Joe describes his unique business model, which operates in convenience stores rather than standalone locations. With a focus on consistency, quality, and brand experience, Krispy Krunchy Chicken is growing faster than ever.
Joe describes his unique business model, which operates in convenience stores rather than standalone locations. With a focus on consistency, quality, and brand experience, Krispy Krunchy Chicken has grown to over 3,400 locations. Joe also highlights the importance of strong supply chain management, brand awareness, and good culture.
Welcome to Elevating Brick and Mortar.
A podcast about how operations and facilities drive brand performance.
On today’s episode, we talk with Joe Gordon, Chief Supply Chain and Technology Officer at Krispy Krunchy Chicken. Krispy Krunchy Chicken operates nearly 3,400 quick-serve locations and provides foodservice solutions for convenience stores, truck stops, universities, casinos and more across the U.S.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:21 - About Krispy Krunchy Chicken
01:05 - Joe’s journey
12:32 - Commitment of the licensee
14:47 - C-store consistency
19:14 - Scaling for growth
24:14 - Spreading brand awareness
31:14 - Industry trends
37:00 - Future thinking
44:00 - Where to find Joe
44:24 - Sid’s takeaways
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LINKS:
[00:00:00] Sid: Hello everyone. Welcome to season for joining us. I'm here today with Joe Gordon, chief Supply Chain and Technology Officer at Krispy Krunchy Chicken. Joe, welcome.
[00:00:13] Joe: Thank you, Sid. Thanks for having me today.
[00:00:15] Sid: Uh, thank you. Uh, so Joe, let's get started. Right? Uh, for folks in our audience who might not be familiar with the brand, can you share some insights into your company, krispy Krunchy Chicken.
[00:00:25] Joe: Sure. Absolutely. And, uh, you either, you either know us and love us or you don't know who we are. So, uh, great question. So. Krispy Krunchy chicken. We've been around for about 36 years, uh, primarily in sea
[00:00:37] Sid: Wow.
[00:00:37] Joe: We have fantastic freshly
[00:00:39] Sid: I.
[00:00:40] Joe: hand breaded, uh, Cajun style chicken in almost 3,500 locations. Really starting to branch out into more chain, uh, locations, universities and uh, and sports venues. So very exciting, uh, place to be. And uh, again, the people that, uh, know our food love us.
[00:00:58] Sid: Love it. You know, we'd love to hear about your journey and how you got here.
[00:01:03] Joe: Sure, sure. Well, um, my, uh, my career can be, uh, divided into two, uh, two I guess chapters.
[00:01:10] Sid: I.
[00:01:10] Joe: I started my career with very large organizations like, uh, Kimberly Clark and, uh, Mead Paper and Wendy's for many years, and really learned uh, learn how big companies do things with large organizations and lots of resources. Uh, really the last almost 20 years has been, uh, private equity turnarounds, fast growth, sell companies, IPOs, et cetera. And, uh, for three and a half years or so, I've been with Krispy Krunchy Chicken, uh, uh, really in that private equity space, fast growing, healthy business and, and really, uh, setting ourselves up for our next chapter as a company.
[00:01:49] Sid: You, you have a vast experience in the restaurant space and you know, you've, you've had roles in supply chain, uh, and were even a chief ref restaurant officer. What got you into the space? Like, did you always know you wanted to be, uh, in the restaurant industry or? you found your calling as you started your, your journey.
[00:02:11] Joe: Yeah, great question, Sid. And, and like a lot of folks, uh, uh, had I had no intentions of, uh, of being in the restaurant business for a long time. Started my career in CPG. Kimberly Clark, uh, was my first, uh, um, company, uh, out of college. And, uh, uh, when the opportunity at Wendy's came along, I thought,
[00:02:29] Sid: I.
[00:02:29] Joe: great opportunity for me to move back to my hometown and, uh, you know, be part of something. Dave Thomas was still around at the time, so it was pretty exciting and, uh. Uh, so I took all of the supply chain and, and QA and really big company CPG experience and, uh, you know, turned that into really the start of, uh, uh, a primarily restaurant career, uh, starting with Wendy's.
[00:02:51] Sid: You've come from fast growing, uh, fast casual restaurant spaces as well. attracted you to Krispy Krunchy?
[00:03:00] Joe: Several things Sid attracted me to crisKrispy Krunchy. You know, once I became educated about Krispy Krunchy, the first thing I noticed was the food. When the food is, is prepared correctly, there's nothing out there like it. As
[00:03:12] Sid: Yeah.
[00:03:12] Joe: before, it's a, it's a fresh, uh, lightly Cajun style product and, and, and, and it just, there's nothing like it out there. and then the culture. Right. So when we think about, you know, some of our North stars, and we'll talk about what that looks like for Krispy Krunchy, but it's very important at Krispy Krunchy that we maintain a very good culture based in our southern roots in, in central Louisiana. And, you know, we do what we say and we say what we do and, um, as we grow and as we add a lot more people, um, you know, maintaining that good culture and core values is pivotal. So to summarize, the food is fantastic. The culture is the best that I've ever been. involved in, in my career.
[00:03:52] Sid: As Chief Supply Chain and Technology officer, what is your mandate? Do you wake up every day and think about both in terms of your short term goals and, and over the long term?
[00:04:03] Joe: Yeah, great. Another great question, Sid. So, my, my job as I see it and, uh, my title and responsibilities throughout my career have changed and, and I've, I've always added a lot of things, uh, and, and not just stayed in one place. My, my job is to do the really hard. And drive efficiency to, to, to help make the company profitable and to help the company grow and, and increase its valuation.
[00:04:26] So, uh, starting with the supply chain side, you know, we, we are very proud. We have a 99% fill rate consistently with fresh chicken,
[00:04:33] Sid: Wow.
[00:04:33] Joe: is, which is, which leads the industry. We have 70 different distribution points going into almost 3,500 locations. So it's, it's an amazing orchestra. Uh, you know, from an openings perspective, we manage the supply chain very closely so that we can open quickly. We open a lot of our locations in three weeks. Uh, you know, the even new construction we opened much, much faster. Than a typical, um, you know, restaurant that's made, uh, you know, from greenfield operation.
[00:05:00] So, um, just really speed, profitability. And then when I think about technology, um, you know, my technology hat is how do you, how do you rebuild the tech stack for
[00:05:11] Sid: Yeah.
[00:05:11] Joe: uh, operational efficiencies? For the whole organization, which includes ai,
[00:05:16] But also how do you build for the digital footprint of the future, which we've started to dip our toe in, you know, off premise. Third party delivery, first party delivery. Uh, so really it's, it's, it's just problem solving to help, uh, grow the organization and, and increase our, our shareholder value.
[00:05:34] Sid: Yeah. So let's talk about the brand itself, right? You are in over 3,400 locations. That's phenomenal, right? But are not, these are not always your spaces. You, you are in some, you know, somebody else's location, like a store in store concept. us a little bit about that model. What's your primary, um, kind of model and, and what kind of growth does it allow you to have?
[00:05:57] Joe: Yeah, so, so, so several things with that. So I'll start with kind of, kind of, uh, the, the overall premise and, and that's, it's gotta be easy.
[00:06:06] Sid: Yeah.
[00:06:06] Joe: has to be easy. Onboarding, working with us has to be easy because we are a store within a store. We've got a hundred to 200 square feet in most convenience store locations. When we go into a sports venue, for example, we may have one to, you know, 10 uh, outlets, but it's gotta be easy. So everything from the branding to the equipment set up to the opening to the, to the, to the agreement. Like, we're not a franchise. We, we don't require, we're, we're a license or. um, it's easy and easy out. There's no upfront costs other than, uh, equipment. There's no royalties, there's no franchise fees. So,
[00:06:40] Sid: Hm.
[00:06:40] Joe: About consistency and ease. So we go into an operator that's never had a food program before and they say, wow, I, I don't know where to start. And so it, it starts with that agreement. It starts with the promise of, hey. We're, we've got an equipment package that fits in here, and it's a, and it's a reasonable cost equipment package. We have a hundred percent financing. So another easy button, let us help you set this up, uh, so that, so that it helps you with success. And then by the way, um, you know, you're paying for the food, which includes any monies coming back to us, but there's no, uh, marketing fund, marketing fee, no, no royalties or anything.
[00:07:14] And then we provide a week of support, uh, for opening, and then lots of retraining and lots of check-ins with those operators.
[00:07:24] Sid: Wow. And so, you know, what kind of business would fall into your ICP into your Ideal Customer Profile? Um, would love to learn kind of how that started too. And is it pivoting today as you look at, you know, the avenues for growth and, and how to reach our consumer?
[00:07:41] Joe: Yeah. We are in the process of a significant diversification of the business. Our bread and butter has been independent operators that own,
[00:07:49] Sid: Hmm.
[00:07:49] Joe: know, one to, let's say 10 locations, and they're looking for a easy button again, to be able to be competitive. If you, if you study C stores, um, you know, one of their biggest growth opportunities for both sales. Uh, bringing in traffic and profitability is, is food service. And, and we are able to provide that to them. So that's been our bread and butter, Syd, it's always gonna be a, a big part of our business. Our evolution in the past couple of years has really moved at what, what's next? What are those other channels that take us from the 3,500 or so to 5,000 to 10,000? And so. You know, we're looking right now, we just signed, uh, a couple of really big, uh, c-store chain customers that were going in. And you'll start to see us in places you hadn't seen us before in branded, uh, locations, that, that are not independent in a big way right now. We've got a couple hundred of those. Um, I think that's going to accelerate by hundreds every year going forward. And then, and then, uh, another avenue is, uh, is, uh, is sports venues.
[00:08:53] Sid: Yeah.
[00:08:54] Joe: uh, we, as of April, as of opening day in April, uh, were the, uh, official fried chicken provider for the Boston Red Sox.
[00:09:02] Sid: Oh, nice. Congratulations.
[00:09:04] Joe: thank you. It's had a amazing, uh, uh, impact on our, on our, on our brand awareness.
[00:09:09] And right now we are entertaining several, um, several, uh, major sports, uh, opportunities out there. Uh, we're also, uh, looking at, you know, what international opportunities are out there and, uh, also, you know, do we get involved in private label? So, um, lots and lots of opportunities. And I would say, uh, when I started with the company three and a half years ago or so, it was, Hey, how do we go after people? And now the, the conversation, because of our, uh, improvement of brand awareness, because of the halo effect with the Red Sox, because of the things that we've done to make the company easier to work with, you know, we're having to decide and prioritize where we go.
[00:09:49] Sid: Wow. Now, 3,500 locations, especially if you have more of the independence, that's a lot of, you know, uh, I guess partners that you know are, are leveraging you and your brand to offer some great food to their consumer, right? What kind of independent contractor? You know, well, I guess if I was an independent contractor, what makes your business attractive For me to say no, I want Krispy Krunchy in my store.
[00:10:21] Um, is it the ease of doing business, getting started, like the amount of upfront cash needed? Or is it just the food and the loyalty that you, that you're looking to build with your consumer?
[00:10:33] Joe: Yeah, it, it, it's several of those things. Sid, I will tell you that, uh, believe it or not, a lot of people come convenience store for Krispy Krunchy chicken. I talked about, if you know who we are, you love
[00:10:45] Sid: Yeah.
[00:10:45] Joe: We've got data. That hard data that that supports, uh, an average C-store will, will get a, a lift based upon bringing in Krispy Krunchy. We also see if they decide to separate or we decide to separate, they see a decline in overall retail sales. So a lot of our independents, and especially folks that have been around for a really long time, say what's most important to them is that Krispy Krunchy, the brand. And the, and the raving fans that we have out there actually improves their overall store sales, which is
[00:11:14] Sid: Hmm.
[00:11:15] Joe: We're 20 to 30% of their business. So if you think about we, we, we are able to impact a hundred percent of their sales, that's very impactful.
[00:11:24] Sid: Yeah.
[00:11:24] Joe: you also talked about, um, ease, right? Yeah.
[00:11:27] There's absolute ease of doing business, as we talked about before. Here's your equipment package. Here's the support we provide. You know, one thing that I didn't talk about a lot is, is really our digital, uh, strategy.
[00:11:38] Sid: Hmm.
[00:11:38] Joe: third party delivery. First party delivery. So, so now all of a sudden you've got, uh, you've got opportunities and hours that maybe you weren't selling food. A lot of our third party and first party delivery business comes in the late afternoon and evening hours, which is an opportunity again, to, to extend their, their, their sales. And, and I guess kind of the last thing I'll point out on this question is from a profitability perspective. We watch, uh, the metrics very closely with n and other publications and we are, we are much more profitable, uh, for those operators than, than most parts of their business and, and for the food service category overall.
[00:12:16] Sid: Yeah. That's great. Yeah, I mean in, in the C-store business, you know, they say, the money's on the inside, right? You don't really make money on gas. Why if you have a great product and the consumers are gonna, you know, drive up and, and, you know, come inside that you'd be a great attraction. Um, now what kind of commitment do you expect from the licensee. What do they have to do to qualify to put your brand in their location? What type of, um, I guess expectations do you have of them?
[00:12:50] Joe: we are much more carrot then stick with our operators, uh, you know, we, we, we don't have a franchise agreement again. Uh, they're not obligated a three or four or five year agreement. So again, we've gotta make it easy. We've gotta make it work for both of us really on a day-to-day basis, day in, day out.
[00:13:07] So, so what are we looking for? We're looking for them to have a, a minimum amount of food or foot traffic. Uh, we're looking for them to have a commitment to food. I say commitment to food, there's, there's various ways to measure the sid, but when you go into a store you can see and feel their level of commitment to food. Are they staffing the counter, the food counter, or when someone calls off, do they just shut it down? Do they have a passion for food really to drive their business? Uh, we, we find that folks that have more food. the outside of just Krispy Krunchy chicken generally do better. Right. And again, it's that focus. Do they have a clean location? Is
[00:13:45] Sid: Yeah.
[00:13:45] Joe: a place? Our former head of sales said if my wife wouldn't go to the restroom, um, we probably shouldn't be serving food. So
[00:13:52] Sid: That's right.
[00:13:53] Joe: of those things. And then, and then, and then kinda lastly, the one that's easiest to measure is are they carrying our core products?
[00:13:59] Right. So, so we have what we call a core six, which is our six core items. We have many more items than this, but these are the ones when we think about, um, consistency, when a guest orders, whether it's online or they come into one of our locations, we wanna make sure that we're serving these six items at a minimum.
[00:14:17] And we find that folks that have that commitment to consistently sell those six items, others, they do much better than folks that don't have that level of compliance to try to cherry pick and say, Hey, I'm only gonna sell sandwiches, or I'm only gonna sell tenders, for example. They generally don't do as well as, as our, as our operators that are committed.
[00:14:35] Sid: When you walk into a restaurant, especially now, there's a huge elevation in terms of expectation what the restaurant space looks like, feels like the cleanliness, what the bathrooms look like, to your point. So in your business, you know, we're talking about C stores here. You know, how do you ensure that there's a certain consistency, uh, and quality, um, and brand standard.
[00:15:01] And then I'd also love to understand, once you actually say Yes, we've now found a partner, what does that system look like? Do you send branding? Do you send, equipment, um, and then what does the process look like after that?
[00:15:14] Joe: I'll start with the supply chain because, um, you know, that's, uh, that's, that's one of my primary responsibilities. But, you know, when you think about consistency, both in equipment and in food. It comes with, with having a consistent product and consistent equipment, right? So from a product perspective, we've done a lot of work in, in having consistency throughout our, our 70 distribution points and all of our different suppliers that they have the same product. So we've been very meticulous about that over the past few years. We, we want folks, when they come in, a chicken sandwich tastes like a chicken sandwich, tastes like a chicken sandwich no matter what. A equipment perspective and, and meeting brand standards. Uh, we do, we do come in and we actually have a couple equipment experts on our team that come in and say, well, they've got a fryer that's 15 years old. It's not going to have the right recovery. You know, so we need to, we need to have one of our approved fryers, for example.
[00:16:07] We have a very simple equipment package.
[00:16:09] Sid: Hmm.
[00:16:09] Joe: very Durable and so. We end up, uh, we end up evaluating both the field team on our equipment experts going in to say, alright, so we've got the right equipment in there for opening. Okay. So, so there are multiple site visits and there's, there's, there's, uh, research that's done by our team to, to qualify. Equipment that's already in place. So now we've got food and equipment that go in and, uh, yeah, we're looking at the, we're looking at the traffic pattern of the store. We're looking at trying to assess their commitment to food, right? So if we go into a place and they've never sold food before. We've got questions we ask about, Hey, is food more important than motor oil to you or is it different?
[00:16:47] What do you do about staffing? So we ask all those questions and you know, a lot of times we're right, sometimes we're wrong. Once we sign the license agreement, you know, we could open, like I said before, between three weeks and or, or three months, depending on where, what stage the store is at.
[00:17:02] And we provide a week of intense training with the staff. Uh, we have follow up visits scheduled and we, and we visit on a recurring basis. So, uh, we're kind of the technology in the field, uh, kind of come together and, and where, uh, my teams are assisting our field folks is, you know, they can see certain things on the ground. Uh, we are working to completely rebuild our tech stack, Sid, and we're firming up our, our, our security, uh, so that we can start, um, supercharging our reporting, uh, with AI enablement and AI applications. And what that really does is that takes a dashboard, a normal dashboard, and personalize it to the store, to the specific field person, that they're able to take the data we have without being in the store every day and get a picture,
[00:17:50] Sid: Yeah.
[00:17:51] Joe: with AI's support to be able to prioritize, go back and retrain, go back and, and really help those operators to be more consistent and successful.
[00:17:59] Sid: Gotcha. Now, if someone does go with the full package from you and has the equipment from you, um, how do they service it post, you know, go live? And then do you actually provide after opening, support as well on, on a regular basis, or is that up to the, uh, the independent operator to kind of find their network of providers and, and, and follow the, the kind of guidance you provide?
[00:18:24] Joe: Yeah, so we help with warranties and we certainly have a maintenance schedule that we, we share with them. Um, we really haven't had a lot of appetite. We've had a couple of, uh. of starts and stops on, on PM programs that we endorsed and, uh, really haven't gotten a lot of traction. Uh, a lot of our independent operators, you know, they have other equipment, they have programs, they have their own handymen, they understand how warranties work.
[00:18:47] So really hasn't been much of an appetite,
[00:18:49] There's just not the demand at this point with our independence.
[00:18:53] Sid: I hear you. Gotcha, gotcha. Um, on the supply chain side, you know, considering, the vast network of independent operators that you have, your supply chain and distribution must be absolutely spot on for you to be able to, you know, get to those, uh, locations, provide fresh, great quality product. You know, how much of your experience, you know, from your historical career, you know, has played a role, and can you figuring out how to do that in a way that is sustainable, but also, uh, scalable for growth.
[00:19:28] Joe: Yeah, it's a, it's an awesome question, Sid. I will say that, um, I've been doing this about 30 years now,
[00:19:35] Sid: Wow.
[00:19:35] Joe: I would not want to, I would not have wanted to have this job, uh, sooner in my career. it is, it is the way you've described and not only the supply chain getting the product, but also, uh, the independents, you know, were 20% of their business. They're entrepreneurs. They may have 10 other businesses that are not c-store related. And
[00:19:55] Sid: Yeah.
[00:19:56] Joe: it's not just what you said, it's not just being precise in the supply chain and being able to pivot and being able to execute every day. It's so many different points, but it's also, you know, sometimes they, they, they don't order every week, for example, because they're out of the country or they're having a cashflow issue or what have you. And so they're doubling up on an order. So think about, uh, all the different data points and being able to have to pivot and, and create flexibility in the supply chain. So I would say I've built a toolbox over 30 years, uh, working in large and small organizations, and this by far is the most complex.
[00:20:32] Sid: Oh really? Wow. Okay. It just, I guess, um, underscores the fact that you gotta be really having some scalable systems and repeatability because we're talking about ice, you know, independent, um, you know, business owners here that you know, need some predictability. And to your point, you're only 20% of their business, and so it has to be super simple and convenient. Right.
[00:21:00] Joe: It does. And, and, and I, I tell people, uh, especially when we onboard new folks, um, our model is, um, we have to earn, earn our business every single day.
[00:21:10] Sid: Hmm.
[00:21:10] Joe: Not just you sign a five year contract and, you know, on a franchise side, for example, which is different. You know, you have a rough patch either. Either from their perspective or from our perspective.
[00:21:20] And you're, you're, you're kind of married. You have to stick it out for a period of time. We don't have that. We have no safety net. We're walking on the tight wire every day in a very complex business. And if we don't deliver value, it's very easy for them to walk away at, at any, at any moment in time. Not only supply chain, but um, all of our support functions as well as our field folks, you know, it's a testament to them that we continue to grow and grow and grow. Uh, considering, uh, you know, tomorrow everyone could, could literally walk away because there's no, uh, no firm contract in place.
[00:21:53] Sid: Yeah, that's interesting. Now you don't have, you know, control over the physical, like four walls of the businesses that you're in, but you do have a store within a store. What does that look like?
[00:22:04] So I'll start with outside of the pump and, and, and our marketing team has done a phenomenal job of rebranding the organization a couple of years ago. Uh, going away from kind of the traditional, uh, Krispy Krunchy look and going to a really, uh, attractive blue. Clean, uh, attractive, easy to, easy to, um, pick out of a crowd branding. So, so starting from the outside, we have opportunities to, to brand from the pump. All the way into the, the C store. And that's really dependent on local, um, local, uh, guidelines. So we have, we have, uh, different size signage that, that, that lights up at night. We have Klingons, uh, we have pump toppers, all of that. That's really dependent on the operator's, uh, you know, um, availability to, uh, to, to invest in the business as well as local guidelines. We have, uh, some that go all out, and especially for grand opening. And you would think that's all they're selling to some that are much
[00:23:04] Hmm. Yeah.
[00:23:05] Joe: once you go in, what really draws you to Krispy Krunchy and what's consistent is we have a hot food case, which, um, which we have, uh, a schematic of where the food goes so that it holds best, so that it shows best. Um, and, and we have a wrap that, uh, that goes around the hot food case. We've got a very attractive graphics for our menu boards, which are right above the hot food case. Usually, uh, you know, hanging from the ceiling or the wall. But that's really the focal point of the location.
[00:23:31] You know, we're cooking to, to serve, to, to, to hold and then to serve versus cooking, to order. So, so they're coming in, hopefully they're smelling the product because it's just been cooked within the past, uh, little while.
[00:23:44] We've got great customer service behind the counter to be able to get them their fried chicken quickly so that they can, uh, so that they can get back on the road.
[00:23:52] Sid: I love it. And in your business especially, you know, the brand is everything, right? The brand is what gets you into more locations, and that brand familiarity is what? I guess even the independents want, because that's what attracts folks to take that u-turn or that Right, you know, that right turn to get into their, their, their location and walk inside.
[00:24:15] Right? That must be one of the core fundamental, uh, needs of the business that you always protect and preserve and, and, and spread brand awareness, right?
[00:24:27] Joe: Yeah, brand consistency and brand awareness are both paramount for us. We have data. We have credit card data that we, we show as part of the selling process, real data that we can, uh, we can obviously track, buy, location, uh. come in and say, Hey, um, your neighbor down the street, they had X percent lift in their merchandise because of the brand.
[00:24:46] People want this brand. Right. And, you know, correspondingly, a lot of our operators that decide to, to walk away on their own for one reason or another, they see that decline and they come back, they proactively come back. So it's constantly understanding and, and, and creating. Um, I think marketing calls an unaided brand awareness where people identify Krispy Krunchy you know, kind of. You say fried chicken, you say Krispy Krunchy. Our aided brand awareness is, is also increasing when, when people say, Hey, have you heard of Krispy Krunchy? our raving fans say, absolutely the best chicken, you know, I, I need to find one right now. So, uh, brand, brand awareness and brand consistency. Uh, you know, it's kind of a one-two punch for us.
[00:25:29] Sid: Yeah, that, that, that makes a lot of sense. I mean, the term raving fans, you know, resonates. Right? And you can create raving fans, your business will be set. Now from what I understand, like since your affiliation with the Red Sox, uh, it has actually helped, you know, with sales for locations that are around the stadium as well, you know, tell us about that.
[00:25:53] Joe: We've done some, uh, data, data mining and, uh, we found that locations, uh, within a certain, uh, radius of the stadium. Since we've, since we've opened up, since we've advertised, now we have packaging that is available for those locations that is co-branded between the Red Sox and Krispy Krunchy, but we've seen quite a significant lift. For those operators in those locations and, uh, the word of mouth of people, um, coming in that we're hearing from our operators to say, Hey, I was at Fenway. Um, I've never heard of Krispy Krunchy. I had it. I loved it and realized that my, my favorite convenience store has Krispy Krunchy. And so we're having a lot of those conversations.
[00:26:33] The packaging just launched. Within, uh, within kind of the New England area of, of co-branding. So we're expecting that to continue to build on itself. And then as we go into other sports venues across the US we'll, we'll, we'll tweak that model and hopefully see similar success.
[00:26:48] Sid: Yeah. Nice, nice. Now you mentioned that, you know, you are exploring new partnerships with larger, you know, c-store chains. has led to that? You know, you were doing more work with independent, um, you know, business owners. And made a strategic move and are intentional about, about finding, uh, partnerships with the larger players. I'm curious as to what kind of drove that and then two, that change your operating model and bring in either some ease of, of, of scale, or does it bring in new challenges?
[00:27:26] Joe: So I think a, a couple things. One, uh, if you look at overarching, uh, we, we have started listening more than telling the chains how, how we do things. So, uh, in the past, it's, Hey, this is the Krispy Krunchy program, and it's been really focused on those independent operators and the chains have come in and said. Hey, we'd like to do something differently and, and, and we're not, we weren't listening. So I would say we've, we've become, uh, much more open to, to bending and flexing and doing things we maybe wouldn't have done before.
[00:27:57] Okay.
[00:27:58] Sid: Hmm.
[00:27:58] Joe: Uh, another thing that is a huge unlock for us is, um. You know, we, we have partnered, we've really leveraged our supplier partners, you know, on the equipment side, on the, on the food side and on the distribution side. And a lot of these inroads we're getting right now are because of our, our strategic partnership with Cisco.
[00:28:16] It's that partnership. Wow. You've got all of these things. And it's easy because we're already doing business with Cisco. And then the brand, the brand is, is another, another piece. The chains, in the past when they've been talking to us, one of the things we've said no to is, is our brand versus theirs. And now we're having collaborative conversation. But also with our brand awareness, uh, improving and them seeing the value in the brand, I think they're more open to, to the brand.
[00:28:43] So it's, it's a lot of things, um, a lot of things that are contributing. And I, and I think it starts with, you know, just, just listening and, and having a conversation versus it's our way the highway, which, you know, we have certainly moved, moved far away from that. Um, what does it change for our model? I think it's too early to tell Sid.
[00:29:00] Sid: Gotcha.
[00:29:00] Joe: will tell you the, the infrastructure. That a lot of these change have is significant and impressive, and their consistency on their brand products is, is just off the charts. You know, C stores seized the opportunity that guest away from QSR and fast casual. They've done a great job. Uh, we think it's going to think make things easier for us and less, uh. Less resource driven, but we're, we're not sure. You know, we wanna make sure, I know they're reporting and a lot of the analytics that we're building our new tech stack for, there's a lot bigger left there. Uh, but yeah, we we're, we, we will see.
[00:29:34] But again, I go back to we're listening. We're, we're, we're trying to be a good partner to these folks. And we're trying to be accommodating and, and we're putting a lot of resources into, uh, to be able to answer their questions, provide analytics, for example, uh, provide that, that retraining. So, so I guess time will tell.
[00:29:51] So if you invite me back in a year or two, I'll, uh, I'll answer the question, uh, more, more just in time.
[00:29:57] Sid: Uh, that's perfect. Um, as you look at the next three to five years, uh, what would success look like Uh, more locations that you're in or, or just more brand awareness and how would you measure that?
[00:30:13] Joe: it's more locations. It's, it's improvement In, location, uh, level, business. So whether it's same store sales or pounds or however we measure it, it's, it's improving the valuation of the organization. You know, we are private equity owned and at the end of the day we have shareholders, uh, to, to report to, um, you know, and, and, and brand awareness.
[00:30:34] Absolutely. For sure. I mean, we, if we can continue this trajectory of folks coming to us. Versus us always having to come to them. Um, that's a great thing. And, and people, the more people that know who we are, um, and we start to build momentum, right? Um, we're starting to see that now on our, on our third party and our first party apps where people are actually searching. We're finding, searching for Krispy Krunchy more and more and more. So, uh, we, we get that flywheel that, that's the word I was looking for. Flywheel. We get that flywheel moving, which it is. And, and, and really, uh, it, it. We, we start to see results in all those areas.
[00:31:09] Sid: Love it. you know, zoom out a little bit and talk about the industry, and maybe you can switch hats for a second, right? are there trends in the food service and restaurant world that you, you are looking at and with all your experience in the space that either are super exciting or maybe you're, you know, a little concerned about?
[00:31:29] Joe: I'll start with concern. Uh, you know, traffic. has been, uh, flat to down for many years, and the way most folks have seen growth is through adding, adding additional units and, and taking price, right? No one's come out and said it's, whether it's saturation, it's value, it's, you know, what the, what the core, the root cause is. Um, you know, I know that there's a lot of competition going on in both, both QSR and, and at C store, for example. For the guest and, and, and it, it's almost that you have to take a guest away to, to have incremental growth yourself. So that
[00:32:05] Sid: Hmm.
[00:32:05] Joe: very concerning trend to me, and, uh, people talk about it, but I feel like we're no one's, no one's really, no one's really solved it.
[00:32:12] Right? Other than. You know, maybe a couple like Chipotle and some others. Uh, but, but it's a real concern. It, it keeps me up at night thinking about how, how do we reverse this? Where is that traffic really going? And, and I feel like there's, there's a lot of heavy lifting to figure out how to solve that puzzle.
[00:32:30] Sid: So you, you are saying even post COVID, because it felt like post COVID, there was this kind of revenge, travel revenge going out to a dine kind of motion where the restaurants were always full. Do you have that view on fast casual and full service, or Do you think that one is, is maybe doing better than the other?
[00:32:51] Joe: I do think there was a resurgence in everything. You said af post COVID was true. I just think right now it's, it's almost like you have to, you have to take traffic and you have to take guests away from someone else. Um, you know, part of that is our population and, and, and where the a where our population is aging and the income disparity, uh, in, in, in the different generations.
[00:33:11] So I think it's gonna be an interesting trend to watch and, uh, you know, I think just, you know, being super buttoned up, having great brand awareness. A lot of things we're doing. Um, you know, I, I feel confident in our position, but it's something that, as I think about it, I could see, um, I could see a number of things happening over the next few years. Uh, one of which would be some calling of some brands in the industry to,
[00:33:33] Sid: Hmm.
[00:33:34] Joe: that just, just can't make it. But, but we'll see.
[00:33:37] Sid: Yeah, interesting. The macroeconomic trends play a huge hand in this, right? I mean, inflation's up and things are getting more expensive, that impacts how people, you know, look at their wallet and decide when they're gonna, you know, go out and eat food and where they're gonna order for 'em, what kind of food they're going to eat, and whether they're gonna go out and, you know, have a, a full meal or they're gonna, you know, take a drive through and, and, uh, grab a bite, right?
[00:34:01] So, I'm sure, uh, things are changing a lot in just the past, like six months to a year. In your view, like just the world that we live in and. How things have changed in terms of how brands are interacting with their, with their customers, you know, drive-throughs have made a comeback. There's, there's a huge percentage of, of, of food being ordered through third party apps. How does one stand out in, in a world like that with so much change, um, and so much going on with so many avenues where consumers expect to interact with your brand, you know, you'd have, you have to really be on top of where you're meeting the customer. And each of that omnichannel experience has to be topnotch, right? For you to, for you to be a top quality product that continues to kind of grow and, and, and win.
[00:34:51] Joe: So I think the wild card in all of this before I get into some specifics is, are people gonna learn how to cook again?
[00:34:58] Sid: Hmm.
[00:34:59] Joe: Gonna become something that, that we, that we, we, we love? Right? And, uh, you know, I, I think about that as the wild card. Like, like I'm from a generation where, you know, if I wouldn't have learned how to cook, you know, I don't know how I would've survived. Certain points in my life, but a lot of young, younger people, they just have no idea. Right. Um, so, so I think that's a wild card. I think, I think the way to be successful and the way I would position is there's, there's two goalposts for me.
[00:35:25] One is convenience and consistency. the other is, is, is guest experience. And
[00:35:33] Sid: Hmm.
[00:35:33] Joe: that, right, and, and if you can do, if you can do both, uh, great, but I, I don't know anybody that does both great. And what I mean by that is, I'm on the one at end of the spectrum where it's super easy to order my food. It's al it always arrives on time, hot, complete, whether I dine in or whether I grab it, um, if I get a delivery or pickup or what have you. It's consistent, right? It's consistent and easy. Boom. I think that's the majority. On the other end of the spectrum, you know, folks still. On occasion want to go out and just have great hospitality, right?
[00:36:09] So I'm going to a place where I'm gonna get a great experience. I'm going to get, be in a, have great ambiance and be able to go out with my, my spouse or partner or whatever, and have that experience. I think if you can't deliver one of those two, um, it's gonna be very, very challenging to stand out. Right? when I think about Krispy Krunchy, you know, we definitely don't have the am ambiance, at least in the channels we are right now. So how do we deliver to where it's easy, it's consistent, and it's like, Hey, I'm just, I just need something fast that I know is gonna be good and it's gonna be here on time.
[00:36:46] I'm not gonna have to hassle with it. That's where I think our sweet spot is, Sid.
[00:36:50] Sid: Yeah.
[00:36:51] Joe: There's concepts out there that you think about, um, that. Um, you know, you go to for that, for that ambiance and that experience, uh, that are doing just as well. So, but, but kind of in the middle is, uh, like, uh, like Mr.
[00:37:03] Miyagi said, and karate kid, you know, squished just like grape or whatever, you know, you gotta be on one or the other. In my opinion.
[00:37:10] Sid: There's a lot of other changes that are happening with AI and robotics and new technologies coming into the restaurant space. And you look at what's going on now, what are your thoughts on that and, you know, how do you think that's gonna change the world of hospitality?
[00:37:26] Joe: I think there's gonna be a lot of opportunity, um, at least, at least for certain guests that embrace that you know, robotics, automation, kiosks, things like that, for that consistency that, you know, gimme the reliable, consistent, easy button. Um. Where we are going with AI is, is really on building, building, uh, consistency in, in how we run our business, right? So we really haven't necessarily got into robotics. Our operators, some of them have tested kiosks, for example. It's really hard to fit a kiosk into a, an into a c-store with all of the other
[00:38:03] Sid: Right.
[00:38:04] Joe: this point.
[00:38:04] But look, I, I, I would not be surprised, um. I would not be surprised by anything. I, I get a, a daily feed of an AI and robotics newsletter. there are things going on outside of our industry that would just blow your mind if you're not aware of it. That's happening with AI and robotics. So, um, so, so right now I would not be surprised by anything.
[00:38:25] I think it's gonna make a huge difference. I think we'll still have on that other end of the spectrum folks that, uh. They want to be served by a human being in a fine dining restaurant or a,
[00:38:34] Sid: Yeah.
[00:38:35] Joe: out with your, your significant other. So, um, I think really embracing and testing, you know, uh, AI and robotics, you know, where it makes sense and where your guest accept accepts it.
[00:38:45] I mean, I mean, think about the, uh, think about guest, uh, guest complaints. Guest feedback, right? There are a lot of companies out there that, that don't have humans involved in that at all. Right? The technology has just advanced so much. So you're calling in to. A complaint line and you're talking to a machine, right?
[00:39:03] And, and, and most folks don't even realize that. So, um, sky's the limit. I'm very, uh, I'm very bullish on AI and robotics. Um, but again, testing, testing, testing.
[00:39:14] Sid: Yeah. Yeah. As, as you look into the future, uh, and you look at where the industry is going, we're in, you know, there's no question we're in very exciting times, what does the future look like? Any, any bets that you are, you're making, and what does a consumer of tomorrow look like?
[00:39:32] Joe: I really think the consumer of the future, it's almost like the Jetsons, right?
[00:39:35] It's like, it's, it's easy, press a button or, or, or, or speaking to Siri or what have you, and everything is there. And then, hey, it's Friday night. Um, I've had a hectic week. I want to go out and, and, and get hospitality. I just think it's gonna accelerate Sid, and, and I don't know what that split's going to be, if it's gonna be, you know, 80 20, 70 30, 90 10, but I just think we're going to continue to get to a place where, I mean, you know, the Jetsons example, if I could get, uh, my Chipotle order, uh, just by talking to my phone and it just showed up. I didn't even have to go outside, but it was brought into my kitchen. I mean, that would be fantastic, right?
[00:40:13] Sid: Yeah.
[00:40:13] Joe: see that happening in the next, few years. But I still want to take my wife out to dinner on the weekend and just sit around for a couple hours and have cocktails and a nice dinner and be, be served by a polite, uh, you know, person giving great hospitality.
[00:40:28] Sid: Love it. No, I agree with you. I mean, look, there's gonna be a lot of changes in the future, but I think one thing which will be true, which is the basics, right? food, big smile.
[00:40:41] Joe: Mm-hmm.
[00:40:41] Sid: special and enjoying a meal with a loved one. Right? What's interesting is this is, um, our second recording for the season, and Jetsons have been brought up on both episodes so far, uh, and not starting by me.
[00:40:54] So that's pretty funny that, uh, that, that you bring the Jetsons up too, but a hundred percent appropriate and you know, the way things are going, that might not be too far off. Right? Um, as you look at. The future for Krispy Krunchy, what do we have to look forward to? What, what can we expect, uh, with the brand?
[00:41:15] Joe: You know, I think, uh, we've talked about diversification, uh, in channels. You'll, you'll start to see us in places that. You know, wow. Didn't even, didn't even realize that, uh, Krispy Krunchy could be served here or under this venue. I think
[00:41:29] Sid: Um.
[00:41:29] Joe: see, um, I think you're gonna see us becoming maybe not a leader, maybe not a cutting edge in, in, in digital, um, digital sales, but you're gonna see us have a presence that we, we've never had.
[00:41:41] And again, that's, that's already started. And I, I think it's just really thinking about, um. You know, how do we scale this, this brand globally, right? So there's all the channels in the us, uh, pretty, pretty hard. pretty hard to do fresh chicken, uh, uh, starting up. In a lot of countries, but we're trying to figure out how to do that.
[00:42:02] So, so a global presence. I, I just don't think that there's, I don't think we have a lot of limits as to channels or countries or, or, or, or platforms. So really doubling down, making it easy for the consumer, making it easy for our operator. Um, and then, and then, who knows, maybe, maybe at some point we will have our own restaurants, but, uh, that's definitely not on the table today.
[00:42:24] But, but I would not rule that out for, for a long-term plan.
[00:42:28] Sid: That sounds great. Well, congratulations to you and the entire team on your success so far, and I, I wish you all the very best and I'm, forward to seeing more of Krispy Krunchy, so, uh, that's something for me to look forward to. Um, in terms of, um, advice for folks in our audience who are listening in, uh, what advice would you give those leaders? In terms of how they can make an impact with the brands that they're serving, uh, and how to be better at serving the customer and offering a great experience. I.
[00:43:02] Joe: I guess the simple answer to that, Sid, would be, uh, just make sure you're constantly listening and measuring and having humility in what you're hearing. I've seen brands that, uh. um, you know, they lose sight of, uh, of, of what the consumer changing preferences are they say, well, it's worked this way for x number of years.
[00:43:21] So just, just listening, measuring, being willing to change, being willing to say, Hey, what worked yesterday doesn't work today. that, that would be, that would be the number one. And, and that's just really based upon history. Being with brands that, you know, um, you know, in, in the past where I thought, wow, we're, we're gonna, we're gonna be an industry leader forever.
[00:43:40] And, and you know, that change, that can change quickly.
[00:43:42] Sid: Humility is a, is a word that you don't always hear, but it's one of the most powerful, I guess, personal principles that can help you grow and, and. I guess be in the habit of listening, right?
[00:43:54] So, uh, thank you for that. For, for folks in our audience who wanna look you up and, and learn more about Krispy Krunchy, where can they, where can they find you?
[00:44:02] Joe: They could find me on LinkedIn uh, KrispyKrunchy.com
[00:44:08] Sid: Perfect. Once again, Joe, thank you so much for being on the show. I really enjoyed our conversation and I really appreciate you taking the time. For all those in our audience, thank you so much for joining us, and I'll see you on the next episode of Elevating Brick and Mortar.
[00:44:21] music transition
[00:44:22] Well, that was Joe Gordon, chief Supply Chain and Technology Officer at Krispy Krunchy Chicken. Krispy Krunchy Chicken, doesn't have their own locations. Their entire model is built on providing great food within C stores in a kind of store and store concept. This makes it even more crucial to focus on consistent quality and brand experience.
[00:44:49] Clearly they have done this right 'cause they're in 3,400 locations and growing and are now even the official fried chicken for the Boston Red Sox. What is clear is that Krispy Krunchy chicken is growing fast, and I'm sure you can expect to see a lot more of them around the country. They're showing us that you don't need a storefront to build a national food brand, just the right partners, systems, and brand discipline.
[00:45:17] With that, I'm your host Sid Shetty, and I'll see you on the next episode of Elevating Brick and Mortar.