The Cheesecake Factory® Tackles Big Data with IBM Analytics for an Exceptional Brand Experience

ARMONK, N.Y., Feb. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated, with more than 175 restaurant locations across the United States and three licensed locations in the Middle East, is using IBM Big Data analytics to help deliver the highest quality experience to its guests.

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Serving more than 80 million guests each year, with 200 menu items made fresh from scratch in each of its restaurant locations worldwide, The Cheesecake Factory deals with large volumes and variety of data on a daily basis generated by its complex, global food supply chain. This includes information ranging from transportation of food at the right temperature to ensuring a fresh food supply to information on product withdrawals and shelf life of food items. One of the key challenges for The Cheesecake Factory is to be able to glean instant insight from this massive amount and variety of information, also known as big data, to better serve its guests and to deliver an exceptional dining experience.

Using IBM Big Data analytics built on IBM Power Systems and IBM Business Partner, N2N Global's solution, The Cheesecake Factory has the ability to quickly alert restaurant locations to remove any ingredient that does not meet its high standards for quality and consistency, or in the event of a product withdrawal.  With this technology, The Cheesecake Factory can further ensure the highest level of quality and food safety for its guests.

In the event that an ingredient does not meet The Cheesecake Factory's specifications such as taste, color or consistency, the company is able to communicate critical supply chain data instantly with a single point of view alleviating the cumbersome tasks of manually inputting or accessing this information. This also brings new efficiencies to The Cheesecake Factory's operations as managers are able to focus more time on quality of operations versus spending time on data entry.

According to the National Restaurant Association, restaurant sales top $660 billion and have a global impact of over $1.8 trillion annually. With almost one million restaurant locations in the United States alone, food service operators face a daunting challenge tackling big data while delivering an unmatched brand experience for its guests.

"As a global brand in the restaurant industry, our number one priority is absolute guest satisfaction," said Donald Moore, Chief Culinary Officer for The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated. "It is our ultimate goal to deliver the best dining experience to our guests. With 180 restaurants globally and expanding, it is critical that we have the tools to ensure a fantastic dining experience for our guests in every restaurant from Beverly Hills to Kuwait City."

"Advanced analytics technology helps us better leverage Big Data to ensure freshness and quality for our guests," shared Dr. Ata (Al) Baroudi, Vice President of Quality Assurance & Food Safety for The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated. "We collect and maintain large amounts of data. N2N Global and IBM are assisting us with utilizing this data to better maintain the highest standard of quality."

Read the Smarter Planet Blog Post. "Serving Up A Unique Dining Experience with Big Data" by Angela Nardone, N2N Global's Chairman and Chief Innovation Officer.

Watch how The Cheesecake Factory is using Big Data analytics http://bit.ly/11WgYTz.

For more information on The Cheesecake Factory: http://www.thecheesecakefactory/ 
For more information on N2N Global: http://www.n2nglobal.com/ 
For more information on IBM's Smarter Food initiative: http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/food_technology/ideas/

CONTACT:

Kaveri Camire
IBM External Relations
1-914-625-6395

Lizette Kodama
IBM External Relations
1-646-675-0750

SOURCE IBM