Crust Pizza Co. isn’t just slinging pies — it’s engineering the future of restaurant operations from the inside out. With Chief Technology Officer Nick Fontenot at the helm of a robust in-house development effort, the brand is betting big on proprietary technology to make life easier for franchisees, employees and customers alike.
Learning From the Past, Building the Backend
First Fontenot learned from past experience what not to do. “When I built the systems for Main Squeeze, I started with the POS and then added backend systems. I realized that was backwards,” he said. “So with Crust, I found a strong POS partner — Toast — and focused on building out the backend systems.”
That backend is now the backbone of the business. “We built systems to track daily cost of goods, labor scheduling, cooler and warmer temps, and food prep logs,” Fontenot said. “Our franchisees can see how much they’re spending, compare historical pricing, and adjust their pricing accordingly. We have real-time monitoring of coolers, and we created a date dot system that logs who prepped what, when it was made, and when it should be discarded.”
A Proprietary POS on the Horizon
But the brand isn’t stopping there. Crust Pizza Co. is in the middle of replacing its Toast POS system with a proprietary solution that will roll out in phases over the coming months.
“We’re currently developing our own POS and mobile app for iOS and Android. The goal is to launch in the next 60 to 90 days. It will replace Toast across the system,” Fontenot said. “Phase one ensures stores have the basics. Phase two involves using the data to generate actionable insights and potentially leverage AI. Phase three is ongoing development. I told our partners, ‘This never ends.’ Development is forever.”
Owning the platform gives the brand more than just tech bragging rights — it unlocks flexibility. “We also have a franchise advisory council that gives feedback. With our own POS, we can actually act on their input — something you can’t really do with a third-party provider like Toast.”
Enhancing the Customer Experience With Loyalty
That kind of flexibility will soon extend to the loyalty program, too. While Crust is still using Toast’s system for now, a more tailored offering is on the way. “It’ll have tiers, gamification and rewards that get better as customers spend more or visit more frequently,” Fontenot said. “They’ll be able to achieve certain statuses throughout the year. We haven’t rolled out all the details yet, but we’re really excited about what’s coming.”
Supporting Employees With Purpose-Built Tools
The innovation doesn’t stop with customers. Crust Pizza Co. has also built out a comprehensive employee-facing app designed to streamline scheduling, communication and training. “Employees can download our app on iOS or Android and log in via phone number. Depending on their role, they get access to specific tools,” Fontenot said.
The app aims to simplify day-to-day operations and keep team members engaged. “There’s Crust Pizza University, where they can take position-specific online courses with a gamified interface,” Fontenot said. “They can also view their schedules, check a news feed, message team members, swap shifts and more. We have opening and closing checklists with push notifications and reminders for routine tasks. It even notifies team members about coworkers’ birthdays.”
Data-Driven Growth and Smarter Site Selection
This level of investment in internal systems pays off when it comes to supporting rapid growth. As Crust adds new locations across the southeast, Fontenot and his team are using data to stay ahead of the curve.
“We’re growing fast, and we’re already signing locations two to three years in advance,” he said. “So we’re using tech to combine sales data with demographic and psychographic data — population, ethnicity, education levels, etc. — to create a formula for site selection.”
That formula generates what Fontenot calls a “smart score” for each prospective site. “We also track foot traffic via cellphone usage to see how many people are coming in and out of areas. It’s really cool.”
Why Building In-House Makes a Difference
Ultimately, building these tools in-house gives Crust more control over its future. “That’s also a major reason we want to own our POS — so we can own and control our data,” Fontenot said. “Toast holds all that data now, and we don’t have the level of insight we want into customer behavior.”
Still, Fontenot isn’t opposed to borrowing ideas when they make sense. “We usually start by identifying who’s doing it best in the market. We’ll demo it, maybe even try it in one location for a year. Then we pick apart what we like, what we don’t like, and get feedback from franchisees and managers.”
The guiding principle is simple: “There’s a line where technology helps, and then there’s a line where it becomes a burden. Our goal is always to stay on the helpful side of that line. Once we understand what works and what doesn’t, we usually build our own version that fits our needs better.”
That philosophy is paying off. By blending off-the-shelf tools with purpose-built solutions — and iterating continuously — Crust Pizza Co. is redefining what it means to be a tech-enabled restaurant brand.
