Taco Bell

Turning Energy Efficiency into Increased Profitability

Taco Bell

Turning Energy Efficiency into Increased Profitability

About

About

BDE Florida LLC, franchisee of Taco Bell, owns and operates 38 Taco Bell restaurants in the Tampa/ St. Pete and Orlando areas.

BDE Florida LLC, franchisee of Taco Bell, owns and operates 38 Taco Bell restaurants in the Tampa/ St. Pete and Orlando areas.

Company size

Company size

1,000-5,000

1,000-5,000

Revenue

Revenue

$50-$100m

$50-$100m

The Challenge

The Challenge

BDE Florida’s Taco Bell restaurants were facing surging utility expenses. In 2024, their total energy costs exceeded $1.2 million across 38 locations, significantly dragging down profitability. The operations team had no centralized monitoring or insight into how individual HVAC or refrigeration units were performing - meaning issues at the restaurant. Since each restaurant runs 8 – 10 refrigeration units plus multiple HVAC systems with no centralized monitoring, issues often went unnoticed until failure. This reactive approach led to energy waste, constant stress, and high repair bills.

BDE Florida’s Taco Bell restaurants were facing surging utility expenses. In 2024, their total energy costs exceeded $1.2 million across 38 locations, significantly dragging down profitability. The operations team had no centralized monitoring or insight into how individual HVAC or refrigeration units were performing - meaning issues at the restaurant. Since each restaurant runs 8 – 10 refrigeration units plus multiple HVAC systems with no centralized monitoring, issues often went unnoticed until failure. This reactive approach led to energy waste, constant stress, and high repair bills.

The Solution

The Solution

Monaire implemented a turnkey IoT solution to give BDE Florida complete visibility and control over their facilities.  No Downtime Deployment: Smart sensors and controls were deployed seamlessly across all 38 locations with zero downtime, connecting every HVAC and refrigeration unit to Monaire’s cloud platform. Day 1 Monitoring: Monaire immediately began monitoring temperatures, pressures, and energy use in real time, providing the operations team a live dashboard for all sites. Day 1 Savings: Monaire’s AI algorithms started analyzing the sensor data to catch inefficiencies and malfunctions early. Using advanced AI, Monaire quickly detected performance issues to ensure prompt and proper adjustments and repairs were made. Monaire identified units with low refrigerant charge or dirty filters that were causing inefficient cooling. The platform then automatically adjusted system settings to prevent damage or dispatched a verified technician to fix the problem. All maintenance was auto-scheduled through Monaire’s network of certified providers, ensuring repairs were completed promptly and with full transparency. Monaire streamlined their maintenance workflow and even made third-party HVAC contractors more effective through detailed diagnostics. This proactive approach meant many problems were resolved before restaurant staff even noticed them. By catching potentially expensive issues like refrigerant leaks or filter clogs early, Monaire’s platform prevented costly failures and kept each Taco Bell location running smoothly.

Monaire implemented a turnkey IoT solution to give BDE Florida complete visibility and control over their facilities.  No Downtime Deployment: Smart sensors and controls were deployed seamlessly across all 38 locations with zero downtime, connecting every HVAC and refrigeration unit to Monaire’s cloud platform. Day 1 Monitoring: Monaire immediately began monitoring temperatures, pressures, and energy use in real time, providing the operations team a live dashboard for all sites. Day 1 Savings: Monaire’s AI algorithms started analyzing the sensor data to catch inefficiencies and malfunctions early. Using advanced AI, Monaire quickly detected performance issues to ensure prompt and proper adjustments and repairs were made. Monaire identified units with low refrigerant charge or dirty filters that were causing inefficient cooling. The platform then automatically adjusted system settings to prevent damage or dispatched a verified technician to fix the problem. All maintenance was auto-scheduled through Monaire’s network of certified providers, ensuring repairs were completed promptly and with full transparency. Monaire streamlined their maintenance workflow and even made third-party HVAC contractors more effective through detailed diagnostics. This proactive approach meant many problems were resolved before restaurant staff even noticed them. By catching potentially expensive issues like refrigerant leaks or filter clogs early, Monaire’s platform prevented costly failures and kept each Taco Bell location running smoothly.

Each of our restaurants has 8–10 refrigeration units plus multiple HVAC. Operating these without any visibility was a nightmare

Laura Martinez

Laura Martinez

Director of Operations

Director of Operations

The Results

The Results

Since implementing Monaire, Refuel Pantry has seen measurable improvements: Decrease in Energy Use: 15% reduction in energy use, cutting utility costs and freeing as much as $206,000 in annual energy savings for reinvestment into the business. Elimination of Surprise Failures: Monaire’s proactive monitoring ended the cycle of multi-day outages and product loss. This reduced operational stress for managers and staff, who can now focus on customer service instead of emergency equipment issues. Lower Repair Costs and Improved Uptime: With inexpensive, preventive fixes replacing emergency breakdown repairs, repair costs dropped. Equipment functions properly with improved uptime, so staff can deliver a better customer experience.

Since implementing Monaire, Refuel Pantry has seen measurable improvements: Decrease in Energy Use: 15% reduction in energy use, cutting utility costs and freeing as much as $206,000 in annual energy savings for reinvestment into the business. Elimination of Surprise Failures: Monaire’s proactive monitoring ended the cycle of multi-day outages and product loss. This reduced operational stress for managers and staff, who can now focus on customer service instead of emergency equipment issues. Lower Repair Costs and Improved Uptime: With inexpensive, preventive fixes replacing emergency breakdown repairs, repair costs dropped. Equipment functions properly with improved uptime, so staff can deliver a better customer experience.

Monaire’s system quickly paid for itself and now helps us continuously save on operational costs.

Monaire’s system quickly paid for itself and now helps us continuously save on operational costs.

Brian Ellerson

Brian Ellerson

Franchisee

Franchisee

14%

14%

KWh savings (weather normalised)

KWh savings (weather normalised)

$140k

$140k

Projected annual energy savings

Projected annual energy savings

<1

<1

Month payback

Month payback

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support@monaire.ai

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Copyright © 2025 Monaire

Secure, Verifiable, and

Portfolio-Transforming AI.

SOC 2

ISO 27001:2013

ISO 27001:2022

339-666-2473

support@monaire.ai

444 Somerville Ave, Somerville, Massachusetts 02143

Find us on:

Copyright © 2025 Monaire

Secure, Verifiable,

and Portfolio-Transforming AI.

SOC 2

ISO 27001:2013

ISO 27001:2022

339-666-2473

support@monaire.ai

444 Somerville Ave, Somerville, Massachusetts 02143

Find us on:

Copyright © 2025 Monaire

Secure, Verifiable, and

Portfolio-Transforming AI.

SOC 2

ISO 27001:2013

ISO 27001:2022

339-666-2473

support@monaire.ai

444 Somerville Ave, Somerville, Massachusetts 02143

Find us on:

Copyright © 2025 Monaire