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

5 food and drink trends spotted at the National Restaurant Show

20 May 2026

Tastings at the booths of hundreds of exhibitors at the Show revealed some surprising discoveries along with variations of continuing trends.

Read full article at Restaurant Business Online →

Michele's take

The National Restaurant Show has always functioned as a forward-looking indicator of where ingredient costs, menu innovation, and consumer demand are heading — and what gets traction on that floor typically shows up on QSR menus within 18 to 24 months. For franchise networks, the real strategic read here isn't the novelty factor of any single trend, but rather which of these directions carries enough scalability and margin integrity to survive the journey from booth concept to franchisee execution at volume. Operators who treat this as inspiration without running those trends through a rigorous operational and unit economics filter will find themselves chasing complexity instead of profit.

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