{"id":5915,"date":"2015-12-09T21:11:47","date_gmt":"2015-12-10T02:11:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/simple-fast-food-that-can-improve-your-health-thats-clover\/"},"modified":"2015-12-09T21:11:47","modified_gmt":"2015-12-10T02:11:47","slug":"simple-fast-foodthat-can-improve-your-health-thats-clover","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/simple-fast-foodthat-can-improve-your-health-thats-clover\/","title":{"rendered":"Simple, Fast Food\u2026that Can Improve Your Health? That\u2019s Clover"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i4tsk12in2b2y7uts14c528g-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Clover-Logo1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-5858\" src=\"https:\/\/i4tsk12in2b2y7uts14c528g-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Clover-Logo1-300x49.png\" alt=\"Clover Logo\" width=\"300\" height=\"49\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Clover-Logo1-300x49.png 300w, https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Clover-Logo1-600x98.png 600w, https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Clover-Logo1.png 980w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Clover\u2019s philosophy states that \u201cWe try to keep everything very simple, but very careful\u2026This is Fast Food. We\u2019re obsessed with speed and constantly time ourselves. Our average serve times are around 3.5 minutes, which makes us a little slower than McDonald\u2019s.\u201d At the same time, Clover is focused on providing a healthier food alternative, with a locally-sourced, organic, and preservative-free focus. Did I mention that Clover is vegetarian (but you will never hear the Company market itself that way).<\/p>\n<p>At 2 years of existence, it is still an early-stage start-up. However, Clover is already differentiating itself with an effective operating model.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><u>1. Product:<\/u><\/p>\n<p>1.1 Specialization in Small Number of Offerings:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Clover offers a total of 5 of meal options as of December 2015; these exist in two forms, sandwiches or platter, with the only difference being bread<\/li>\n<li>Sides are individual portions of items included in platters, hence no additional ingredients are needed to create these<\/li>\n<li>Clover has recently expanded its beverage menu, but has focused on coffees and teas<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>1.2 Inform consumer that menu may change during the day, or overnight<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Allows Clover to be flexible when certain ingredients are low or no longer in season. With a focus on using fresh ingredients, Clover avoids using frozen food<\/li>\n<li>Customers find this idea exciting since product \/ taste quality is high<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i4tsk12in2b2y7uts14c528g-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Clover-Menu-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-5993\" src=\"https:\/\/i4tsk12in2b2y7uts14c528g-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Clover-Menu-2-270x300.jpg\" alt=\"Clover Menu 2\" width=\"270\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Clover-Menu-2-270x300.jpg 270w, https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Clover-Menu-2-921x1024.jpg 921w, https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Clover-Menu-2-539x600.jpg 539w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 270px) 100vw, 270px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><u>2. Customer &amp; Information Flow<\/u>:<\/p>\n<p>2.1 During peak lunch hours, throughput time from arrival to food-pick is 3.5 mins on average, with a cycle time of approximately 10 seconds.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Clover does this by optimizing customer, information, as well as food preparation flow<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>2.2<em> Information flow<\/em>: As customers walk in, they see large screens displaying menu items, but more importantly, an expected \u201cwait time\u201d per item.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>By providing such information, customers in a rush can choose an item that may not be an optimal food or beverage choice, but meets their time constraints<\/li>\n<li>A beta version of online menus by location are currently being tested; these would allow customers to see what, if any, items are out of stock during a given time of day<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>2.3<em> Customer flow<\/em>: To place an order, customers do not approach a cashier. Instead one to two people (depending on the influx of customers) take orders with their phones.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Allows a traditional \u201ccashier\u201d to take on the role of \u201cgreeter\u201d, thereby creating a friendlier, more interactive environment for customers.<\/li>\n<li>Greeters are also trained to follow a standard question approach that allows them to obtain information about the customer. For example, the first question a greeter asks is \u201c\u201cHave you eaten here before?\u201d. If the answer is \u201cno\u201d, the greeter provides recommendations. If the answer is \u201cyes\u201d, the greeter offers a sample of a beverage before taking the order.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i4tsk12in2b2y7uts14c528g-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Clover-Server-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-6118\" src=\"https:\/\/i4tsk12in2b2y7uts14c528g-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Clover-Server-2-198x300.jpg\" alt=\"Clover Server 2\" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Clover-Server-2-198x300.jpg 198w, https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Clover-Server-2-675x1024.jpg 675w, https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Clover-Server-2-395x600.jpg 395w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><u style=\"line-height: 1.5\">3. Food Preparation<\/u><span style=\"line-height: 1.5\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<p>3.1 Clover staffs 3 \u2013 4 people on food and 1 \u2013 2 on beverages during busy hours.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>This can be reduced to 2 \u2013 3 people on food, and 1 person on beverages during slower periods.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>3.2 A few factors help to ensure efficiency in the food preparation process:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Food is cut as close as possible to when it is ordered.<\/li>\n<li>Only natural (no preservatives, artificial flavors, nor flavor enhancers) are used. As a result, the process of putting together an order is a matter of mixing a few chopped ingredients together.<\/li>\n<li>Sandwiches or platters are wrapped in paper or served in a compostable container, hence reducing waste.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><u>4. Customer FeedbacK<\/u>:<\/p>\n<p>4.1 Clover\u2019s first restaurant stated on its wall \u201cThis is a prototype,\u201d in bold letters. \u201cWe will screw something up. We\u2019ll screw many things up. Tell us when that happens.\u201d The Company has continued to utilize this approach as it grows, paying much attention to users.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Didn\u2019t put enough salt on tables \u00e0 if enough complaints received, knew recipes had to be tweaked<\/li>\n<li>Founder read reviews on Yelp, Facebook and other social media and made suggested improvements<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>4.2 Clover knows that it needs its customers to be extremely satisfied<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Marketing is purely word of mouth (in person and via social media)<\/li>\n<li>No advertising budget<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><u>5. Product innovation<\/u>:<\/p>\n<p>5.1 Through Clover is a vegetarian and mostly organic \/ locally sourced food restaurant, it avoids offering typical vegetarian dishes such as eggplant parmigiana or a Portobello sandwich.<\/p>\n<p>5.2 The Company\u2019s greatest innovations have come from listening to employees and inspiration from other restaurant concepts:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>New recipe for eggs in breakfast sandwich came from a manager-in-training.<\/li>\n<li>Revisited hummus recipe (originally only a sauce used in sandwiches) after visiting an NYC hummus bar; made it a standalone side dish.<\/li>\n<li>New Black Bean sandwich was created out of brainstorming for what to do with excess black beans last fall. Inspired by Venezuelan arepa sandwich.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>References:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cloverfoodlab.com\/\">https:\/\/www.cloverfoodlab.com\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li>\u201cThe Making of a McTopia\u201d, Boston Magazine <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bostonmagazine.com\/restaurants\/article\/2014\/07\/28\/clover-food-lab\/\">http:\/\/www.bostonmagazine.com\/restaurants\/article\/2014\/07\/28\/clover-food-lab\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Visits to 性视界 Square and Central Square locations<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Clover\u2019s philosophy states that \u201cWe try to keep everything very simple, but very careful\u2026This is Fast Food. We\u2019re obsessed with speed and constantly time ourselves. Our average serve times are around 3.5 minutes, which makes us a little slower than [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":547,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[],"class_list":["post-5915","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","hentry"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/the-tom-challenge-tom-winners-and-losers-assignment\/","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Simple, Fast Food\u2026that Can Improve Your Health? That\u2019s Clover - Technology and Operations Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/simple-fast-foodthat-can-improve-your-health-thats-clover\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Simple, Fast Food\u2026that Can Improve Your Health? That\u2019s Clover - Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Clover\u2019s philosophy states that \u201cWe try to keep everything very simple, but very careful\u2026This is Fast Food. We\u2019re obsessed with speed and constantly time ourselves. Our average serve times are around 3.5 minutes, which makes us a little slower than [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/simple-fast-foodthat-can-improve-your-health-thats-clover\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i4tsk12in2b2y7uts14c528g-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Clover-Logo1-300x49.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/simple-fast-foodthat-can-improve-your-health-thats-clover\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/simple-fast-foodthat-can-improve-your-health-thats-clover\\\/\",\"name\":\"Simple, Fast Food\u2026that Can Improve Your Health? That\u2019s Clover - Technology and Operations Management\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/simple-fast-foodthat-can-improve-your-health-thats-clover\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/simple-fast-foodthat-can-improve-your-health-thats-clover\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i4tsk12in2b2y7uts14c528g-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2015\\\/12\\\/Clover-Logo1-300x49.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-10T02:11:47+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/simple-fast-foodthat-can-improve-your-health-thats-clover\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/simple-fast-foodthat-can-improve-your-health-thats-clover\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/simple-fast-foodthat-can-improve-your-health-thats-clover\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i4tsk12in2b2y7uts14c528g-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2015\\\/12\\\/Clover-Logo1-300x49.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i4tsk12in2b2y7uts14c528g-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2015\\\/12\\\/Clover-Logo1-300x49.png\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/simple-fast-foodthat-can-improve-your-health-thats-clover\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Submissions\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Simple, Fast Food\u2026that Can Improve Your Health? That\u2019s Clover\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/\",\"name\":\"Technology and Operations Management\",\"description\":\"MBA Student Perspectives\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"性视界Action\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Simple, Fast Food\u2026that Can Improve Your Health? That\u2019s Clover - Technology and Operations Management","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/simple-fast-foodthat-can-improve-your-health-thats-clover\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Simple, Fast Food\u2026that Can Improve Your Health? That\u2019s Clover - Technology and Operations Management","og_description":"Clover\u2019s philosophy states that \u201cWe try to keep everything very simple, but very careful\u2026This is Fast Food. We\u2019re obsessed with speed and constantly time ourselves. Our average serve times are around 3.5 minutes, which makes us a little slower than [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/simple-fast-foodthat-can-improve-your-health-thats-clover\/","og_site_name":"Technology and Operations Management","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/i4tsk12in2b2y7uts14c528g-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Clover-Logo1-300x49.png","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/simple-fast-foodthat-can-improve-your-health-thats-clover\/","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/simple-fast-foodthat-can-improve-your-health-thats-clover\/","name":"Simple, Fast Food\u2026that Can Improve Your Health? That\u2019s Clover - Technology and Operations Management","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/simple-fast-foodthat-can-improve-your-health-thats-clover\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/simple-fast-foodthat-can-improve-your-health-thats-clover\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i4tsk12in2b2y7uts14c528g-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Clover-Logo1-300x49.png","datePublished":"2015-12-10T02:11:47+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/simple-fast-foodthat-can-improve-your-health-thats-clover\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/simple-fast-foodthat-can-improve-your-health-thats-clover\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/simple-fast-foodthat-can-improve-your-health-thats-clover\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i4tsk12in2b2y7uts14c528g-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Clover-Logo1-300x49.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i4tsk12in2b2y7uts14c528g-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Clover-Logo1-300x49.png"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/simple-fast-foodthat-can-improve-your-health-thats-clover\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Submissions","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Simple, Fast Food\u2026that Can Improve Your Health? That\u2019s Clover"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/","name":"Technology and Operations Management","description":"MBA Student Perspectives","potentialAction":[{"@type":"性视界Action","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/5915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hck-submission"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/547"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/5915\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}