PAR Technology’s Punchh® Annual Customer Awards Celebrates Leaders in Loyalty

Recognizing innovation and excellence in restaurant engagement and experience

NEW HARTFORD, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, ParTech, Inc. (PAR), a global restaurant technology company providing unified solutions for restaurants and retailers, announces the recipients of the sixth annual PAR Punchh® Customer Awards. This year’s awards highlight the remarkable achievements of brands that have set new standards in delivering 1:1 personalization and engagement that boosted customer lifetime value.

"We are incredibly proud and excited to celebrate the customers who have truly excelled at capturing the hearts and minds of their loyal fans,” said Savneet Singh, CEO of PAR Technology. “Their dedication and innovative ideas have pushed the boundaries of what loyalty programs can achieve to deliver truly exceptional experiences for their customers. We couldn't be more honored to recognize these outstanding brands."

Recognized as this year’s Rookie of the Year, Church's Texas Chicken® launched its Church’s Real Rewards™ loyalty program in July 2024 and surpassed its targeted goal with nearly 620,000 sign-ups, receiving high praise and adoption from loyalty members. The brand's proactive approach included leveraging detailed consumer insights, custom-tailored digital experiences, strong franchisee buy-in, and robust preparation for operational readiness, paving the way for a seamless rollout.

The Digital Innovator Award was secured by Wendy’s this year, largely due to the success of its SpongeBob SquarePants Word Scramble Campaign. This campaign, which was a digital component of the larger Krabby Patty Kollab campaign partnership with Nickelodeon, redefined digital engagement by cleverly integrating gamification with their loyalty program, allowing fans to engage in a fun and interactive way by unscrambling words to guess the Krabby Patty's secret formula. This innovative approach drove over 8.5 million sessions and showcased Wendy's ability to seamlessly execute a complex digital campaign across multiple platforms, including in-app messages, push notifications, email, and web.

Salsarita’s Fresh Mexican Grill has redefined loyalty program excellence earning them the 2024 Loyalty Royalty Leader crown. Among its standout efforts including their loyalty program restructuring and their Holiday Countdown campaign in December, Salsarita’s leveraged the PAR Punchh platform’s advanced analytics to gain granular insights into customer behavior, enabling data-driven campaign refinements.

Condado Tacos takes this year’s All Star title. As the team celebrated its 10^th anniversary, the brand took its Benefits loyalty program to the next level, infusing more passion and adventure into the experience, while maintaining its core values of fun, inclusivity, humility, commitment, and accountability. This milestone became an opportunity to deepen connections with its most loyal customers, including its introducing customized rewards for their highest-tier loyalty members, the "Best Buds”.

Earning the Campaign Hotshot Award, Bar Louie has continuously evolved its approach to customer engagement through its loyalty program. In 2024, creative initiatives such as the Burger Challenge and Black Friday Points Promotion increased visits and reward redemptions, respectively, while the App-vent Calendar offered escalating daily rewards, maintaining high engagement throughout the holiday season.

As this year’s Retention Rockstar, Farmer Boys has leveraged its partnership with Punchh to nurture a thriving loyalty program, the Very Important Farmer (VIF), which has outperformed top QSR benchmarks in retention rates for the past two years. This success perfectly shows the brand's commitment to building lasting relationships by treating members like family, a core tenet of the Farmer Boys brand.

Recognized as the International Achiever, Paris Baguette has earned top international honors. Its reimagined loyalty program launched with the U.S. mobile app as well as a new, dedicated Canadian app to significantly enhance guest engagement and grow their loyal fan base. Their commitment to improving the guest experience led to strong system-wide loyalty sales growth and increased overall satisfaction.

As Marketer of the Year, Alexis Puebla of Pancheros Mexican Grill drove significant growth in its loyalty program under her leadership. As the Director of Digital Marketing, Alexis has enhanced the Pancheros’ app and loyalty initiatives with innovative campaigns and has captivated guests with primary campaigns and secondary background offers that have not only expanded Pancheros’ loyalty database and set a benchmark for integrating social media engagement with loyalty incentives.

Named Customer Advocate of the Year, Graeter's Ice Cream has demonstrated an exceptional commitment to customer advocacy, consistently going above and beyond as an active participant in the Voice of the Customer (VoC) program and playing a pivotal role in shaping the development and refinement of products and services.

Recognized among PAR Punchh’s global customer base of over 275 brands, these winners demonstrated excellence and innovation in customized loyalty program management, omnichannel engagement, digital campaigns, 1:1 personalized offers, and leveraging the PAR Punchh platform. In addition to delivering outstanding outcomes for the year, these award winners built a culture and community of engaged customers, taking creativity in new directions and driving their businesses forward through innovation.

Over 275 leading restaurant brands rely on PAR Punchh to increase customer lifetime value by fostering strong guest relationships. For more information on the PAR Punchh awards, please visit: PAR Punchh awards.

About PAR Technology

For over four decades, PAR Technology Corporation (NYSE: PAR) has been at the forefront of technology innovation in food service, helping businesses create exceptional guest experiences and connections. Our comprehensive suite of software and hardware solutions, including point-of-sale, digital ordering, loyalty, back-office management, and payments, serves a diverse range of restaurant and retail customers across more than 110 countries. With our "Better Together" ethos, PAR continues to deliver unified solutions that drive customer engagement, efficiency, and growth, all to make it easier for our customers to manage their operations. To learn more, visit partech.com or connect with us on LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram.