Shake Shack Protects Margins and Drives Operational Consistency Across 400+ Locations with Crunchtime

Starting from a single hot dog stand in New York City, Shake Shack has scaled to over 400 company-owned locations across the US. To maintain high standards during rapid nationwide growth, Shake Shack partnered with Crunchtime to consolidate back-of-house operational technology. By replacing fragmented tools with unified inventory management and operations execution solutions, Shake Shack empowers operators to drive store-level profitability, reduce administrative friction, and maintain quality across all locations.

CHALLENGE

Maintaining Quality Standards Through Fast-Paced Growth

Rapidly scaling a fast-casual brand risks creating operational drift, where individual locations slowly stray from core brand standards and quality metrics. Michael Boyan, Director of Ops Systems at Shake Shack, reflected on the brand’s expansion path: "It's been a huge journey now getting to over 400 company-owned stores in the US. As we continue to grow, our goal is 1,500 locations here in the US."

Delivering consistent quality across hundreds of kitchens requires strict procedural discipline, particularly as menu innovation expands. Michael shared, "We use premium ingredients. We cook everything to order. So we make sure we have the checklist in place to ensure operators meet the standards and operate at the level of excellence we expect. Crunchtime helps support that." Shake Shack’s leadership needed restaurant management solutions that would keep operators focused on guest hospitality rather than burdening them with manual tasks.

“Customizable data and formulas in Crunchtime Insights flow into our data warehouse for operations and other departments' desired reporting to be available, while allowing us to share inventory and purchasing data with vendors regularly to document credits owed for quicker turnaround and more accurate inventory.”

Michelle Kim
Senior Manager, Operation Systems
Shake Shack

SOLUTION

Streamlining Operations with Connected Tools

Rather than piecemealing multiple point solutions together, Shake Shack chose the Crunchtime Operations Management Suite to unify digital operations and inventory control. Michael explained, "The biggest feature that we like to use is automated reporting, emailing out to our operators so that at the beginning of the day, whether you're an area director or regional director, you get a view into exactly how your store performed yesterday. It gives those leaders the opportunity to then go into their stores and have a coaching moment."

Key capabilities of the Crunchtime suite include:

Automated Daily Reporting: Area and regional directors receive morning performance summaries to instantly identify operational opportunities.
LTO and Operational Checklists: Store teams complete digital routines for every limited-time offer (LTO) rollout, driving strategic ingredient ordering, station setup, and team practice across every Shack.
Store-Level Profitability and Inventory Tracking: Operators complete inventory counts, monitor waste, and track Actual vs. Theoretical (AvT) variance to protect bottom-line margins.
Enterprise Data Integration and Vendor Credits: Crunchtime Insights feeds custom operational data into central data warehouses while automating weekly vendor credit reporting to protect inventory accuracy.

Explaining the key advantages of Crunchtime Insights for enterprise analytics and vendor accountability, Michelle Kim, Senior Manager, Operation Systems at Shake Shack, shared, "Customizable data and formulas in Crunchtime Insights flow into our data warehouse for operations and other departments' desired reporting to be available, while allowing us to share inventory and purchasing data with vendors regularly to document credits owed for quicker turnaround and more accurate inventory."

Highlighting the scope of the Crunchtime suite, Michael said, "We have used Crunchtime now for a few years. Having Crunchtime to support our operators, making sure that they're doing everything they need to using their operational checklists, counting inventory, tracking AvT, waste, making sure that their Shack-level operating profits are where they need to be to keep supporting that growth."

RESULTS

Food Cost Wins, Tighter Waste Control, and Empowered Operators

By unifying inventory workflows, daily execution routines, and advanced analytics, Shake Shack unlocked measurable efficiency gains while protecting store-level margins during periods of market volatility.

Tighter Waste Control and Lowered Targets
Enhanced visibility into Actual vs. Theoretical (AvT) variance significantly curtailed waste volume across high-value core ingredients—such as custom beef blend, custard, and buns. By leveraging Crunchtime tools to pinpoint and eliminate waste in these top-tier cost categories, Shake Shack successfully lowered its FY '26 waste goal by 200 basis points (bps). Michael stated, "I think the biggest wins that we've seen are big reductions in our highest cost products. And then for our leadership team to look into where we can dial in and make changes has had a huge impact on our overall waste and an AvT variance that we see."

Protecting Margins Amid Cost Hikes and LTO Expansion
The Crunchtime suite provided macro-level trends that cross-functional departments translated into actionable store-level routines. This data-driven foundation enabled Shake Shack to protect profit margins despite unprecedented cost increases in beef and core ingredients, while simultaneously achieving its labor targets during a 3x increase in culinary LTO rollouts.

Streamlined Back-Office Workflows
Consolidating store workflows into the suite allowed general managers to spend less time behind a desk and more time on the floor developing team members and engaging with guests. Michael remarked, "Crunchtime definitely has helped our operators spend less time on the administrative tasks that they have."

"Crunchtime supports our teams to be able to meet that standard that we're expecting from our operators and that our guests expect from us when they come to eat at Shake Shack," Michael concluded. By eliminating back-office friction and protecting store margins, Crunchtime gives Shake Shack the scalable operational foundation it needs to achieve its nationwide expansion goals. Most importantly, giving hours back to restaurant leaders keeps teams focused on delivering exceptional food quality and Enlightened Hospitality to every guest.

“We have used Crunchtime now for a few years. Having Crunchtime to support our operators, making sure that they're doing everything they need to using their operational checklists, counting inventory, tracking AvT, waste, making sure that their Shack-level operating profits are where they need to be to keep supporting that growth.”

Michael Boyan
Director of Ops Systems
Shake Shack