"Great guest experiences start with Pej"

Pej is rewriting the playbook for front-of-house contract catering tech. With a deep understanding of Pej’s platform, the industry and a clear vision for the future, Svante Palmgren, Pej’s new VP of Product is leading the way in innovation while keeping a strong core product at the center.

In this interview, we talk about his new role, the guest-first approach, and what’s next for Pej.

You’ve been at Pej for several years as a Product Manager—what made you excited to take on this new role?

- So many things! We’re at an exciting point in Pej’s journey. Historically, we’ve focused a lot on improving operators’ back-office management—helping them run their businesses more efficiently. But now, we’re shifting towards really enhancing the guest experience.

It’s exciting to build technology that improves people’s everyday moments—especially around food. It’s meaningful work, creating seamless and engaging experiences for guests.

This transition also feels like a natural step from my previous role. I’ve been responsible for one of Pej’s core platforms, working with a modern tech stack, and now we’re expanding that. So, stepping into a full product leadership role made a lot of sense.

What are your top priorities for shaping Pej’s roadmap?

- At a high level, my priority is ensuring we maintain our development speed with the same efficiency. But beyond that, we see a huge opportunity in contract catering, where there’s a lot of fantastic players, but no standout digital solution focusing mainly on the guest.

We want to create a fully connected experience—engaging guests with personalised campaigns, intuitive interfaces, and data-driven insights that improve how they interact with food service. By integrating all these elements, we can create something truly special for the global food service industry.

- We see a huge opportunity in contract catering, where there’s a lot of fantastic players, but no standout digital solution focusing mainly on the guest.

How do you balance innovation with maintaining a strong core product?

- It’s a challenge, but we’ve always put a lot of effort into building a stable, high-performance core—handling real-time transactions, balances, and payments. That foundation is rock solid.

Now, we can shift our focus to innovation around the guest experience. But even as we move fast, we can’t compromise the stability of our core. That’s what allows us to accelerate with speed—because we’ve invested so much in getting the fundamentals right.

Pej is all about guest-first solutions. How does that shape your product decisions?

- Putting the guest at the center benefits everyone—operators, clients, and Pej itself. If guests are happy, businesses thrive.

We’ve always been guest-focused, but now we’re making it our primary lens.

That means:

▪ Spending even more time on-site, interacting with end users.
▪ Monitoring behaviors, to understand what features people love.
▪ Designing more intuitive experiences that feel effortless.

It’s a shift from supporting operators, to actively improving guest interactions in a way that creates real business value.

- Pej isn’t just building tools for catering operators—we’re creating engaging, seamless, and smart experiences for guests.

What role does AI and automation play
in Pej’s future?

- A huge one.

We have some of the most valuable data in contract catering—knowing what’s purchased, when, by what segment. And that dataset is growing daily.

With AI, we can:

▪ Predict demand more accurately.
▪ Personalise offers and recommendations.
▪ Automate targeted campaigns that drive engagement.

AI will be at the core of everything we do—it’s not just an add-on, it’s central to how Pej evolves.

What’s one feature or innovation you’re particularly excited about?

- One feature I’m particularly excited about is the automation of the guest engagement through our platform. This allows contract caterers to set up their engagement framework and objectives while our AI handles the execution—delivering personalised actions such as discounts, vouchers, and loyalty rewards.

The AI-driven solution will not only communicate these incentives in a tailored way but also analyse guest response patterns, continuously refining the engagement strategies.

By making the process dynamic and data-driven, we can significantly enhance the guest interaction, leading to higher satisfaction and better business outcomes. I believe this innovation will take engagement to the next level.

Fast forward five years—what impact do you hope Pej will have made?

- I hope we’ve helped the food service industry thrive.

Food is such an important part of daily life—especially in workplaces. Sharing a meal, taking a break, enjoying lunch with colleagues—these moments matter.

I want Pej to help contract caterers with the right tools to create great experiences. If we can do that, it’ll have a ripple effect, making workplaces more connected and enjoyable.

Final thoughts.

Pej isn’t just building tools for catering operators—we’re creating engaging, seamless, and smart experiences for guests. And if Svante’s vision plays out, food service will never be the same again.

Stay tuned—big things are coming.