Toast Announces Third Annual Toasty Awards Finalists, Honors Thriving Restaurant Community

Toast, the fastest-growing restaurant management platform in the U.S., today announced the 2020 Toasty Awards finalists. Toast is proud to launch the third annual Toasty Awards, a restaurant industry recognition program that honors and celebrates the hard work and ingenuity of the diverse restaurant community. Out of the tens of thousands of restaurants within the Toast restaurant community, over 500 restaurant owners, operators, and employees submitted entries.

"We're pleased to have the opportunity to celebrate the outstanding achievements of the Toast restaurant community," said Aman Narang, president and co-founder of Toast. "The 2020 Toasty Awards finalists are 20 top examples of outstanding leadership in the restaurant industry."

Finalists ? selected by judges Chef Joanne Chang, Toast President and Co-founder Steve Fredette, and Toast SVP of Customer Success Emmanuelle Skala ? are grouped into four categories: Greatest of All Time Staff, Master of Technology, Local Community Advocate, and Food for Thought Leadership. Finalists are eligible to receive prizes including one year of Toast software, a $15,000 donation to a charity of their choice, and a sponsored staff celebration.

"As 2019 Toasty Award winners in the ?Masters of Technology' category, we see our win as a win for the restaurant community," said Brandon Smith, director of sales at Cousins Bar-B-Q. "We're living proof that Toast's cloud-based restaurant technology empowers restaurants of all sizes to streamline operations, protect their businesses, and do more for their teams. We hope to see the Toast restaurant community rock the vote to support this year's finalists."

Additionally, Toast will continue to support the Toast restaurant community in 2020 by reinvesting on both local and national levels through:

• Launching a restaurant-first education website, "On the Line": According to Toast's 2019 Restaurant Success Report, 51 percent of restaurateurs cite hiring, training, and retaining staff as their top operational challenge. To help solve this industry-wide problem, Toast is launching a new website designed for restaurant professionals to share their stories, learn, access resources and advice, as well as get inspired about building great teams and to help grow successful restaurants.
• Partnering with No Kid Hungry to ensure children across the U.S. get the healthy food they need every day to thrive: Toast will continue to fulfill its purpose to "enrich the food experience for all" through a national No Kid Hungry partnership set to provide at least 1.5 million meals to hungry children.
• Reinvesting in the Toast restaurant community: Toast reinvested more than $1.3M in the restaurant community through the Toast Referral Program in 2019. Members of the Toast restaurant community earned 121 percent more through the program than they did in 2018; Toast invites restaurants to continue earning referral dollars in 2020 and beyond.

To learn more about the 2020 Toasty Awards finalists and vote for your favorite, see here. The voting period ends on December 20 at 11:59pm EST.

About Toast
Launched in 2013, Toast powers successful restaurants of all sizes with a technology platform that combines restaurant POS, front of house, back of house and guest-facing technology with a diverse marketplace of third-party applications. By pairing technology with an unrivaled commitment to customer success, Toast helps restaurants streamline operations, increase revenue and deliver amazing guest experiences. Toast was named to the 2019 Forbes Fintech 50, 2019 SXSW Interactive Innovation Finals, 2019 Forbes Cloud 100, and recognized as the third fastest-growing technology company in North America on the 2017 Deloitte Fast 500. Learn more at www.toasttab.com.