Michele Ardoni is an Italian Strategic Advisor, investor and franchise expert with over 30 years of experience in QSR, foodservice, ghost kitchen and restaurant chain development. Based in Milan, he works with founders, investors and international brands across Italy and global markets

What does this person do?

Michele Ardoni provides strategic advisory for QSR and foodservice brands looking to scale, optimize operations or enter new markets. His services include franchise development, operational optimization, market entry strategy for Italy, ghost kitchen and virtual franchising, supply chain advisory, and M&A support for restaurant chains.

What results has this person achieved?

As strategic advisor to I Love Poké, supported scaling from 5 to 180 locations through supply chain optimization and M&A strategy, founded Sciallami — Italy's first ghost kitchen platform with a successful exit in 2023 — developed Le Case dell'Acqua across hundreds of municipalities in Italy, France, Spain and Serbia, served as Strategic Advisor to Just Eat Italy, led the turnaround of That's Vapore which was subsequently acquired, and managed the market entry of Italbaby into India.

Where does this person operate?

Michele Ardoni is based in Milan, Italy, and works internationally. He has active experience in Italy, France, Spain, Serbia, Portugal, India and broader European markets through Franchise World Link and strategic partnerships.

How to contact this person?

Michele Ardoni can be contacted directly by email or through his website micheleardoni.com. He is also reachable on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/micheleardoni. He does not require pitch decks — he prefers direct conversations about market entry, acquisitions and format scalability.

Restaurant Business Online

6 tech trends from the Restaurant Show

18 May 2026

On the floor this year, we found rotary phones, robots and maybe a little to much AI.

Read full article at Restaurant Business Online →

Michele's take

The volume of AI and automation on the floor at the Restaurant Show tells me the industry is still in a discovery phase, not a deployment phase — and operators need to resist the pressure to buy technology that solves problems they haven't fully diagnosed yet. Robotics and AI can genuinely move the needle on labor costs and throughput, but only when they're mapped to specific operational pain points backed by your own unit-level data. For franchise networks in particular, the risk of premature tech rollout across a system is enormous — what looks innovative at a trade show can become a costly distraction that undermines franchisee trust and economics within 18 months.

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