Kenny Morrison is a cannabis industry pioneer and the founder of VCC Brands and CQ Drinks. With a background in documentary filmmaking and early cannabis retail, Kenny has been instrumental in shaping the cannabis-infused beverage category since 2008.

VCC Brands, originally Venice Cookie Company, is a legacy cannabis company focused exclusively on beverages since 2020. Its flagship brand, CQ (Cannabis Quencher), creates micro- and macro-dose drinks designed to be approachable, flavorful and stigma-free.

Founded in Venice Beach, VCC Brands embodies the area’s countercultural spirit with a refined, modern twist. CQ was born partly in response to early San Francisco regulations requiring “cannabis” to appear prominently on product labels. Today, the brand operates in seven states (soon to be eight) through a mix of licensing partnerships and hemp distribution, aiming to normalize cannabis consumption with clean branding, fast-acting nanoemulsification technology, and a lifestyle-oriented appeal.

Kenny got into the cannabis industry by helping friends transition from underground cultivation to legal retail, ultimately co-founding one of LA’s first dispensaries.

VCC Brands began as a baked goods company but pivoted fully to beverages to focus on “the future of drinking.”

CQ Drinks emphasizes approachability by avoiding stereotypical stoner branding and designing products with women and first-time consumers in mind. 

Kenny compares CQ’s brand positioning to “the Corona of cannabis” — a laid-back, beachy vibe grounded in authenticity.

Nanoemulsification helps cannabis beverages hit faster, making them more comparable to alcohol and easing consumer adoption.

Despite being a cannabis entrepreneur, Kenny uses the product less than most of his family and believes in freedom of choice across alcohol and cannabis.

He stresses honesty, reliability, and customer service as keys to building trust in the cannabis space, especially for new users.

Regional product tweaks — like adding seasonal flavors in Massachusetts — have helped CQ Drinks grow in both the dispensary and hemp markets.

“Visiting one of these early stores, it was almost like an anthropological experiment for me, which really just means that I’m a thrill seeker.” (Kenny)

“Ever since I was a little kid, my father never hid his cannabis use from me. Even when I was nine, he’d say, ‘Hey Kenny, I’m going to go get some grass, want to come with me?'” (Kenny)

“We’re basically, you know, the original prohibition cannabis beverage brand… the things we’ve been through to keep this thing alive, it’s a frickin’ novel.” (Kenny)

“The goal is to get to a place where we can really tell that story in sort of a deep, profound way.” (Kenny)

“My theory has just been, look, if girls like to drink it, guys are going to drink it.” (Kenny)

“We’re all trying to target the alcohol consumer looking to moderate their alcohol consumption… and when a cannabis drink affects you as quick as an alcoholic drink does, that’s going to increase consumership.” (Kenny)

“Cannabis should be perceived as a benefit to be promoted rather than a harm to be tolerated.” (Kenny)

“Something that makes cannabis very different than alcohol is because cannabis is non-toxic… tolerances vary far greater than people’s tolerance for alcohol.” (Kenny)

“You’ve got to have great customer service and you’ve got to be honest. Especially in cannabis.” (Kenny)

“We’re gathering a ton of information based on the success of those products in their territories… then we can release the greatest hits in our hemp lineup.” (Kenny)

“I just think we’re in this season where the general knowledge of cannabis is slowly, gradually building up.” (Kenny)

Laurel Orley is the founder and CEO of Daily Crunch Snacks and a mission-driven entrepreneur with a background in advertising. After more than a decade building major brands like Dove at Unilever, she transitioned to launch her own company focused on health, flavor, and impact.

Daily Crunch Snacks is a women-owned snack brand offering sprouted, air-dried almonds and other nut blends with bold, innovative flavors. Rooted in a family recipe and a mission to support mental health, the brand emphasizes clean ingredients, sustainability, and crave-worthy crunch.

Laurel launched Daily Crunch with her aunt Diane, who developed the unique sprouting process after studying brain health in India.

The brand debuted in March 2020—days before the COVID-19 shutdown—and adapted its launch strategy for a digital-first world.

Daily Crunch has since expanded into 6,000+ stores and was named the 13th fastest-growing food and beverage company by Inc.

Laurel is a board member of the Upcycled Food Association and a member of EY’s Entrepreneurial Winning Women Class of 2024.

The brand’s mental health mission is personal: Laurel’s cousin lost his life to bipolar disorder, inspiring her family to create The Support Network, which Daily Crunch supports financially and publicly.

Laurel’s experience on Dove’s Real Beauty campaign taught her the power of mission-driven marketing and authenticity.

The sprouting process transforms the texture of almonds, making them crisp and chip-like while improving digestibility.

Product innovation stems from a blend of trend reports, consumer feedback, and Laurel’s own flavor instincts—like turmeric & sea salt or Nashville Hot.

Collaborations, like their Fly By Jing partnership, are a strategic focus for driving awareness and reaching new audiences.

Upcycling ingredients—such as pickle ends from Cleveland Kitchen—helps reduce waste and differentiate flavor profiles.

Daily Crunch doesn’t lead with its mission, but invites consumers to discover its mental health advocacy as they dig deeper into the brand.

“I wanted to launch a brand with a mission that I believed in. Our mission is actually mental health awareness.” (Laurel)

“Soaking nuts removes phytic acid, an anti-nutrient, making them more bioavailable, easier to digest and more nutrient dense.” (Laurel)

“The crunch is what gets people in. It’s lighter, airier, crunchier. Honestly, it’s like a chip.” (Laurel)

“You’re always going to have setbacks. My motto is always two steps forward, one step back.” (Laurel)

“We had to throw out 20,000 pounds of almonds and I didn’t have the right insurance for it. I almost threw in the towel.” (Laurel)

“There’s a fine balance between mental and physical health. It all ladders back up to brain health.” (Laurel)

“When you see someone in the wild buying your product, it’s the best feeling. I was hiding behind a pillar at the airport.” (Laurel)

“The savory-sweet combo is really resonating right now. Our last two launches were savory, but you can definitely do both.” (Laurel)

The Golden Steer Steakhouse, established in 1958, is Las Vegas’s oldest continuously operating steakhouse. It has been a favored dining spot for numerous celebrities, including Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and Marilyn Monroe. The restaurant is renowned for its classic ambiance, featuring red leather booths named after its famous patrons, tuxedoed servers, and tableside preparations of Caesar salads and flambéed desserts.

One diner once said, “The Golden Steer feels like the soul of Las Vegas.” 

Nick McMillan and Amanda Signorelli are the managing partners of the Golden Steer. Nick & Amanda took over as managing partners in 2018. Amanda’s father, Dr. Michael Signorelli, purchased the Golden Steer in 2001. 

Nick has spent his career building companies in both the technology and food industries. Amanda’s background is in the tech industry.

Nick and Amanda created a mail order offering called Goldbelly in 2020 as a way to offset the impact of lost sales during COVID. The online sales continue today with a variety of high end seasonings and compound butters.

Customer service and hospitality is a key part of the Golden Steer brand and they live that philosophy every day. It includes simple things like answering phones with a human voice, which Golden Steer has hired staff members to do.  

The Golden Steer has worked hard to build its social media presence, becoming one of the most viewed steakhouses on TikTok and using the channel to create offers that drive traffic to the restaurant. 

00:01.94

vigorbranding

Hello, welcome to Fork Tales. I’m Michael Pavone, and we’re really excited about this episode. This is gonna be a fun story. There’s a list, obviously, of truly legendary restaurants right in in the United States, but the Golden Steer in Las Vegas is one of those restaurants. it’s It’s the oldest continually operating steakhouse in Las Vegas, and our guests today are Nick McMillan and Amanda Signorelli. I’m Italian, so I got that right, right?

00:29.18

Nick _ Amanda

Nailed it.

00:29.73

vigorbranding

yeah Okay. So the managing partners, the Golden Steer, the Golden Steer is a steak house that became a regular stop of Fr

Sam has played a major role in the creative outputs at Vigor, but that’s not the only part of his story. Sam has served as a spirits critic for major magazines, a bartender for reputable bars, and even wrote a book that seeks to capture the hearts of everyone born in or near the 90’s. In this episode, we cover many bases on the state of the beverage industry, what’s trending, and great ideas. We also have a lot of laughs.

Take a look at Sam’s book on Bookshop.org: Are You Afraid of the Dark Rum?: And Other Cocktails for ’90s Kids

Support the good people at Utz and their yummy cheeseballs.

Hey all you hungry people out there. We’re gearing up to launch Forktales in a few weeks. Forktales will be a podcast and vidcast focused on bringing food, beverage, and hospitality leaders to the forefront of the conversation. We’ll be covering all sorts of topics from trends, forecasting, and challenges facing the industry. Every other week, a new Forktales episode will go live for you to enjoy.

Currently in the line up is Sam Slaugther, copywriter at Vigor, Kelli Valade, President of Black Box Intelligence, Betsy Hamm, COO of Duck Donuts, and many more. So, please subscribe to the podcast service of your choice as well as our YouTube channel, and get ready to dig into some tasty content!

Anand is the Founder and Managing Partner of Gala Capital Partners, a diversified investment and holding company with interests in chain restaurants, software & technology, real estate development, franchising and public equities investment. He has spent the past 35 years in various executive capacities within the Software, Real Estate & Restaurant Industries.

Gala Capital Partners invests in (among other things) restaurants. The current portfolio includes CiCi’s Pizza, Famous Dave’s Barbeque, Rusty Taco and MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes.

Anand grew up in the restaurant industry. His mother was an early franchisee with Jack in the Box. 

Anand’s parents knew the restaurant industry was a difficult career path, so they encouraged Anand to pursue other careers. He graduated from USC with a degree in biology, but he was drawn back into the family business and fell in love with it all over again. 

When it comes to restaurants to invest in, Gala Capital Partners focuses on five key categories: burgers, chicken, tacos/Mexican, pizza and coffee. 

The brands that Gala Capital Partners focus on are between 25-350 units. They call those “adolescent brands.”  

When evaluating successful franchises, Anand starts with the quality of the food. Focusing on quality and taste is the easiest way for a restaurant to stand out from the competition. 

“(The restaurant industry) is usually the first job for many young adults and teenagers. It teaches them work ethic, it teaches them responsibility.” (Anand)

“When I returned to the (restaurant) business after university, I realized I could learn about finance, I could learn about accounting, I could learn about marketing, I could learn about HR, I could learn about IT, I could get into real estate. It was so multi-dimensional. It was remarkable and it just captivated me.” (Anand) 

“There were many, many humbling experiences. When you’re 25 you have a great deal of confidence and bravado. I had a couple lessons that I learned the hard way and I think I’m far better off for it today.” (Anand) 

“I’d encourage each and every (restaurant) executive to go work a week and do that every single year. You don’t know what a franchisee goes through and you don’t know what a store manager goes through until you’ve done it.” (Anand)

“Each and every one of our restaurant brands plays a significant role in how you serve the customer.” (Anand) 

“Our typical franchisee and the ideal profile is somebody who is new to franchising and really wants to get into the business and work in the business and be hands on in the stores. Or it’s going to be someone in a smaller market of the family business and they’ve got anywhere from 3 to 30 locations and they really love being hands on and involved.” (Anand) 

“We want very active and hands on operators. People who want to be there and build relationships with their leadership teams, with their managers, with their employees. They want to participate and support their local communities. Those are the folks we’re looking for.” (Anand) 

00:01.44

vigorbranding

Hello, everyone. Today’s guest is Anand Gala of Gala Capital Partners. Put simply, Anand is an investor, and one of those investments is restaurants. But I’ve known him for quite a while, and I’m always blown away by his stories, his growth, and and everything in between. So this will be a great conversation. Anand, welcome to Fork Tales. Thanks for doing this program.

 </

Andy is president of Gellert Global Group. The company imports more than 5,500 unique food items from more than 60 countries and is one of the largest food importers in the world. Gellert Global Group is home to 12 companies, led by Atalanta, the largest privately-held food importer in the U.S.

Gellert Global is a third-generation family-run business. The Gellert Global Group comprises many of the leading North American food-importing companies and has been importing food products for over 100 years. The combined revenues of the Group exceed $1.7 billion.

The Gellert Global family includes Andy’s sister, brother and cousin. Andy’s father and uncle are also part of the company. Andy’s father, George, was recently inducted into the New Jersey business hall of fame. 

Gellert Global’s goal is to be a part of every food and beverage experience. 

Andy and his team use a variety of factors to determine which products and brands to partner with, including trends and the needs of customers.

“Some of these family businesses and you hear about fighting and people not getting along. I think we’re successful because we keep growing and there’s enough things for everyone to do and for everyone to bring value.” (Andy) 

“You want (joining the family business) to happen organically. It’s a fun business. There’s opportunities for (family) to join if they want. There’s no obligation to come in. We’d like them to come in, but we don’t want to make a rule that they have to come in.” (Andy) 

“Network is important to my father. I learned that from him early on. Being a part of YPO (Young President’s Organization), I love leveraging my network. I like investing in early-stage CPG’s and helping and leading them to other opportunities.” (Andy) 

“We don’t want to lose direction. We’re very big and we’re happy where we are but we’re not in a rush to get to two billion. We’re going to get there smart. If it means pairing down and doing SKU rationalization to be more profitable, all the better.” (Andy) 

“It’s really all about efficiency. As you get bigger you can be more efficient, but you have to be diligent.” (Andy) 

“We’re an importer of products so our products are expensive already. We’re always looking for ways to (save). You always have to turn over rocks to look for more opportunities.” (Andy) 

“I love eating. I love food experiences. I love being surprised. I like going to a chef and saying ‘Just surprise me. Just give me what you do best.’” (Andy) 

00:00.45

Andy Gellert

Bye.

00:01.87

vigorbranding

Hey there, welcome to Fork Tales. I’m ah Michael Pavone, and I’m happy to really get a chance to talk to a good friend of mine. ah Today we have Andy Gellert here. He’s a good friend I’ve known for and respected for a long, long time. Andy’s the president of Gellert Global Group, one of the largest food importers in the world. ah They import more than 2,500 product lines from more than 60 countries. Andy, thank you so much for being here.

00:27.05

Andy Gellert

Mike, always a pleasure, always great seeing you, and nice seeing your smiling face, and I love hanging out with you. We’re always having a lot of fun together.

00:34.39

vigorbranding

Yeah, absolutely. You know, if they if they have music for this in the beginning, you know, I was going to, I was going to change up our, our forktails music and have a little.

00:41.1

Shannon is VP of Marketing for Rubix Foods. Rubix bills itself as “a premier culinary and food science-focused provider of flavor and functional ingredients, offering up insight-driven concepts and breakthrough food solutions for industry leading restaurants, retailers and manufacturers in the United States.”

Rubix works with about 70% of the top QSR and FSR chains with a focus on sauces, glazes and spreads. Rubix has a full R&D team that works on new flavors and processes to help with shelf life and other factors. 

Consumers today demand specific flavors from specific parts of the world. 

The quick-service restaurant (QSR) industry faces unique challenges in product development. Scaling products to meet operational demands, managing supply chains, and maintaining cost-effectiveness are all critical. 

Products must also maintain consistent taste, shelf stability, and not require refrigeration, adding to the complexity. This differs from fine dining, where chefs can source fresh ingredients from farmers’ markets and prepare them on-site. The technicalities involved in QSR make the development process much more intricate and demanding compared to traditional restaurant models.

Rubix Foods created the NEXT Flavor Network, an insight generator comprised of an exclusive group of social influencers who have joined the Rubix team to bring Gen Z-approved concepts to restaurant menus.

“What really sets (Rubix Foods) apart is the market research and consumer insights, which plays a huge role in what we do, and also speed-to-market. Because of our size and the team members that we have here we are able to be much more nimble and agile.” (Shannon) 

“We’re able to help restaurants capitalize on (flavor trends) at the peak of their virality and take advantage of trends much faster than (competitors).” (Shannon) 

“Gen Z is the most diverse demographic in history and they’re really excited about trying new flavors. Social media is a part of that.” (Shannon) 

“We’re seeing a lot of really exciting flavor profiles entering the marketplace. Like Korean flavors and Korean barbeque, Hawaiian flavors, a lot of spins on tropical and Caribbean flavors. It’s been really exciting. Not much is off limits right now.” (Shannon) 

“We all eat food. We all have our own unique food experiences. So it’s extremely interesting and nuanced and novel to see how other people are experiencing food. Food influencers have really tapped into that.” (Shannon) 

“There are very few companies that can allow brands to take advantage of social trends at the peak of their virality and actually get them on a menu while consumers still care about it. That is what brands need to do if they want to win with Gen Z.” (Shannon)

Renfro Foods is a privately owned, award-winning food producer of salsas, sauces and relishes, including 30 Mrs. Renfro’s products, located in Fort Worth, Texas. 

Founded in 1940, Renfro Foods is owned and managed by the second and third generations of the Renfro family. Its products are sold in the United States, the Caribbean, Canada and the U.K.

As president of Renfro Foods, Doug works closely with his cousins Becky and James to run the company. In particular, Doug focuses on research and development, private label and contract packing, quality assurance, sales and marketing, legal, information technology and a dozen other areas 

Doug and his cousins strive for family harmony in managing the company and don’t make any major decisions without a unanimous vote of support. 

For Doug, one of the benefits of working with family is the ability to be brutally honest with each other and still maintain a civil and professional relationship.  

The team at Renfro Foods pays close attention to flavor trends to identify new salsa flavors. 

“When I got out of college, if I had come to work here I would have been chopping cabbage. The executive positions were filled by my dad and my uncle.” (Doug)

“When I came (to Renfro Foods) I had been in charge of corporate accounting for a billion dollar company. My uncle was still doing pricing on a legal pad with his desk calculator. I said, ‘Here’s a spreadsheet. It’s going to instantaneously recalculate the cost of thousands of items in a millisecond.’ He saw what that did and he said, ‘Can you do that every 90 days from now on?’” (Doug) 

“If you don’t demand as much of your ego to be around, one of the secrets I tell (people) is get somebody without your last name to suggest the same idea you’ve been suggesting that’s been ridiculed and suddenly it’s a great idea.” (Doug)

“If you take business things personally, that screws (family) relationships up.” (Doug) 

“I think we lost money on every jar of Raspberry Chipotle we sold last year. Thankfully we didn’t sell many.” (Doug)

“I want everything on the label to be tasteable but you can’t always afford to do that without losing money,” (Doug) 

00:01.23

vigorbranding

All right, hey there, Fork Tales listeners and viewers. I am really happy to be joined today by a good friend of mine, Doug Renfro. Doug is president of Renfro Foods. And I had to say it like 25 times because somehow the word foods after Renfro, I mean, foods in Renfro is easy.

00:13.93

Doug Renfro

sorry

00:15.18

vigorbranding

Renfro Foods, I just struggled. But anyway, ah he is the the the president of Mrs. Renfro’s Salsa. ah Not only are they a family owned company, which always is interesting, but they’re one of the most innovative companies I know. Doug, welcome and thank you very much for joining us and for your time.

00:32.73

Doug Renfro

Thanks, happy to be here.

00:34.60

vigorbranding

So ah you know I’m going to start off by pointing out i’ve I’ve been very fortunate to know you and to ah have your product. And it’s phenomenal. And I’m not just saying that. ah Case in point, I have three jars behind me that were supposed to be props for this presentation. There w

Burney Jennings is the CEO and president of Biscuitville. Burney took over the leadership reins from his father and founder of Biscuitville Maurice Jennings in 1996. Burney’s bold leadership, vision and keen sense of knowing what customers want has contributed to the company’s growth and success. 

Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, Biscuitville Fresh Southern is a family-owned company serving authentic Southern food made fresh daily from locally sourced ingredients. Known as the Home of the Biscuit Window Since 1966, Biscuitville serves scratch-made biscuits baked fresh every 15 minutes. 

Biscuitville employs over 2,400 people and operates more than 70 restaurants in North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina. In July 2023, Biscuitville was voted the nation’s Best Fast Food Breakfast & Best Regional Fast Food restaurant in the 2023 USA Today Readers’ Choice 10Best contest. 

Burney’s father inherited his mother’s famous biscuit recipe after his ailing mother gave him a choice of his inheritance – the recipe or the farm. Burney’s father chose the recipe and the rest is history. 

Biscuitville has stood out from the competition for not working with food delivery services like Uber Eats and GrubHub. According to Burney, the decision was based on several factors including the inability to accommodate to-go orders because the restaurant is so busy. 

Biscuitville has made headlines with its “Life After 2” program in which each of its locations close at 2pm each day. The program allows employees to pursue other interests and spend more time with their families. 

“(My grandmother) gave my dad – since he was the oldest – the choice: My biscuit recipe or the farm. He chose the biscuit recipe.” (Burney)

“The key to a good biscuit is love.” (Burney)

“Growing up, my dad was fascinated by chain restaurants. My dad told me, ‘We all know how to make a McDonald’s hamburger. We know the ingredients. It’s not about the burger, it’s how they do it. It’s the system they put in place. It’s the marketing, it’s the brand, it’s the people, it’s the execution.’” (Burney)

“We started closing at 2pm. Our food quality went up, our food costs went down and our employees are much happier. Now of course, you need to be a morning person. If you’re not a morning person, we’re not a good place for you.” (Burney) 

“We really strive to work with local companies first, and if we can’t be local, we work with family businesses.” (Burney) 

“We’ve been able to differentiate ourselves in the breakfast space because we close at 2pm. People know breakfast is our focus.” (Burney) 

00:00.01

Burney Jennings

I can, this is not too close.

00:04.65

vigorbranding

No, ye you’re perfect.

00:05.35

Burney Jennings

No video? Okay.

00:06.54

vigorbranding

Yep. Okay. You ready to roll?

00:08.75

Burney Jennings

Now I’m ready to roll.

00:10.09

vigorbranding

All right. Welcome, Fork Tales fans. The best biscuits in the world are made in the South, of course. And the best place to buy those biscuits is a restaurant called Biscuitville. Today’s guest is the chairman of bisop but Biscuitville, Bernie Jennings, and we’re going to talk about biscuits, fam

Ben started Tocabe with his friend and business partner Matthew Chandra. Opened in 2008, Tocabe is one of the only restaurants in Denver specializing in Native and Indigenous cuisine and one of only a handful in the United States. 

Ben is a tribal member of the Osage Nation of northeast Oklahoma. 

Ben also created Seed To Soul, which creates prepared authentic Native American meals for people in need in Native American communities. In Ben’s words, Seed to Soul helps to create and develop a Native food system. 

Tocabe was featured on Diners, Drive-In’s & Dives in 2011. Before the appearance, Tocabe was struggling. After the appearance, business “skyrocketed.” 

Ben admits that operating a Native restaurant isn’t as easy as a burger or pizza restaurant because the food doesn’t have the built in knowledge and familiarity that other restaurants might have. 

“Whenever someone asks me ‘What is Native American cuisine?’, I don’t know. And that’s the whole point. We’re all so different depending on the region and tribal community.” (Ben) 

“I always like to say we’re the oldest cultures on the continent but in many ways we have the youngest cuisine because it’s not clearly defined.” (Ben) 

“When we started we said we wanted to create the trend for what a Native restaurant is in America.” (Ben) 

“We started with Osage-specific recipes, but now we’re ingredient-driven. We source from native food producers from all over the country.” (Ben) 

On Tocabe’s appearance on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives: “Guy (Fieri) was amazing. He was so fun, he was engaging. He enjoyed being there. You can tell he was into it.” (Ben) 

“For us to be a Native restaurant, we need to support the Native food system. And since it’s so spread out, we can’t always be locally made. So we say ‘Native first, local second.’” (Ben) 

“We source wild rice from the Great Lakes, blueberries from Maine, huckleberries from Washington state, olive oil from California, beans from the southwest. You name it, we source from all over.” (Ben)

“Whenever someone asks me ‘What is Native American cuisine?’, I don’t know. And that’s the whole point. We’re all so different depending on the region and tribal community.” (Ben) 

“I always like to say we’re the oldest cultures on the continent but in many ways we have the youngest cuisine because it’s not clearly defined.” (Ben) 

“When we started we said we wanted to create the trend for what a Native restaurant is in America.” (Ben) 

“We started with Osage-specific recipes, but now we’re ingredient-driven. We source from native food producers from all over the country.” (Ben) 

On Tocabe’s appearance on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives: “Guy (Fieri) was amazing. He was so fun, he was engaging. He enjoyed being there. You can tell he was into it.” (Ben) 

“For us to be a Native restaurant, we need to support the Native food system. And since it’s so spread out, we can’t always be locally made. So we say ‘Native first, local second.’” (Ben) 

“We source wild rice from the Great Lakes, blueberries from Maine, huckleberries from Washington state, olive oil from California, beans from the southwest. You name it, we source from all over.” (Ben)

Roboburger is billed as the “World’s First Burger Chef In a Vending Format.” RoboBurger condenses the average kitchen by 99% into just 12 square feet, including refrigeration, heating, ventilation, prep line and cleaning. Burgers are automatically grilled and assembled in under 4 minutes. 

Roboburger RoboBurger was invented by Audley Wilson, a data scientist; Dan Braido, a Rutgers PhD grad; and Andy Siegel, a serial entrepreneur. Audley and his team have been working on Roboburger for about five years but Audley’s passion for robotics goes all the way back to his childhood. 

Audley has been passionate about robotics and automation from a young age, and one of his teenage years robotics prototypes got him a scholarship at Carnegie Mellon. 

RoboBurger was in beta phase up until SharkTank. They launched their first beta location in a dive bar in Jersey City in 2020. They launched an NSF-certified model in 2022. The units now – generation 5 – are UL certified and are launching in locations from Indiana to Missouri. 

Future locations for Roboburger machines include colleges, airports and rest stops. 

Friends encouraged Audley to take his idea to Shark Tank since the earliest days of the Roboburger process. Shark Tank producers noticed the media coverage about RoboBurger and reached out to Audley in 2022 with an offer to appear. It wasn’t until 2023 that Audley and his team decided the machine was reach for a prime time appearance. 

“No one ever went bankrupt trying to feed America burgers.” (Michael) 

“One of the biggest challenges (with Roboburger) has been the health requirements. Getting that NSF certification was a gargantuan challenge and getting our UL certification on top of that was even more.” (Audley)

“We clean the griddle after every burger. We do heat sanitization every four hours. We’ve actually got our cleaning process certified by a third party.” (Audley) 

“(One of our goals is to) make food service accessible for vending.” (Audley)

“People are starting to shift to a higher convenience lifestyle. How can I get what I want, when I want it, wherever I am.” (Audley) 

“When you get to Shark Tank, it’s just one go. You’re standing on a carpet. It’s live. There are no cuts.” (Audley)

“Shark Tank was a really interesting experience. I’ve done thousands of pitches over the years, but I’ve never had one (like Shark Tank).” (Audley) 

“We’re very happy with the (Shark Tank) deal. Those are exactly the sharks that we wanted to make a deal with.” (Audley)

00:01.57

vigorbranding

Hello there to Fork Tales. Today’s guest is Audley Wilson. Now, typically, I have chefs on. Typically, I have restaurateurs. But today, we have a robotics expert. ah He is a burger expert and founder and CEO of Robo Burger, the world’s first burger chef in a vending machine. That’s right. He makes burgers within a vending machine. He also recently appeared on Shark Tank to pitch his idea to the investors. Audley, thank you so much for joining us today.

00:31.42

Audley Wilson

Well, thank you so much, Michael, for having me on. I’m excited to be speaking with you.

00:36.82

vigorbranding

Awesome. wow You and I got to meet, I think it was a little over a year ago and I i saw you then again in LA and

Craig is the founder of Doc B’s Restaurant & Bar. The restaurant is named after Craig’s late father, “Doctor B,” Doc B’s was first opened in Chicago in September 2013 and is a fresh, casual dining concept. Doc B’s has 10 locations in Chicago, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, and Coral Gables, FL; Austin, Dallas, and Forth Worth, TX.

Craig was inspired to follow a career in the restaurant industry after meeting Morton’s Steakhouse legend Allen Bernstein at a Knicks game. Craig and his dad talked to Allen at his courtside seats and he later formed a mentor relationship with Craig. 

Craig interviewed Allen Bernstein for a career report in the sixth grade about being a restaurant owner. Allen would later industry Craig to other restaurant industry leaders. 

Doc B’s started as a fast casual restaurant and transformed into a full service restaurant. That shift allowed Doc B’s to offer an elevated food offering and establish a better relationship with customers. 

Different layouts of each Doc B’s location provides opportunities for different design elements and features within each location. 

“(Allen Bernstein) really transformed my life to a certain extent. Allen drove me to pursue a career in the restaurant industry.” (Craig) 

“For me, the idea of hospitality and really going above and beyond for every guest was always really innate in the philosophy of our business. That’s why we transferred to full service.” (Craig)

“It’s about slow and steady growth. Not just growing for growth sake. Really trying to get great real estate, grow organically, grow from within and build the team from within.” (Craig) 

“I know the last chapter of our book. I just don’t know all the pages between today and then.” (Craig) 

“We don’t want to cut costs just to get more bodies inside the restaurant. We want to maintain our integrity, we want to maintain our value on the plate and we don’t want to trim the quality that we offer.” (Craig) 

“We’re traveling. We’re in our restaurants. We’re engaging with the team and engaging with guests. We’re doing constant evaluations of the food and service.” (Craig) 

“It really comes down to letting the general managers own their business and operate it like it was their four walls.” (Craig) 

“What’s fun about my job is you can have a day that’s the easiest day in the world and then you can have another day where nothing is going right.” (Craig)  

00:00.60

vigorbranding

Hey there hey I’m really excited today to talk to a guest ah a gentleman I met probably a couple months ago something happened there got an error message you the phone expensive fiction problems. She’s got internet connection.

00:20.20

vigorbranding

It’s still going just gonna let rather than stop it ended I think we’ll just I’ll trim this up so you let’s start over. Okay hi I’m really excited about today’s guest mainly because I love a good origin story. Our guest today is Craig Bernstein he’s the founder of dock be’s fresh kitchen restaurants Craig I really appreciate you joining us today. Um, ah you and I met like ah I don’t know a couple months ago out in l a and I got to talking to you and I just love a good story. So welcome to the show

Embassy Ingredients combines creativity and science to provide its customers with the very best innovative flavors and bakery ingredients available. 

Embassy Ingredients has an on-site flavor lab and full bakery test kitchen staffed with certified flavorists, food scientists and bakery specialists.They formulate, test and manufacture a wide range of flavors and bakery ingredients ensuring that taste, quality and performance are built into every product.

Natural ingredients and colors have taken over, with nearly 80% of flavors and ingredients being natural. Using high quality, natural ingredients is something Embassy Ingredients has been focused on for many years. 

It is possible to have indulgence AND clean labels. Many products that are indulgent and taste great have clean labels. The technology today allows for the use of natural ingredients that taste as good or better than the artificial ingredients of the past. 

The typical Embassy customer takes 12-18 months to launch a new product. For that reason, tracking trends that are in the earliest stages and will still be relevant a year from now is important.

]“When I started, I was the only employee. I got the orders in the morning, made them in the afternoon, delivered them the next day and got more orders.” (Martino)

“As a 17 year old kid I found out that persistence and perseverance were the personality traits you need as an entrepreneur.” (Martino) 

“In the 90s I’d say about 80% of the flavors that were sold were artificial and 20% were natural. Right now it’s about 80% natural and 20% artificial.” (Martino) 

“We’ve always tried to keep the junk out of mixes. Just because you’re buying something you want to indulge in, doesn’t mean it has to be completely unhealthy for you.” (Martino)

“If it’s not needed inside the product, why put it in?” (Martino) 

“When you indulge, it better be good. You don’t want something that’s being made as inexpensively as possible.” (Martino) 

“Every crisis you face you learn some new business skills you didn’t know you had.” (Martino) 

“During a crisis (like COVID), people eat more sweets than in a non-crisis.” (Martino)

“If you taste test new recipes for a living, you get really good at tasting without eating.” (Martino) 

00:01.76

vigorbranding

Today’s guest is someone who knows a lot about ingredients a lot about flavor trends and a lot about baked goods. He’s Martino Babila and he’s the founder and president of embassy ingredients welcome to show Martino and thank you very much for joining us. So.

00:13.47

Martino

Thank you Michael thanks for being glad to be on the show.

00:18.41

vigorbranding

Yep, So tell everyone you know a little bit about Embassy ingredients. What’s your mission and what do you guys? do.

00:21.59

Martino

So embassy ingredients is centered on the bakery trace so we supply ingredients to large scale bakeries. So we have a side of our business that makes flavors and a side that makes the industrial version you might say of a Duncan hides cake mix. So when you go off to your supermarket or to Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks you’ll find our ingredients and a lot of the baker that you’re going to be buying at those qsars or supermarkets.

00:47.54

Judy Joo is a classically trained chef, entrepreneur, and television personality whose unconventional journey spans engineering, Wall Street, and the world’s top kitchens. She is an Iron Chef, cookbook author, and dynamic force in the food world, celebrated for modernizing and globalizing Korean cuisine.

Judy is the founder of Seoul Bird, a Korean fast-casual fried chicken concept with locations in London, New York, Las Vegas, and beyond.Seoul Bird merges bold Korean street food flavors with the speed and scale of modern dining, combining Judy’s culinary heritage and operational expertise.

Before launching her restaurant empire, Judy trained at the French Culinary Institute, worked in Michelin-starred restaurants like The French Laundry and Gordon Ramsay’s empire, and became a recognizable face on Food Network. 

Seoul Bird is expanding through a strategic mix of franchising and licensing, including high-traffic venues like Citi Field and Edinburgh Airport.

Judy left Wall Street to pursue her passion for food, trading finance for the kitchen with zero expectations—just love for cooking.

Her engineering and banking backgrounds continue to shape how she designs restaurants and runs operations at scale.

As a Korean-American woman in male-dominated fields—finance, engineering, and restaurants—Judy forged ahead with “fearlessness or I just don’t care” confidence.

She believes “today’s invention is tomorrow’s tradition,” especially in defining authenticity in global cuisines like Korean fried chicken.

Seoul Bird thrives in arenas and airports, offering high-volume, high-flavor experiences with a focus on simplicity, quality, and cultural storytelling.

She emphasizes the power of brand building—through books, TV, and food—as key to her business success.

Judy finds inspiration everywhere, from grocery store aisles to international travel, always absorbing and evolving her culinary creativity.

She’s proud to see Korean food embraced globally, transforming from a source of school-lunch embarrassment into a pop-culture phenomenon.

“I love creating experiences. I love creating meals. I love food. I love the language of food. It is a language of love for me.” (Judy)

“I’m going to downgrade my life in every way possible and work weekends and evenings and much longer hours and get paid a fraction of what I was getting paid.” (Judy)

“I remember hesitating. Like, which one do I want to do? I was like, oh, math and science is easy for me. I’ll go to engineering school.” (Judy)

“If I want to be in these industries where I am the one and only minority, the one and only female, I don’t care. I’m going to do it.” (Judy)

“A restaurant is a business at the end of the day. You have to know cost control, maximize profits, and understand finance.” (Judy)

“I know so many chefs who can’t even get their way around an Excel spreadsheet.” (Judy)

“Koreans are obsessed with fried chicken. Obsessed. Obsessed.” (Judy)

“Today’s invention is tomorrow’s tradition. Korean fried chicken came from war and evolved. Is it authentic? I think so.” (Judy)

“I’ve gone from being embarrassed about my lunchbox to everybody spamming me, asking, ‘What are they eating? What are they drinking?'” (Judy)

“As long as the DNA is there—that makes it Korean.” (Judy)

“Television cheffing is much easier. You’re in a nice air-conditioned studio versus burning yourself and dealing with employees.” (Judy)

“Every single time I’m in a grocery store, whenever I travel, you’re constantly seeing new things. That’s a huge source of inspiration.” (Judy)

Livit Design is the leading design firm specialized in creating unique guest experiences in the Food & Beverage and all areas of Hospitality, Fitness and Retail sectors. For over 20 years, 

Livit has worked as strategic advisors to investors and global brands on design, operations, guest journey and guest experience with the focus on improving efficiency, profitability and increasing growth potential.

Livit Design bills itself as “a perfect mix of foodies, architects, interior designers, guest experience specialists, chefs, kitchen consultants, operations experts, entrepreneurs, graphic artists, DJ’s, visionaries and restaurant operators.” 

One of the projects Benjamin and Livit Design is working on is called The Line. Located in Saudi Arabia by the Red Sea, The Line is billed as the future of urban living. The 105-mile long structure is just 650 feet wide and will eventually be home to more than nine million people. It has no roads, cars or emissions and runs on 100% renewable energy. 

All great restaurant design has to touch the emotions of diners, but there’s not a magic wand that does that. Doing that requires great design and so many other touchpoints and factors. 

According to Ben, the hospitality industry is divided into two sides. One side focuses on convenience and the other is focused on experience. 

The Livit team is helping restaurant staff focus on hospitality by creating systems that automatically adjust sensory factors like scent and sound (music) to create better diner experiences. 

“I believe that one of the biggest differences between what we do and a regular design firm, but what’s really challenging is understanding the operations. How do you make sure that you create designs that are profitable? That’s where design really matters.” (Benjamin)

“It could be the scents, it could be the sounds, it could be the thickness of the menu. There are so many small details in creating that holistic experience.” (Benjamin) 

“Consumers are getting picky. You go out less. The bland experiences – trying to be everything to everyone – those are the brands that are really suffering. You need to be niche, you need to create a phenomenal experience and you need to be a driver.” (Benjamin) 

“Restaurant design is an investment, not a cost.” (Benjamin) 

“Brands that try to be everything to everyone – they’re audience is literally dying. That’s a struggle in a world where everything is becoming more specialized.” (Benjamin) 

“We’re going to see a lot more artificial intelligence (in restaurants and design). It’s going to be better than humans at a lot of the repetitive tasks. Whether that’s comps and analysis, restaurant layouts, optimization of spaces, etc.” (Benjamin) 

“I’m a lighting freak. I think lighting and acoustics are the two things that designers will often overlook and they’re not well taught in design schools.” (Benjamin) 

“The things you touch – the cutlery, the table, the chairs, the glassware, the plateware – those are the most important things.” (Benjamin) 

00:00.00

vigorbranding

Well hello today’s guest is someone at the forefront of restaurant design. His name is Ben Kaa I probably pronounced it wrong even though I practice and he’s the founder and chief experience officer at design the what’s ama

Fransmart is a global leader in franchise development. For over 20 years, they’ve excelled at turning emerging concepts into national and global brands. Led by company founder Dan Rowe, Fransmart is known throughout the franchising community for spotting and growing brands like Five Guys Burgers & Fries and Qdoba Mexican Grill, from single unit businesses to the powerhouse chains they are today. 

Fransmart has built restaurants in all of the top 150 media markets in North America. 

Fransmart’s success stories include Five Guys, Qdoba Mexican Grill and Halal Guys – a franchise that started from a success food cart in New York City. Today, Halal Guys is the most successful Middle Eastern restaurant in America. 

Dan’s success stems from his knowledge of each market and the potential franchisees in each market. With that knowledge, he can often predict whether a restaurant will find franchisees and be successful. 

The biggest mistake a lot of franchisees make is picking the wrong brand to invest in. Another mistake franchisees make is not following the system put in place by the brand they’re investing in. 

“A good franchisee wants to follow somebody else’s system. A bad franchisee buys a franchise and tries to do everything different.” (Dan)  

“In every market, we know where the best operators are, we know where the best intersections are, where the best projects are, the best architects, contractors, food distributors, so we just sort of developed this knack for understanding the best way to do everything in these markets.” (Dan) 

“I want to be relentless about getting the right site (for a new restaurant). For any concept, there’s 10 or 15 or 20 potential sites. But there’s really only three or four first sites. You have to be very careful when you’re building a brand in a brand new market. There’s something very strategic about using real estate and real estate’s role in marketing.” (Dan) 

“You have to be really good at knowing exactly where your bullseye’s are and coming up with some logic around what order you should be growing.” (Dan) 

“You have staff for the sales you want and you have to staff for the company you’re trying to build.” (Dan) 

“I’ve never seen a concept that I can’t figure out how to drive sales and lower costs.” (Dan) 

00:00.00

vigorbranding

Hello if you’re a restaurant looking to become an an international restaurant chain or if you’re um, you know I’m gonna start over I’m sorry it’s kind of fumble that all just yeah, hello if you’re a restaurant looking to become an international restaurant chain or if you’re an entrepreneur who wants to own a franchise today’s episode is for you. My guest is Dan Rowe he’s the Ceo and founder of fransmart and he takes emerging restaurant concepts and turns them into national and international franchises. He’s been called the chainmakerr and we’re gonna talk to him today about his process. Dan. Thank you so much for joining us.

00:32.74

dan_fransmart_com

Um, yeah, thanks, thanks for having me.

00:36.52

vigorbranding

Well let’s just jump right in. Let’s start with Fransmart tell me a little bit about it How you started maybe a little bit about your history and where you got

Through his company, HospiVation, Jason coaches restaurant executives how to make their goals real in the restaurant and teaches restaurant managers how to transform their patterns of management to improve their hospitality leadership.

HospiVation helps restaurants through coaching, speeches, workshops and books. They try to meet managers where they are and dive deep in the restaurant’s team to help them build better teams. 

Jason has wanted to work in the restaurant industry since a very young age and got his first job as a restaurant dishwasher at the age of 15. He’s worked for 20 different restaurant brands during his career. 

One of the biggest mistakes restaurant managers make when it comes to leadership is trying to do everything by themselves and not learning to delegate. 

It’s important for managers to understand a restaurant’s KPIs, but it’s also important for EVERY member of the team to understand the KPIs and how success is measured.

In an effective meeting, the meeting organizer and leader should talk 20 percent of the time and the rest of the attendees should talk 80 percent of the time.

“I came in through the side door. I started out washing dishes at a very young age. My mother didn’t even know I got a job.” (Jason) 

“I’ve worked for 20 different restaurant brands and six of the top 100 brands in the U.S. This has given me the ability to see the Mona Lisa painted 20 different ways. All of those learnings helped to shape my company, HospiVation.” (Jason)  

“Ask any social media manager. It’s very hard to get people to follow you and it’s even hard to keep them.” (Jason)

 “It’s not just managing, leading and coaching – it’s knowing the difference between the three. We use managing more than anything else in our day as a hospitality leader. Leadership is different. Leadership is understanding the overarching items about the industry and where to move the brand next.” (Jason) 

“Coaching is the mastery of small groups and one-on-ones. Coaching is you creating a space of 30 minutes to listen to your team.” (Jason) 

“When it comes to mastering your meetings, you have to understand that if you aren’t sitting down to make a decision, you probably shouldn’t be there.” (Jason) 

“You should never stop training, even when someone puts in a notice (and are departing soon).” (Jason)

00:00.00

vigorbranding

Hello everybody today’s guest is Jason Brooks he’s a motivational speaker an expert in restaurant management and the author of the book every leader needs followers 10 keys to transform restaurant managers into hospitality leaders Jason. Thanks so much for being here. Um, I’d love to start off with just you talking a little bit about your past like some of the places you’ve been and some of the things you’ve done.

00:26.34

Jason Brooks

Thank you Michael ah, it’s a pleasure being on forktails in amazing podcast. Your listeners are full First they know their business. They know what they’re talking about so I am honored. Um, you know my past is like many. Pasts of coaches of speakers meaning that I came in through the side door and and I started out washing dishes very young age 15 first job. My my mother didn’t even know that I got a job. Ah, she just came home one day afte

Thanx is a leading loyalty and guest engagement platform for restaurants. The company, founded by Zach Goldstein in 2011, helps businesses embrace digital purchasing, capture greater customer data, and take action on that information to personalize guest engagement.

Thanx builds digital UX – mobile apps and web ordering experience – that help restaurants differentiate themselves. Thanx also offers dynamic self-service loyalty programs that help restaurants break free from cookie cutter loyalty programs. 

Before joining Thanx, Emily was a business intelligence consultant.

Restaurants face many challenges when it comes to data, including not having resources to analyze and take action on data available to them. They also don’t have a good way to centralize the data and make it useful. Restaurants also struggle to capture enough data. 

Many loyalty programs fail to capture enough data because the programs are difficult to sign up for (often requiring an app) and they make customers jump through hoops to use the app or program. 

Thanx loyalty programs think outside the “Spend X, Get Y” box to offer unique loyalty programs that don’t rely on discounts. That includes offers of special food items or LTOs to loyalty members or all day happy hour for loyalty members. 

“There’s problems associated with getting data and then there’s the problem of doing something with the data (after you get it) that’s meaningful to the business.” (Emily) 

“Restaurants generally don’t have the resources in house to help them make sense of the data that they have.” (Emily) 

“Far and away the most common challenge (for restaurants) is that they’re not capturing enough data.” (Emily) 

“Most revenue is still flowing through in-store channels. This is where loyalty comes in.” (Emily)

“Loyalty is the only proven mechanism for broadly capturing data and driving repeat purchasing from it. And yet, most loyalty programs don’t capture enough data.” (Emily) 

“There are a few restaurants doing loyalty really well. For the rest of restaurants, those loyalty programs are all very similar ‘Spend X, Get Y’ programs. Thanx allows you to build unique, differentiated, bespoke loyalty programs.” (Emily) 

“Not only do non-discount programs work better, they also cost less.” (Emily) 

“If you look at why restaurants aren’t personalizing (programs), most of the time it’s not because people think it’s not important or it’s not going to drive results. It’s because it’s really hard to do.” (Emily)

00:00.00

vigorbranding

Hello Today’s guest is someone who knows a lot about data and loyalty programs which are two extremely important topics for restaurants and any brand for that matter. Our guest is Emily rugabier and she is the Vp of marketing for thanks with an x. So thanks for joining us Emily Rut Gaber I’m sorry I practiced it three times. So.

00:19.99

Emily 

Yeah, happy to be here and you almost got it rugeber very close. Um.

00:27.57

Emily 

So um, yeah, very happy to be here. Thank you so much for having me. Thanks is a guest engagement and retention platform for restaurants. Ah so that’s kind of a mouthful so I’ll tell you what that means? um. We build digital ux so we build mobile apps and web ordering experiences

Duck Donuts is an American doughnut shop chain based in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Duck Donuts was founded in 2006 in Duck, North Carolina, by Russ DiGilio and Robin Griffith, and has since expanded to over 100 locations in the United States. 

Duck Donuts is known for its made-to-order donuts in a variety of unique flavors. It recently opened a location in Thailand. 

Managing growth is something that Duck Donuts (and many franchises) pays careful attention to. The training program for franchisees includes an emphasis on consistent branding and quality. 

Duck Donuts franchisees typically own just a few locations and often work on a daily basis in the locations they own. 

The custom, made-to-order model is what differentiates Duck Donuts from its competitors. 

Duck Donuts is testing kiosks in stores and grab-and-go opportunities for customers who might not want to wait for donuts. 

“(Managing growth) is challenging. We try to set franchisees up for success in the beginning from a training standpoint and teaching them how we do things.” (Betsy) 

“We have smaller franchisees. A lot of them have two or three locations and come from different backgrounds.” (Betsy)

“What really makes a franchisee successful is someone who has a small business mentality. They’re accountable for their success or failure and we’ll give them all the tools and resources they need to succeed.” (Betsy) 

“It’s a lot of work and it’s constant. Franchisees have to be in the store and know what’s going on. Having that ability to work ON the business and not just IN the business is important.” (Betsy)

“We do try to make (the ordering process) easier because it can be overwhelming for some people. The ability is still there if they want to customize their donut, but if they don’t want to think about it and they want 12 suggestions, here you go, here’s a couple to pick from.” (Betsy) 

“We’re in growth mode. We opened 32 shops last year and we’ll open 45 this year.” (Betsty) 

“Donuts are happiness and the world needs more happiness.” (Michael) 

00:00.00

vigorbranding

Great hello I’m joined today by someone I’ve always wanted to have on this show. Betsy ham is our guest. She’s the Ceo of duck donuts and it’s one of the fastest growing donut franchises in the nation betsy. Thanks for joining us.

00:12.88

Betsy Hamm

Thank you so much for having me.

00:17.00

vigorbranding

So I want to hear all about your story but the duck story. It’s it’s amazing to me and and kind of maybe fortuitous. The the idea I guess actually grew up in my neighborhood. My neighbor Russ was the is the founder and ah.

00:30.67

Betsy Hamm

Yep.

00:31.37

vigorbranding

If you would tell us the story. You know how it comes from a little neighborhood and in in Pennsylvania and turns into this international and international business. What was the idea behind it how to come come about.

00:38.78

Betsy Hamm

Sure

Broaster Company is an American foodservice equipment manufacturer headquartered in Beloit, Wisconsin. The company is the leader in providing high quality pressure fryers and branded food service programs for over 65 years. 

“Broasting” is a unique cooking method developed in 1954 when Broaster’s inventor and founder L.A.M. Phalen combined the principles of a pressure cooker and a deep fryer into one commercial cooking appliance. The results – in quality, flavor and cooking speed – were revolutionary.

Only restaurants and food service providers that are licensed to use genuine Broaster Company equipment can offer “broasted chicken” on menus. Protecting that trademark and licensing is important to the Broaster Chicken team. 

In many restaurants, broasted chicken is a champion menu item and sold to restaurants as a featured menu item. 

Broaster Company has been a global business for as long as the company has been incorporated. The company has a distributor in the Middle East for the past 60 years.

“If you were to take the Dakotas over to Ohio, go down probably to Kentucky – that is where the Broaster market is. As people move outside the midwest, that’s how the name spreads.” (Jay) 

“If you want to say that you’re serving broaster chicken, it starts with the marinades and coatings, it uses the frier and you have to use the process that we dictate to call it genuine broaster chicken.” (Jay) 

“We have ‘broaster,’ ‘broasted,’ ‘genuine broaster chicken’ and anything around the name broast, broaster, et cetera has been trademarked by the Broaster Company.” (Jay)

“We get more calls from consumers (about trademark violations) than we do from restaurants or distributors. Our consumers are our biggest police for monitoring our brand.” (Jay)

“I’ve heard of people pressure frying Twinkies, hot dogs, et cetera. You can almost do anything. […] Around the holiday season, one of the favorites is turkey.” (Jay) 

00:01.14

vigorbranding

Fantastic hello hey today I am joined by someone I’ve known for ah personally for a long time. His name is Jay Cira and he is the Ceo of broster company Jay say hello and tell us a little bit about yourself.

00:14.42

Jay Cipra

Hey, how are you Mike how you doing um, first of all, thanks for the opportunity one whenever I get a chance to spend some time with you. It’s exciting but also the opportunity to talk about broster is great. So thanks for the opportunity and inviting me on your show here. Um. Groster company. So I’ll tell you a little bit about myself I’ve been with grocester company for 19 years now so long time can never imagine that I was going to be part of an organization this long but it’s it’s been awesome and it’s been awesome run and looking forward to another 20 years or so so it’s ah the broster company. Is actually a very interesting company and something that you know you think of a you know small business within the us. You know you think it’s fairly simple but it’s a little bit more complex than a lot of people think and that’s because we do a lot of different things. Um, broster company started back in 1954 when it was first organized and the way we got. Our started is ah there was a gentleman by the name

TEAM Schostak Family Restaurants is based in Livonia, Michigan and has a portfolio of 150 casual dining, family dining, fast casual, and quick service restaurants throughout Michigan, TEAM Schostak Family Restaurants (TSFR) include Applebee’s, Olga’s Kitchen, Olga’s Fresh Grille, MOD Pizza and Wendy’s.

Mark is the third generation of a four-generation family business. The company places a lot of emphasis on its road map, which includes its core purpose, its vision (to lead the way), its mission statement and its core values. 

TEAM Schostak Family Restaurants core purpose is to create opportunities that make lives better – to life. They create opportunities to make lives better with their employees, their guests and within the communities the company’s restaurants serve. 

The culture created by TEAM Schostak Family Restaurants took many years to create, but they bring it to life by modeling it and living it every day. 

The COVID pandemic was unprecedented territory for TEAM Schostak Family Restaurants and most restaurants. The first priority for TEAM Schostak Family Restaurants was keeping people employed. 

“Our core purpose is to create opportunities that make lives better. You have to give people a sense of purpose and they have to recognize that what they’re doing is really important.” (Mark) 

“You can do a great job with your people, a great job with your guests, a great job in the community and you can do everything with integrity but you have to achieve results.” (Mark)

“The only way a culture comes to life in a restaurant is you have to model those behaviors. You have to live it. You have to talk about it all the time.” (Mark) 

“If you’re constantly going to the outside (to recruit restaurant managers), you’re losing. The only way you’re going to build a culture is you have to internally develop (managers).” (Mark) 

“People don’t quit companies, they quit managers.” (Michael) 

“We need to be out there. If you’re in the restaurant business, you need to be eating at your competitors’ restaurants. You gotta be out in the field.” (Mark) 

00:00.97

vigorbranding

Great hello everyone I’m excited today dear friend of mine mark showstack is joining us and if you live in the lower peninsula of Michigan ah, you inevitably have eaten at 1 of Mark’s team show stack restaurants. Mark welcome to the show. You want to tell us a little bit about you and your family.

00:17.83

Mark Schostak

Yeah, sure I’m part of a family business It’s a fourth generation family business I’m third generation and in the ah third generation my brothers and I got involved in the restaurant business and. Family’s legacy business is commercial real estate and we celebrated our hundred year anniversary in 2020 so we’re very proud of that.

00:38.72

vigorbranding

Amazing.

00:46.00

vigorbranding

It’s fantastic I mean I know you guys were huge in real estate. It’s just only natural to put restaurants in it. So now you didn’

The International Food & Beverage Technology Association (IFBTA) is a nonprofit trade association that promotes the use of technology within the global food and beverage industries with a specific focus on education, networking, certification, standards, research, and events, while aligning with other industry associations and groups in support of their technology related initiatives.

Rob started his career as a restaurant manager for Bob’s Big Boy and Marriott Hotels. In those roles, he was able to marry his love of operations and restaurants with technology.  

Rob is seeing an increase in the use of robotics in back-of-house operations in restaurants, but fewer uses for food delivery to tables. 

At CES, Rob sees a sharp increase in electric vehicles as a trend and robotics for use in food preparation and fewer uses of VR. 

“The word ‘technology’ is changing. It’s evolving as a definition in hospitality, food service and retail and that’s a very exciting thing to see.” (Rob) 

“Certain terms and technology become very popular over time. The way to know what’s popular is to go to a trade show and look above the aisles at the signs. I look at what words are being used. Many years ago it was one-to-one marketing or big data.” (Rob) 

“I think the concept of drones may be more of a fad than a trend (in food service). I’m not so hot on drones for delivery, I am very hot on autonomous vehicles and even hotter now that I’m at CES. There is a whole room at CES with electric vehicles and half of those vehicles – probably more than half – are using autonomous driving.” (Rob)

“I believe in robotics. I think we’re going to see it more in the back of the house for food preparation. That’s very clear here at CES with robotic baristas. There’s going to be at the NRF Show next week a robotic pizza maker that’s being used by Walmart. What we don’t see is a ton of robots being used for delivery of food (in restaurants) to tableside.” (Rob)

“I saw a company in Taiwan and they were doing simultaneous translation with earbuds. I’ve seen this before, but it always needed a phone. This one did not need that. So we’re really getting to the point of Star Trek where you put the earbuds in and you’re instantly having conversations with somebody and it’s instantly being translated.” (Rob) 

“One of the two things I’ve noticed at CES between last year and this year is a whole pavilion on vehicles. Electric scooters, cars and farming equipment. The other thing I noticed is that the big companies that usually do CES have two booths. I see LG electronics, who I normally see in the main building doing video displays and phones, now has a separate booth in the automotive section where they’re showing their cars.” (Rob)  

“I believe you can’t talk about technology. The best way is to show people technology and show them how it’s being used.” (Rob) 

00:01.96

vigorbranding

Hello everyone today’s guest is ah a self-described techovvader and someone I’ve known for a long long time. A good friend. He’s Rob Grimes and he’s the founder and Ceo of the international food and beverage technology Association Rob also has other businesses. He’s tied to he’ll talk a little bit about that. And he’s

GiftAMeal is an app that allows diners to take a photo of their order from a partner restaurant. For each photo taken, GiftAMeal donates to a local food bank to provide a meal to a family in need. 

Each month, more than 40,000 meals are provided through more than 100 local food banks in 37 states via GiftAMeal. In the last year, GiftAMeal has grown from 200 to almost 1,000 partner restaurants. 

Andrew fell in love with the profits-with-a-purpose business model as a student at Washington University. While there, he owned and operated a non-profit storefront dedicated to reuse and sustainability. Later, while interning at a venture capital firm, he developed the idea for GiftAMeal on his lunch break. 

GiftAMeal works with individual restaurants and franchises or franchise groups of restaurants like Red Robin. 

Making GiftAMeal an easy plug-and-play concept for restaurants and larger chains is a goal in 2024. 

“Making an impact is something that’s always been important to me. I also love the creative autonomy that comes with entrepreneurship and trying to find those win-win scenarios and align incentives for different parties.” (Andrew) 

“We’ve seen that guests using GiftAMeal are returning 39% more frequently, they’re spending 20% more per visit and they’re tipping 32% more than a standard guest.” (Andrew) 

“We started off as a mobile app, but we’ve always paid attention to the different technologies that were being developed.” (Andrew) 

“Fuse Marketing and 5W PR studies found that 84% of Gen Z were more likely to purchase from a brand if (the brand) gives back and 71% of Millennials would pay more for a product if they knew that some of the proceeds were going to a good cause.” (Andrew)  

“Entrepreneurship is not an easy journey.” (Andrew) 

00:00.00

vigorbranding

Hello everyone today’s episode of flirk tales I am joined by someone who takes cause marketing and entrepreneurial spirit to a new level. His name is Andrew Glanz and he’s the founder of gift a meal. Welcome Andrew and tell us a little bit about yourself and some of your backstory.

00:14.43

Andrew Glantz

Yeah, of course. Um so I’m originally from Los Angeles and I came out to St Louis to go to wash you for college when I was a student there I owned and operated a nonprofit storefront to promote reuse and sustainability and volunteered for various causes and. Ah, then when I had a summer internship at a venture capital firm and got exposed to the startup world I fell in love with the scalability of it and found out about the idea of a profits with a purpose business model that you could do well while doing good and came up with the idea for gift and meal when I was on a lunch break break and kind of ran with it and put my savings into it. Graduated in May Twenty seventeen and started out in St Louis and now started to really scale it up and grow it into what it is today.

01:01.68

vigorbranding

That’s very cool now like you know I’m I’m somewhat of an entrepreneur I started my own business when I was 27 and grew several companies and I love it. I mean I Just think it’s ah a great way to be and and I love the energy of it. So How did you become this en

opsi is a daily workflow app built to progress the way modern operators manage their restaurant. With robust recipe management, true recipe costing, task and food prep lists, and product guides, opsi is suited for any operation looking to maximize efficiencies within their kitchen team, and cut down on employee training times.

James has 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry and a strong vision for technology’s role in it. His time in the kitchen has taken him from New Jersey to Rhode Island, Washington DC, San Francisco and Minnesota. 

As a chef, James has worked alongside industry-leading chefs such as Michael Mina and Gavin Kaysen, giving him a profound understanding of restaurant operations. 

The inspiration for opsi came early in James’ career after he took over as chef de cuisine in a restaurant that was in the midst of change and facing issues with internal communication. 

“(Being a restaurateur) is a wild and challenging business. From any angle, as an operator it’s even more challenging because you’ve got 50+ people banking on you.” (James)

“I love the stories behind entrepreneurial ideas because they’re usually very simple, very true and very authentic and that’s what makes them wonderful.” (Michael) 

“Technology was a space for me where we could develop a solution where we could keep all the information in there, keep the team on the same page and marching to the same sheet of music and moving in the same direction.” (James)

“(opsi) made it easier for us to focus on the larger goal, which was servicing the guest and putting out a really high quality product.” (James)

“In any kind of creative business, there’s organized chaos and artistry but I agree that people need and love process. A little organization isn’t a bad thing.” (Michael)  

“My belief is that anyone – from a food truck to a three-star Michelin restaurant – can utilize opsi.” (James) 

00:01.48

vigorbranding

Hello everyone today I am joined by someone who knows a lot about how to run an a fishing kitchen his name is chef James Pasa Faro James how you doing say hello and give us a little bit of your backstory.

00:17.65

James

Hi thanks for having me. Um, yeah, my background I started in the cooking culinary world when I was really young something I really wanted to do from a young age bounced around a bunch ended up in Minnesota. I work for some really great chefs like Gavin Casean and Michael Mina and um here I am now working in technology which I never thought I probably have to say out loud.

00:42.10

vigorbranding

That’s awesome. We’re gonna talk about opsy here in a little bit but where did the whole love of cooking come from like where did it start I mean how did you? How did you happen upon it.

00:51.22

James

Yeah, um, you know a lot of the times I think generally this story kind of goes for people. It’s like you know they’re cooking in a kitchen if they’re grandmother or mother some some family member or it’s a family-owned operator. My parents. Ah, my mom was in sales for telecoms so she worked for att my father was in floing so he worked worked in union in New York and then he owned a business in New Jersey where we grew up and he just had friends that were in

Denise Woodard is the founder and CEO of Partake Foods. She launched the brand after her daughter was diagnosed with multiple food allergies. A former Coca-Cola executive, Denise became the first Black woman to publicly raise over $1 million for a CPG food startup.

Partake Foods creates delicious, allergy-friendly snacks that are free from the top nine allergens. With a mission rooted in inclusivity and accessibility, the brand is now available in over 18,000 stores nationwide and continues to grow through innovation and community impact.

The brand’s name, “Partake,” reflects Denise’s desire for her daughter and others with allergies to fully participate in the joy of food.

Denise’s journey began with a pitch competition and a nudge from her nanny, Martha—who now holds equity in the business.

Partake has collaborated with major partners like Marvel and Sesame Street, and has donated over one million boxes of cookies to support families in need.

The company is deeply involved in social impact initiatives, including work with No Kid Hungry and the Food Equality Initiative.

Denise founded Partake to create allergy-safe foods her daughter could enjoy, after struggling to find suitable options in the market.

Leaving Coca-Cola, she underestimated how challenging it would be to build a brand from scratch without the resources of a large company.

Getting allergy-friendly products manufactured required finding rare, specialized partners willing to work with a startup founder.

Her family—especially her daughter—has been central to the business journey, often pitching in during trade shows and events.

Denise emphasizes leading with great taste rather than a long list of dietary claims when introducing products to new consumers.

Building strong retail partnerships is about follow-through, not just shelf placement—it requires active investment and support.

She believes inclusivity should be embedded naturally into company culture, hiring, and investor relationships.

To stay energized, Denise now prioritizes time for reflection, creativity, and rest, recognizing the importance of long-term sustainability.

“I sought out products that she could eat and enjoy safely and that we could eat as a family together and couldn’t find the things that I was looking for and decided to do something about it.” (Denise)

“I knew enough to be dangerous. I could speak the lingo. I knew the acronyms. I did not realize what I was in for.” (Denise)

“There’s not very many allergy friendly contract manufacturers. So calling someone up and getting them to agree to work with a woman with an idea was definitely a challenge.” (Denise)

“Being an entrepreneur is a family sport. My daughter too, I think about all the sacrifice that she made. She can probably put together a trade show booth faster than most adults.” (Denise)

“It feels like a game of whack-a-mole. It’s like you think you got one thing covered and then, oh, tariffs or something. Every week there’s a new adventure.” (Denise)

“The name Partake originally came from this idea that I wanted my daughter and people with food allergies to be able to partake.” (Denise)

“You’re nothing if you have a story with no good product. And honestly, the same if you have a good product but nothing to talk about.” (Denise)

“I want my employees to feel like they have the freedom to be able to do the same thing because I think this whole idea of separating your personal life and work life isn’t healthy for anyone.” (Denise)

“I’ve just started this practice. Making time to think and be inspired—setting out time to journal, to go on walks, to visit grocery stores, to visit small markets.” (Denise)

“Food is something that’s supposed to evoke positive memories for everyone. And even if you have food allergies, like you should be able to have that same joy.” (Denise)

Home Run Inn is a family owned & operated establishment with nine restaurants throughout the Chicago area. They’ve been making pizza since 1947 and began creating and selling frozen pizzas for grocery store distribution nationwide in the 1960s.  

Dan is the 4th generation leader of Home Run Inn Pizza. He started in the family business at the age of 13 as a busboy. 

Home Run Inn’s signature square-sliced pizzas originated in the 1940s when the tavern would slice the pizza into small sample-sized pieces to entice customers. 

The restaurant’s frozen pizza was born after a regular customer used to request par-baked pizzas to take to his summer home in Wisconsin. 

Home Run Inn Pizza has a synergistic relationship between the restaurant brand and the frozen brand and doesn’t view the relationship as cannibalistic when it comes to sales for either brand. 

“Everyone who has a restaurant wants to get into CPG. They want to put it in grocery stories. They think it’s easy to do CPG.” (Michael) 

“Our first distributor was our bartender. He would take pizzas after work, walk them down to the corner grocery store and pick up the cash the next day.” (Dan) 

“Our frozen pizza production facilities model and mirror what we did in the restaurants. My uncle would say, ‘The reason we make it like that is because that’s the only way I know how.’” (Dan)

“Pizza is like sex. It’s all good, but some is better than others.” (Michael) 

“The (Home Run Inn Pizza) restaurants drive brand awareness on the marketing side for our frozen pizza.” (Dan)

“A brand is a promise. Many times, an agency is hired to create that story or build that authenticity. What’s beautiful about what Home Run Inn Pizza has, is that (story) is already baked in.” (Michael) 

00:00.22

vigorbranding

And with some great guests and so I thought well we should keep it going. It’s good for social media. It’s good for you know it’s good. So I mean you know I’ll be honest’ve I’m only done a few of these but it’s been fun and you know I don’t know it’s just ah, you know the guys do a great job. So it turns out all right? yeah.

00:06.19

Dan Costello

Um, yeah.

00:16.98

Dan Costello

Um, cool, Awesome. Look forward to it. Don’t give hi.

00:19.29

vigorbranding

Yeah, yeah, yeah, know yeah this will be this will be a lap for you I mean you know it’s just just like your story and I mean it sincerely I mean great story, great family. Great product. It’s just you know it’s just it’s just super cool. We got a guy here working the production Robert who you’re already his fan. He’s a huge fan of home run his friends.

00:28.80

Dan Costello

Gun.

00:36.54

vigorbranding

Took him there and he you know is one of his best buddies is out there archer ra and thirty first street with archer a thirty first yeah Yeah, so yeah, yeah, so yeah, yeah, heyan on one thing we’re you know can keep casual and loose. We’re already kind of rolling here. Um, just 1 thing he got to do once we kind of finish up the convo.

00:42.27

Dan Costello

Ah, okay, nice Robert very good.

00:55.40

vigorbranding

We just gotta have you hang on the line thus til your tilll your file kind of uplis what locally so we’ probably just got hang out for extr

Joseph is the former host of Forktales and is currently working as the VP of Digital Experience for 3 Owl. He’s also the author of “Stop Blasting My Mama” (a book about effective email marketing) and “The Bullhearted Brand: Building Bullish Restaurant Brands That Charge Ahead of the Herd.” 

Joseph’s book, “Stop Blasting My Mama,” tackles the topic of email marketing and how modern marketing is overrun with overly aggressive terms – like blast and campaign – to describe what should be a friendly and civil interaction with consumers. 

Consumers today have more power today and can ignore brands – or cancel brands – whenever they want to. 

Technology is changing the restaurant industry and restaurants need to get onboard with that technological evolution or risk being left behind. 

“One day we’ll be able to do a podcast without mentioning the pandemic. Today is not that day.” (Joseph)

“I always cringe when I hear the words ‘e-blast’ or things like that because it’s antithetical to behaviors of humans in general. Nobody is walking around saying ‘Gosh, I really hope I get blasted today.’” (Joseph)

“I like to think of this world that we’re in as one big party. If you walked into that party alone and you said at top of your lungs, ‘Hey everyone, I just want you to know that I’m really cool.” You’re immediately not and you’re going to have a hard time convincing everyone that you are.” (Joseph)

“Restaurants are the backbone of every single economy – from micro local to federal. If you lose restaurants in the city center, you’ve lost the city center.” (Joseph) 

“The first victims of AI are the ones who phone it in. The mediocre hamburger won’t be there anymore.” (Joseph) 

“Bro, we are not eating bugs. It’s not happening. Unless there’s some sort of nuclear holocaust, Americans are not eating bugs.” (Joseph) 

00:01.20

vigorbranding

Well hey there um some of you watching this may be a little confused right now usually ah Joseph is on ah on the left side of your screen and for those that who are watching ah this podcast. The reason he’s on the right side is because he’s a guest a guest today. And I was honored to be 1 of Joseph’s guests way back when um, the reason we’ve switched sides is Joseph has accepted another position. He’s no longer with vigor or the provone marketing group but he’s off into some wonderful new things that he’s going to talk to us about and we’re excited to to catch up with Joseph. Um. For those don’t know my name is Michael Pavone I’m the Ceo of the provevone group and we have several different agencies in our holding company and we’re excited to talk to Joseph. He’s created 67 fantastic episodes and we’re going to hit a little bit of your. History the the the good old days. Ask you some questions and just just find out what you’re up to.

00:55.28

Joseph Szala

Awesome. It’s great to be here.

01:00.95

vigorbranding

Ah, since you’re in your house. It probably is always great to be there. But anyway, all right? So ah, let’s see let’s it’s talk. Let’s talk about a little bit. What have you been up to talk about your career which you’re heading to now and what you’re excited a

Caroline serves as Chief Operating Officer of Tupelo Honey and is a champion of high-growth, employee-centric workplaces. She joined the company as part of the initial senior leadership team in 2013. 

In Caroline’s nine-year tenure, she has been responsible for Tupelo Honey’s workforce expansion efforts, founding and leading its human resources and training teams and growing the brand from two locations and less than 100 employees to 22 locations and more than 15,000 employees. 

Tupelo Honey’s goal is to be at the forefront of the employee experience and at the forefront of what can be the new experience for restaurant workers. 

Sixty percent of Tupelo Honey’s management positions are filled from within the company. .

Like a lot of restaurants, many Tupelo Honey managers started as servers or dishwashers, which helps them relate to entry level employees and makes them better managers. 

Communications methods like text alerts for younger workers (instead of email) work well for Tupelo Honey and its employees. 

It’s important for companies to initiate conversations with employees about culturally significant events that might impact employees, even if those conversations are difficult to have. Those conversations build trust with employees and show that a company cares. 

QUOTES

“The restaurant industry is being required to level up in how we’re looking at the employee experience.” (Caroline)  

“We have to add the human element back (in restaurant employment) and care about people holistically. They have a life outside of work and they want support beyond just a paycheck.” (Caroline)

“Entry level workers want to stay. They want a path to grow their careers.” (Caroline)

“Younger workers and millennial workers learn differently. We’ve had to recognize that there’s a different way to communicate with them.” (Caroline) 

“Every employee is different and restaurants can’t have a one-size-fits-all program. You have to have options for everyone.” (Caroline) 

“What we do is simple. At the end of the day, it’s about one guest, one relationship and one experience.” (Caroline) 

00:00.00

vigorbranding

Everyone today I’m joined by my new friend Carolyn Skinner she is the Ceo so Ceo oh not yet although Carolyn there has been a history of people on this show getting rapidly promoted. So don’t want to dangle the carrot it could happen.

00:10.69

caroline

Hello that.

00:14.32

vigorbranding

Ceo of tupalo honey which we’re going to dig into the concept a little bit throughout this episode talk a lot of other things as well for now Carolyn say hello and give a little backstory.

00:24.80

caroline

Yeah, thank you Joseph for having me. Um I am Caroline Skinner chief operating officer I am a native of Asheville North Carolina which is also the home. Um, an original location for Tupelo Honey um and our restaurant brand has been around for about 20 years we really started to grow in the last ten years I’ve been with the company for 10 years and seen pretty much all of the last twenty of our 21 locations launch in open so I’m really happy to be here.

00:53.85

vigorbranding

I awesome yeah and I appreciate you taking the time out so we work together put together an awesome production sheet I think there’s so many great things to talk

JUICER is bringing dynamic pricing to the restaurant industry. Together with their customers who operate more than 4,000 restaurants across the globe, JUICER is applying machine learning algorithms to help restaurants optimize their digital menu pricing. 

Carl is also the co-author of “Delivering the Digital Restaurant,” a book that explores the world of off premise food and the massive disruption facing American restaurants through first-hand accounts of restaurateurs, food industry veterans, and start up entrepreneurs.

Dynamic pricing in the restaurant industry can mean lowering prices to increase traffic during slow hours, increasing prices for specific menu items to reflect changes in ingredient costs, or increasing prices for all menu items during peak hours, peak days or peak seasons. The result is a pricing model that ensures the right time for each sales channel to optimize a restaurant’s profitability and the guest experience.

JUICER’s focus – for now – is on off-premise dynamic pricing, where the adjustment of prices is easler. On-premise dynamic pricing is more difficult (because of menus with fixed, printed prices) but will be more likely in the future. 

“What JUICER is trying to do is become a full-service solution. We take 12 months of transactional data, put that through our algorithm, come up with recommended prices based on different times of day, and then our team will implement those price changes.” (Carl) 

“Consumers today are already experiencing dynamic pricing on DoorDash and Uber Eats. The delivery prices will change. The challenge is, restaurants aren’t getting any of the upside of that dynamism.” (Carl) 

“The challenge of dynamic pricing as a term can be somewhat divisive. What we’re doing at JUICER is completely avoiding anything related to surge pricing. We’re talking about relatively small changes in prices that don’t cause a negative reaction. In many ways, the customer doesn’t even notice many of the price changes.” (Carl) 

“There’s only one Taylor Swift. In a marketplace, there are hundreds of other pizza places that you can go to.” (Carl) 

“The whole idea of delivering the digital restaurant is to help restaurants understand that they have to optimize their off-premise channel. It’s far more than just turning yourself on DoorDash or Uber Eats and letting those channels run themselves.” (Carl) 

00:00.41

vigorbranding

Everyone today I am joined by my new friend Carl Orsburn it’s oars burn or born say with me everyone um, all joking aside Carl. Thanks for taking time out of your day and your week hang out with me while you say hello and for those that don’t know you give a little bit of backstory.

00:17.53

Carl Orsbourn

Thanks! Thanks! Jo really good to be here and glad we get to spend a few few minutes together today. Um yes, I’m Carl Osborne I’m the co co-founder at juicer a dynamic pricing company for restaurants. But so. A lot of people know me from my first book that I wrote with Meredith Sandland delivering the digital restaurant that book became a bit of a bests selller and really um, cemented I t

The first Dog Haus opened in Pasadena, California in 2010. Since then, Dog Haus has expanded to include 91 locations throughout southern California. 

Dog Haus has garnered critical acclaim and national attention for its signature all beef Haus Dogs and handcrafted proprietary Haus Sausages, as well as its 100% genetically tested, humanely raised, hormone- and antibiotic-free Black Angus beef. 

Many start-up restaurants rely on a celebrity name to drive consumer interest, which calls into question the quality of the food and expertise of the celebrity when it comes to the offering. 

Consistency of quality is important. Some restaurant brands don’t have standards – or don’t clearly define the standards – which means different dining experiences between each location or even at the same location. 

“Our advantage is the quality of the food. It’s the product itself.” (Justin) 

“We are created by people who are very much into food. That’s been our goal since day one.” (Justin) 

“Zeroing in on the quality of the product. That’s not a different story. So many brands think their product is ‘the best.’ What (Dog Haus provides) is reasons to believe why that’s true.” (Joseph) 

“How do you get someone to pay $8 for a hot dog when Costco sells it for $1.50. That’s a unique challenge for us. We do that with high quality ingredients. It’s not just a hot dog and you know that when you see it.” (Justin) 

“Quality matters, especially on delivery.” (Justin) 

“(Some restaurants) make it as cheap as possible and maximize profitability, get the money and go. I think now more than ever, the delivery game has changed that. After I’ve paid for delivery fees and that (meal) comes back tasting like garbage, that’s horrible.” (Joseph) 

00:00.00

vigorbranding

Everyone and today I’m joined by Justin Bartek you probably remember our episode from early on in the fork tales days I had to have him back because so much has changed since then Justin won’t you say hello and ah give us a little update on where you’ve been and where you are now.

00:16.68

Justin Bartek

Yeah, man, it’s good to see you Joseph as always in the past few months about five months ago now I joined doghouse worldwide which is a hot dog brand but we do smash burgers hot dogs, gourmet sausages breakfast burritos that are actually killing it. Um. And more so it’s very exciting to be over here I’ve sort of been put in a position to help with those virtual brands that they have called the absolute brands. But I’m also you know there’s always so much to do that I’ve been helping with my own connections and background to all across the organization. So. It’s been great.

00:50.71

vigorbranding

That’s awesome. So um, for those don’t remember you you used to be at the Ramen company Jinnya I Still go there. Still love their ramen.

00:56.60

Justin Bartek

I’m correct.

00:58.38

vigorbranding

Um, and as you said now you’re in this new position. Jinnya is a brick and mortar. It’s full service. Well it’s actually fast casual technically there’s coun

Troy was born in Hawaii. His family goes back five generations in Hawaii and was among some of the first missionaries to arrive on the islands. He started as a 14-year-old dishwasher in Maui and eventually worked his way up to a sous chef working with his mentor, Chef Roy Yamaguchi. 

Hawaiian culture emphasizes “ohana” which means family. Troy has worked hard to embrace that same family atmosphere in his restaurants. 

It’s difficult to maintain a restaurant culture as a restaurant grows. Owners often find themselves having to choose between managers who are a good cultural fit but underperform as managers or vice versa. 

Taking care of guests is critical and is the foundation of any restaurant’s success. 

Troy’s vision for TAG Restaurant Group changed during COVID. His new steak restaurant in Houston opened three months before COVID and struggled in 2020 and 2021, but rebounded in 2022 to become a successful location today. 

“(When it comes to ingredients), I was taught early on working in California, Hawaii, New York and Hong Kong that you utilize what you can from where you’re from.” (Troy)

“Authentic and real. I think everyone can see when something is genuine. We try to hire people who are genuinely hospitable. Even if they don’t know how to cook but they have a good attitude and want to, we like those types of people.” (Troy) 

“The days of people staying for 10 plus years are probably long gone.” (Troy) 

“Pay is, of course, one factor, but it’s not THE factor.” (Joseph) 

“Our core values are passion, imagination, courage, caring, humility, harmony and ownership. That’s what I want to see in people. I want to give them ownership to do what they think is best.” (Troy) 

“It’s really tough to foster a culture when you spread out (to multiple locations).” (Joseph) 

“Two weeks in (at my first restaurant), we were $40,000 in the hole. My investors said if you don’t change we’ll have to close. The second month we lost $20,000. The third we broke even. And the fourth – I swear to God – we made $40,000. We made an $80,000 swing in four months by just focusing and working together. ” (Troy) 

“Marketing can get people to visit once. It’s the restaurant’s job to get them to come back.” (Joseph)

00:00.81vigorbrandingEveryone today I’m joined by chef troy guard from tag restaurant group which you’re going to learn all about if you’re not already familiar. Um Troy say hello give a little bit of backstory.

00:11.84Chef Troy Guardgood morning good afternoon good evening whatever time we’re listening to here. It’s March Seventeenth St Patrick’s day and I’m just chilling in my marketing’s ah my marketers’ room right now. So talking to Joseph in the. Excited to be on board. Thanks for having me.

00:29.77vigorbrandingAwesome! Well Troy so you grew up in Hawaii um, which it’s islands that I absolutely love and now you find yourself imp possibly the complete opposite. You’re a mile up in the air in Denver.

00:35.91Chef Troy GuardUm, you know.

00:42.93vigorbrandingUm, what led you to Denver from Hawaii and and how have those roots from the islands influenced your cooking and your outlook on life.

00:50.48Chef Troy GuardYeah, thank you so yup board on the islands we’re 5 generations of being in Hawaii even though we’re white where you know some of the first missionaries to come over there which is kind of cool. Um, great stories back there. Um I left when I was. You know, 21 and just kind of just went all over the plac

Chowly is a cloud-based solution that helps restaurants of all sizes integrate third-party online ordering systems into point-of-sale (POS) systems to manage orders, payments, billing, and more.The end result is a technology that saves restaurants time and money.

Earlier this year, Chowly launched its Restaurant Control Center, which serves as a centralized hub for integrations and empowers restaurants with consolidated data and business insights. 

Sterling found that a lot of online ordering systems had great consumer experiences or great operations and back-end experiences for restaurants, but not both. Chowly’s acquisition of Koala allowed them to offer superior experiences to both consumers and restaurants.

Sterling predicts that dynamic pricing will take off in 2023, with companies like Sauce, Pricing and Juicer leading the way. 

Apps need to provide an intrinsic value. They can’t just be used to check a box. 

Dynamic pricing will be a shaky system at first, but after 18-24 months, it will have found its footing and be widely accepted by consumers. 

“Co-opetition is wild in the restaurant space. The amount of overlap of features from point-of-sale to online ordering companies to loyalty systems to marketing systems – everyone’s got overlap of features.” (Sterling)

“I feel like the restaurant industry is going through a bundling cycle right now. It’s not uncommon to see industries go through bundling and unbundling cycles.” (Sterling)

“The consolidation has to make sense. It has to pair well together. Consolidation for consolidation’s sake isn’t helpful to anyone.” (Sterling) 

“The first question to ask is, ‘Do I need another app on my phone?’ I’m at the point now where the only time an app really matters is if it’s completely built with the customer in mind.” (Joseph)

“Half of the restaurant industry is small operators and independents. We don’t have the same big-player mentality (as the travel industry).” (Sterling) 

“You can’t commoditize a really great burger. The airlines are very much commoditized. The experiences are very similar. In a restaurant, they’re completely different.” (Sterling) 

“As digital threatens the viability of restaurant dining rooms, the question becomes, ‘What makes my dining room worth sitting in?’” (Joseph)

“Restaurants need to meet consumers where they are. I don’t think on-premise is going away, no matter how much I love the convenience of getting my food delivered to me.” (Sterling)

00:00.55vigorbrandingHey guys today I’m joined by my new friend sterling Douglas he’s the co-founder and Ceo of Chali which we’re gonna dive into a lot so many things happening over there and just so you know we’ve been chatting for about 10 minutes on all things. So I think it’s gonna be great episode. Ah. Sterling say hello and give up a backstory.

00:17.83Sterling _Chowly_Hey Joseph thanks for having me on I’m excited to kind of dive into a bunch of these topics that we were getting into yeah cofounder Ceo Chali where digital platform that enables restaurants to expand their off-prem capabilities before. Chaey I used to be an actuary deep into data analytics and just found that data really wasn’t moving cleanly between restaurants and you know that really prompted kind of the founding for chaey so that we could take data from you know uber eats grubhubs of the world an

David is a performance excellence coach focused on teaching, consulting and executive coaching for small to medium sized businesses, including many restaurants. 

David spent six years as a business/excellence coach for Pal’s Excellence Institute. Pal’s – or Pal’s Suddenly Service – is a drive-through only 31-location restaurant chain located in northeast Tennessee and southwestern Virginia. The restaurant is known for its speed, hospitality, cleanliness and people. 

Pal’s relies heavily on word-of-mouth marketing. That word-of-mouth allows Pal’s to spend roughly half as much on marketing as some of its similar competitors. 

According to David, COVID gave restaurants a second chance to make a first impression. Restaurants that were struggling before the pandemic were struggling after the pandemic, pointing to an internal flaw that contributes to that struggle. 

Some restaurants used the pandemic as a chance to reset and improve themselves to make a second first impression and win over new customers after the pandemic ended. 

“What we see now is a lot of sculptures and spokescharacters have been discontinued. Architecturally speaking, we’re getting modern boxes that don’t have much life.” (Joseph)

“If you look at the new (restaurant) designs, they’re all basically the same. You really want to stand out in a sea of sameness.” (David) 

“How often in life do you get a second chance to make a first impression? If customers are coming back (after the pandemic), we have a chance to win them over and leave all that past behind.” (David) 

“If people aren’t buying it, it’s because they don’t want it.” (Joseph) 

“If you think about a restaurant and what it does, it’s really a manufacturing operation. You’re manufacturing food in real time for a specific order based on your menu.” (David) 

“Systems are one thing, but activating them tends to be where the rubber meets the road and where most people hit the road.” (Joseph) 

“Twenty percent of the effort is putting a system in place and 80% of the effort is sustaining it. You have to make it a habit. You have to change in a way that it’s harder to go back than it is to go forward.” (David) 

00:00.91vigorbrandingEveryone today I’m joined by my friend David Jones he’s the president of a company called the excellence advisory which we’ll get into in a little bit. Um, but before we do David why don’t you say hello and give a little bit of backstory.

00:11.50David M_ JonesWell hello joseph and thanks for having me on today I considered a personal and professional honor to be here with you speaking to your audience and I’m actually an engineer by training 25 years in corporate America and then I had the great blessing and ability to work with. Pals through their business excellence institute which I hope we get to talk about and did that for 7 years and ah and today I do teaching consulting and coaching executive coaching for small to medium sized businesses including a lot of restaurants.

00:49.83vigorbrandingThat’s awesome. Yeah, so pals is um, essentially what prompted our connection on Linkedin. Um, and honestly it’s a concept I had never heard of they’re they’re not here in Georgia or in Central Pennsylvania so I just never come across them. But what really grabbed my attention and prompted our discussion was. Um, pal’s sudden service is what it’s called has these amazing huge sculptures on their buildings sculptures of their food like hamburgers and drinks and all kinds of things and this just struck

Meredith is the CEO of Empower Delivery. The company’s software combines the consumer journey, the product journey, and the logistics journey into one integrated piece of software. The software enables all restaurants to profitably and sustainably serve the growing consumer demand for delivered meals.

Meredith is also the co-author of “Delivering the Digital Restaurant,” a book that explores the world of off-premise food and the massive disruption facing American restaurants through first-hand accounts of restaurateurs, food industry veterans and start-up entrepreneurs.

Many restaurants face complexity in the number of tools and apps they use to manage their day-to-day operations. 

The restaurant industry is showing unprecedented levels of technological innovation – particularly when it comes to ordering – which makes third-party apps and aggregators important for streamlining incoming orders. 

Innovation is also being seen in restaurant loyalty programs, which have come a long way since the Subway punch cards of the past.

“A lot of restaurant brands were forced into adopting delivery (during the pandemic) when maybe they otherwise didn’t want to.” (Meredith)

“For operations, it’s really about eliminating complexity. There are so many channels and consumers are coming in so many different ways that it creates complexity. As you eliminate complexity, you will find that you have better financial outcomes.” (Meredith) 

“Every facet of the restaurant industry is being revolutionized by technology.” (Joseph) 

“Not every server can be the best, but technology can take the elements of that best server and make them consistent across every server. Technology used well in that setting should make the experience better.” (Meredith) 

“The restaurant industry is one of the only industries where all five senses are engaged.” (Joseph) 

“A really sophisticated digital restaurant is using 15-20 pieces of software.” (Meredith)

00:00.00vigorbrandingEveryone today I’m joined by my friend Meredith Sandlin she’s the Ceo of empowered delivery and the co-author of delivering the digital restaurant if you are on Linkedin Chances are you have seen her or heard from her because she is out there rocking it. In the media talking about digital or delivery digital. All that stuff. So Marilyn before we hop in while you say hello and give a little bit of backstory.

00:24.58MeredithHi there. Well so good to be on the show. Um I’ve been listening and it is such a good podcast. So I’m excited to be part of it. Um, so yeah, my name is Meredith Sandland and I am the Ceo of empower delivery as well as the co-author of. Delivering the digital restaurant. Ah, your roadmap to the future of food and also the forthcoming delivering the digital restaurant the path to digital maturity which will be out in a couple of weeks here maybe by the time this podcast hears I don’t know we’ll find out.

00:54.94vigorbrandingDad’s awesome if it is. We’ll definitely have a link to it or at the very least have a link to pre-order I’m excited to get my hands on it. Um, you probably can’t really see it folks but right back here and on my bookshelf is the book and so um I’m excited to read the new one. Um.

01:08.90MeredithUm, if you think awesome.

01:12.15vigorbrandingSo delivery. It’s acing it is just like a really big challenge for restaurant brands large and small. So I think before the pandemic a lot were sort of adverse to it because they didn’t really see the value. Ah

Seasoned is the only social community exclusively for service industry workers. The app allows hospitality workers to connect and share insights and experiences. It’s also a job listing resource that connects restaurants looking for staff members with potential employees looking for work. 

Traditional hiring websites aren’t well suited for hourly jobs and careers in the hospitality industry. Seasoned solves that. 

When it comes to hiring, the hospitality industry faces challenges from other hourly sectors, which often offer jobs that are less stressful than restaurant work. 

It’s essential for restaurants to focus on the benefits that they can provide to their employees in order to attract and retain quality workers. 

Centralized ownership, not franchise ownership, often does a better job of creating a successful HR and hiring model. 

“The pandemic had a historic impact. It slingshotted all of us past the laziness and apprehension and forced us to change and one big change is the labor market.” (Joseph)

“If you look at the actual things that you gain from working in a restaurant, there’s an incredible number of attractive qualities that you gain from working in a restaurant. The skills that you build in a restaurant are going to help you wherever you go.” (Zach)

“I was a busser for six months, and to this day whenever I have a bad day I think to myself, ‘At least I’m not bussing tables.’” (Joseph) 

“With younger workers, what you’re hiring for is attitude, reliability and coachability. You can teach anyone to do the job within the restaurant, but having those attributes […] you can teach anyone to be great.” (Zach) 

“Instead of ‘You work for us,’ it’s ‘We work for you.’ That shift is really impactful (when hiring and retaining talent).” (Zach)

00:00.00vigorbrandingEveryone today I’m joined by my friend Zach Anderson he’s brand partner at seasoned a system that we’re going to dive into here in a bit but before we do Zach say hello give a little bit of backstory on yourself.

00:11.91Zach AndersonThanks Joseph hi next meet everyone. My name’s Zach Anderson my like Joseph mentioned I’m a brand partner over it seasoned I’ve been in the restaurant space for about 15 years across a mix of both operations as well as on the vendor and supplier side working in. Various capacities across things like ad media to voice ai kiosk hardware and most recently I’ve been over here at season working on our mission to help bring the service industry together by offering a community-based product for restaurant workers to engage each other and find great jobs.

00:45.49vigorbrandingThat’s amazing. Yeah I’m really excited to pry in I’m I’m kind of holding myself back because we will get to it but I do want to talk about the the big l word right now which is the labor issues that we’re challenged with in the industry. Um, from my point of view. It’s kind of a long time coming. Um, anybody that thought we you know restaurants could continue to operate the the way that they had for as long as they have just really was blinding themselves in a lot of ways. So I’m going to use the pw word now I’m getting sick of saying it. But since the pandemic you know the pandemic had this historic impact I think it’s slingshot at all of us. Ah. Past the laziness or apprehension and just forced us to change and 1 big change is the labor market not just the availability of people but the people willingness to work the work ethic and the passion for the i

Stephanie Jaeger is the President of Les Dames d’Escoffier International (LDEI) and a veteran of the restaurant industry with over 35 years of experience. She also serves as a Learning and Development Specialist for the Joey Restaurant Group, where she focuses on training and team culture.

LDEI is a global philanthropic organization of women leaders in food, beverage, and hospitality. With over 2,800 members across 42 chapters worldwide, LDEI supports women through scholarships, mentorship, and networking opportunities to elevate and advance their careers.

Founded in response to the exclusion of women from the all-male “Friends of Escoffier” society, LDEI has grown into a powerful network that champions leadership, education, and community. Under Stephanie’s leadership, the organization is expanding its reach, including new chapters in Mexico and Italy, and launching new initiatives like the M.F.K. Fisher Symposium for Women’s Food and Storytelling.

LDEI was born from a desire to give women a seat at the culinary table—where they had previously been excluded—and now supports thousands of members across the globe.

Stephanie initially joined LDEI over 20 years ago and, inspired by mentorship and a desire to represent a global voice, rose through the ranks to become its international president.

“You have to see it to be it”—Stephanie emphasized the importance of visibility and representation for women in leadership across hospitality and culinary fields.

Mentorship is central to LDEI’s mission; the organization provides not just scholarships, but ongoing personal support to help women succeed in their careers.

While representation at the top is critical, Stephanie believes respect and equality must also be reinforced in everyday kitchen culture and among mid-level staff.

LDEI’s upcoming M.F.K. Fisher Symposium will spotlight women in food media and storytelling, creating a space for inspiration, connection, and collaboration.

Stephanie’s work at Joey Restaurant Group complements her LDEI leadership, allowing her to show women within the organization that there’s always a next step in their careers.

Despite growth, barriers like unconscious bias and lack of access to education persist in the industry, making LDEI’s mission more relevant than ever.

“I either needed to step up or step aside. So here I am stepping up and excited about it.” (Stephanie)

“You have to see it to be it. You have to see somebody in that position, and I would encourage anybody in the industry to put a woman in that leadership position so that somebody younger can see themselves there too.” (Stephanie)

“Every time I see a woman in the industry, she’s breaking a barrier. She’s showing that it’s possible. She’s showing me that I can do it too. And every time I see a woman on the Food Network or read about one taking on a leadership role, it’s one more reminder that we belong.” (Stephanie)

“We need to make sure that women are not only in the kitchen, but treated with respect and equals. It’s not just about being there—it’s about being seen, being supported, and being recognized as just as capable.” (Stephanie)

“Mentorship is the ability to talk about your experiences in a positive way—not in a ‘you’ll never get there’ way, but ‘look what I’ve done, and you can too.’ It’s not about gatekeeping—it’s about opening doors and saying, ‘Come on in, let me show you how I did it.’” (Stephanie)

“Asking for help really can come down to just saying, ‘Is this a crazy idea?’ And sometimes you just need someone—man or woman—to say, ‘You’re not crazy’ or ‘Maybe you should rethink that.’ It’s about having someone to bounce things off of, someone who listens and understands.” (Stephanie)

“I want to raise more money to support more women. I want to get the LDEI name out there more, increase our membership, and reach more women who could benefit from being part of this network. There are so many who just need the opportunity.” (Stephanie)

“The restaurant industry really should be fun. Maybe don’t take yourself too seriously. You have to be able to smile, to enjoy what you’re doing. And at Joey, we focus on working as a team. That’s what creates a cohesive, engaging environment.” (Stephanie)

“There is a place for you if you want to keep going up the ladder. And I think because of my own mentors and experiences with LDEI, I’m able to show that to the women I work with every day. Whether they’re servers or line cooks, I want them to see that there’s a next step.” (Stephanie)

Thanx is a leading loyalty and guest engagement platform for restaurants. The company, founded by Zach Goldstein in 2011, helps businesses embrace digital purchasing, capture greater customer data, and take action on that information to personalize guest engagement.

Restaurants can take a page from the Delta playbook – which includes the potential for free first class upgrades (a perk that costs nothing to Delta) – including the use of secret menu items. 

Loyalty programs should not be dependent upon an app because most consumers won’t download the app. Instead, the loyalty program should be embedded in the web ordering experience. The app is still useful, as users of a restaurant’s app have high lifetime value. 

Consumers respond to non-discount offers quite effectively. For example, a restaurant can offer loyal customers a VIP experience that allows those customers to try new menu items (along with a non-VIP friend) before the items are available publicly. 

The entry point into a loyalty program shouldn’t be by downloading an app. What Thanx does is builds the loyalty enrollment into the digital ordering experience because 70% of online ordering comes via the restaurant’s website, not via an app.

“The playbook is pretty simple. You need to own the relationship with your customer, because if you sacrifice that to the third party, then you have no control over their lifetime value.” (Zach)

“Loyalty is no longer about just rote rewards programs and discounts and more around personalization. That really matters, because as you deliver more personalization, you become less dependent on discounts as your loyalty mechanism and can still be effective.” (Zach)

“Can you imagine what McDonald’s top one percent customers would do if they had year round McRibs? That’s the type of thing people care about.” (Zach) 

“There are a lot of restaurant leaders who have been convinced that the app is the answer. It’s actually not the answer. It’s one answer to a bigger need.” (Joseph) 

“Data is king. At the end of the day, you have to have data. And there’s no other way in the restaurant business to capture that data unless you have a loyalty program.” (Zach) 

“It’s really hard to drive repeat purchasing if you don’t know who your best customers are. That’s the value of data. It’s a risk to not have it and it’s an opportunity when you have it.” (Zach)

00:00.00vigorbrandingEveryone today I am joineded by my friend Zach Goldstein he is the Ceo and founder of thanks a system that we are going to dig into but we’re going to talk about a lot of other things today too before we do Zach say hello give a little bit of backstory.

00:15.63Zach GoldsteinYeah, pleasure. Really happy to be with you. My background started before thanks and working with restaurants and retailers to to really build customer lifetime value and that has become a passion of mine. Ah, That’s really what thanks does targeted at Restaurants. How do we help them identify where their best customers are and make more of their customers. Those best customers.

00:38.65vigorbrandingI Love it. So a few years ago you you penned an article and I think this this is what really struck me and um, you know serves as a basis for the episode a little bit but that article is called the 4 horsemen of the restaurant apocalypse which of course is a very doom gloom. It’s very like whoa. Um, what does that mean and I think the article centers on taking some lessons from the travel industry and the effect that online travel agencies otas for short had on evolving our

Native Foods is a fast-casual vegan restaurant chain that operates in California, Oregon, Colorado, and Illinois. 

Carin has held leadership positions at Red Robin, Applebee’s and Wendy’s. 

Dealing with an unpredictable supply chain is the biggest challenge for Native Foods 

Native Foods is careful to only use healthy ingredients and avoid ingredients found on many “do not eat” lists. 

Native Foods locations gravitate toward the coasts where vegan and plant-based trends are more popular. 

The Native Foods team tests ads targeted to vegans and ads targeted to flexitarians but marketing targeted to vegans still performs best in driving traffic. 

“Every organization out there – whether it’s plant-based or meat-based – is struggling with supply chain issues. One of the advantages for plant-based restaurants is that we can make anything (we need). We can make any of our products in-house.” (Carin)

“One of the first things I did when I came onboard was reduce sodium levels by 25%. And honestly, they taste better!” (Carin)

“One thing that I’ve been notably ignorant about is that veganism is huge in the African American community.” (Joseph) 

“Vegans are much more adventurous and willing to try new things on the menu.” (Carin) 

“Since you have such a plant-forward concept, the consistency of ingredients has to be a priority.” (Joseph) 

“The innovation that we’ve seen in our chicken substitutes (is amazing). We’ve had guests come across the counter and say ‘This is supposed to be a vegan restaurant! You are serving me real chicken!” (Carin)  

“When the pandemic hit, everyone in the restaurant industry started working well together.” (Carin)

00:00.00vigorbrandingEveryone today I’m joined by my friend Karen Stutz she’s the president and Ceo of native foods and if you are not familiar with native foods yet you’re about to get very familiar. It’s an interesting concept and we’re going to dive into that and so much more on today’s episode before we do Karen say hello and give a little bit of backstory.

00:17.90Carin StutzHey Joseph it’s fun to spent a little time together and thanks for the opportunity to talk about native foods about the industry native foods. We always say we’re kind of the og of vegan restaurants right? We we started back in 9094 long before anybody was really thinking about plant-based food. So. The brand has really stood the test of time we have 12 locations. We’re in 3 states. We’re in California Colorado in Illinois and it’s just the boy what a time to be in plant based dining right now you know any kind of trend that you look you know at what’s going on in the industry top trends top ideas. Plant based this if it’s not number one. It’s usually number 2 so we’re having a lot of fun in this cute little innovative brand.

01:03.93vigorbrandingI love it. So speaking about you first a little bit here. Um you this isn’t your first rodeo and I’m not very convinced that 1 rodeo would be enough to make you a pro anyway. Um, but you’ve held a number of leadership positions. You’ve been at the helm of red Robin Applebee’s wendy’s.

01:09.94Carin StutzUm, true.

01:14.38Carin StutzA.

01:21.70vigorbrandingHow how do you make the transition from brands of that size to a brand that is scrappy growing and the size I think you said 12 Um, and then how do you make the shift from brands that are selling an um, omnivorous offering.

01:23.94Carin StutzNo.

Adenah Note about escaping war torn country. Today, she’s the owner of four IHOP franchises and founder of four restaurants of her own, including three locations of fast casual, farm-to-table, soul food restaurant Cornbread and her newest dining venture, Urban Vegan. 

Adenah opened her first IHOP in Irvington Township, New Jersey at the age of 27, making her one of the youngest IHOP franchisees in the country. Today, Adenah is the second largest employer in Irvington Township. 

Adenah’s grandmother showed her how to overcome adversity to succeed and taught her the value of working hard every day. 

Supporting her community is important to Adenah. She believes that housing is a right and owns and operates affordable housing developments in several communities. During the early days of the pandemic, Adenah opened her restaurant’s doors to help feed kids who were missing out on school lunches while schools were shut down. 

“People talk about luck all the time. Oftentimes I am the underdog. People always look at me and say, “She can’t do this. She’s not capable.” It’s those doubts that fuel me.” (Adenah) 

“I think we have a stigma with underdogs that it’s a bad thing. I would rather be an underdog than a leader. Being an underdog keeps you looking ahead, being a leader makes you look back. You always have to be looking over your shoulder as a leader and looking to see who’s coming up on you.” (Joseph) 

“If I can be more successful, I can give back more (to my communities). I believe that we as a community have to take care of each other. When you have the opportunity to give, just do it.” (Adenah) 

“I learned from an early age (while starting at McDonald’s) that the customer is always right. Another thing I learned was systems. There is a system for everything. So I knew when I started my businesses, we had to have a system.” (Adenah)

“I started in the restaurant space through franchising. Franchising allows someone to come into a system that’s already been tested and join that partnership.” (Adenah) 

“During the pandemic, we were told to ‘support local’ but I reminded people that the McDonald’s down the street is also local. It’s owned by a local family and they hire local people. Support them, too.” (Joseph) 

“If you’re persistent, you will get it. And if you’re consistent, you will keep it.” (Adenah) 

00:00.00vigorbrandingHey everyone this morning I have the distinct pleasure of talking with my friend Adina Byo she is the founder at her own companies of which there are many. We’re going to unpack all of them and all the efforts that Adena has been doing over the years before we jump in adna say hello and give a little bit of backstory.

00:18.60adenahHi Joseph my good new friend I just met with his beautiful new baby. Ah, my name is Adina Bio I am founder and Ceo of Adina Bio and companies and all that means is that we own 8 restaurants we own.

00:23.90vigorbrandingUm.

00:34.28adenahUrban vegans we own four ihopbs we own 3 corn bread which is our own signature restaurants by the way as except for I have I wouldn’t take credit for that. We have real estate in affordable housing. Um I believe fundamentally believe housing is a right.

00:45.61vigorbrandingUm.

00:53.71adenahAnd I’m here as um as a conduit if I was to really say my purpose on this earth as a conit and I’m just grateful to be here with Joseph and just kind of get to know you a little bit that’s all.

01:08.96vigorbrandingThat’s wonderful. Yeah, so you scratch the surface. Um, you’re

Olga is the founder of OLLO Restaurant Loyalty which offers expertise in loyalty and CRM for restaurant chains. The company’s key principle is simple: find out what your guests already like, then give them more of that – at scale – to drive sales. 

Email segmentation works best for brands with larger email databases in excess of 25,000 contacts. When segmenting for clients, Olga prefers to focus on product preference, dayparting, and spend preference. 

Loyalty programs can be an effective way to get customers to share their contact information and share their purchasing information. 

There are many email marketing services and tools available to restaurants. In most cases, if a restaurant isn’t getting what they want from the tool, it’s not because of the tool, but because the restaurant isn’t using the tool correctly. 

“One of the biggest challenges (with email marketing) in the past few years has been the migration of so many people to the Gmail inbox, which has a “Promotions” folder. So a lot of our emails don’t end up as in-box placements.” (Olga)

“The key is figuring out how to become the communication that the recipient wants to open, because you can’t make them. You have to get them to want to do it.” (Olga) 

“A lot of the email systems out there today do what’s called segmentation, and I’ve seen it go wrong. For instance, I get Banana Republic emails. Oddly enough, I get more emails about ladies’ dresses than I do about the stuff that I’ve actually bought.” (Joseph)

“Demographics, I think, are long gone. The only place they have meaning is when you’re trying to find people like me in other areas when you grow in scale.” (Joseph) 

“Email marketing is the most cost effective way to reach people who actually want to hear from you. Any other way of reaching them would cost you more money.” (Olga) 

“It’s not that hard to build email marketing lists, but it’s a shame that more restaurants don’t do it. And once you build the list, you have to do something with it.” (Olga)

00:00.00vigorbrandingEveryone today I’m joined by my friend olga lopetegi she is the head of olo restaurant loyalty specialists and we’re going to dive into email marketing and loyalty and all those things that’s gonna be a great conversation. But first olga say hello and give a little bit of backstory.

00:14.18OlgaUm, hey hey Joseph nice and nice to see you here. So yeah I’m Olga Uppategi I’ve been in the restaurant world for close to 20 years now and I’ve um, worked with large restaurant chains over the years actually started out as ah and a very different australian lawyer and oil and gas. Um, so then he came we came to food sort of very roundab boat ways. Um, but for the last sweep. Almost four years now I’ve been running the loyalty consulting firm called olo consult and what we do with help restaurant chains that have loyalty and cm problems essentially around those chains around those problems with less effort and less resources than they would have to apply in-house. So learned a lot along the way about the restaurant restaurant business and the boat. What are the best ways to reach out to you guys. Lots of opinions. Lots of experience there. So happy to share it.

01:13.32vigorbrandingAwesome! So It’s funny because I’m sure a lot of people who are listening already are like email I know how to do that. We do that already I’ve actually heard it firsthand a number of times but there really is a lot of Theory. There’s a lot of information that goes into email marketing. An

Liquid Death is a canned water company founded in 2017 with the tagline “Murder your thirst”. The company calls itself “a funny water company who hates corporate marketing as much as you do” with a mission to “make people laugh and get more of them to drink more water more often, all while helping to kill plastic pollution.”

Much of the water industry is founded on concepts of purity and seeing that purity in the water, which is why nearly all bottled water is packaged in single-use plastic bottles. Liquid Death aims to change that with its aluminum can packaging. 

Wellness is a big part of its brand mission, including a use as a designated driver drink.  

The water category is largely a sea of sameness, with very little differentiation between various brands. Liquid Death’s success lies in being different from other brands and targeting an audience (younger consumers) that isn’t often targeted by other water brands. 

“Liquid Death is an evil plan to make the world healthier and more sustainable. We’re doing that through trying to replace sugary and unhealthy beverages with water and replacing single-use plastic bottles with infinitely recyclable aluminum cans.” (Andy) 

“The (Liquid Death) brand has so many facets to it, people come into it in totally different ways. Some people love the environmental side of it. I’ve heard people say on podcasts, “Oh that sober water, Liquid Death.” We’re not trying to be that, but we want to support anyone making healthier choices.” (Andy) 

“If you line up the water category, you ask yourself ‘which one of the same do you want?’” (Andy)

“My job as the lead creative is to give everyone creative whiplash. That’s the fun part about Liquid Death. You never know what we’re going to do next.” (Andy) 

“In a world where everyone is trying to build a brand, I don’t think of Liquid Death so much as a brand as it is a character.” (Andy) 

“We all know how a lot of brand managers manage their brands. It is very regimented. But most of us as humans are not one personality all the time. We have idiosyncrasies.” (Joseph)

00:00.00vigorbrandingEveryone and today I am here with my friend Andy Pearson he’s the vp of creative of liquid death before I hop in. Let’s start it off right and crack a nice cold liquid death sparkling water.

00:12.29AndyA yes.

00:15.26vigorbrandingWhile I take my first sip Annie say hello and give a little bit of backstory. Yeah cheers brother.

00:21.49AndyCheers man hey guys. Um I’m as you said I’m Andy Pearson I’m a vp of creative at liquid death which means basically anything that goes out the door that isn’t water is is something that that I kind of look at and and help shape from social ah social stuff we’re doing campaign work signage. Ah partnerships um, merch I mean kind of runs the gamut of basically anything that comes out of out of liquid death goes through me and before that I spent about 13 years on the advertising agency side as a. Copywriter and creative director at a number of um, fairly well well well respectced agencies I guess I’d say but I’m very happy to be a part of liquid death I’ve been there about a year now

01:04.38vigorbrandingUm, love it. Cool yeah, so we’re going to get into it. Liquid death is for the uninitiated I do want to start off with an anecdote of my initiation so I had heard of liquid death in numerous times. Um. You know, ah the high level here is liquid liquid death is a water company and we’ll put nuance on that throughout the episode I was at a t

Wellspring is a health & wellness gift box and care package company providing turnkey solutions for human resources professionals across the globe. The employee-focused kits provide everything from better-for-you snacks to locally curated, specialty brands.

Wellspring’s process starts with a frank discussion with employers to identify areas of improvement to develop a wellness plan that works for the employer and its employees. 

To create its wellness kits, Wellspring also partners with a variety of wellness product manufacturers, including organic, non-GMO, vegan, plant-based and others. 

Culture is important to any company, including restaurants, and programs that make employees feel valued and appreciated can help build that culture. Creating synergy is also important. 

From a fitness perspective, the pandemic affected people in different ways. Some gained weight, some lost weight and some gained half of it back. As we look at life after the pandemic, wellness is important and companies can play a role in helping employees embrace wellness – in all of its many forms – and all of the personal benefits that come with it. 

Wellness can be physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, financial and many other things.

“Right now we’re seeing a lot of companies throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks. We’re throwing all sorts of healthcare in your direction, we’re throwing the Calm app – these are supposed to be the solutions, but none of it is really sticking.” (Andrew) 

“We’re trying to figure out what’s most important to the employee, and at the end of the day it is equipping them with the tools necessary to combat life.” (Andrew)

“Business owners need to understand that the word ‘benefits’ means benefits. It doesn’t mean things that are standard issue.” (Joseph)

“We found that a culture centered around giving and caring for one another is the ringer for culture creation and employee retention.” (Andrew)

“Accountants need to sleep better, sales people need to eat better. It’s hard to approach anything with a one-size-fits-all model. Individualized care is what’s going to be most effective.” (Andrew)

“The goal of Wellspring really is to find that binding comradery that is normally found under situations of extreme duress but finding it instead under situations of extreme wellness and care.” (Joseph)

00:00.00vigorbrandingEveryone today I’m joined by my friend Andrew O’shea he is the founder and Ceo of wellspring and we’re going to have a great talk about the state of the industry as it pertains to employees and teams and camaraderie and all of that. Ah, but before we do that Andrew say hello give a little bit of backstory and and you can tell people what well springs all about.

00:17.91Andrew O_SheaYeah, absolutely well. Thank you again. Joe for having me on here. Real excited to chat with you this morning. My name is Andrew O’shea for those who don’t know me I am the founder and Ceo of a company called wellspring and we provide health and wellness gift boxes and care packages. Ah to provide for employees as a part of a wellness program that is substantive and and make substantive change the the kicker here being that we oftentimes partner through companies insurance channels to help pay for this That’s a little bit about me.

00:48.78vigorbrandingI Love it. Yeah and we have a lot to talk about I think anybody who’s tuned into this episode knows that we haven’t quite cracked the nut on what some people have labeled the great resignations. Others

Adentro is a marketing solution designed to increase guest foot traffic in restaurants. The platform pairs with a restaurant’s in-store WiFi network to help businesses better understand and market to their customers based on customer visit behavior. 

Adentro works similar to how a tracking pixel on a company’s website might identify information about a site visitor and their interests. Using WiFi, restaurants are able to do the same thing because the WiFi is passively detecting devices every 30 seconds. And while that detection isn’t gathering identity information about the diner, Adentro makes that detection actionable by working with third-party channels like paid social, display or CTV.    

Digital hospitality means that every guest experience is measured and everyone gets a personalized experience with your brand. 

Brands often succeed not because they’re spending more on marketing, but because they’re being human and connecting with consumers on a human level.

Adentro is a marketing solution designed to increase guest foot traffic in restaurants. The platform pairs with restaurant’s in-store WiFi network to help businesses better understand and market to their customers based on customer visit behavior. 

Adentro works similar to how a tracking pixel on a company’s website might identify information about a site visitor and their interests. Using WiFi, restaurants are able to do the same thing because the WiFi is passively detecting devices every 30 seconds. And while that detection isn’t gathering identity information about the diner, Adentro makes that detection actionable by working with third-party channels like paid social, display or CTV.    

Digital hospitality means that every guest experience is measured and everyone gets a personalized experience with your brand. 

Brands often succeed not because they’re spending more on marketing, but because they’re being human and connecting with consumers on a human level.

00:00.00vigorbrandingEveryone today I’m joined by my good friend Jason Gabler from a dentro. He’s a vp of sales and although that’s his focus we’re gonna be talking about so many things today that are not sales related so stay tuned and I hope you love the episode Jason say hello give a little bit backstory.

00:17.39JasonHello Joseph hello forktails audience. It’s really great to be here and I’m grateful for the time today I’ve been with a dentro for about None ars I was initially hired as an individual contributor on the sales side and over that time we’ve evolved a lot as a company. Um, focusing on none party data helping our clients and partners leverage that data to drive success for their business and and prior to that I had a background in recruiting and management consulting. So overall primarily in the tech space and and over the last five years specifically with a focus on the restaurant industry and hospitality.

00:50.28vigorbrandingExcellent, Yeah, there’s I think data and technology are I mean the biggest buzzwords in the restaurant industry. Finally I feel like it was something that we sort of talked about for a little while and then the Pandemic just has like stopped everyone in their tracks and like okay now’s the time but it’s it’s safe to say that like.

01:05.83JasonUm, yeah.

01:09.91vigorbrandingWe as humans just all of us we are living in a mobile first society we’re connected all of the time much to the chagrin of my wife and me at times. Um I like had to take the time

Full Course is a restaurant development and investment firm that incubates and accelerates emerging fast casual restaurant brands, focusing on restaurants less than five years old with 1-10 locations. Full Course has a special focus on businesses run by women, minorities and immigrants. 

Cleanliness and creating an appealing dining environment is important. Restaurant owners need to make scheduled cleanings – including annual deep cleanings – a priority. 

Full Course works with designers to help restaurants improve their appearance and atmosphere. They create dining environments that speak to the brand’s story, purpose and mission while avoiding some of the unnecessary costs associated with creating custom materials. 

Full Course realizes that one of the benefits of fast casual dining is that it’s fairly recession proof. Consumers may cut corners on higher end dining during a recession, but fast casual dining is usually always within a consumer’s budget. 

Each Full Course client goes through an initial assessment that analyzes the restaurant’s finances, staff and leadership, marketing strategies and points of differentiation to find opportunities for Full Course to add value. 

“One of my favorite restaurant hacks is when you walk in and you just watch. You watch what the managers do. We all know how to do it by the book, but really great managers are proactive at putting systems in place where there may be a gap.” (Lauren)

“The best ideas come from doing, especially in the world of restaurants.” (Lauren) 

“You can tell how well a place is managed if you just look up at the vents. I don’t know how many times I’ve looked up at the vents and said, ‘Guys, that’s so gross.’” (Joseph)

“We eat with our eyes first and when you walk into a restaurant and it looks like it’s in disrepair, that matters. Those details matter. It shows a letter of care and concern about the environment and a way that you’re creating an experience for customers.” (Lauren)

“We’re very attuned to efficient spending when we’re building out these units. We spend a lot of time and energy designing these restaurants so that they communicate the values of the brand but in an efficient and effective manner.” (Lauren) 

“People will cut spending in a lot of places, but food isn’t one of them. We all need that moment of community. We need that moment to go out and get a break from being at home.” (Lauren) 

“Our staples in the American diet are delicious, but we don’t need another burrito. We don’t need another hamburger. What we need is something fresh and something that is bringing something different to the market.” (Joseph)  

00:00.00vigorbrandingEveryone today I’m joined by my friend Lauren Fernandez she is the Ceo and founder of full course which we are going to unfurl fully in this episode Lauren wont we start by you saying hello and giving a little bit of backstory.

00:11.92Lauren FernandezYeah hi I’m Lauren ah former attorney turned restaurant owner turned restaurant investor and developer and I started full course a little over two years ago it’s been about a 10 year dream of mine to work with. Earlyage restaurant brands and they’re really in their emerging years. Um, when they’re anywhere between one and five years old and somewhere between 1 and 5 units and that is exactly what full course does so we are a fullservice solution for early stage. Fast casual restaurant concepts you can be anywhere from one to None units. We’d love to talk to you. We have a private equity fund that we use to back our inve

Shuckin’ Shack Oyster Bar was founded in 2007 in Carolina Beach, North Carolina, and found success with its laid-back attitude and a menu of oysters, lobster rolls, and low country boils. Today, the restaurant has expanded to 16 locations across North Carolina,  South Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, and Florida,

Jonathan joined Shuckin’ Shack in 2014 and quickly rose to the rank of CEO. In that role, Jonathan got the bar and grill off the ground as a franchise ownership opportunity.

Jonathan and his team market Shuckin’ Shack by looking beyond oysters to promote the experience that the restaurant delivers.  

The integrity of the seafood product used by Shuckin’ Shack is critical to maintaining quality and safety. The oysters often arrive at restaurants within days after being taken from the water. 

Shuckin’ Shack knows that customers value the experience over convenience. The restaurant has made a conscious decision to deemphasize delivery. 

Shuckin’ Shack was able to reduce staff turnover by 38% by placing an emphasis on employee happiness and making some key changes to how employees are compensated and rewarded.

“We’re sourcing product that go into our restaurants that have really high integrity, that taste better, come straight out of the water, into the steamer and onto the plate.” (Jonathan)

“We’re kind of in this right-place-right-time moment. Oysters have become extremely popular, especially in the past five years. You see a lot of places adding oysters to their menus or doing limited time offerings, so for us we view seafood as the way of the future.” (Jonathan)

“(Franchisees) can be difficult, especially because they’ve invested their own money – they’re entrepreneurs as a result – if they see slippage or they see an opportunity to do something cheaper, they love to dive at that.” (Joseph)

“We allow our franchisees some lanes of operation, and that’s really, really important. We’re giving you choices for how you operate within those lanes.” (Jonathan) 

“We aren’t doing a lot of delivery because we don’t have to. We have doubled down on customer experience and we have doubled down on being the trusted source of seafood. We believe that our customers will pull up to our restaurant if they want our food and they have consistently proven that they will do that.” (Jonathan) 

“Some places just suck to work at.” (Joseph)

Papa Gino’s is a restaurant chain based in Massachusetts that specializes in traditional thin crust pizza along with pasta, subs, salads, and a variety of appetizers. As of 2022, there are 81 Papa Gino’s locations in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.

Kevin attributes his 10-year NFL career to helping him develop leadership and management skills that he uses today. 

Papa Gino’s has an immense amount of love and respect from its New England fan base. That passion is fueled, in part, by the quality of the pizza and food it serves. 

Kevin and Papa Gino’s look for vendors who will work with the brand as partners in a longer, continually-involving technological journey. 

Kevin isn’t afraid to admit it, but he’s a pineapple on pizza kind of guy – and so is Joseph. 

“The biggest benefit of my collective background is being able to fit in in any environment. I’ve had so many collective experiences that it allows me to connect with people naturally and organically.” (Kevin)

“Technology is a part of every single department in this organization. You either have a say in this, or the technology is going to steamroll you.” (Joseph) 

“At the core, as long as you continue to deliver quality food and a quality experience, that cult (following) will continue.” (Kevin)

“Pretty much every challenge in a restaurant is being tackled by a tech company right now. If you don’t have leaders in these silos understanding that, embracing it and then finding someone who’s an ally like yourself that’s going to give you some great movement forward.” (Joseph)

“The rate at which technology is moving, you really need a strategic partner that’s going to come along with you for the journey. I’m looking at vendors long term and how we can be strategic together.” (Kevin)

“Everyone will swear they have an open API but when you start digging into the weeds, it’s not so open. The reality is, not every tech vendor can do everything well and integrations are critical for the ecosystem.” (Kevin) 

00:00.00vigorbrandingO sorry let me just 1 more thing it is Kevin Bentley right and it’s a Vp of technology and automation at pappainas pizzeria and Dangelo sub sandwiches. Okay, just making sure I don’t want to get on ambul like actually it’s Kevin you said it wrong all right? so.

00:04.71Kevin BentleyYep.

00:08.59Kevin BentleyUm, yep.

00:19.69vigorbranding3 2 1 hey everyone today I’m joined by my friend Kevin Bentley he is the Vp of technology and automation at papaginno’s Pizzeria and Deangelo sub sandwiches if you’re from the northeast you know those names if you’re not from the northeast you’re about to learn a bit more about them. Before we dive in Kevin say hello give a little bit of backstory.

00:40.63Kevin BentleyYeah Joseph thanks for having me on just a quick correction. It’s actually ca on it’s french no I’m just totally kid totally get it? Yeah ah no thanks for having me on I’m really excited to join you and have this discussion as.

00:45.78vigorbrandingOh kept. Ah I didn’t see the accent Mark. Ah.

01:00.30Kevin BentleyJoseph mentioned I’m the Vp of tech give you a quick backstory I know we’re gonna dive into my story a little bit so I’ll keep it really high level born or raised on the west coast in California was convinced to go to school in Chicago at northwestern to play football. Don’t ask me how they got a kid from the sunny California west coast to. Go to the Midwest where was

Yanni Hufnagel, a former college basketball coach turned entrepreneur, is the founder and CEO of Lemon Perfect, a fast-growing enhanced water brand. With a background in coaching at top programs like Harvard and Vanderbilt, Hufnagel applied his competitive drive and leadership skills to disrupt the beverage industry with a health-focused, innovative brand.

Lemon Perfect is a fast-growing beverage brand redefining the enhanced water category with its refreshing, zero-sugar, lemon-infused drinks. Made from organic lemons and packed with antioxidants and electrolytes, Lemon Perfect delivers great taste and hydration without artificial ingredients, appealing to health-conscious consumers seeking a flavorful, better-for-you alternative.

Lemon Perfect offers a lineup of refreshing, zero-sugar, lemon-infused beverages made from organic, hand-picked lemons. Packed with antioxidants, electrolytes, and vitamin C, the brand’s flavors include classics like Original Lemon and fan-favorites like Dragon Fruit Mango, Peach Raspberry, and Blueberry Acai. The drinks are cold-pressed, keto-friendly, and designed for guilt-free hydration.

Lemon Perfect has rapidly expanded its distribution footprint, securing shelf space in major retailers like Whole Foods, Target, Kroger, Publix, and Costco, while also growing its presence in convenience stores, gyms, and online marketplaces nationwide.

Yanni was inspired to create the Lemon Perfect brand in 2017 after a chance encounter with a man who introduced him to drinking organic lemon water each morning as part of his daily routine. 

Squeezing and juicing lemons each morning was a hassle and Yanni was determined to create a product that took the work out of drinking organic lemon water. 

Seven years after launching the brand, Lemon Perfect has sold more than 100 million bottles.

In early 2020, Beyonce featured a bottle of Lemon Perfect in one of her Instagram posts. It gave the brand a boost. In April 2022, she became a key investor in the brand.

“So many parallels between coaching and entrepreneurship and running a business. At the core, you’re telling a story. Being a great storyteller is probably the most important skill you can have as a recruiter and as a college baseball coach. [As an entrepreneur] being able to tell a story is also important, and it all starts with the product.” (Yanni) 

“There’s a difference between selling and presenting. I’ve always felt like presenting was more important than selling. I’ve always tried to present our story and vision and not sell it.” (Yanni) 

“I was having lunch with an angel investor and I said ‘John, what do you think about this idea?’ and he said ‘I love it. Anything you can build that captures a piece of someone’s daily routine is worth going for. You can build a business around it.’ “ (Yanni) 

“We’ve sold 100 million bottles. How do you sell one billion? In America and beyond, they don’t read words, they read pictures on packaging. Putting fruit on the (packaging) was a big decision. Simplifying our message.” (Yanni) 

“We had an incredible entrepreneurial culture for the first five years and then we lost our way a little bit. I’ve been focused in the last six months or so on refinding our entrepreneurial way. When you’re building a beverage and you have to scratch and claw and fight and bleed every day, you need that.” (Yanni) 

“You have to have a relentless motor and I think we have a group that will do that.” (Yanni)

Simply Salad includes five locations in Los Angeles and was founded on the idea that everyone should have access to healthy, fresh, flavorful, affordable food in a way that is fast and convenient.

Daniel was formerly the head of finance and development at Popeyes, where he was part of the team that led Popeyes’ entry into the famous chicken sandwich wars.

Simply Salad has grown by making salads convenient and accessible and by adding locations to communities not typically associated with salad restaurants and other better-for-you restaurants.

“Everybody thinks their quality is great, but you (at Popeyes) had a rockstar supply chain team that can actually source that product and you had an operations team that just aced training. […] For a challenger brand to not just challenge, but overcome the leader (Chick-fil-A) is pretty intense.” (Joseph) 

“It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy in that when you have a big launch and you’re moving volume and the product is hot and the product is fresh, it’s easier to be able to deliver consistency (in quality).” (Daniel)

“After the Popeyes launch when everyone saw how successful the (chicken sandwich) launch was, everyone said ‘I need a new (sandwich) on the menu in three months.” And if that’s your approach to product development, you’re not going to deliver what you need.” (Daniel) 

“Simply salad has found something intriguing and unique and it’s where it went and where these locations happen to be. It’s not the rich suburbs of America where people have a lot of money. Instead, you’ve found traction in places like Compton. Places that people would mark as underserved or a health food desert.” (Joseph) 

“Our secret is, we don’t focus on health. Everybody knows that salads are healthy. We focus on taste. When that salad can deliver against the same craving as a Big Mac and fries, that’s when we’re winning.” (Daniel)

00:00.00vigorbrandingHey everyone this morning I’m joined by my friend Daniel Gonzalez who is co-owner of simply salad a brand that’s up and coming in the l a market and growing ah before we hoper on that Daniel say hello give a little bit of backstory.

00:00.00Daniel GonzalezI.

00:11.80Daniel GonzalezEverybody how are you? my name is Daniel I’m one of the owners of simply salad I’ve been involved in this business for about a year prior to that. It’s been about a decade in leadership positions with restaurant brands international. So. Ah popeyes and the chicken sandwich burger king over in Europe burger king here in the states. Um, and yeah, originally from California and I’m super pumped to be able to be bring in healthy food to California.

00:40.25vigorbrandingThat’s awesome. So yeah, some name drops. Ah which are are big ones some are leading the charge actually both I would say are leading the charge in their own right? Um, and and suffice to say you’ve had a lustroious career like you didn’t just dive into the top like you you have worked your way up. You’ve worn many hats. Um. And and going from a macro brand the size of burger king the size of Popeyes to a smaller brand um in simply salad which I believe we’re about to be at None units right? or twi ten. Yeah.

01:07.97Daniel GonzalezYeah, we’ll finish it about 8 this year mean hopefully nine Vegas says None ah so I don’t know if you want to take the over on that. But you know about 8

01:15.14vigorbrandingAwesome! So how how have you applied your learnings while maintaining that like agility necessary in startup because th

El Arroyo is a Tex-Mex restaurant in Austin, Texas. Established in 1975, the restaurant is known for its assortment of Mexican cuisine including tacos, fajitas, guacamole and tortilla chips in generous portions. Ellis and his wife, Paige, have been the owners of El Arroyo since 2012. 

El Arroyo’s most famous marketing tactic is its marquees, which house witty messages updated on a daily basis. The marquees have driven social media success for El Arroyo, with a few thousand followers when the marquees began to more than 250,000 followers on Facebook and 600,000 followers on Instagram today. 

Axial Shift is a software platform created so that frontline managers and staff can learn to be more effective at running restaurants. The Axial Shift platform provides teams with a purpose-driven work experience by delivering transparency into their performance and potential sales opportunities, as well as tools to control their outcomes and improve their own and their store’s performance.

The Axial Shift system connects to the POS system and then delivers data to managers and employees via an app on the user’s smartphone or tablet. The services include a microgaming feature that helps managers give bonuses to employees who increase performance or meet goals set by the manager. 

“What makes the (marquees) work is the voice. It was always funny, but when we got involved we decided that we wanted to create a voice that was connective and really authentic and would resonate with what people were dealing with in their day-to-day lives.” (Ellis)

“The (marquees) gave us an opportunity to connect with people on a daily basis.” (Ellis)

“The things (Axial Shift) does tactically is, yes, it gets the manager out of the office (and onto the floor). For the employees, it’s feeding them back sales performance data. It shows where they rank relative to their peers in total sales, sales per hour, credit card tip percentage – key metrics. It positions the data so they can see their own personal growth relative to their team. It drives people to want to perform at a higher level.” (Ellis)

“You really gotta go where no one else is bold enough to go. You hear stories of this too. The latest one I heard is a designer or creative who put his resume in a box of doughnuts and delivered it to the office of the agency he wanted to work at. It’s that kind of thinking that brands need. They need people who aren’t going to just toe the line with what they have been told to do, but instead actually think and come up with ideas for how to get there.” (Joseph)

“Sales contests really work but only when they’re executed in a tight way and when the information is presented where everybody sees an opportunity to grow. That’s what we do with Axial.” (Ellis)

00:00.00vigorbrandingEveryone today I’m joined by my friend Ellis Win stanley he has a number of companies from axialhift to el arroyo to texas ranch experience we’re going to cover all of those or at least try to in a and normal amount of time. Ah, but before that ellis say hello and give a little bit of backstory.

00:19.24Ellis WinstanleyEveryone happy to be here. Thanks so appreciate it? Um, yeah, so we’re we’re based in Austin Texas and and we’re colocated to Santa Theresa Costa Rica we’ve got starting the restaurant business years years ago and then ended up in multiple industries along the way including real estate development and. And restaurant software.

00:40.37vigorbrandingThat’s awesome. Yeah I mean there’s just so much to unpack in this episode I forgot