London Inc. May/June 2021 - 27

At the heart of it is their automated " smart kitchens, "
which McInnes says can be run efficiently by a single person
if need be.
" In traditional restaurants, you use the skills of a chef, "
explains McInnes. " For us, everything is programmed and
cooked in an automated way. We use this advanced cooking equipment to provide more consistent food and make it
easier for us to train staff as well. "
Those kitchens, in turn, sit in small restaurants (at
between 750 and 1,000 square feet, as McInnes estimates,

they are the size of most one-bedroom
apartments) that are " built for delivery
and take-out, primarily. "
Their locations have been decided
by going where the data points them.
" They're not 100 per cent ghost kitchens, but we position them to optimize for delivery, " McInnes
says.
Like many of their products, Globally Local's expansion
vision hews closely to the existing fast-food business model,
but with tweaks McInnes believes differentiate them and
their food.
" A lot of the aspects of cooking food can be automated
or mostly automated, " he says. " Other fast-food chains are
trying to turn people into robots - we want to let robots do
what robots do best and leave people to the soft skills and
customer service. "

For McInnes, this isn't a new tech identity for the company
as much as it is making the technology part of their work
more visible.
" I would say that Globally Local has always been a technology company, at its core, " he says. " Fundamentally, I'm
a technology expert " - he ran a software business before
Globally Local - " and even though the technology wasn't
always apparent in the early days, it was always there. We
always used online ordering systems, back when people
weren't using them, and we had an algorithm that would
optimize delivery. It's always been in the background. "
Where this really wants to pay off is in price. A helpful offshoot of kitchens that can run with one
set of hands is that it brings your labour
cost way down. Ditto with essentially
controlling their own supply chain
and all the ingredients they make
themselves.
" People make decisions on a dollar
when it comes to fast food, " observes
McInnes, saying Globally Local is
aiming to bring their products in at a
cheaper price point than their meaty
counterparts. " A dollar is huge in the
fast-food industry. "
With the ﬁrst stages of the ambitious
expansion set to roll out soon - stores
will be opening in Waterloo, Hamilton, Vaughan, London
and Toronto's east end - there's hope that Globally Local
can prove to be a major player in a sector that hasn't always
taken an inspired approach towards plant-based diets. It
could start to change this, and tap into a demand for more
sustainable, environmentally friendly fast-food options.
McInnes is under no illusions about what that will take.
" We have to put ﬂavour ﬁrst, " he says. " Because, basically,
if you are going to eat a plant-based meal and it tastes better
- that's such a disruptive thing that's happening. " KIERAN
DELAMONT

MAY / JUNE 2021 | londonincmagazine.ca | 27

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London Inc. May/June 2021

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