Podcast Grill, a new podcast on iTunes.com and PodcastAlley.com, covers the $511 billion restaurant industry, tracking trends and conducting interviews with key industry players — and has announced it will produce 10 shows during this weekend's National Restaurant Association Hotel-Motel Show, from show-floor booth No. 5575.
The show, hosted by Fast Casual magazine publisher Paul Barron, covers all corners of the restaurant industry, from quick-service restaurants, fast casual and fine dining to pizza.
Barron said Podcast Grill is the first of its kind.
"Podcast Grill is aimed at helping restaurateurs and franchisees stay on top of what is going on in the industry," Barron said. "Whether you're a Subway or McDonald's operator, or you own a small pizzeria, fast casual restaurant, Starbucks-style coffee shop or high-end cafe, Podcast Grill will offer news and information that will help you be more successful."
The first episode of the show, which is already available at http://www.podcastgrill.com, is a look at the top overall restaurant trends for 2006. Some of the interviews on tap for the NRA podcast shows include executives from Coca-Cola, Hcareers, Verifone, Dole, the NRA and daily roundups with the editors of Fast Casual, QSRWeb.com and PizzaMarketplace.com.
Barron said Podcast Grill will produce regular monthly installments and will become more frequent as demand and sponsorships dictate. He hopes word of mouth over the Internet and in the restaurant industry will help move the show forward.
"We think of Podcast Grill as This Week in Tech for the restaurant industry," Barron said, referring to the popular technology podcast that garners roughly 250,000 downloads per week and features a weekly roundtable to discuss the week's top stories in technology.
"In fact, we'll not only discuss industry trends, but also restaurant-related technology such as self-service kiosks and point-of-sale systems."
