Donatos CEO Kevin King on the intersection of innovation and consistency

Take-Away with Sam Oches

Nation's Restaurant News

Business, Entrepreneurship

2.5 • 15 Ratings

🗓️ 5 February 2025

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with Kevin King, president and CEO of Donatos Pizza. Kevin recently took over the chief executive position after former CEO Tom Krouse retired, and he’s now overseeing a new franchise expansion effort. Leading the way in this growth is Donatos’ commitment to innovation and consistency — and particularly where those two traits intersect, as they have with new automated kitchen equipment that Donatos is rolling out across its system. Kevin joined the podcast to talk about why consistency and innovation are so important to Donatos as it fights for share in the pizza category, and how these characteristics trace back to founder Jim Grote.

In this conversation, you’ll find out why:

You can go home again — and bring some new lessons with you
If you can’t find the right tool for your operations, build it yourself
Automated technology can allow your team to focus on guest interaction
You don’t have to take an all-or-nothing approach to innovation
Consistency is key to growth and relevance

Have feedback or ideas for Take-Away? Email Sam at [email protected].

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey there, welcome to Takeaway with Sam Ocas, a podcast from Nation's Restaurant News.
0:04.5	I'm Sam Ocas, editor-in-chief of NRN, and this is the show where I give you an all-access pass
0:09.5	to the restaurant industry's most influential decision-makers.
0:13.1	This week, I'm talking with Kevin King, the president and CEO of Donato's Pizza,
0:18.3	the 62-year-old pizza chain out of Columbus, Ohio that has more than 150
0:23.2	locations around the country. Kevin recently took over the chief executive position after
0:28.6	former CEO Tom Krause retired, and he's now overseeing a new growth effort at the brand
0:34.7	that aims for further franchise expansion starting with the East Coast.
0:39.7	Leading the way in this growth is Donato's commitment to innovation and consistency, and particularly
0:45.2	where those two traits intersect, as they have with new automated kitchen equipment that
0:51.0	Donato's is rolling out across its system.
0:59.7	Kevin joined the podcast to talk about why consistency and innovation are so important to Donato's as it fights for share in the pizza category and how these two characteristics trace back to
1:05.3	founder Jim Grody, who continues to inspire the company with his innovations today.
1:11.0	In this interview, you will learn more about why if you can't find the right tool for your
1:15.6	operations, you should build it yourself, why you don't have to take an all-or-nothing approach
1:20.4	to innovation, and why consistency is key to growth and relevance.
1:25.3	Jumping now into my interview with Donato's Kevin King. Also,
1:29.1	don't forget to stick around after the interview as I will share my five takeaways from this
1:33.0	discussion, actionable insights that you can take with you on the go.
1:39.6	Okay, I'm sitting down with Kevin King, the CEO of Donato's Pizza. Kevin, thanks for joining me today.
1:45.9	Hey, Sam, how are you doing?
1:47.0	Glad to be here.
	...

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