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About the Summit

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the 14th annual Canadian Restaurant Investment & Leadership Summit in Toronto at Malaparte in the TIFF Lightbox.

As always, we are very grateful to all our speakers, sponsors and delegates for their contributions over the years. Without all your support, we could not make the Summits such a great success! 

We hope you enjoyed the day and cannot wait to host you again in 2025!

We hope you enjoyed the 
Canadian Restaurant Investment & Leadership Summit 2024!

On November 6th in Toronto we hosted the 14th annual Restaurant Summit that focuses on delivering thought leadership around the industry's most topical issues. CEOs and executives from leading brands along with industry experts, will share their perspectives on the future of the foodservice industry in Canada.

 

 

 

 

 

What:
2024 Canadian Restaurant Investment & Leadership Summit
When:
November 6th, 2024
Where:
Malaparte, 350 King Street West, Toronto
Register Toronto Summit
Session One

Session # 1
The Foodservice State of the Nation 

One of the most loved panels at the Canadian Restaurant Investment & Leadership Summit is the State of the Nation. Jacob Mancini of CWB Franchise, and Vince Sgabellone of Circana, take the stage at dueling podiums to discuss the current state of the foodservice industry. They talk about what has happened in the last 12 months, what is happening NOW and what they foresee for the future. They share insights, data, trends and anecdotes all from and about Canadian Restaurants and Food Service.

The 14th annual Canadian Restaurant Investment & Leadership Summit always kicks off the day with the Foodservice State of the Nation presentation and we welcome a devoted sponsor to make a few comments and introduce the session.

Speakers:

Jacob Mancini - Jacob oversees all aspects of the restaurant lending business which provides financing for branded restaurant chains on both a corporate and franchisee level. He specializes in portfolio & business development for both national & regional chains. Prior to joining CWB, Jacob spent 13 years with GE Capital’s franchise finance division, including 9 years in commercial and business development, 2 years in sales support and operations, and 2 years as a credit and structuring manager.

Jacob Mancini

Jacob oversees all aspects of the restaurant lending business which provides financing for branded restaurant chains on both a corporate and franchisee level. He specializes in portfolio & business development for both national & regional chains. Prior to joining CWB, Jacob spent 13 years with GE Capital’s franchise finance division, including 9 years in commercial and business development, 2 years in sales support and operations, and 2 years as a credit and structuring manager.

Vince Sgabellone, Circana - Vince has worked in many different roles across the food and foodservice industry. From sales to marketing, distribution to product development, from manufacturers to operators. All of this has served him well since entering the research industry with The NPD Group more than a decade ago. In his role Vince combines his analytic abilities and natural curiosity with his expertise in the industry. He helps his clients to understand the market, the competition, and the consumer.

Vince Sgabellone, Circana

Vince has worked in many different roles across the food and foodservice industry. From sales to marketing, distribution to product development, from manufacturers to operators. All of this has served him well since entering the research industry with The NPD Group more than a decade ago. In his role Vince combines his analytic abilities and natural curiosity with his expertise in the industry. He helps his clients to understand the market, the competition, and the consumer.

Session Two

Session # 2
The CEO Panel

The CEO Panel of the Canadian Restaurant Investment & Leadership Summit is a conversation where restaurant and franchise CEOs from across Canada, discuss the evolution of the restaurant industry. Year after year, the CEO Panel is a fan favourite. As we embark on the 14th year of the CEO Panel, we invite CEOs that want to have a candid discussion about what’s happening in the industry, the headwinds, the tailwinds and listen to them interact with about what excites them about the future of the restaurants and foodservice! 

We invite CEOs who are not afraid to challenge the status quo, who are willing to answer the tough questions and ultimately want to help everyone in the room succeed and make the restaurant industry even better. 

Speakers:

Domenic Primucci - Domenic Primucci was born to immigrant parents from the region of Basilicata in Italy. Back in 1963 his father and uncles opened one small, corner pizzeria called Pizza Nova in Toronto. Domenic started working at Pizza Nova when he was 14 years old. He has worked in every aspect of thecompany, from Operations to Marketing, from dishwasher to now serving as the president.

Domenic Primucci

Domenic Primucci was born to immigrant parents from the region of Basilicata in Italy. Back in 1963 his father and uncles opened one small, corner pizzeria called Pizza Nova in Toronto. Domenic started working at Pizza Nova when he was 14 years old. He has worked in every aspect of thecompany, from Operations to Marketing, from dishwasher to now serving as the president.

Vanessa Fracheboud - President, Mandy's Salad

Vanessa Fracheboud

President, Mandy's Salad

Jody Palubiski - CEO, The Charcoal Group

Jody Palubiski

CEO, The Charcoal Group

Session Three

The Next GENS Dining Experience

The future of dining is here, and it’s digital, customizable, incredibly interactive and all about the experience. Are restaurants ready to be a part of it? The restaurant industry is facing a new frontier. Restaurants must be ready to serve 5 different generations: The Baby Boomers, born 1946-1964, Gen X born 1965-1980, Millennials Born 1981-1996, Gen Z born 1997-2012 and Gen Alpha born 2013- 2020s.

All these generations are coming through restaurant doors and they all define the experience differently. How can  restaurants possibly cater to them all? Do they have to? Do you pick one or two groups? The data says the groups most important to the restaurant industry in terms of traffic are Gen Z, Millennials, and Baby Boomers. Even choosing to serve those groups only; with ages ranging from 12 years old to 80 years old, can you deliver value to all of them through experience? Do any of them value the same thing?

On this panel, let’s hear from the generations and learn what is most important to them in terms of the experience and how restaurants need to adapt to serve the next GENS. We will discuss problems the industry is facing and how each generation has a unique solution. We will get interactive with the audience through gamification for a very unique and ultimately fun panel!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speakers:

Ben Osmow - Ben Osmow doesn’t wait on the sidelines for his moment to make an impact, he’s already making changes with his strategic business plan to expand Osmow’s footprint across North America. Overseeing a number of depts. Including Operations, Finance, Legal, Procurement, Project Management, Real Estate & Franchising. He’s a skilled leader with a Master of Business Administration and a demonstrated history of success in the restaurant industry.

Ben Osmow

Ben Osmow doesn’t wait on the sidelines for his moment to make an impact, he’s already making changes with his strategic business plan to expand Osmow’s footprint across North America. Overseeing a number of depts. Including Operations, Finance, Legal, Procurement, Project Management, Real Estate & Franchising. He’s a skilled leader with a Master of Business Administration and a demonstrated history of success in the restaurant industry.

Ritou Maloni - Ritou Maloni is the Co-Founder, President and COO of Pür & Simple, a proudly Canadian-owned breakfast and lunch franchise. Originally founded in Quebec in 2016, Pür & Simple has become one of Canada’s fastest growing breakfast chains with more than 30 locations from the Maritimes to British Columbia. Ritou is driven by a passion for hospitality that has allowed her and her team to successfully reinvent breakfast, bringing affordable luxury to diners from coast to coast.

Ritou Maloni

Ritou Maloni is the Co-Founder, President and COO of Pür & Simple, a proudly Canadian-owned breakfast and lunch franchise. Originally founded in Quebec in 2016, Pür & Simple has become one of Canada’s fastest growing breakfast chains with more than 30 locations from the Maritimes to British Columbia. Ritou is driven by a passion for hospitality that has allowed her and her team to successfully reinvent breakfast, bringing affordable luxury to diners from coast to coast.

Thank you to all our Sponsors for their participation and support in planning and developing the 2024 Canadian Restaurant Investment & Leadership Summit. 

Media Partner

Premier Research Sponsor

Contributing Partner, Canadian Chain Restaurant Industry Review

Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
Bronze Sponsors
Summit Host:

CWB Franchise Finance has been hosting the Canadian Restaurant Investment & Leadership Summit since 2010 and is honoured to continue to bring the industry together with this conference.

The members of the CWB Franchise Finance team are experts in providing both corporate franchisor and franchisee-level financing for prominent restaurant brands and leading hotel owners in Canada. We believe in getting to know the operations, opportunities, and challenges of each of our clients so we are able to provide them with customized, flexible financing solutions that will help them achieve their business goals. CWB Franchise Finance is a division of Canadian Western Bank.