Stan's Donuts
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NORTH AMERICA NORTH THE ALI GROUP MAGAZINE ISSUE 7 | JANUARY 2019 STAN’S DONUTS: BRINGING A WHOLE LOT OF EXCITEMENT TO CHICAGO CRAFT ON DRAFT JOYRIDE PARTNERS WITH BEVERAGE-AIR ALI GROUP Let me extend my heartiest You will also learn how a welcome to this, the seventh successful Chicago-based edition of Aliworld North chain serves creative, deli- America magazine. cious (and highly profitable) Looking through the sto- donuts. And, by combining ries in this issue reminds me a perfectly prepared and of the fact that even though delivered product with a we all have our own individ- culture based on “doing good” ual problems and concerns, in the communities it serves, many of you face the same we will show you how a pizza issues regardless of location. chain differentiates itself from Everyone faces labor-related the competition. This issue challenges, including finding contains these stories and and retaining qualified team many others that showcase members. Ever-increasing just some of the ways that we food costs affect your bot- at Ali Group listen to our cus- tom line. New ordering and tomers and go beyond simply delivery systems change the providing them with products way you produce and serve that meet their needs. food. And kitchen sizes continue to shrink to I’m very pleased that this issue will introduce accommodate a growing front-of-house area. you to the first seven winners of The Berti As always, we at Ali Group have a continual Foundation scholarships. These talented stu- focus on designing and producing products dents are the children of Ali Group employees, that help you meet those challenges. At the and we are delighted to help them reach their same time, we keep an eye on the trends loom- educational goals. ing on the horizon. One of those trends that On a personal note, I look forward to affects operators globally is the advancement seeing many of you at The NAFEM Show 2019 of technology. Consumers today want conven- in Orlando in February. We are already in ience more than ever. We’ll show you some of the planning stages for this year’s National the new technologies and systems that help op- Restaurant Association show in Chicago as well erators facilitate consumer orders from almost as HOST 2019. I look forward to seeing many any location and allow diners to take delivery of you at these shows, as well as at the many other of their food within minutes. trade shows and buying group conferences in Also in this issue, you’ll see how a coffee which we participate. company’s unique delivery system helped them From all of us at Ali Group, let me extend my carve out a niche in the crowded coffee segment sincerest wishes for a happy and prosperous 2019. and moved them into other beverages as well. Enjoy Aliworld. Filippo Berti Chief Executive Officer, Ali Group 3 CONTENTS 4 54 58 38 COVER STORY PEOPLE 32 CRAFT ON DRAFT 50 BURGER CHAIN INCREASES 71 ALI GROUP HEADQUARTERS: Joyride brings coffee and tea PRODUCTION IN SMALLER INNOVATION SITE OF PRIDE PEAK 4 STAN’S DONUTS: BRINGING 18 THE BERTI FOUNDATION “on tap” to New York City. SPACE TRAINING EVENT DONUT EXCITEMENT TO ANNOUNCES THE FIRST Burger 21 serves a variety of 62 KITCHEN STORAGE MAKEOVER A group of foodservice equipment 36 BUZZ POP COCKTAILS burgers while keeping its kitchen A better-designed kitchen storage dealers gets hands-on with a variety CHICAGO RECIPIENTS OF ITS STIMULATES GROWTH WITH footprint small. area brings efficiency to a hotel of Ali Group brands. Creative donuts are making a splash SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM kitchen. in the Windy City. The new foundation is helping CARPIGIANI Alcohol-infused sorbet-style push students achieve their dreams. 52 CREAM OF THE CROP pops are a fashionable adult treat. Made-to-order ice cream 67 ELEVATION SERIES ALI GROUP WORLDWIDE TRENDS sandwiches are on the menu LAUNCHES IN CHINA 22 LUCK + OPPORTUNITY = 38 A HEALTHY DOSE OF at CREAM. Ice-O-Matic’s latest innovation is 72 AROUND THE WORLD SUCCESS now in China. Global news roundup 10 TECHNOLOGY AND ACP’s Tim Garbett has a unique EFFICIENCY Duval County Public Schools serve 54 CANADIAN JUICE CHAIN CONVENIENCE perspective on the foodservice The latest trends in technology high volumes of student meals CLEANS UP 78 OUR BRANDS equipment business. EVENTS Ali Group global expertise and convenient product delivery quickly and efficiently. Jugo Juice serves affordable, healthy drinks and sandwiches. continue to affect the way operators 68 CONSULTANTS, DEALERS think about their businesses. SUCCESS STORIES 42 CUMMINS KITCHEN GETS 80 YOUR GLOBAL PARTNER CREATIVE 58 WALK-ON’S: A CLASS ACT AND OPERATORS ATTEND Ali Group contact information 15 WAREWASHERS’ PREDICTIVE Sophisticated meals are produced The business model for this sports ALI GROUP UNIVERSITY across the globe 26 PARALLEL SUCCESS bar chain combines community Learning about the latest product Two Nashville-based companies in a corporate cafeteria. ANALYTICS BOOST service and great-tasting food. innovations from Ali Group — Aladdin Temp-Rite and HCA OPERATORS AND SERVICE companies. AGENTS Healthcare — have partnered for 46 MOD PIZZA DOES WELL BY success for over a half-century. Predictive analytics help a new DOING GOOD 70 UNIQUE CAMP PROVIDES Champion dishwashing machine Helping its communities is the operate more efficiently. 30 DONUTS ON WHEELS key to success for this rapidly OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE Donuts can go anywhere with the expanding pizza chain. WITH DISABILITIES new Donut Robot. JT’s Camp Grom offers a variety of activities for wounded veterans, people with disabilities and their families. 42 COVER STORY STAN’S DONUTS: BRINGING DONUT EXCITEMENT TO CHICAGO Creative, innovative donut varieties drive a Chicago-based chain’s success, with some help from Belshaw. 4 5 COVER STORY he term “artisanal” has been applied “I started Labriola Baking in 1993 and sold it in to just about anything that’s edible 2013,” he says. “We did high-end artisan breads or drinkable over the past few years. for white-tablecloth restaurants and sold a lot to Whether it’s a craft beer, a heritage pork Trader Joe’s and Costco. I started that business breed or a handmade loaf of bread, the out of my car, and then when I sold it, we were word has come to represent a food item doing about $35 million in sales annually.” that’s carefully produced and full of flavor. Ready for a new challenge, Labriola entered TAnd artisanal appropriately applies when into a partnership with Berman to bring Stan’s describing the variety of delectable donuts Stan’s Donuts to Chicago. Since “his story and my story Donuts serves. Since opening its first unit in work well together,” Labriola says, the decision Chicago in 2014, Stan’s has become the go-to was made to go with the existing name rather place for whimsical, delicious donuts for than establishing a new brand from scratch. “We residents of the Windy City. The name went with his history, and his varieties were Stan’s Donuts is already familiar to unique,” Labriola says. “It’s just a good story. I residents of Los Angeles, how- think that’s why we’re so successful.” ever, as Stan Berman opened the Naturally, those donut varieties include original Stan’s Donuts in 1963 traditional favorites such as glazed, plain cake in the city’s Westwood Village and vanilla-sprinkled cake, which retail for neighborhood. $1.95 each. But Stan’s specialty donut menu Flash forward nearly 50 lists nearly 35 different donuts selling for $2.75, years later, when Rich Labriola including such taste-tempting treats as a lemon Lemon Pistachio happened to see Berman on a pistachio old fashioned, a Dreamsicle bar and Old TV travel show. Labriola already a toffee cake donut. Another list, called the Fashioned Nutella knew his way around the dough table, Dough Boy’s Best (coincidentally, “Dough Boy” Banana Pocket as he had been in the artisan bread business in is Labriola’s job title), features the top-of-the- Glazed Chicago for more than 20 years by that time. line donuts at $3.75 each. This menu includes Old Fashioned Stan’s has become the go-to place for whimsical, delicious donuts for residents of the Windy City. pockets, one of the specialty items for which the original Stan’s location is famous, Labriola says. “It’s made like a pastry. We put Nutella or Biscoff or peanut butter in it, but we put it in before frying and we give it a diamond fold-over so the filling solidifies a little bit. So it’s not like a Bismarck.” Labriola notes that his croissant- donut hybrid, dubbed the LeStan, is one of the more popular items offered. Along with the donut selection, Stan’s offers a full selection of coffee, tea, espresso and ice cream. The combination of ice cream and donuts led to a limited-time offer last summer, which gar- Apart from the wide range of flavors of- nered significant publicity for the chain: the donut fered, one of the things that differentiates Stan’s ice cream sandwich. A staff member splits a donut from other donut shops is the way the chain (“the cake varieties work better,” Labriola says) makes its donuts. Labriola explains, “We make and fills it with ice cream or gelato. One Chicago our donuts vastly different than most people. publication listed the Stan’s Donut ice cream Our yeast-raised donuts are made kind of like sandwich as one of its must-have, “life-changing” artisan bread in the way we mix the dough and ice cream sandwiches for summer eating.