How SPB Hospitality
Leveraged the Crunchtime
Operations Management
Suite to Save $7M

SPB Hospitality is a leading nationwide restaurant franchisor and operator, managing a diverse portfolio of brands. With hundreds of locations across the United States, its concepts span a wide operational spectrum, including breweries, fast casual, quick-service, and full-service restaurants. Among its prominent brands are Krystal, Stoney River Steakhouse and Grill, and J. Alexander’s.

Gong cha Uses Crunchtime Ops Execution to Improve Task Completion, Guest Return Visits, and Brand Standards

Gong cha increased brand standards compliance and improved above-store oversight across its 400+ stores in North America with Ops Execution. The increased visibility and access to real-time data empowers leadership to make more informed decisions and will help scale its store and field operations teams as it adds 300+ U.S. locations in the next two years.

7M USD

saved on food costs

1.5%

reduction in food variance

4hours

saved monthly on inventory counts

CHALLENGE

Fragmentation and Inefficiency

SPB Hospitality operates a nationwide portfolio across several distinct restaurant concepts. Managing such a diverse footprint was historically plagued by fragmented data and manual labor. The organization previously used three different software systems for inventory alone, creating inefficient, disjointed processes that made it nearly impossible to standardize food cost control at scale.

Beyond inventory, its legacy scheduling software was cumbersome and time-consuming for field teams. Essential tasks, like shift swaps and time-off requests, had to be managed manually, and the system’s forecasting capabilities failed to meet the demands of a modern workforce. Without a single source of truth, corporate leaders lacked the high-level visibility required to identify cost leaks or ensure labor percentages remained stable across multiple brands.

To regain control, SPB Hospitality implemented a consolidated strategy by deploying the Crunchtime Operations Management Suite for both inventory and labor. This integrated solution replaced paper-based workflows with a modernized, mobile-first ecosystem fl exible enough to accommodate the specific needs of each unique restaurant concept.

Integrated Inventory Control: Using the Crunchtime Inventory Mobile App, teams transitioned from manual clipboards to standardized walking paths and real-time syncing. This ensured inventory counts were completed regularly and on time, allowing above-store leaders to actively participate inthe review process and hold stores accountable.

Automated Labor Optimization: Crunchtime’s forecasting engine predicts labor needs for every shift, allowing managers to see exactly how many hours to schedule to match demand. SPB also uses Crunchtime’s staffi ng templates to provide a baseline for different roles, reducing manual guesswork when creating schedules.

Mobile Team Engagement: The Crunchtime Labor Mobile App digitized the employee experience, enabling staff to swap shifts and request time off on their phones. Managers can now approve or deny these changes with just a few clicks, drastically reducing administrative time.

Operational Visibility: By centralizing food and labor data, SPB gained newfound visibility into operations. This transparency empowered managers to drill down into specific food items or labor metrics to understand exactly where waste or over- scheduling was occurring.

Michael Matos, Sr. Director of Ops Services, noted that this commitment to innovation has been central to SPB’s success. “By leveraging Crunchtime’s suite, we’ve been able to achieve meaningful cost savings, streamline processes, and empower our teams to ‘Serve People Better’ and deliver exceptional guest experiences across our brands,” said Michael.

This sentiment is echoed by the improved accountability found in the field. Michael previously highlighted how the digital transition changed leadership dynamics: “Our directors and above-store leaders are now much more actively involved in the inventory review process because the stores are now completing their inventory counts regularly and on time.” He added that access to this real-time knowledge has helped SPB obtain buy-in from managers and establish a new level of accountability.

Partner Brand Guidelines

These guidelines are your go-to resource for representing the Crunchtime brand accurately across your website and marketing channels. By consistently applying our core brand elements—including our logo, solution lock-ups, and color palette—you help maintain a unified, strong brand presence that builds trust with our mutual customers.

As a partner, you have access to ready-made visual assets designed to help you showcase Crunchtime Kitchen and Crunchtime Host. Please share this guide with your marketing team, product managers, graphic designers, and any other stakeholders to ensure all communications align with our branding policies.

SOLUTION

Real-time visibility and standardized operations for more compliance and efficiency in stores

Gong cha adopted Ops Execution to standardize operations and improve communication between stores, above-store teams, and headquarters. Rolling out the platform in phases, the team ensured smooth implementation and strong adoption. Gong cha’s success with Ops Execution stemmed from:

Store excellence guides: Gong cha created a comprehensive guide within Ops Execution to help managers prepare for third-party evaluations with visual aids and practice assessments.

Checklists and audits: Tasks like opening/closing procedures and food safety checks were standardized across all locations to ensure consistency and make it easier to track performance data from store to store.

National operations initiative calendar: To ensure execution against seasonal promotions, regional or market-specific projects, etc., Gong cha assigned tasks and projects in Ops Execution ahead of these initiatives so that stores could have visibility into upcoming work while also tracking how stores completed (or didn’t complete) the work.

Franchisee engagement: Franchisee and team engagement were also integral to success. Ops Execution forms helped align franchisees with performance goals, integrating compliance metrics into bonus structures to incentivize adoption. Additionally, interactive tools like the “Gong cha Great Values” form encouraged daily team member engagement and reinforced company values.

“With Ops Execution, Gong cha can easily track performance metrics, gather data from individual stores, and identify specific opportunities for improvement with more accuracy.”

Rebecca Kahn
Sr. Director of North America
Master Franchise Operations

Why this report is different

Industry Insights
Unlike broad state-of-the-industry overviews, these findings offer fresh, unfiltered data and perspectives directly from 300+ of your industry peers, anonymously surveyed to reveal what's really working (and what isn't) to drive growth in today's restaurant landscape.

Actionable Benchmarks
Instantly see how your operations stack up and identify precise areas for improvement to drive competitive advantage.

Collective Learning
Gain clarity on key trends, validate your own assumptions, and learn from the collective wisdom of the industry.

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RESULTS

Significant improvements in operational consistency, compliance, and decision-making

Within just the first year of rolling out Ops Execution, Gong cha improved operational performance in several key areas:

• 49% more daily tasks completed, demonstrating consistent execution of operational priorities and enhanced team accountability

• 20% better compliance with brand standards, ensuring a more uniform and high-quality experience across all locations

• 25% increase in guest return rates, reflecting stronger customer loyalty and consistent positive experiences across locations

• 20% increase in guest satisfaction, measured by Net Promoter Score (NPS), highlighting the impact of operational excellence on customer experiences

The data-driven insights provided by Ops Execution also empowered district managers to address operational weaknesses effectively. One franchisee—initially among the lowest performers—transformed into a top-three operator within only 90 days by following a customized action plan based on the insights from Ops Execution reports. This success illustrates the platform’s ability to drive meaningful and lasting improvements.

“Crunchtime Ops Execution was the right choice for us because it’s very easy to use, makes sense, and helps us standardize operations as we scale,” said Kahn. Gong cha’s commitment to operational excellence and brand integrity ensures that it will remain a leader in the competitive premium tea market.

RESULTS

Significant improvements in operational consistency, compliance, and decision-making

Within just the first year of rolling out Ops Execution, Gong cha improved operational performance in several key areas

49%

more daily tasks completed

demonstrating consistent execution of operational priorities and enhanced team accountability

20%

better compliance with brand standards

ensuring a more uniform and high-quality experience across all locations

25%

increase in guest return rates

reflecting stronger customer loyalty and consistent positive experiences across locations

20%

increase in guest satisfaction

measured by Net Promoter Score (NPS), highlighting the impact of operational excellence on customer experiences

RESULTS

Driving Multi-Million Dollar Savings and Optimized Efficiency

By embracing Crunchtime’s suite, SPB Hospitality transformed its bottom line and achieved a new standard of operational discipline across its nationwide portfolio.

$7M Annual Food Cost Savings: By leveraging total visibility and standardized waste reduction strategies, SPB Hospitality saved $7 million annually on food costs.
Reduced AvT Variance: The organization achieved up to a 1.5% reduction in Actual vs. Theoretical (AvT) food cost variance across various brands.
Labor Stability: Despite industry-wide inflation and rising minimum wages, SPB managed to keep total labor percentages flat compared to previous years.
Managerial Productivity: In-store teams save up to 4 hours per month on inventory counts, while the Crunchtime Labor Mobile App allows managers to spend less time in the back office and more time on the floor with guests and employees.

This commitment to a data-driven culture and high-level operations earned SPB Hospitality the Crunchtime Ops Excellence Award in 2024. Today, SPB continues to leverage the visibility gained from Crunchtime to align with its corporate profitability goals.

Looking ahead, SPB Hospitality continues to grow, with Crunchtime playing a key role in ensuring smooth, efficient operations at scale. By modernizing daily workflows and establishing a single source of truth for both food and labor costs, SPB has built a scalable foundation to operate every location like its best one.

SPB Hospitality - food 2