What is good management, you ask me as you dig your pupil into my blue pupil? To answer the question we have been inspired by our clients and in this article we give you 16 fantastic examples of good digital management geared towards profitability, for when you need impetus to move forward.
And remember: good management is management that keeps profitability under control.
La Ancha Family
Who are they?
Familia La Ancha was founded in 1919 by Benigno Redruello and the tavern La Estrecha (later renamed La Ancha). The current gastronomic group, managed since 2005 by Benigno's great-grandchildren, Nino and Santi Redruello (fourth generation of this gastronomic saga), preserves the essence of La Ancha tavern, opening the model to new concepts and ideas: Las Tortillas de Gabino, La Gabinoteca, Fismuler, Armando and Molino de Pez.
Why should you look at your management?
Because they are a great example of how tradition and innovation coexist and have learned that having control is essential to maintain and improve profitability.
And to have control, it is necessary to know the business data and act on them. In the words of Nino Redruello: "Being able to act thanks to data makes them profitable, they are essential to be efficient". Familia La Ancha is a paradigm of how to embrace innovation and new technologies where it is necessary: in the management that allows the business to remain what it is, evolving towards a 100% digital management. Seriousness, constancy, product quality and honest work are the values that define Familia La Ancha. Values to which we at Gstock are 100% committed.
Healthy Poke
Who are they?
The healthy food chain founded by brothers Gonzalo and Íñigo Iceta together with Juan Uribe is today a model of how to do things well both in terms of nutrition and business management. Healthy Poke currently has 33 stores in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, Seville, Granada and Las Palmas. Their business model responds to the philosophy they call HEALTHYUM: Humility, Energy, Attitude, Loyalty, Talent, Humanity, Motivation. Values that they apply both in their customer-facing management and in the digital management of processes.
Why should you look at your management?
Because innovation and a commitment to digital tools is fundamental in their way of managing what the customer does not see, but is key to guaranteeing the profitability of the business model.
The message they send to the industry is just as clear as the message they send to their client: manage to be happy (and where it says happy, it reads profitable).
At Gstock we share the Healthy Poke philosophy and think that, just as we can feed ourselves through an empowering nutritional approach that helps us stay healthy, we can do the same in the management of our food and beverage businesses: create healthy management routines, building that digital highway that allows us, through the use of the right tools, to keep the key areas of the business under control.
Quispe Group
Who are they?
Grupo Quispe is the project of César Figari and Constanza Rey. They landed in 2018 in the Madrid neighborhood of Las Salesas with Quispe, a tribute to Peru's cultural and gastronomic mix and diversity. They are currently one of the most relevant restaurant groups in Madrid and have three establishments: Quispe, Ponja Nikkei (Nikkei-Peruvian fusion gastronomy) and Sillao (Peruvian-Cantonese Chifa cuisine).
Why should you look at your management?
Because they are an excellent combination of creativity and freedom from the kitchen to the outside, to the customer, and seriousness, great work in the implementation of processes and control of the kitchen business to the inside.
Because they are an example of how to use raw material control at all points in the chain (from purchase from the supplier to sale to the end customer) to achieve, maintain and improve profitability with different proposals that require a very specialized and high quality product.
Arzábal Group
Who are they?
Founded in 2009 in Madrid, the project of Álvaro Castellanos and Iván Morales currently has Arzábal Retiro (foundational premises), El Jardín de Arzábal (in the Reina Sofía Museum), Arzábal Market and Madrí, both in the San Miguel Market, one of the key points of Madrid's gastronomy. Grupo Arzábal has more than 200 people in its teams and is one of the most important restaurant groups in Madrid. Its business model combines the spirit of a traditional tavern with quality products (Spanish identity and Basque roots) in unique spaces.
Why should you look at your management?
Because they are an example of organization and structure endowment, both for the growth of the group and to maintain standards in operation.
The secret to growth while maintaining quality and, above all, profitability, is organization: "growing organized with extreme quality is difficult to achieve and cannot be done without structure," says Iván Morales. Our digital solution for purchasing processes and warehouse management specialized for catering groups allows them to maintain that organization and control essential for the growth and development of the Group.
Sushita
Who are they?
Sushita, founded in 1999 by Natacha Apolinaro and siblings Sandra and José Manuel Segimón, is the first Spanish company to enter the sushi market. In 2014, Sushita Café was born, the first of the chain's six Japanese fusion restaurants. They currently have Madame Sushita (2017), Monsieur Sushita (2018), Le Club Sushita (2019) and La Madonna Sushita (2022). In two decades, Sushita has achieved a leading position in the commercialization of sushi, with more than 3,000 daily customers and its value proposition that unites high quality with affordable product.
Because they move forward without forgetting innovation: on the one hand, focused on developing other lines of oriental products while maintaining the leitmotiv of the brand (affordable quality), on the other hand, with an eye on opening new markets through exports, thanks to its new line of frozen sushi of the highest quality.
Why should you look at your management?
For their passion for good management, so necessary to achieve their objectives, and for their commitment to digital management, something we have been involved in since their beginnings: we were practically born at the same time as their restaurant line and since then we have been moving forward together in this objective of keeping profitability under control.
Trocadero Group
Who are they?
Great emblem of the hospitality and gastronomy of the Costa del Sol and our country. Founded in 1994 by Dionisio Hernández-Gil and directed by Jorge Hernández-Gil, Grupo Trocadero today has establishments in Tarifa, Sotogrande, Estepona, Marbella and Benalmádena and plans two more in Madrid and Málaga. Location, decoration, raw materials and excellence in service. These are the four pillars on which the success of Grupo Trocadero is based.
Why should you look at your management?
Because the raw material is a differential element in the Trocadero Group, both for the personality it imprints on its gastronomic proposal and for what happens with it behind closed doors, that is to say: for the management.
Because they are committed to rigor and excellence in management and because they have understood very well the real need to correctly control raw materials in order to continue growing and evolving in excellence and profitability. Only with an exhaustive control of our operations can we aspire to the maximum. If the Trocadero Group is a lifestyle to be enjoyed with passion for the customer, for the industry it is a management style with rigor as its main feature.
Castilla Termal Hotels
Who are they?
One of the benchmarks of Spanish hospitality and hospitality, founded by Roberto García. Avant-garde and tradition are combined in this group that has five spaces: three in Castilla y León, one in Cantabria and another in Castilla-La Mancha. Its business model is based on four key points: thermalism as a generator of experiences beyond the thermal waters themselves, emblematic and architecturally unique historical buildings, incomparable natural environments and high quality gastronomy based on local products. The company's expansion plan calls for 14 hotels by 2030. They are currently the largest tourist employer in the areas where they are located.
Why should you look at your management?
Because excellence in management and commitment to results are two of its core values. Both are fundamental to success, both now and in the expansion plan itself.
Because this excellence in management translates, in terms of the group's gastronomic proposal, into a strong commitment to the efficient management of raw materials.
Wild Group
Who are they?
Founded in Panama in 2017, Grupo Salvaje is one of the most powerful Japanese signature cuisine companies with the greatest international projection and future. It currently has 15 restaurants in 4 countries (Panama, Colombia, Spain and Venezuela) and develops 5 brands (Salvaje, Arrogante, Calle Dragones, Blue Moon and Madre).
Why should you look at your management?
Because, since the product plays a fundamental role in all the Group's establishments, they have perfectly understood that managing this raw material correctly and keeping exhaustive control is essential for success.
Because its success is an example of efficient management and control of raw materials in a multi-brand group with restaurants in four countries in three different time zones.
Andilana Group
Who are they?
The origins date back to 1958 and the opening of the Hostal Vostra Llar (Palamós). In 1992 and with the opening of the restaurant La Fonda (Barcelona) the group was established. It is currently one of the most important restaurant groups in the country, with more than 30 restaurants and 3 hotels throughout Spain. Its concept of gastronomy adapts to new trends while maintaining the flavor and traditional techniques of Mediterranean cuisine, in premises with unique interior design and branding. With their way of doing things, they are a reference in terms of digitalization of the management of their raw material.
Why should you look at your management?
Because they have understood that success and profitability need the long term to consolidate and that any process needs time to see real results. This is also true when we talk about management digitalization.
For its excellence in management, which can be seen in its firm commitment to improve standardization and day-to-day management, which means, among other things, working to simplify processes and improve management tools. And to work consistently and continuously to achieve long-term success in management as well. Consistency in operation and management is part of the intangible that makes the difference.
Vespok 360 Group
Who are they?
Group dedicated to the development of leisure, gastronomy and entertainment projects. Founded in 2014 by Álvaro Aguiar, Pablo Casas and Ignacio 'Pucho' Suarez de Toledo. El Rincón de Vespok, Pólvora, Salitre, Casa Vito, Green, Madera catering and Bomba Slider Burger delivery make up its gastronomic offer. Its turnover in the hotel and catering division is around 9 million euros. The first major objective of its expansion process is to open outside Madrid.
Why should you look at your management?
This is reflected in decisions such as optimizing operations by concentrating their concepts in the same area - which allows them to generate cross-selling, share warehouses (and product, especially in the case of the winery) and rotate personnel, among other advantages - or to dedicate time to testing recipes before launching a project.
Because they attach great importance to good raw material management, both from a product and process point of view: Vespok Group usually manages all types of production for its concepts, as they only work with the pre-prepared convenience food range. In this model, controlling raw materials very well is essential for good profitability and maximum utilization.
LEWBrand's BrasayFirewood
Who are they?
Founded in 2008 by businessman Pedro López Mena and with origins in the meat industry - in which Pedro has more than 40 years of experience, as this is the sector in which his family worked - today Brasayleña is made up of 27 restaurants spread throughout the country. And it is a consolidated chain to the point of being unique in the sector, both in Spain and in Europe.
Why should you look at your management?
For the extreme care of the raw material they work with and a special attention to its management as a formula to reach their profitability objective.
Because they are a great example of how an innovative concept can be generated through a product and how good management can lead that concept to success and profitability through a process of slow growth.
Lamucca Company
Who are they?
It was born in 2008 with Lamucca de Pez. The "High-Low" (high quality, low price) proposal of the brothers Ofelia and Álex Marín now has 13 restaurants in Madrid, united by excellence in product, service, ambience and location. Lamucca Company is a pioneer in Madrid of a restaurant concept with an international vision in aesthetics, ambience, gastronomic proposal, customer service style and management. In fifteen years of existence they have set the standard to follow and have become one of the most influential groups in the capital.
Why should you look at your management?
For their commitment to hard work and professionalism, maintaining their own expansion strategy in which they set their own times and remain faithful to their vision of success.
Because its vision is reflected in its management model, in which the standardization of processes and the use of technology to optimize purchasing and product management occupy a central place.
La Tremenda
Who are they?
Family initiative located in Catalonia and one of the hamburger chains of the moment, chosen Best American restaurant in Spain 2021 and 2022 by Just Eat. Based on a groundbreaking brand, the best raw material of national origin, and own recipes and elaborations. In the process of expansion and growth, it has 9 operating locations and a turnover of over 5 million euros.
Why should you look at your management?
For its commitment to process optimization and digital management in all aspects of the business, especially when it comes to raw materials.
By relying on state-of-the-art technology and specific raw material management tools (in this case, our own) to grow and be consistent, keeping profitability under control through automated and efficient purchasing logistics and inventory control.
Ramses District
Who are they?
A reference in Madrid's leisure scene since 2007, Ramses District is characterized by its permanent search for excellence, its innovative and sensorial experiences, its original avant-garde, international and cosmopolitan spirit, its luxury as a form of expression and for being one of the most innovative and disruptive restaurant groups in Madrid. It is made up of five spaces, all of them benchmarks to follow: Ramses, Patio de Leones, The Kave, Lady Bongo and Flamenco de Leones.
Why should you look at your management?
For his careful choice of traveling companions, which involves surrounding himself with the best in all aspects of the business, from interior design and architecture to raw materials, from the kitchen and dining room to digital management.
For its commitment to innovation to boost Madrid's hospitality industry and for management with specific tools to keep profitability under control and develop the expansion plan with consistency and coherence.
Rooftop Group
Who are they?
Project founded in Madrid in 2011 by Cristina Lasvignes and José Manuel García. Its philosophy "Unique places where to celebrate life" is transmitted in a business model based on the management of gastronomic spaces located in emblematic areas. Azotea Grupo currently has eleven establishments (6 in Madrid, 3 in Cadiz, 1 in Seville and 1 in Mallorca) and plans to open two more.
Why should you look at your management?
For its growth plan, which is characterized by being organic and orderly, with a view to ensuring that each new opening responds to the philosophy underlying the entire concept, as well as to the quality sought in the gastronomic offer.
For its pursuit of excellence in all its projects, which also extends to management and is manifested in the use of specific technology to keep profitability under control.
Barbillon Group
Who are they?
Project of the brothers Enrique and Francisco Javier Sánchez del Amo. It was born in 2012 with Barbillón Oyster Bar, the first establishment and seed of what today is Grupo Barbillón, a family business proud of its origins and a benchmark in the hospitality industry both in Madrid and nationally. In little more than a decade, Barbillón Oyster Bar has been joined by Tinglado (Boadilla del Monte), Panorama (Majadahonda), Bistró 1948 (Aravaca), Manto (Madrid, Campo de las Naciones), Bareto (Madrid, c/ Alcalá and Atocha; La Moraleja) and Barbillón Marbella, very close to Marbella's Golden Mile.
Why should you look at your management?
For its firm commitment to digital management in order to continue growing in a sustained and sustainable manner, with profitability under control.
For their work, enthusiasm, knowledge of the product and management processes, trust and vision.