From Rolling Stone Dreams to Restaurant News: Sam Oches of Nation's Restaurant News, Take-Away and Extra Serving
From The meez Podcast · 1:12:39
Show by Josh Sharkey
Josh sits down with Sam Oches, editor in chief of Nation's Restaurant News and host of the Take-Away with Sam Oches podcast, for a candid conversation about who covers the restaurant industry now and who holds it accountable. Sam spent 12 years at QSR magazine before joining Informa in 2021, where he also co-hosts Extra Serving with Alicia Kelso and leads CREATE, the event for emerging restaurateurs. Before any of that he wanted to be Cameron Crowe writing for Rolling Stone, and he still keeps the drum kit he got at 12 in his basement (his 10-year-old daughter can hold a beat).The two dig into how a trade outlet covers restaurants that also buy its ads ("we're not critics, our job is accountability"), whether any news can be unbiased, and what happened to the trade press. NRN had 32 writers 20 years ago. NRN and Restaurant Business now share about 8 editors, Food Arts, Plate and Restaurant Hospitality are gone, and a 23-year-old eating a Burger King burger in their car can outdraw Bret Thorn, NRN's food editor of 30 years. "We were the gatekeepers. Now we're not." Sam explains why people come to conferences to meet each other, why a $500 registration fee got walked back, and why there are too many events. Josh pushes on all-in-one tech stacks versus open platforms, and Sam traces roughly $20 billion of 2021 foodservice VC money down to about $1 billion last year.They close on awards (what actually qualifies a winner, and why NRN admits a couple of past Hot Concepts are gone), the operator family trees running from P&G to Yum, and Fogo de Chão CEO Barry McGowan's path from his brother's Pizza Hut to a team that has followed him for 20 years. Sam's case for the industry: about 1 million restaurants, a trillion dollars in sales, fewer than 50 trade journalists covering it, and a business AI will never replace.Links and resources 📌Visit meez: https://www.getmeez.comFollow meez on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getmeezFollow Josh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshlsharkey/?hl=enFollow Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-sharkey-406965b/Nation's Restaurant News: https://www.nrn.comFollow NRN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nationsrestaurantnews/Connect with Sam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-oches-5923bb13Follow Sam on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soches/ [NEEDS GUEST INPUT]Take-Away with Sam Oches: https://www.nrn.com/program/take-away-with-sam-ochesExtra Serving: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/extra-serving-a-restaurant-industry-podcast/id1466959303NRN on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NationsRestaurantNewsRestaurant Business: https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.comCREATE: https://informaconnect.com/create
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