Tory Eulenfeld is a chef and National Director of Member Services and Programs with the National Golf Course Restaurant Association. I sat down with her to find out how technology and artificial intelligence is entering the private club industry.
As we all know, club chefs don’t have much time to kill. Everybody wants to get in front of them to sell their products or services. Eulenfeld sees herself as a gatekeeper. “Technology companies can sell to me. When I visit the chef, I want them to know I’m bringing something fun and/or a saving them money. I ask all the questions, take notes, negotiate, and then educate the chef. The chefs win as they don’t have to take the time out of their busy day to learn more and finding out after all that it isn’t relevant to them,” she stated.
Another goal for Eulenfeld is to teach chefs and clubs how to save money outside of their food and beverage purchases through many avenues, including artificial intelligence and technology.
Bear Robotics is a new company that created a hospitality robot called Servi (pictured at top). The robot can bus tables, deliver dirty dishes to the dishwasher, deliver birthday cakes, and more. It works well with the men’s locker rooms; if no male servers are available.
This US-owned robot is the only one of its kind, designed in the United States and made in South Korea. NGCRA has a three-year contract with Bear Robotics, who covers the warranty and maintenance. They deliver it to your club and program it for you. The robot has 180-degree sensors and will be programmed to go the routes you want. Learn more at their website.
Instawork is a web-based temp agency for contract workers. It is built for service workers, dishwashers, prep chefs, and line workers. The program is profoundly background-checked and paid the same way Uber drivers are. For example, if you don’t have a dishwasher, you can request a worker to be a dishwasher for the days and times you need them. You can put the request out, and a person can accept the bid, or you can fill holes as needed with area workers on the app. A club can favorite workers as well. “You wouldn’t use it for sous chefs or chefs, but you can move everyone up and fill in a dishwasher. It can be a part-time gig for full-time workers.” Eulenfeld expressed. Learn more at their website.
FoodBAM is a purchasing software program that allows access from your distributor to your purchasing program. You will no longer have to enter codes whenever you want to update your order and pricing. FoodBAM can live-update pricing into your web-based system to save you hours and hours out of your week. FoodBAM allows the club to live-price recipes. It may be pennies the difference, but it all adds up if you are trying to stay within your food costs. Learn more at their website.
BenefitHub is a website for members. A club signs up for BenefitHub, allowing members, staff, and employees to log in and get discounted goods and services, events, concerts, and more. Learn more at their website.
“There are so many new things evolving, and I spend hours researching and speaking with each company; I can then put the technical terms into layperson’s terms to save time for busy club professionals and chefs.”
To contact Tory or learn more, please email benefits@ngcra.com
