Fresh Kitchen Increases Speed of Service and Order Accuracy with Brink POS®
TECH CHALLENGES
• Cumbersome ordering system
• Obsolete, legacy POS software
• Limited customer payment options
• Complex, multi-vendor tech stack
TECH INTEGRATIONS AND SOLUTIONS
• PAR Brink POS®
• PAR Payments
• PAR KDS
• PAR Hardware
TECH INTEGRATION RESULTS*
• An average 4% increase in order accuracy
• An average 15% increase in order speed
* Industry standard, but not yet validated
In 2021, Fresh Kitchen turned to PAR Technology to deploy a configurable point-of-sale system that could accommodate both cloud-based and on-premises ordering—and enable customers to complete their orders in under 60 seconds.
Part of the Ciccio Restaurant Group, Fresh Kitchen is a modern, fast-casual dining concept offering premium gluten-free, non-dairy, vegan-friendly bowls and homemade sauces, as well as pressed juices, homemade teas, and agua frescas without added refined sugars. With 12 locations throughout the Tampa, Orlando, and South Florida markets, Fresh Kitchen plans to expand throughout the state of Florida over the next several years.
According to Daniel Meretsky, Vice President and Head of Technology, Fresh Kitchen “wanted to have the ability to have a Near Field Communication (NFC) payment option that allows PARPay, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and other payment opportunities, but wouldn’t lock them in to any single card processor.” Additionally, they wanted a point-of-sale system that could be deployed quickly, at scale, without compromising quality.
“We wanted to ensure that the system was always on the forefront of integrations with loyalty solutions and third parties,” said Meretsky. “One that offered multiple levels of team members’ security and has a very stable platform. We did an RFP with several companies and PAR came out to be the one that met all the requirements that we wanted. When we showcased it to a few of our other C-suite executives they really enjoyed the PAR Brink POS® experience.”
“We wanted to ensure that the
system was always on the forefront
of integrations with loyalty solutions
and third parties.”
DANIEL MERETSKY
FRESH KITCHEN’S VICE PRESIDENT AND HEAD OF TECHNOLOGY
Fresh Kitchen Increases Speed of Service and Order Accuracy with Brink POS®
“I have never seen a team more organized or have more complete training support implemented for a platform.”
JAMES GALLOWAY,
24X7 HOSPITALITY TECHNOLOGY
Brink POS® Increases Service Speed and Order Accuracy
With the help of PAR and 24×7 Hospitality Technology, Brink implementation specialists, Fresh Kitchen deployed Brink POS® equipped with EMV card readers, PAR KDS, and speed screens designed to not only support order flow but also unify execution across all ordering channels. According to Meretsky, the speed screen layout custom designed and tested by Matt McBrayer, Project Manager of Technology for the Ciccio Group, was a critical feature of the new point-of-sale system allowing Fresh Kitchen cashiers to place orders on a single screen in a matter of seconds.
PAR KDS transformed service times, boosted order accuracy, and allows Fresh Kitchen to now serve every bowl with confidenceat record speed. The addition of EMV card readers was also a“huge win” because now customers have more payment options—from PARPay and Apple Pay, to Samsung Pay and PayPal with NFC. The overhaul has also streamlined the entire tech stack, which was previously a tangle of increasingly incompatible, multi-vendor systems.
A Seamless and Easy Implementation
As Fresh Kitchen begins deploying Brink POS® at all remaining service locations, team members are embracing the upgrade. It takes only a few days for many of the front-of-house staff to adapt to and gain competency in the new system.
According to Meretsky, the System Administrators for Fresh Kitchen, Stephen Cothron and Richard Henderson, played a critical role in managing the Hardware installations and 3rd party integrations for the first few location rollouts and helped develop the playbook used for all future POS installations at Fresh Kitchen. The Brink POS® deployment became so smooth that it eliminated the need for onsite support from PAR, 24×7 Hospitality Technology, or even the Fresh Kitchen tech team when they opened their latest location in Winter Garden. “It went so smoothly with zero issues that we were just there to give emotional support,” said Meretsky.
“This [Fresh Kitchen] implementation was one of the
easiest things that we have ever been a part of,” agreed James Galloway of 24×7 Hospitality Technology. “We have never seen a team more organized or have more complete training support implemented for a platform. It was truly a seamless implementation.”