The restaurant sector is living through a curious moment. On one side, economic uncertainty; on the other, an ambition for aggressive expansion. I recently went through the 2025 Restaurant Growth Insights Report, produced by Crunchtime in partnership with Technomic. The study, based on more than 300 multi-unit operators, holds vital lessons for anyone running large brands — including here in Brazil.

Here are the 4 points that caught my attention the most, and how they apply to our reality:

1. Growth Didn't Stop — It Evolved

"While the economic mood is wary, restaurant brands aren't standing still"

Even though 73% of operators are worried about the economy, the average plan is to open 20% more stores over the next two years than they did over the previous two. The rules of the game have changed, though: you no longer grow by "fixing it afterwards". Operational maturity has become the greatest competitive advantage.

2. The Real-Time Visibility Gap

"There is a lack of complete visibility into task execution across stores"

This is the most alarming figure in the report: 80% of operators make real-time visibility a priority, but fewer than half actually have it.

• Only 36% have genuine visibility into the completion of daily operational tasks.
• Only 38% can see checklist adherence and audit scores in real time.

For brands running hundreds of locations, like the ones we serve, operating in the dark is an unsustainable risk to margins.

3. The Labor Confidence Crisis

"Labor challenges become even more complex during periods of growth"

Managing people remains the biggest headache in expansion.

• Only 35% of operators are extremely confident in their labor scheduling strategy.
• The accuracy of sales forecasts used for scheduling is only 60%, even with technology in place.
• The number one challenge? Unpredictable swings in demand (33%).

4. Inventory: Where the Profit "Leaks"

Inventory control was voted the area where technology is most useful in uncertain times. Operators report poor visibility into food cost tracking and waste, which quietly erodes margins.

My Take: An Opportunity for the Brazilian Market

In Brazil, where we serve large foodservice chains, we see a very similar challenge. The report confirms that brands investing in readiness before they scale run into less friction.

Technology can't be a makeshift add-on any longer: disconnected systems, every department with its own solution (or worse, every employee), spreadsheets everywhere. It has to be the engine. When we look at the AI-powered checklists, merchandising kit management, audits and scheduling we've built at Softerize, we are attacking precisely the visibility gaps Crunchtime describes.

Growing fast and patching it up later is dead. In 2026, the winner is whoever has the data in hand, in real time.

Download Crunchtime's full report here .

📌 This article was originally published on LinkedIn, in Portuguese. Read it and leave a comment there too!