Founded in 2004 by husband-and-wife team Sean and Maria Pourteymour, Luna Grill is a pioneer in the fast-casual segment, with locations throughout California and Texas.
Their contemporary Mediterranean cuisine, made fresh daily, ranges from kabobs, falafel, salads and hummus, to wraps, desserts, and wine—all served in a fast-casual setting.
- Luna Grill ranked #30 in Restaurant Business “The Future 50” fastest-growing small chains in the United States
- They were named the #5 Fast Casual Concept at the 2017 “Movers and Shakers” Awards
- They are Eat Real Certified by the US Healthful Food Council
- Luna Grill supports locally harvested produce, sustainable farming, and local businesses whenever possible
Their commitment to wholesome food and sustainability has earned them national recognition. In fact, according to Michelle Goncalves (Senior Vice President, Restaurant Excellence for Luna Grill), one of the company’s biggest differentiators is their focus on serving fresh food which includes raw proteins and fresh produce that are cut, cleaned, marinated, and skewered on-site at each location.
The Challenge
Luna Grill’s menu is all about freshness. They are non-GMO and don’t source anything pre-processed—which means there’s a lot of prep happening in their kitchens.
For them, it’s critical to follow the correct food safety procedures and have the ability to track all of their ingredients and raw materials from their sources.
The Solution
Luna Grill selected the CMX1 platform and will leverage the automated, single-platform approach for:
- Supplier Relationship Management (SRM), including supplier onboarding and management of approved suppliers. https://www.cmx1.com/supplier-management
- Product and ingredient sourcing as well as supplier compliance and performance
- Expediting and automating product lifecycle management and product commercialization processes
- Managing and monitoring overall food safety and quality assurance
- Resolving non-conformances from audits and product quality incidents experienced by suppliers
Digitizing Restaurant Operations for Optimal Guest Experience
As part of the CMX1 platform, Luna Grill is also using ActivityStudio® to develop and execute quality, safety, and operational checks at each restaurant—ensuring that corrective actions are taken as needed. This helps them simplify and optimize back-of-house restaurant operations while ensuring front-of-house team members are prioritizing guest experience at all times.
ActivityStudio digitizes a myriad of tasks: food safety and temperature monitoring, facilities and equipment evaluations, employee pre-shift and wellness checks, sanitation and cleanliness protocols, brand standards compliance checks, and more.
All activities available in ActivityStudio are also available in Spanish for Luna Grill’s bilingual restaurant teams, making the software more accessible to a broader range of employees.
Luna Grill + CMX = the perfect recipe
From sourcing to prepping, cooking, plating, and delivering—Luna Grill manages and monitors all safety and quality processes more efficiently with CMX1. It also gives them a strong foundation for quality and food safety as they scale their brand, and the number of restaurants in the years to come.
“The CMX1 platform is strategic to Luna Grill in many ways, from quality and safety to brand standards and risk mitigation. Above all, it will elevate our ability to provide an exceptional guest experience—because our business is truly all about what we're delivering to the guest. Luna Grill is growing, and we have confidence in our future. Teaming up with CMX will help us further set ourselves up for success.” Michelle Goncalves, Senior Vice President, Restaurant Excellence for Luna Grill
“We are thrilled and proud to be working with Luna Grill as we support them in achieving their goals for operational excellence using our CMX1 platform. As an innovator in the fast-casual sector, they are an emerging powerhouse with a winning strategy and a unique focus on fresh ingredients. We look forward to helping them continue to execute on their vision as they grow.” Mitch Porche, CEO, CMX
About CMX
Leading brands including Burger King, Arby's, Taco Bell, Sonic Drive-In, Raley’s Supermarkets, RaceTrac, and Hasbro trust CMX’s cloud-based Enterprise Quality Management Software (EQMS) CMX1 to help them achieve and maintain Operational and Quality Excellence. For over a decade, CMX has led the market with the most comprehensive, user-friendly, cloud-based EQMS platform for food and consumer brands. It’s the only enterprise solution to effectively combine supply chain quality and operational excellence into a single, fully configurable operating platform.
