Best Use of Technology Award Sponsored by Sky Business


THE SHORTLIST Gather & Gather


Individual


Restaurants The Swan


Hotel & Spa Ulverston


THE JUDGES Charles Boyd


8 Northumberland


Stephen Minall Moving Food


Jane Pendlebury HOSPA


Harry Ridley Built by Levy


Darren Sweetland Mollie’s


Motel & Diner Liutauras


Vaitkevicius Zetter Hotels


WINNER 2024 Gather & Gather


Any workplace caterer will tell you that serv- ing lunch to hundreds of busy workers in their precious lunch hour is no easy task. Customer flow is so important to avoid extensive queues during the lunchtime rush and prevent customers from becoming frustrated. But what if cutting-edge technology could alleviate many of the pain points? That’s a question Gather & Gather asked itself before deploying an artificial intelligence (AI) solution that fundamentally redefined the traditional notion of the checkout process at a number of its workplace catering sites. Working with hospitality solutions provider


Lolly, Gather & Gather rolled out the self-ser- vice platform, powered by computer vision technology, which recognises and processes food items on customers’ plates, eliminating the need for manual canning or cashier inter- vention. In simple terms, a customer places their tray under the camera, scans their access pass or payment card and walks away. While the end experience for the customer


is simple, seamless and effective, in the back- ground the Snapserve system is working hard to match the items on the tray to the product database and charge the customer accordingly, emailing a receipt with a copy of the scan and an itemised breakdown of the charges. A trailblazer will always catch the atten-


tion of Cateys judges, who praised Gather & Gather for its “brave and bold decision” in implementing a solution that showcases “the advancement and progress that our industry has bravely embarked on”. As with the introduction of any new tech-


nology, encouraging widespread adoption is critical, but thanks to the solution’s seamless and intuitive self-service experience, customer behaviour was easy to shift from traditionally manned tills. This enabled Gather & Gather front of house staff to better serve customers


29 “This is the next evolution in


enhancing customer experience” Harry Ridley


on the restaurant floor, elevating resources from a merely transactional customer inter- action to a front of house concierge service. The stats speak for themselves, with the


caterer noting an 84% reduction in transac- tion time, down to eight seconds, compared to nearly a whole minute when guests pay at a manned till. This also led to a surge in weekly transactions of 30%, while 15 hours of labour per week were redistributed away from the manned tills. This solution clearly offers tangible oper-


ational efficiencies while transforming customer experience, but the AI-driven analytics of the system have enabled Gather & Gather to optimise menu offerings and predict consumer trends with unprecedented accu- racy, allowing the contract caterer to maximise profitability and minimise waste. A positive impact on teams, the bottom line,


the environment, and the end-client – a clear winner in the Best Use of Technology Award.


WHAT THE JUDGES SAID “This is the next evolution in enhancing customer experience, reducing queueing and improving operator efficiency while delivering tangible benefits.” Harry Ridley


“Not only was it a brave and bold decision, it has clearly defined the goal and the benefits. While still at early stages, it has a lot of potential to impact customer experiences, cost controls and wider improvements in overall efficiencies.” Liutauras Vaitkevicius


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