Inside Yum! Brands: How Taco Bell, KFC and Habit Run at Global Scale

0:00Nigel Henry: Hey everybody, I gotta tell you, we're gonna talk about Built. Built Hospitality. Millions of people use Built every day, that's right, every day to earn rewards on housing and in their neighborhood. But now, now it extends to your restaurant. That's where Built Hospitality comes in. Built Hospitality shapes how guests are recognized and taken care of. Built's restaurant-facing platform is designed specifically for dining operators to drive loyalty with their guests. It combines reservations, guest preferences, VIP management, and payments all into one platform alongside an agentic concierge. That's right, an AI concierge that thoughtfully designs and executes experiences around your guest tastes.

0:47Nigel Henry: Using the latest and greatest in AI technology. When a guest walks in, your team already knows what they like without digging through notes. Built Hospitality works across the entire guest journey. That's right, the entire guest journey from delivering a complimentary course at the right moment, just the right moment, sending a personalized offer that brings them coming back again and again and again. That's right. That's what Built Hospitality is doing. It is allowing you to communicate with your guests and keep them coming back over and over. Make every guest feel like a regular. Every time.

1:22Nigel Henry: Not just their first time. Every time. They're a regular. Built Hospitality is available now for restaurant groups everywhere. Learn more at BuiltDining.com backslash hangout. That's BuiltDining.com backslash hangout. And check out what Built Hospitality is going to do for you and your restaurant. You and Yum have had a huge year. Taco Bell up 7%. Sam's store still. KMC hitting 30th. It's 30th. 1 ,000 international restaurants, digital sales top in 11 billion, up 25 % year over year.

1:55Hospitality Hangout: Your role across a portfolio of brands. First of all, all credit goes to our team, our team members in store. But mostly you. But mostly you.

2:09Nigel Henry: Jimmy, it has been an incredible day, an incredible evening last night here at Prosper Forum. We are live at the Olo Studios here in beautiful, what are the Grand Lakes? We don't know what the Grand Lakes are. I don't know what the hell the Grand Lakes are. I mean, there's one lake outside. It's a lake, but it's grand. It's man-made, though. Well, when you're the lake of the Ritz-Carlton and the JW Marriott, it's not just the lake. There's no way that that lake was here naturally. That was a made lake. Probably a made lake. It's a man-made lake. I find it offensive that they say Grand Lakes. There's one little lake over here.

2:42Nigel Henry: Anyway, Jimmy, we got a great guest right now, Nigel Henry, Global Director of Operations of Yum Brands. Jimmy, do you know anything about Yum Brands? I know a thing or two about Yum Brands. Give me one brand in the Yum Brand portfolio. Why give you one when I can say KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bells? We're going to get to know Nigel, but it did catch my eye that this gentleman began his career as a laboratory technologist, testing food and water safety back home in Dominica. Today, he oversees operations excellence, not for one brand, Chatsy, not two brands, but for four of the biggest restaurant brands on the planet.

3:22Nigel Henry: Again, KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and Habit Burger Grill. I never should have taken Pizza Hut out of that. Damn it, damn it. Okay, this is all under the Yum! Brands umbrella. So now we can welcome Global Director of Operations at Yum, Mr. Nigel Henry. I've got to tell you, Nigel, it's great to have you on the show. I sense, based on your accent, and I have a very acute sense of hearing, and people say to me, they're like, Shatsy, you have a very acute sense of hearing. Am I hearing South Boston in your voice a little bit? South Boston.

3:58Hospitality Hangout: Speak a little bit so everybody else can hear what I'm hearing. Thank you. Thank you, gentlemen, for having me on. Jimmy, are you getting South Boston? South Boston? I didn't hear South Boston. What do you get? Well, Nigel, where are you from? What's your background? Where are you from? Oh, it's a great question. I'm originally from the lovely island of Dominica in the Caribbean. Is that near Boston? Not near Boston. Not near Boston. My God. Is your family from Boston?

4:26Nigel Henry: But there are some Patriot fans that reside on the island where Nigel's from. So maybe that's why you were mixing the two up. Nigel, have you ever been to Boston?

4:36Hospitality Hangout: I have been to Boston. I have taught Fenway Park, go Red Sox, been there.

4:42Nigel Henry: So I got to tell you, so you joined Pizza Hut. Let's see. How long have you been at Pizza Hut?

4:48Hospitality Hangout: I've been at Yum Brands. But through Pizza Hut, I mean. When did you join Pizza Hut? Yeah, through Pizza Hut. Joined in 2013. So 2013. Correct.

4:56Nigel Henry: So you've been at Pizza Hut for a long time and Yum Brands for a long time. Correct. And in 2022, you became the global director of operations for Yum Brands. As Jimmy said, you've got the most iconic brands literally in the entire world. Can I ask you a question? I think this is what everybody wants to know because people throw a lot of titles around. What does the global director of operations actually do? What are you in charge of? What do you do every day?

5:23Hospitality Hangout: That's a great question. It is. Are you still asking yourself that question? I still ask myself that question. As a matter of fact, my parents ask me the same question. Like, what do you do? Like, what do you do? What do you tell them? supposed to do this, throw it up, but I do it right now. You were supposed to be a doctor. Indeed. Or a biologist or something. Or are you supposed to be a biologist? You got it. You got it. But now I ask myself that question every day, but essentially all it means is I help our brands leverage our scale from an operations standpoint. I always say operations is all encompassing, So I show up everywhere, right?

6:04Hospitality Hangout: I show up in talent development. I show up in technology. I show up in customer experience. I show up in team member experience. So how we drive all of that from a strategy standpoint is what I do every day.

6:20Nigel Henry: So you're always, so are you on in every meeting? Like when they send that meeting invite out, are you on every call and every like Zoom call? There are a lot of meetings. Yeah, so are you on everyone? Because Jimmy only gets invited for like two or three a year. And I like it that way. He's not on a lot of the meetings. Is Nigel Henry's... I am on quite a lot. You're on everyone. Quite a lot.

6:40Hospitality Hangout: Quite a lot.

6:41Nigel Henry: Do people ever be like, why is Nigel not on this call?

6:44Hospitality Hangout: Well, from time to time that happens. But I would say, you know, sometimes dependent on what the meeting is, I'm probably not always welcome there because I drive collaboration. And sometimes human beings don't always want to collaborate.

7:01Nigel Henry: Do you ever sign into meetings like Zoom calls and stuff and then just put like a picture of yourself up and then go do something else?

7:11Hospitality Hangout: No, that would be telling on myself. Can I plead the fifth here?

7:14Nigel Henry: You can absolutely plead the fifth. No, but nobody listens. There's no gotcha questions. Look at you. We're trying to really understand Nigel Henry.

7:22Hospitality Hangout: You know, I might do that from time to time if I'm making a cup of tea.

7:27Nigel Henry: Okay.

7:27Hospitality Hangout: All right. So that's when I do it. So because you're -

7:30Nigel Henry: Absolutely. You spent, you obviously are from the UK in some way, shape, or form. Spent a lot of time in the UK. Correct. I believe, Jimmy, correct me if I'm wrong, legally, if you're spent time in London or in the UK, you are allowed tea breaks. I understand that is correct. How long did you live in the UK? I lived there for 10 years. So I believe the time of 10 years and over, you are allowed for tea breaks. You know, Nigel, with the decade having spent in the UK, according to Shatzi math, you're allowed to say you're from the UK. Shatzi feels as long as you've spent 10 years. But isn't that the rule if you say, I thought that was the rule.

8:04Nigel Henry: No, it's not. If you spent 10 years, when someone asked you if you were from the UK, you were allowed to say, I'm from the UK.

8:09Hospitality Hangout: I am absolutely allowed to say it. And I'm also a naturalized British citizen, so I get to walk through immigration with no one. Do you have an American passport and a British passport? Absolutely. Or a dual passport? Absolutely. Really? Yes, absolutely. Wait, what about Dominica? Well, I have a Dominica passport. I've got a UK passport. And I'm a permanent resident of Canada as well as the United States. So when you travel, what do you whip out? Do you whip out Dominica? I tend to whip out my British passport. That one gives me a little bit more access. Oh, really? So I tend to whip that one out.

8:46Nigel Henry: This is Nigel Henry, an international man of traffic. Yeah. Indeed. He's like Mike Myers. Mike Myers. Mike Myers has nothing on Nigel. Yeah. You're like James Bond. I have no idea where this is going. Nigel Henry. James Bond. International man of mystery. Yeah. Let's jump into it, Jimmy. Enough with the antics, Jimmy. Okay. First of all, you and Yum have had a huge year. Okay, Taco Bell up 7%, Sam's Store Sales, KMC hitting 30 ,000 international restaurants, digital sales top in 11 billion, up 25 % year over year. And you have a meaningful digital mix approaching 60 % of your business across these four very different brands.

9:31Nigel Henry: My question, operationally and given your role, what is it like, you know, essentially covering these four brands from this, you know, from ordering and loyalty and off premise? It can't be one playbook. It's not one size fits all. So how do you kind of take what's working, let's say, really well at one brand, but then you may have to come up with something else for another brand? But how do you kind of balance your responsibility? It's their question, Jimmy, because honestly, I got to go eat lunch. Okay. I mean, I got a lunch. How do you take your role across a portfolio of brands? And clearly something's working because Yum's having a year.

10:06Hospitality Hangout: Yeah. First of all, all credit goes to our team, our team members in store. But mostly you. But mostly you. For our team, our team members in store for executing what they need to. He's so humble. From our perspective, one of the things I do is lead what we call our operations council, our global operations council. And this is where I bring the COOs of our great brands together to share what's working in one brand, collaborate across. Stop looking at Jimmy. Look at me a little bit. And drive it across the business a little bit. I was going to ask the question. He's being quiet. It was my question.

10:43Nigel Henry: He just asked it. Look at me a little bit. Jesus. I'm here. I'm here. All right. Just want to make sure. All right. So, Jimmy, did he answer your long-winded question? He did it perfectly. He did? Yes. All right. Good. I mean, you got to get faster than the question. I'm getting hungry, Jimmy. All right. Listen. We have to jump into some breaking news. Can I go into breaking news now? Because this podcast is all about breaking news. I don't even know if Nigel knows about breaking news. Breaking news. Both ends of the Yum! portfolio right now. Habit Burger just rolled out a brand new$9 Gotta Habit box deal this week.

11:17Nigel Henry: And on the flip side, Yum! Brands has just agreed to sell off Pizza Hut entirely, Entirely splitting it between long-range capital and Yum China for$2.7 billion. This is the long—is that a press release I'm reading here? It's your question, my friend. All right, this is a two-part breaking news, okay? Let's take the first part. I mean, this is like the longest thing ever. Tell me about that$9 got-a-have-it box deal. This is another one of your ideas. When did you come up with it and tell us about it?

11:45Hospitality Hangout: Definitely not my idea. Definitely not my idea. He's so modest. This is definitely all credit to the Habit and the Habit Innovation team out there. But you're in every meeting. We already discussed this. I was not in that one. I was not in that one. Absolutely not in that one.

12:02Nigel Henry: Where's that? We don't in for this. Shatsy, one observation that I have. Every time I've met somebody who has a passport from the UK, America, has access to Canada, it's from the Dominica, they're very humble. You don't even know where the Dominica is. It's very humble. By the way, how many people have met that has that much international exposure? One. Thank you, Jimmy. One. Oh, myself. I told myself. All right, so tell us about this Got a Habit box deal. Why is it so special?

12:33Hospitality Hangout: Well, I think, you know, the Habit brand has always prided itself in innovation and meeting the consumer need. When they came into the Yum portfolio, one of the reasons they came in is because they offered something really different and really unique for customers. And kind of cool, absolutely. And, you know, they kind of have that element of surprise across our brands. And so, you know, that's what the innovation team has really lent into. And, you know, I think that's what is really resonating with the consumer base.

13:08Nigel Henry: Jimmy loves it. Jimmy has one. He had one. He said it was the best$9 got a habit box deal that he had ever had. Now my part two to my breaking news, Mr. Nigel Henry from South Boston. I'm going to go with this one. And this is unbelievable breaking news. Yum Brands has sold Pizza Hut to Long Range Capital and Yum China for$2.7 billion. And this is also a deal that I believe you helped curate. Am I right with that?

13:36Hospitality Hangout: Definitely did not help curate it. But you were in the meeting. but you were in the meeting on that one. That was a great job by our team.

13:44Nigel Henry: So the two meetings you weren't in.

13:46Hospitality Hangout: Not in those. All right, Jimmy, he was not in that meeting either.

13:50Nigel Henry: He's always presence. He's always there. When a brand sells, all kidding aside, like when they announce a sale like this and you've been with the company for so long and you started at Pete's Hut. I did. Does this, do you get a little sad? Is this something like the team is like, you know, a little bit like a little baby, like, you know, kid of mine is leaving or is it like this is what happens?

14:09Hospitality Hangout: No, I think 100 % get a little bit sad. I grew up in Pizza Hut with young brands where it's where I learned the ropes of Curious Arb, so to speak, and have a lot of friends, past colleagues in Pizza Hut. And so absolutely sad, but we absolutely believe it's the right thing for the brand. Long-range capital in terms of it's in their name. It's long-range. Long range capital ultimately, I think, is the right fit to grow the brand and give the brand what it needs going forward. So, you know, equal parts sad and equal parts excited.

14:50Nigel Henry: So is it fair to say that you are happy and sad at the same time?

14:53Hospitality Hangout: Yes. And there is space for those two emotions within me, just like there is space for multiple nationalities within me. See, Jimmy, you can be sad and happy at the same time.

15:01Nigel Henry: Right now, Jimmy is sad that we're not eating lunch, but he's happy that we're talking to you. You know what, Shatty, that was well said. Perfectly said. All right, listen, Jimmy, I got to the breaking news. What do you got? What do you bring to this podcast? Clearly not very much, not compared to you. I want to talk about guest recovery. Yes. Because I understand that this is something you're very focused on. And specifically, if there's friction, if a guest or even employees having a hard time with ordering, that's not a program. That's a hurdle. So you've pushed for something called a product model where you have mini GMs who are owning specific parts of the process.

15:45Nigel Henry: How does that philosophy show up in loyalty, in off-premise ordering? because it's such an important part of your business that I would imagine anytime there's friction there, that is kind of incongruent with what you're trying to achieve. And you've kind of attacked in this from a product model perspective. Can you share a little bit with our listeners about that?

16:04Hospitality Hangout: Yeah, absolutely. Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. I got to just ask. Okay. Was this a meeting you were in? I was absolutely in that meeting. You were in this meeting? 150%. All right, you see, I told you. He's in almost every meeting, Jimmy. He's in this meeting. So this meeting, you were in. You got me. This was kind of your idea. Absolutely. All right, all right.

16:20Nigel Henry: Mom, Dad, I know what Nigel does. You nailed it. You nailed it. All right, there we go. Thank you for joining us.

16:26Hospitality Hangout: You nailed it.

16:26Nigel Henry: Good night, everybody. That's it. We just want to make sure your mom and dad know what you did. No, I appreciate that. Tell us about this.

16:31Hospitality Hangout: Yeah, I think, you know, the product model is all about being agile, being nimble, and not necessarily having this extensive development projects that you wait for a very long time to land them in the restaurants. And by the time you land them, they're no longer applicable, right? So when you think about guest recovery, it's not just about recovering the guest from a reactive standpoint. It's about doing it proactively, anticipating what the guest's needs are and then figuring out and knowing when we have fallen short of those needs and then reacting and recovering the guest before the guest has a chance to complain.

17:15Hospitality Hangout: So that's the whole philosophy. I think ensuring from a customer experience our guests are well taken care of is extremely, extremely important. I actually see it as an iceberg. A lot of brands just see the tip of the iceberg in terms of the issues that the guests have. Not you, because you're in every meeting. You know, not me. You see it all. You see it from 30 ,000 feet. We try to see it all. We try to put on our scuba there. And when you say we, you say you. I'm talking about our brands, right, in terms of how we work. I'm trying to get you. I'm trying to get credit here. And then, you know, just I think, you know, see our guests who have had an issue but have not actually complained and figure out a way to recover them proactively is the whole idea.

18:00Hospitality Hangout: But doing it in a nimble and agile fashion. So is technology helping you do this? Absolutely. What technology? Absolutely. You know, we do some different things, but, you know, think about the data that we have on our guests. We know when we've let our guests down. And so if you have that data, knowing that, hey, you've done something that has fallen short of the expectation of your guests, then you can do something to solve it proactively before your guest complains.

18:31Nigel Henry: I got to tell you, I like it. I like what you've done in this meeting. I like what you came up with, and I'm glad we found something. This meeting was a long meeting. You were really involved in. Now, let's switch gears a little bit. I was a big fan of the World Cup. Jimmy loved the World Cup. What did you think as a soccer guy or a football guy?

18:51Hospitality Hangout: I went to my first World Cup game out in Miami, Brazil versus Scotland. And how was the experience? It was great. I'm a lifelong Brazil fan, so I was on top of the world.

19:03Nigel Henry: So here's my question about the World Cup. Yes, sir. How did the whole ranch dressing thing become a thing? And how did that like what was that like ranch everywhere and people were bringing bottles of ranch on the plains? And and then you guys got involved in the whole ranch thing?

19:17Hospitality Hangout: We you know, if when you have a team that is, you know, really proactive and really agile in terms of what's going on in culture, that's what that's what they do. Right. They they quickly saw that ranch dressing jump on it and then execute again. And were you in that meeting? Not in that meeting. You weren't in that meeting. Not in that meeting. No.

19:39Nigel Henry: All right. So far, of the things we've discussed, you were in one meeting. One meeting. So now I know some of your mom and dad are saying, I don't know what this guy does. Now I know why. They're like, Nigel, we have no idea what you do. Now I understand. Not that meeting. Not that meeting. Jimmy, right? No. It doesn't seem like Nigel does, Monk. I mean, I'm just saying. I mean, I'm just saying. All right. Jimmy, you try and help me here. Actually, I got one that's right down the fairway. Oh, you got something? that belongs to Nigel. That Nigel does? Absolutely. All right. Because we've talked, I understand French fry, fry quality, okay, is highly correlated to brand loyalty.

20:17Nigel Henry: Okay, the crispiness, the flavor. You can't get soggy fries, Jimmy. The texture, okay, and there's a whole science behind it, okay? And here's the thing. For you, you're not talking about just one French fry with one brand. Okay, you guys have fries at KFC. Yes. At Taco Bell. Indeed. At Habit. All under, Shatzi, all under Nigel's operational umbrella. Did Pizza Hut sell french fries? Yes. Okay, I didn't say that one, but you're right. There you go. Because I said they sold it, but then Nigel's like, well, it's not yet. So I just wanted to add. So each of the brands I mentioned has its own take on the great fry.

20:51Nigel Henry: So maybe put you on the spot and you don't have to answer. Yes, you have to answer. Because I think competition is healthy. which of the fries do you feel is right now let's say delivering at the highest level and I won't say which one is the best but which one right now is operationally meeting you think the high bar and does that help the other companies strive the other brands to get better but is there one right now that you think is just hitting it right or maybe all of them are hitting it just right. Nate's yawning Jimmy

21:19Hospitality Hangout: it's a great question it sounds like the fry wars we're talking about Fry wars. Fry wars. Fry wars.

21:26Nigel Henry: Nigel, did you coin that phrase, fry wars? I just coined it right now. Right here. Right here. Fry wars. Mom, Dad, we got something else Nigel's doing. He just started the fry wars.

21:35Hospitality Hangout: Absolutely. Hey, fries are a great addition, accompaniment to all the four meals. When I think about which fry is really hitting right now, you know, you're going to get me in trouble here, man. No, no. There's no one. How are you going to get in trouble?

21:53Nigel Henry: He's ready to go.

21:54Hospitality Hangout: I'm ready to go, right? Go ahead. Just saying. I mean, I really love the Habit Burger fries. Oh, my God.

22:02Nigel Henry: I can't believe you just said that. I love it. I did. Nigel. I did. And now my Habit, by the way, Habit's crushing it. Yeah, I know, but how could you say that? You are the nut. You yum brands. It doesn't say Habit Burger. And if anything, if anything. No. Competition's good. You worked at Pizza Hut. You should have went with Pizza Hut.

22:18Hospitality Hangout: But my friends at Pizza Hut, KFC, and Taco Bell are going to forgive me. No, I don't think so. They are. Not when this thing goes viral.

22:26Nigel Henry: Yes. You're going to get a lot of hate now. I love the Habit Burger fries. A lot of hate. You got to push each other to get better. So you heard it there live. Nigel Henry has said the best French fry in the Yum family is Habit Burger. The one that's hitting it to a level of operational excellence and the others are on their way.

22:42Hospitality Hangout: I said I love the Habit Burger fries. Love the Habit Burger fries. That's all you said. All the other noise, Shat's that I added.

22:47Nigel Henry: You know why? Because you know what? Because the Habit Burger team, of all the operational issues, which brand gives you the most trouble? You can take the fifth on that. You know what? I'm just telling you, kids. If you don't start following the rules, heads will be flying, damn it. Which brand, which of the children is the most problematic? You know, all the children. Yes. Are problematic? Try to do the right thing. Yes. All right. Okay, but which aren't trying hard enough? Which children are not trying hard enough?

23:20Hospitality Hangout: I don't know that. You know, they're all great. They all try to do the right thing. They all.

23:25Nigel Henry: We already know that Habit Burger is doing a better job on the French fries.

23:28Hospitality Hangout: I love the Habit Burger fries and the Pizza Hut and the Taco Bell and the KFC.

23:35Nigel Henry: He's walking it all back now. All right. But seriously, but operationally, all the brands are running on all. I mean, the numbers that you just talked about or Jimmy talked about, It sounds to me like all brands are running on all cylinders right now. Because, I mean, the percentages that you guys are up means that everybody's – because one piece falls apart, the whole thing. Right, Jimmy? I think you're saying that the strength of a chain is really – depends on the weakest link. And there are no weak links. They're right now on the yum chain. What I was thinking, Jimmy, is the whole camel thing with the back and the thing with the straw.

24:08Nigel Henry: Really? Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Let's go with other analogies. What else can we come up with? Yeah, what's another one there? Penny saved or a penny earned? Right? Three coins in a fountain. All right, listen, Jimmy, we got to take a quick break. Yes. Nigel, can you hang out for a little bit? I can. All right, good, good, good. Because we're going to find a few other things that you do over there so we can give your mom and dad at least more than one. Appreciate it. Because right now, the list is thin. So don't go away. Be right back with the Hospitality Hangout presented by our friends from Olo with some Hot or Not, some quick fire.

24:37Nigel Henry: You're not going to want to miss it. And we got Nigel Henry, Global Director of Operations, who seems to do a lot of things at Yum Brands. Hey, everybody. I got to tell you, we're going to talk about Built. Built Hospitality. Millions of people use Built every day. That's right, every day to earn rewards on housing and in their neighborhood. But now, now it extends to your restaurant. That's where Built Hospitality comes in. Built Hospitality shapes how guests are recognized and taken care of. Built's restaurant-facing platform is designed specifically for dining operators, to drive loyalty with their guests.

25:13Nigel Henry: It combines reservations, guest preferences, VIP management, and payments all into one platform alongside an agentic concierge. That's right, an AI concierge that thoughtfully designs and executes experiences around your guest tastes using the latest and greatest in AI technology. When a guest walks in, your team already knows what they like without digging through notes. Built Hospitality works across the entire guest journey. That's right, the entire guest journey from delivering a complimentary course at the right moment, just the right moment, sending a personalized offer that brings them coming back again and again and again.

25:57Nigel Henry: That's right. That's what Built Hospitality is doing. It is allowing you to communicate with your guests and keep them coming back over and over. Make every guest feel like a regular every time not just their first time every time they're a regular built hospitality is available now for restaurant groups everywhere learn more at built dining.com backslash hangout that's built dining.com backslash hangout and check out what built hospitality is going to do for you and your restaurant we are back with the hospitality hangout presented by our friends at Olo. That's O-L-O. And Jimmy, you know, you should have named your dog Olo.

26:37Nigel Henry: Am I wrong? It went with Redford. And Olo would have been a better name. You know what? There's a collaboration to have with Olo. We could work that out. Noah, call me. Alright, here's my new favorite segment, and it's called Hospitality Headlines. Named after our famous newsletter that Jimmy just happens to author. And Nigel, I know that you read it every Saturday morning, so you don't have to tell me how much you like it. So I'm going to read you three headlines. Two of them are real. One of them is fake. One headline is fake. Okay? Jimmy, you're going to play two. I'm going to play along. Is there a prize at the end of this?

27:10Nigel Henry: Yes. Big prizes. Big prizes. I got an IHOP gift card burning a hole in my pocket right over here. Okay? All right. Listen to me. Here we go. Chipotle sold a lemonade-scented candle disguised as one of its free water cups. Chipotle sold a lemonade-scented candle disguised as one of its water cups. Hormel and Zales, that's the jeweler. Hormel is the, what are they, like the bacon guys, right? Hormel? They're big in the pork products. And Zales is like the jeweler. They created an engagement ring featuring a pepperoni-shaped diamond. Hormel and Zales, okay? And then the last headline is, a restaurant created a burger containing nearly 10 ,000 calories, and it was named the quadruple bypass.

28:03Nigel Henry: So we got Chipotle-souled lemonade, Hormel and Zale, something about an engagement ring, a giant pepperoni that was good, and then they got this burger that 10 ,000 calories. What is the fake headline there? What's fake?

28:16Hospitality Hangout: What is bold? I'm pretty sure the quadruple bypass is true. It's true. I think so.

28:25Nigel Henry: Now, mind you, I didn't ask you what was true. I know, I know. I'm working. Who wants to be? I'm working. I'm working. Would you like to use a lifeline, sir? Would you like to use a lifeline? No, I'm going to go for it. I'm going to let you call Jimmy. I'm going to go for it.

28:38Hospitality Hangout: I'm going to try.

28:38Nigel Henry: All right, so C is true. C is true. What else is true? I see what you're doing. What you're doing is process of elimination. Absolutely.

28:47Hospitality Hangout: So now you've got Chipotle lemonade thing and this whole Hormel Zell thing. I don't know. I'm going to go for the Hormel Zell thing.

28:55Nigel Henry: That's fake? Yes. The Hormel's fake. Jimmy, do you want to take a stab or do you want to use a lifeline? I'm going to take a stab. And at the risk, because Nigel's the expert, at the risk of disagreeing, I believe that quadruple bypass burger is akin to a, like I think I saw that on Saturday Night Live back in the early 80s with the all-drug Olympics and the triple bypass burger. You've been watching a lot of SNL lately, Jimmy. A lot of SNL. Is that just on like TikTok that you're watching? Roar. Roar is like the SNL network. Is that right? Yes. Good parenting or bad parenting? It's good to see you watching a little TV.

29:26Nigel Henry: My nine-year-old daughter is obsessed with Sarnat Live. Oh, I like it. And the deal is we won't explain all the jokes, but I'm saying the quadruple bypass headline, fake. Really? Yeah. Seriously, Jimmy? 10 ,000 calories. That's like announcing, and if there's any reason you're unhealthy, please sue us. I think that can't be real. I mean, what do you think a Whopper or Big Mac has? 1 ,000? 1 ,200? Get the hell out of here, Jimmy. Get the hell out of here, crazy. All right, listen. The fake story is actually ding, ding, ding. We have a winner. Nigel, you win that. And what does he win, Bob? Well, Nigel, Henry, you win at all expense paid trip to IHOP.

30:05Nigel Henry: That's right, IHOP. That's right. We've got a gift card. It's a$10 gift card to IHOP. And also, we have a gift card to Pizza Hut and KFC. Amazing. We have a gift card to Pizza Hut after the acquisition takes place. That's when I'm going to need it then. I'm going to need it then. It's not worth anything.

30:24Hospitality Hangout: I thought you were going to see Boston there.

30:26Nigel Henry: And a full expense paid trip back to go see your mom and dad in South Boston. And that's sponsored by Olo. Olo is flying you in to Boston. Thanks, Olo. Yeah, thank you, Olo. All right, to Boston. Mom and dad. Nigel's coming home. All right, listen. I don't know how we got this Boston thing rolling. But all right, listen. We got the hot or not. Are you ready for hot or not? Let's do it. All right, hot or not. Okay, here we go. Are ghost kitchens hot or not?

30:51Hospitality Hangout: Nigel Henry. Do I get to answer lukewarm? Yeah, sure. You can say lukewarm if you want. Okay, all right. Go, lukewarm. You can say lukewarm. I have a friend, Luke. I have a friend, Luke.

31:00Nigel Henry: Mocktails. Are they hot or not? Are mocktails hot? Yeah, I think so. Do you like mocktails or do you like cocktails?

31:06Hospitality Hangout: I like cocktails. The wife loves mocktails.

31:09Nigel Henry: There you go. Jimmy just started drinking the cocktail mocktail. And you know what that is? It's a mocktail with alcohol. Actually, speaking, I'm drinking the non-non-alcoholic. The hyphen is, it's all about the hyphen, the non-non-alcoholic cocktail. Jimmy, I got to tell you, I think the mocktail cocktail is better. Mocktail cocktail? It's like, oh my God, have you just tried the mocktail cocktail? What is it? It's a non-alcoholic cocktail cocktail. With a shot.

31:34Hospitality Hangout: Does the zero-proof stuff qualify as mocktails? Zero-proof?

31:39Nigel Henry: Well, it doesn't qualify. That's what it is. Okay, there you go. There you go. There you go. That's exactly what it is. So it's hot. Is breakfast for dinner hot? Is that a hot topic?

31:52Hospitality Hangout: breakfast all around breakfast for dinner like you know you come home big day work are you whipping up an omelet is that are you getting pancakes is that hot not it's not hot not not we go to we go

32:03Nigel Henry: to nigel's house jimmy you're not getting pancakes you're not getting eggs you get a proper meal

32:08Hospitality Hangout: indeed indeed right absolutely your house i just did curry modern last week see jimmy there you go

32:15Nigel Henry: jimmy we didn't even plan that we didn't even plan that jimmy yeah curry modern you know what You know what Jimmy gets? Nothing. There's no... Wait, do I get mutton or nothing? You get nothing. I get nothing.

32:27Hospitality Hangout: I take it that's his favorite meat. Nigel, is protein hot?

32:31Nigel Henry: Is protein everything hot? Like, everybody's doing protein. My kids are getting protein in everything. Is that hot?

32:37Hospitality Hangout: Yes, protein's hot. It's still hot. Gotta supplement. Gotta add it to the diet. Absolutely hot. In your next meeting with the team, that will be happening later today, I'm sure,

32:45Nigel Henry: will you be bringing up the new protein taco for taco bell no i will not but we will be adding i

32:54Hospitality Hangout: want to keep my job we will be adding protein to the salad how about that wait what are you putting

33:01Nigel Henry: in the salad protein salad all right all right and listen it's your idea yes all right just remember that let me ask you something nigel glps obviously you've been taking glps for quite some time you You look like you're taking Ozempic. Amazing physique. You and Jimmy both love the Ozempic. What do you think? Is GLP still hot? I believe so. GLP ones. That's like Wagovia.

33:24Hospitality Hangout: What about GLP two? Not hot. What about three? Don't know. Four? Do we have that? I don't know. I'm sure they will have one.

33:35Nigel Henry: What's the progression is probably. Chatsy's confused. He thinks that the GOP-1 is on a journey like 3G, 4G, 5G. So it's going to get up there. He doesn't realize it stops the GOP-1. I get it. Jimmy does not stop at – Google it. Google it. All right, listen. What about drone delivery? Is that something you will be bringing up in the next meeting?

33:57Hospitality Hangout: Emerging. That's emerging.

33:59Nigel Henry: Yes. So you have an emerging meeting, and you will bring that up. Indeed. But you will footnote me? But not. You'll say I'm a shat in a podcast, and I just want to say drones are going to be hot. Emerging, but not hot. Not hot. Okay. And social media-driven LTOs. Is that hot? Hot. It's very hot. Jimmy, what'd you think? I first want to acknowledge that Nigel created kind of his own version of Hot or Not by recreating Hot, Not, Lukewarm, and then more recently, very recently, Emerging. Emerging. He's created his own category. We've never gotten Emerging by the way. We had Hot, we had Not, we had Fire.

34:35Nigel Henry: By the way, we have a lot of agility, and people really should personalize these episodes. So you're telling me to do this? That's what we do in hospitality. This is now going to be called hot, not Luke, emerging? Luke and emerging. There's a lot going on here. I have a question. This will sound like I'm maybe being a little nitpick. If you get the question out in 30 seconds. Is the reason why you said breakfast for dinner is a not is because the portfolio that is young currently does not have a offering that could, let's say, deliver a breakfast for dinner. And are you guys looking for such a brand?

35:14Nigel Henry: Two-part question on my part. I didn't even hear a question.

35:17Hospitality Hangout: I think your supposition on the first is correct. Yes.

35:22Nigel Henry: My supposition, the reason why that's not out, there's no brand. Who's using words like supper what?

35:28Hospitality Hangout: The second. Is it supper? The second. What are we doing? What are we doing? What are we doing? What kind of show is this? And the second reason is I personally just don't get it. Okay.

35:41Nigel Henry: All right.

35:42Hospitality Hangout: See? You see? I just don't get it.

35:44Nigel Henry: On behalf of all the egg manufacturers and producers out there, I want to say you're not just relegated to breakfast, my friends. You should be part of every meal that you want. Jimmy's a big breakfast any time, guys. Big breakfast. I got a nine-year-old. I'm a big breakfast for dinner guy. What does a nine-year-old have to do with it, Jimmy? I just like saying it. Yeah, I don't like it. You're like, I have a nine-year-old breakfast all day. What? I don't understand. I'm sure there's a lot of nine-year-olds that are like, I don't want breakfast for dinner.

36:06Hospitality Hangout: What's your favorite breakfast-for-dinner item, then? Ah, for me, it is the,

36:11Nigel Henry: and I know what Chatsy's going to ask me when I state my favorite. It is a scrambled egg and cheese wrap. That's a sandwich, Jimmy. No, it's a wrap. That's a breakfast sandwich. That's a breakfast wrap. You wrapped up a sandwich. No, it's a wrap. It's a wrap. It's one piece, it's one carbohydrate rolled around the egg and the cheese. That's a wrap.

36:29Hospitality Hangout: All right. Nigel, is that a sandwich? I'm going to stay neutral. I'm between you two gentlemen. I don't want to get squeezed here.

36:37Nigel Henry: Nigel, is a taco a sandwich?

36:39Hospitality Hangout: Is a taco a sandwich? A taco is a sandwich. It is a sandwich. Yes. Thank you, Nigel. Thank you.

36:45Nigel Henry: Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy, who's the global director of operations for Yum Brands? I believe it is Mr. Nigel. Who owns Taco Bell? I believe Yum Brands. Who's in almost every meeting that they ever have? I believe Mr. Nigel. So who do you think knows about taco being a sandwich? in the meeting. Sometimes they lead it off. Ray from TGIF, right? Sometimes in the meeting, Nigel leads off the meeting by, listen, all you taco sandwich people. That's how he starts the meeting off.

37:09Hospitality Hangout: That's going to be the next innovation. There you go.

37:12Nigel Henry: He'll be looking for a job. And by the way, Nigel, he'll be happy to hire you. Okay. All right, listen. Here we go. Brandon Quickfire. We don't have a lot of time. I'm getting the stink eye from Julie right now. What's your go-to order at Habit Burger? We know you love the fries, but what does Nigel Henry, the director of operations for Young Brands, get at Habit Burger? What do you like?

37:28Hospitality Hangout: The onion rings. Love the onion rings. Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.

37:32Nigel Henry: Nigel, let's start all over again. First of all, you said that you loved the french fries. Now you're saying the other thing that you like at Habit Burger is the onion rings? Oh, yeah. So you go to Habit Burger, everyone's ordering burgers, and you're like, any french fries and onion rings?

37:47Hospitality Hangout: I do.

37:48Nigel Henry: Love it. Okay, Jimmy. I'm having trouble here, Jimmy. I'm having trouble here. Hey, don't, do not yuck. Hey, by the way, Shatzy, when my nine-year-old was in kindergarten, My 9-year-old was in kindergarten. She learned about not yucking on someone else's yum. Do not yuck on my friend Nigel's yum. I'm not yucking on the yum. If you want fries and onion rings, let them know fries and onion rings. But you don't think that's... Ah, don't yuck the yum. All right, well, listen. I like that, Jimmy. Hey, Jimmy, that could be their new marketing slogan. Don't yuck the yum? Yeah, I like that. I don't think any restaurant brand wants to word yuck.

38:21Nigel Henry: Bring that up. I'm going to bring it up. I don't think any restaurant company wants the word yuck in their tagline. No yuck in the tagline. All right, Jimmy, enough. You had one good idea on the podcast. Just let me finish up what I'm doing over here. You're going with this yuck yum thing. I think you're loving it so much. Loving it. Nigel, what is your go-to order at Taco Bell? Taco Bell. If you say french fries, Nigel, we're going to have a problem. What do you go to Taco Bell? What do you get?

38:47Hospitality Hangout: I love the burrito dos locos tacos.

38:50Nigel Henry: So at Taco Bell, you get a burrito. Habit burger, you get onion rings. I'm going to go out on a limb here. What do you get at KFC? Like, what's your KFC? You have to go to the stores and check ops, right?

39:01Hospitality Hangout: I know. I love the Zinger sandwich. So what do you get at KFC? I love the Zinger sandwich. What do you get? Zinger sandwich. What's that? It's not in the U.S., but globally. What is it? Tell me what it is. It's our Zinger mitt with our hot sauce in there. Wait, what's Zinger? What is that? Is that a vegetable? It's a breast. Chicken breast. Why didn't you just say that? Yeah, there you go. You got it. Just say chicken sandwich. Chicken sandwich. What do you know with Zinger?

39:27Nigel Henry: Who says Zinger?

39:29Hospitality Hangout: We do. Where? We do. In what country? Everywhere else. You have nine passports. Which passport uses Zinger?

39:37Nigel Henry: Jimmy. Shatzi, by the way, you know who else used the word Zinger to describe a chicken sandwich? Oh, who? He's got two thumbs and speaks with a French accent. Mwah. You never said a Zinger sandwich, Jimmy. I do from now on, baby. What do you want for dinner? A Zinger, mate. A Zinger. I say schnizzle. Zinger's a lot cooler than chicken sandwich. Zinger is cool.

40:02Hospitality Hangout: Zinger's cool. What's your Uber rating, Nigel? 4.98. Do you want to show us on your phone? I think so. I'm going to check it. This was a competition that we had at the office at some point. You just recently did this? You're stealing our stuff? About six months ago. Yeah, that was, by the way, that's Jimmy and I's bid.

40:20Nigel Henry: The whole Uber rating is our bid. It might be 4.96. I can't believe someone else is using our pitch, Jimmy. Imitation is a heightened form of flattery. Hit profile. Wait, go there and hit. Where's your profile? Account. Hit account. Account. Yeah, hit account. And then you go right up there.

40:37Hospitality Hangout: Oh, 9-3. He's gone down. Must have been that tip. 4-9-8, Jimmy. What a liar. Nigel, you're still the high man at the table.

40:46Nigel Henry: Yeah, but still. What are you guys? I'm a 4-8-7. Okay. I'm a 4-7-6. Oh, there you go. It has an asterisk next to it. That's it. That's rough. A lot of times Jimmy uses my Uber account and he doesn't tip. That's right. That is not true. Yeah, a lot of times Jimmy will use my account just to bring me down. He's trying to be shaming me is what he's doing. Nigel, Nigel, what about a bagel? How does an Englishman take a bagel?

41:11Hospitality Hangout: A bagel?

41:12Nigel Henry: Yeah.

41:13Hospitality Hangout: Toasted. What kind of bagel? Usually would do a cinnamon bagel. Really? Wow, that's interesting.

41:24Nigel Henry: We don't find a lot of cinnamon raisin guys around here. No, I'm not sure what that means, but there you go. Is an English muffin really from England? You're more sophisticated than a lot of the guests we have on the show. That's what it means. That's what it means. Is an English muffin really from England? Yes. Or is that American made?

41:38Hospitality Hangout: I'm not sure where it's from, but I - Like Thompson English muffins. Is that really from England? I used to make English muffins back in the day. So English muffin really is in England. Jimmy -

41:48Nigel Henry: I'm sorry, did you just say Thompson's English muffin? Yeah, Thompson English muffins? Thomas'. Thomas'. What'd I say? Thompson's. I meant Thomas's. Yeah. Thomas's promises. Yeah, Thomas's. Jimmy, do you like English muffins? Love English muffins. When you went to England, did they have them there? I mean, you spent a lot of time there. Not in Sim. I never saw them either. Now, let me ask you this. If you take an English muffin and you stick something between it, is that a sandwich?

42:13Hospitality Hangout: Yes. It's called an English muffin sandwich. Yes, I agree with Nigel. Nigel knows what's up. I agree with Nigel.

42:20Nigel Henry: If you take a hot dog and you stick it between two English muffins, is that a sandwich? I'd say yes. Ah, thank you. So a hot dog is a sandwich? Yeah. Ah-ha! Jimmy, hook, line, and sinker, baby. Oh, that was beautiful. It's a tough podcast for me now. Sorry, Jimmy.

42:40Hospitality Hangout: What was the last thing you Googled? What's the last thing I Googled? The hospitality hangout podcast? No, I think I Googled what you guys were talking about at the start. Take it out of the pleasure. I want to use it. Which is this question of this lakes that were, you know. Oh, Grand Lakes? Yes, Grand Lakes. What, you know, what's the truth? I think that's what I Googled. What is the truth? I Googled whether or not the Ritz-Carlton was, what's the name of the area that it was? Grand Lakes made up. Yes, that's kind of what I Googled. There were no lakes here.

43:17Nigel Henry: Jimmy, I'm sticking with that story. Jimmy, take us home because I got to tell you, Nigel's got to go do some ops and get a zinger. Yes, Nigel, you've been a great, great guest. And thank you so much for spending some time with us. We know your schedule here at the Prosper Forum is a jammed one. We appreciate you spending some time with us. A gentleman here who started out testing food and water safety in Dominica. Where's Dominica?

43:43Hospitality Hangout: It's in the middle of the Caribbean. It's called the Nature Isle of Dominica. Check it out. Yep. Visit it. It's beautiful. I'm there every year. Are you really? I am.

43:52Nigel Henry: And now he oversees operational excellence for four of the biggest restaurant brands on the planet. Ladies and gentlemen, Nigel Henry, we are super excited to have you on the show. Thank you for doing it. Shatsy, close us out, please. Yep, yep. I got to tell you, you know, just go to, was it yumbrands.com? Where do we find all your brands?

44:10Hospitality Hangout: Yes, yumbrands.com. Was that your idea? Not my idea. That was before my time.

44:17Nigel Henry: All right. Well, listen, Nigel, you've come with knowledge. And I think anyone who listens to this podcast will leave with an incredible amount of information and a lot smarter than they were when they came to the show. And you know why? Because you were on the show. And you were Nigel Henry. And you know what? Now we know what you do. And I am going to email your mom and dad and tell them what a wonderful person you are. Thank you. And they've raised a real gem. Thank you. And what I don't do as well. Cheers, everybody. Thank you.