Crave Hot Dogs & BBQ drives consistency across growing US franchise network with Alto-Shaam

Crave Hot Dogs & BBQ is utilizing Alto-Shaam's Vector Multi-Cook Ovens and ChefLinc platform to support food quality and consistency, simplify training and maintain brand standards across its growing franchise network of brick-and-mortar restaurants, food trucks and Walmart express units across the US. 

Founded by Samantha Rincione in 2018, the business has grown into a flexible, multi-format model shaped around changing customer demand, with a presence across the US. 

Alongside its range of specialty hot dogs, Crave has expanded into a broader fast-casual food offering spanning BBQ items, including smoked brisket, pulled pork and smash burgers. Crave also boasts a wider range of catering and delivery-friendly options. This evolution has seen the brand introduce food trucks during COVID, move into express units within Walmart and more recently, refine its model toward smaller sites, lower operational costs, and a stronger focus on takeout and delivery. 

Within this context, maintaining consistent food quality and operational standards across its dispersed franchise network has become a key priority for Crave and one where Alto-Shaam has played an important role. 

When it came to selecting the right equipment, Samantha and her team needed a solution that offered the reliability, capacity and versatility required to support their franchise model. After a series of product tests with the Alto-Shaam team, Crave identified Vector Multi-Cook Ovens as the right fit.

“We tested a wide variety of food items in the oven, and I was impressed, because not only did it fit everything we needed at once within the four oven chambers, but it’s very versatile,” Samantha explains. That versatility has been especially valuable across the business’ different layouts and formats, while also helping to reduce labor demands and streamline day-to-day execution. It has also eased training by allowing corporate headquarters to pre-program the oven to the correct setting for each menu item. 

 For Crave, the value of Alto-Shaam's equipment extends beyond speed and versatility. In a franchise model, the ability to protect brand standards and deliver a consistent guest experience from one location to the next is critical.

“The way I see it, I want us to be seen as the go-to brand for hot dogs, smash burgers and BBQ,” Samantha adds. “So you can go to Alaska, or you can go to New York and you’re going to get the exact same quality and consistency in everything we serve, wherever you are.”

This is where Alto-Shaam's wider solution, including ChefLinc remote oven management, has proven particularly effective for Crave. By enabling menu settings to be programmed centrally and managed in a controlled way, the platform helps ensure cooking consistency across the network, while also making the cooking process easier for franchisees and giving the Crave team greater confidence that all food items will be prepared and served the same way across each and every site.

“It makes training a lot easier,” Samantha continues. “Staff can cook items at the touch of a button without having to worry about temperature settings, cooking times and other variables.”

As Crave has refined its model around smaller physical footprints, multiple formats and a stronger focus on takeout, catering and delivery options, Alto-Shaam has helped the business maintain food quality, consistency and operational efficiency needed to protect brand standards as it continues to grow. 

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