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.

QSR Magazine

Stop Paying for Guests Who are Already Coming Back

20 May 2026

For most of the past decade, marketing in quick-service restaurants has operated on a disconnect. Campaign reports showed strong performance through high impressions and solid click-through rates, yet inside the four walls, operators saw something different. Traffic was flat, check averages were inconsistent, and dayparts did not move as intended. In 2026, that disconnect is […] The post Sto

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Michele's take

The industry is finally being forced to confront one of its most expensive blind spots: loyalty spend misallocated toward guests who were already coming back without it. For operators and franchise networks, this signals an urgent need to restructure marketing ROI frameworks around incremental visit behavior rather than vanity metrics — impressions and click-throughs that never moved a single tray. Investors evaluating QSR assets in 2025 and beyond should be asking hard questions about how franchisees are segmenting their customer base, because the brands that can identify and stop subsidizing their own loyal guests will have a measurable cost advantage over those still running undifferentiated campaigns.

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