Originally published on Modern Restaurant Management
If multi-unit restaurant managers can’t sleep right now, it’s not because of too much coffee before bedtime. Instead, they’re tossing and turning because that coffee is so expensive. According to the National Restaurant Association, citing data from the Producer Price Index, the wholesale cost of unprocessed coffee, unprocessed finfish, beef, veal and other items has soared over 2024 levels.
Indeed, restaurant operators rank inflation as a top business pain point, and increasing profitability is their number-one goal, according to Toast’s 2025 Voice of the Restaurant Industry Survey. But how can they save money and improve their margins while maintaining their existing operations?
About the Author
Jay Fiske
President
Jay is a technology executive and investor with more than 20 years of experience building businesses and bringing innovative technology products to market. As President of Powerhouse Dynamics, Jay has responsibility for leading all strategic and day-to-day company operations. Before joining Powerhouse Dynamics, Jay was actively involved in numerous technology companies through his consulting firm, 5312 Consulting LLC, and as Vice President of Operations for Wakonda Technologies, a Boston-area materials innovation firm.
Prior to Wakonda, Jay was a General Partner at the Massachusetts Green Energy Fund, a venture capital fund focused on making early-scale investments in clean technology companies. Jay also held various leadership positions in business development and product management for Teradyne, Incorporated. Jay holds an MBA and MS in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he was a Fellow in the Leaders for Global Operations program. He earned his BS in mechanical engineering from Yale University.
