Equity

Sector Landscape | Investment Thesis Ideation | Commercial Due Diligence | Operational Due Diligence | Post-Acquisition Plans and Priorities | Operating Partner

There is more data produced every 48 hours than in the first 5,000 years of recorded history — and most of it can be accessed with a quick search on a free platform. However, not even the most advanced artificial intelligence known to man, with all of the world’s data at its disposal, can answer the kind of complex and human-centric questions you need answers to when aiming to be among the best in the global foodservice and hospitality industry. That’s when we can help. 

How We Work

There are four primary ways we structure work and teams. The drivers are based on the number and seniority levels of team members, time, travel, granularity of analysis (from anecdotal to quantitative), size of the system and geographies included in the purview, economies gained by sequencing with other work streams, and other technical requirements necessary to deliver on intended outcomes.

Interested in working together?
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Aaron Allen & Associates is a global restaurant consulting firm representing clients spanning 6 continents, 100 countries, and collectively posting more than $200b in revenue annually. We work with senior leaders to identify, size, and seize commercial opportunities — while mitigating their risks — as they navigate the complexities of shifting industry dynamics in pursuit of achieving their most ambitious aims and solving their most complex challenges.

Starting with actionable intelligence that combines our global experience and local expertise with custom research, we partner with clients to identify needs, define business requirements, and design and deploy new initiatives in the field.

Our clients come to us to better understand and capitalize on future of foodservice implications, sourcing capital and concepts, M&A opportunities, cross-border expansion, countermeasures to declining sales in saturated and slowing markets or categories, and new approaches to their planning processes that anticipate and respond to the rapid evolution of disruptive technologies, emerging consumer dining behaviors, and increased competitive dynamics.

How Can We Serve You?

Across functional areas and throughout all phases of the business life cycle, we work with the world’s leading foodservice and hospitality companies on strategy for growth and expansion, performance optimization, enterprise value enhancement, and risk mitigation.

State of the Industry

In some instances, what’s needed is a fit-for-purpose and data-driven report that sizes a market, quantifies an opportunity, isolates variables, and renders citable and irrefutable facts about the state of — and implications for — an industry, market, company, channel, category, competitor, or consumer trend.

Growth and Expansion

Informed by broad, global experience and deep, local expertise, our growth and expansion engagements increase sales, create innovative concepts, penetrate new markets, and close important acquisitions, all focused on developing sustainable value over the long-term.

Performance Optimization

Most restaurants bleed profits and potential unnecessarily. There are a range of short-, mid-, and long-term opportunities, but the challenge is identifying which will increase sales, build value, and secure a brand’s future. As trusted external advisors and experienced practitioners, we come at these questions from a different angle, identifying, framing, and claiming opportunities.

Enterprise Value Enhancement

We work with senior leaders to find and unlock trapped and untapped value. Our customized and data-driven insights determine feasibility, build bullet-proof business cases, and develop multi-year roadmaps with tightly defined resource allocations and projections about both financial and non-financial returns.

Risk and Relevance

We review risk and relevance through the lens of industry forces and consumer behavior, combining operating and financial data to build dynamic and responsive models that deliver actionable insights. Our deep and broad experience in global foodservice means that we can advise operators about what’s now and what’s next — and why it matters.

Blending Strategic and Tactical Efforts to Keep the Business Healthy, Especially During its Growth Stages

At every stage of the business life cycle, a foodservice operation faces a unique set of challenges and opportunities: from the growing pains of emerging brands to the turnaround efforts that revive distressed systems. We leverage our experience across the life of an operation to help leaders shave decades off the development cycle and define the best path forward for their organizations.

Start-ups

Create business plans and financial models, develop brand identity and strategy, ensure the right targets are in place

Emerging

Prioritize resource allocation and augment existing infrastructure through periods of rapid growth

Established

Develop new products and profit centers, grow new brands in the portfolio, and expand to foreign-to-them markets

Mature

Identify areas of growth, evaluate  portfolios, and challenge assumptions and the status quo

Distressed

Evaluate and provide strategic triage and turnaround plans to re-engage key stakeholders and renew brands

Unlocking Value in Foodservice for Hotels, Investors, Tech Companies, and Suppliers

In addition to restaurant companies, we serve in a strategic advisory capacity to senior executives of hotel chains, private equity firms, institutional investors, technology providers, foodservice industry suppliers, and other entities with interests and stakes in the future of foodservice.

Foodservice Focus

In addition to restaurant companies, we serve in a strategic advisory capacity to senior executives of hotel chains, private equity firms, institutional investors, technology providers, foodservice industry suppliers, and other entities with interests and stakes in the future of foodservice.

Hotel F&B
Operators

  • Convenience engineering and guest-journey mapping to adapt to rapidly changing consumer expectations
  • Menu engineering and corporate-level marketing frameworks to help operators compete more effectively with street-side restaurants

Investors

  • Sector analyses and sourcing that find the best matches between capital and concepts
  • Commercial and operational due diligence to unlock value and gain traction quickly
  • Post-merger integration plans and exit strategies that maximize return

Technology
Companies

  • Market landscape to size total addressable market and identify potential partners
  • C-Suite level advisory to bridge the gap between tech and foodservice to penetrate new markets
  • Marketing strategy to translate product benefits to real-world use

Foodservice
Suppliers

  • Custom research to advance understanding of foodservice industry, operators, and consumers and unlock new revenue streams
  • Channel and category management to extend the brand, develop concepts, and enter new markets

Services Right-Sized for Clients’ Needs

We are built to deliver unparalleled results for clients posting anywhere between $20 million and $10+ billion in revenues. Owing to the immense complexity of the restaurant industry, Aaron Allen & Associates has developed a unique, holistic approach to consulting work that relies on equal parts chemistry and collaboration with each client, and all of our engagements are led personally by our Chief Strategist, Aaron Allen. The options below are defined by location, timing, number of team members, and the level of intensity of the work.

How We Work

From think tank–style jam sessions to long-term partnerships, we have an option that is right-sized for your needs and goals.

The four boxes below frame our services in terms of timing, complexity, and the application of resources. Moving left to right, the intensity of our involvement — from length of engagement to number of Associates and principals involved — increases. We’re confident with these options that we’ll be able to find the perfect fit for you and your team.

1) Sessions

Best for work that can be performed in less than 30 days, including market landscapes, product or service reviews, and challenging or validating business case assumptions

2) Engagements

Deep dives and comprehensive reviews; perfect for developing an unbiased, third-party understanding of performance and sizing new opportunities

3) Retainers

Typically following a session or engagement; enables ongoing support through implementation, a retained advisory team, or board participation from Aaron Allen

4) Partnerships

A combination of the other options, ideal for long-term relationships directed at bridging the gap between restaurant chain operators, tech companies, and investors

Each option delivers exceptional returns, helping leaders of companies across sectors with performance optimization and value enhancement initiatives, growth and expansion strategy, and efforts to maintain relevance and mitigate risk.

Some Components of Our Areas of Focus

We provide clients with fresh insights, data-driven diagnostic work that frames and prioritizes the issues, and bite-sized recommendations that roll up to bullet-proof plans — worthy of the risks to company and careers — in the service of shareholders and stakeholders alike.

Intelligence & Insights

  • State of the Industry
  • Research and Analytics
  • Market Landscape
  • Competitive Landscape
  • Category Landscape
  • Consumer Trends
  • Opportunity Identification and Sizing
  • Performance Measurement
  • Benchmarking and Comparable Analysis
  • Audits and Gap Analysis
  • Total Addressable Market
  • Sensitivity Analysis
  • Market Share
  • What-if Scenarios

Growth & Expansion

  • Business and Brand Strategy
  • Feasibility Studies
  • Business Plans
  • Investment Thesis
  • Financial Models
  • Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Capital and Concepts
  • Concept Development
  • Channel and Category Development
  • International Expansion Planning
  • Evaluating New Products and Services
  • Operational Audits
  • Supply Chain

Performance Optimization

  • Portfolio
  • Labor Models
  • Employee and Management Turnover
  • Food Costs
  • Menu Engineering
  • Drive-Thru
  • Delivery Strategy
  • Marketing
  • Operational Effectiveness
  • Organizational Design
  • Industrial Engineering
  • Experience Design
  • QA/QC Systems and Reporting
  • Variance Diagnostics

Strategy

  • Brand and Product Differentiation
  • Revitalization Initiatives
  • Channel Strategy
  • Marketing
  • Communications
  • Mandatories and Modernization
  • Technology
  • Turnarounds
  • Brand Translation
  • Pricing Strategy
  • Transformation Initiatives
  • Annual and Long-Range Planning
  • Risk Mitigation