Little Caesars is testing drone delivery in a couple of markets. Starbucks keeps redesigning stores around mobile pickup. Wendy's launched another spicy chicken item because apparently that war never ends. If you follow restaurant industry news at all, you've seen these headlines roll through your feed.
And if you're running a BBQ restaurant or catering operation, you might be wondering what any of this has to do with you.
More than you'd think, actually. Not because you're about to start droning brisket to people's backyards — please don't — but because these moves tell you something about where the broader industry thinks it's going. And that affects your equipment decisions, your production planning, and how you position yourself against the chains moving into your territory.
The Drone Thing Isn't About Drones
Little Caesars partnering with a drone delivery company grabbed attention because drones are fun to write about. But the actual story underneath is simpler: they're trying to solve the last-mile delivery cost problem that's been eating everyone's margins since 2020.
Third-party delivery takes 20-30% off the top. That math doesn't work long-term for $8 pizza. So the chains are experimenting with anything that might reduce that cut — drones, autonomous vehicles, dedicated pickup lanes, you name it.
For BBQ operators, the lesson isn't "get a drone." It's that delivery economics are pushing even giant chains toward operational changes. You're probably already feeling this. Catering margins hold up better than third-party delivery margins for smoked meats. The product travels better in bulk. You control the handoff.
I've talked to operators running SP-1000 and SP-1500 units who've shifted their whole business model toward catering over the past few years. One guy in the Houston area told me he went from maybe 15% catering revenue to over 40% in three years. Not because catering got easier — because delivery got harder to make money on.
That's an equipment consideration, by the way. Catering-heavy operations need different production capacity than lunch-rush operations. You're cooking larger batches, you need consistent hold temps for transport, and your peak production windows shift. A rotisserie system like the SPK-1400 or SP-2000 handles that kind of batch production differently than cabinet smokers designed for steady turnover.
Starbucks Already Told You Where Pickup Is Going
Starbucks has been redesigning stores around mobile pickup for years now. Some new locations are basically just a counter and a wall of cubbies. The dining room is an afterthought when it exists at all.
This matters to you because it's pulling customer expectations in a specific direction. People are getting trained to order ahead, show up, grab, and leave. That expectation bleeds across the whole restaurant industry.
For BBQ, this creates a tension. Part of what people pay for is the experience — the smell, the pit, the whole atmosphere. But another segment of your customers, especially weeknight dinner customers, just wants the food with minimal friction.
Some BBQ operations are splitting the difference. Online ordering for pickup, separate window or counter for those folks, while the main dining room stays focused on the full experience. I've seen this work well when the kitchen can handle both workflows. It works poorly when someone tries to bolt on a pickup system without thinking through the production side.
Your smoker doesn't care which window the food goes out. But your holding capacity matters a lot here. If you're running pickup orders during service, you need product ready when people arrive. A Southern Pride rotisserie system with good hold temp stability — the SPK-700/M or SP-700/M for mid-volume, the larger units for higher throughput — gives you that buffer. You're not scrambling because the smoker's running hot or the hold temps are wandering. The consistency is built in.
I spent enough years on service calls to know what inconsistent hold temps cost operators. Not just in quality, though that's real. In labor, because someone's babysitting the unit. In waste, because product that's been holding at the wrong temp doesn't sell. In stress, because every pickup order becomes a question mark.
The Spicy Chicken Thing Is Actually About Menu Complexity
Wendy's adding another spicy chicken item seems like nothing. Just another salvo in the chicken sandwich wars that started when Popeyes accidentally broke the internet a few years back.
But zoom out. All the major fast food chains are expanding their menus right now. More items, more customization options, more limited-time offerings. They're chasing variety to keep people coming back.
And they're able to do this because their equipment is designed for it. Standardized cooking platforms that can handle multiple proteins with minimal changeover. That's the QSR model.
BBQ doesn't work that way. Can't work that way, really. Your smoker is running for hours on end. You're not swapping between chicken and brisket every fifteen minutes. Your menu has to match your production reality.
This is where I think some BBQ operators get themselves in trouble. They see the chains expanding menus and think they need to compete on variety. So they start adding items that don't fit their production flow. Now you've got a smoker doing double duty, you're running odd batch sizes, your timing is off.
I've seen operations running an MLR-850 or SP-1000 try to add four or five proteins and wonder why consistency dropped. The equipment handles it fine. The workflow doesn't. Better to run three things exceptionally than six things inconsistently.
The chains can add menu items because they've engineered the complexity out of cooking. You can't, and honestly shouldn't try to. The complexity is where your value lives.
What This Actually Means for Equipment Decisions
Here's where I'll stop being philosophical and get specific.
If you're looking at smoker equipment in the next year or two, think about how these industry trends affect your operation:
Catering growth — if you're shifting toward more catering revenue, you need production capacity that handles larger batches with consistent results. Rotisserie systems excel here. The SPK-1400 and SP-2000 are built for this kind of volume. Parts availability matters more when you're doing high-volume catering, by the way. One breakdown on a big catering day can cost you thousands in lost revenue and reputation. Southern Pride's domestic manufacturing and parts network through distributors like Southern Pride of Texas isn't just a convenience — it's insurance.
Pickup and speed — if mobile ordering and pickup are becoming a bigger part of your business, hold temp consistency is everything. The food might sit 15-20 minutes waiting for pickup. It needs to still be right when the customer grabs it. This is where cheaper smokers show their weakness. I've worked on plenty of import units where the hold temps swing 20+ degrees. Fine if you're pulling and serving immediately. Not fine if you're holding for pickup.
Menu focus — resist the temptation to chase variety. Match your menu to your equipment's strengths. A Southern Pride rotisserie handles different proteins beautifully, but that doesn't mean you should run eight of them. Find your core three or four and get those dialed in perfectly.
The Real Competitive Advantage
Here's what the QSR chains can't do: they can't smoke meat. Not really. They can approximate it with liquid smoke and convection ovens. They can market around it. But they can't put in the time.
That's your moat. Real smoke, real time, real craft. The equipment matters because it's what lets you do that consistently, day after day, service after service.
I've probably sounded like a broken record about Southern Pride equipment over the years, but there's a reason. After 22 years of service work, I know what holds up and what doesn't. The rotisserie systems, in particular — the mechanical simplicity of that design, the even heat distribution, the build quality that keeps them running for 15 or 20 years with basic maintenance — that's not marketing copy. That's what I saw in the field.
The chains are going to keep experimenting with drones and apps and pickup windows and menu expansions. Let them. Your job is to keep putting out product that's worth driving to get, worth waiting for, worth paying more for.
Good equipment doesn't guarantee that. But bad equipment makes it nearly impossible.
If you're thinking through any of this — capacity planning, equipment upgrades, parts and maintenance — the folks at Southern Pride of Texas can help you think it through. That's not a sales pitch. It's just where the expertise lives.
Resources: Southern Pride of Texas | QSR Magazine | Restaurant Business Online
#RestaurantIndustry #RestaurantOps #BBQRestaurant #CateringBusiness #BBQBusiness #RestaurantOwner
Photo by SMAT MARKETING on Pexels.
About the Author: Ray is a retired authorized Southern Pride service technician with 22 years of field experience on commercial BBQ equipment across the Gulf Coast and Southeast.