This year the first edition of the iFood Move, a major event promoted by iFood for restaurant entrepreneurs, which focuses on innovation, entrepreneurship and growth.
Between the 25th and 26th of September, big names in the sector will meet in São Paulo to share experiences and talk about the future and growth strategies to an audience estimated at ten thousand people.
Ticket pre-sales for the event begin this Tuesday (April 2), at 10am, and will be held on the Sympla website.
Among the speakers will be Brazilian chefs — such as Janaína Torres, elected best chef in the world— and strong entrepreneurs, such as Jay Livingston, CMO of burger chain Shake Shack, an international reference in innovation and customer service.
In an interview with iFood News, she tells how the event will bring innovation and AI to the daily lives of restaurants and how iFood supports these entrepreneurs on its platform.
iFN – Why is iFood promoting an event of this size for restaurants?
Beatrice
We always wanted to do an event like this, to expand discussions about innovation and the future of restaurants. iFood's growth ambition is enormous, and for this to happen our entire ecosystem, that is, the people who are part of the delivery business, has to grow together.
iFood Move will bring high-level content in terms of innovation, technology and management. We will have important speakers from Brazil and the world to talk about how this market is evolving and what is to come.
Let's look at the growth levers in the present and bring trends for the coming years. This way, entrepreneurs will be able to prepare and invest their energy more accurately. This way, entrepreneurs can prepare and invest their energy thinking about the future.
iFN – What is the profile of the entrepreneurs who are on the iFood app?
Beatrice
These are growing businesses: 70% of our base is made up of medium or small-sized restaurants.
They are evolving entrepreneurs. They make up the majority of entrepreneurs on iFood, which demonstrates how accessible our platform is
iFN – How does iFood Move want to inspire these entrepreneurs to grow?
Beatrice
We want to bring to Brazil the latest in the sector and build the future with entrepreneurs. And that any entrepreneur who goes to Move leaves the event with lots of ideas in their head, with lots of stimulation and with a positive thought about what is to come.
At the event, they will have the opportunity to find out what is already happening in other countries, in other businesses. iFood Move will have speakers from different sectors, each bringing a different story to inspire entrepreneurs.
Let's bring, for example, Jay Livingston, CMO of Shake Shack, a burger chain in New York that is greatly admired around the world for its consumer experience and innovation in its processes.
Another speaker is Michel Alcoforado, a consumer behavior scholar. Thinking about Generation Z [people born between 1996 and 2010], who will now enter the job and consumer market, what do we already know about them and how will it impact purchasing behavior?
It is these discussions that we want to bring, which help entrepreneurs make better decisions for their businesses.
Move is bringing people who have good stories to tell about what is already happening, because we often think that the future is super far away, when in fact it has already begun. The future is not predictable, but it is mappable.
We study the future by looking at what worked in the past, and then understand how to map what comes next.
iFN – Another Move theme is AI. How should restaurants prepare to use it?
Beatrice
There is a lot that is already being put into practice. Move will precisely bring these examples to inspire our entrepreneurs.
One of our speakers will be Fernando Machado, who was CMO at NotCo, a food company that produces plant-based alternatives to food products of animal origin.
Using AI, the company daily learns and studies infinite combinations of plants that can replicate animal products and make them even richer and tastier.
In the restaurant sector, we focus on using artificial intelligence to grow businesses. AI is already being used to optimize and facilitate processes that were previously manual.
At iFood, for example, we have more than 200 AI models being tested, which help us make decisions faster, always considering ethics and data authenticity.
iFN – What is the result that iFood expects from this event?
Beatrice
Our biggest goal is for people to leave Move prepared for the technological future in the food sector and with an improved vision of management and growth for their business.
People will leave there motivated and ready for what's to come in the future and prepared to invest even more in the growth of their businesses.
It will be an excellent time to build a network of contacts and knowledge for these entrepreneurs.
My expectation is that people leave with a feeling of learning, but also with that positive discomfort that there is still much more to come.
iFN – In addition to Move, how does iFood support the growth of restaurants?
Beatrice
With dialogue and education. To begin with, all new restaurants that join iFood can attend, free of charge, a live online mini course with João Barcelos, a delivery specialist.
This course is part of Decola, a distance learning platform with free 100% content for all partner profiles, from those who have just arrived to those who want to know more about sales leverage, financial management and how to create a good marketing strategy, for example.
Furthermore, the Partner Portal has business information and data on the restaurant's sales, so that entrepreneurs can make the best decisions to grow.
iFood is also always open to listening to restaurants to find out where we can improve. To this end, we have been holding the Restaurant Forum since 2022, we have social media channels and we sponsor several regional events to be able to be close to these partners who are not in large centers.
Move is an event that we have wanted to do for some time. The Forum helped us build this relationship and gave us the strength to do something much bigger and with more connecting power.
