WEBVTT - ezCater CEO Nihad Rahman Talks Workplace Catering

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

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<v Speaker 2>One of the other benefits that we have working here

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<v Speaker 2>at Bloomberg is a ton of food. If you've been

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<v Speaker 2>to our food court up on the sixth floor, you

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<v Speaker 2>know that we have as many snacks as you could

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<v Speaker 2>possibly eat.

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<v Speaker 3>There is fruit tossed in there though, to be a

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<v Speaker 3>lot of.

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<v Speaker 2>Fresh fruit, delicious yogurts, and food. Workplace food is becoming

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<v Speaker 2>no longer a nice to have, But I must have

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<v Speaker 2>to bring in the kind of workforce that you need,

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<v Speaker 2>and our next guest is in charge of doing that.

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<v Speaker 1>On a B to B level.

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<v Speaker 2>Nihat Raman joins, a CEO of Easy cater Great to

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<v Speaker 2>have you in here, also a fellow Westchester resident.

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<v Speaker 1>Talk to us about your business.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, how many businesses, how many universities, how many

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<v Speaker 2>organizations are you bringing food to every day a lunch?

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah? At the highest level, Matt, we help organizations feed

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<v Speaker 4>their people at their workplaces. And workplaces can be office buildings, warehouses,

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<v Speaker 4>distribution centers, universities, labs, even sports teams when they're on

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<v Speaker 4>the road and food. You said it so well. Food

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<v Speaker 4>is so central to the workday, to the workplace culture.

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<v Speaker 4>You know, I'm often reminded what our customers often remind us.

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<v Speaker 4>They say, food is the highest ROI investment that they

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<v Speaker 4>can make for their employees. It boosts morale, productivity, it

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<v Speaker 4>helps you build culture, bring people together. And so, by

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<v Speaker 4>the way, food at the workplace is deceptively complex. I mean,

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<v Speaker 4>imagine if you were standing at a factory floor having

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<v Speaker 4>to feed three hundred workers in a twenty minute lunch break.

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<v Speaker 4>Food has to show up on time as ordered, every

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<v Speaker 4>minute counts at or under budget. Sort of a logistically

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<v Speaker 4>complex operation. And our customers often remind us the cafeteria

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<v Speaker 4>was built for a different era, and people love restaurant food,

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<v Speaker 4>and people and businesses want to actually help the local restaurants,

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<v Speaker 4>and so at Easy cater that's what we do. We

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<v Speaker 4>embed directly with our customers, like those universities, like those

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<v Speaker 4>large employers across the nation. We connect them with one

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<v Speaker 4>hundred and twenty five thousand restaurants across the US and

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<v Speaker 4>we build meal programs for them.

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<v Speaker 3>Okay, so ah, I didn't realize this.

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<v Speaker 1>So you're not.

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<v Speaker 3>You don't run the kitchens close to your clients and

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<v Speaker 3>you're making the food yourselves. You are contracting with restaurants

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<v Speaker 3>in the area to supply the food.

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<v Speaker 1>That's right.

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<v Speaker 4>So we're we are a technology platform. We're connecting the

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<v Speaker 4>employers who want to bring food in for their employees

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<v Speaker 4>with these restaurants, and we're really making it easy for them.

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<v Speaker 4>So we're embedding with their procurement systems, We're embedding with

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<v Speaker 4>their expensing systems. We're allowing them to bring in food

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<v Speaker 4>in a controlled, structured way. I mean, if you think

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<v Speaker 4>about it, food at the workplace can get pretty chaotic, right,

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<v Speaker 4>multiple vendors, how do you expense? Who wants to eat

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<v Speaker 4>wat everybody has a point of view on food. So

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<v Speaker 4>a structured way to do this is essential. That's what

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<v Speaker 4>our customers say. You know, there's no chief food officer, right,

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<v Speaker 4>but there's a way you want to do it. And

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<v Speaker 4>so that's where we bring structure. That's where we bring

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<v Speaker 4>our technology. And turns out that when you've done it

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<v Speaker 4>for over fifteen years, you've learned how to do it

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<v Speaker 4>really well.

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<v Speaker 2>It also can be a productivity tool, right because I

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<v Speaker 2>don't know why we have so much food at Bloomberg,

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<v Speaker 2>but it has been suggested to me that the boss

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<v Speaker 2>didn't want everybody leaving the office for an hour every

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<v Speaker 2>day at lunch. Better if you just go up to

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<v Speaker 2>the link, grab your lunch, and come back to your desk,

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<v Speaker 2>then you can get straight back to work, right, I

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<v Speaker 2>mean cafeterias. We're really a different generation. That's not something

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<v Speaker 2>that financial institutions in New York really have so much

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<v Speaker 2>of anymore. So having a business like yours that can

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<v Speaker 2>deliver to me what five guys I can get, like

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<v Speaker 2>pizza Hut I can get whatever, even local restaurants that

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<v Speaker 2>are only downstairs, really solves two problems With one stone,

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<v Speaker 2>you're helping the local economy and you're helping increase productivity

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<v Speaker 2>at the business.

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<v Speaker 4>And for another thing, I would say, mad is I

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<v Speaker 4>think people are looking for a technology asset like way

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<v Speaker 4>to do this versus a heavy, acid intensive, you know,

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<v Speaker 4>logistically challenging way where variety is not really there. You're

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<v Speaker 4>not helping the local economy. So yeah, you said it,

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<v Speaker 4>well said it better than I did.

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<v Speaker 3>Do you have proprietary technology that's helping you do this

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<v Speaker 3>and give us a feel for what that tech is.

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<v Speaker 4>Like, proprietary data, proprietary technology that has been perfected over

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<v Speaker 4>fifteen years now or more than fifteen years. We were

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<v Speaker 4>founded in two thousand and seven. And you know, I

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<v Speaker 4>think one of the things that lexis is everyone does

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<v Speaker 4>food differently. What's most important for FedEx is different from

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<v Speaker 4>Johns Hopkins. And we have built a set of tools

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<v Speaker 4>that enable these organizations to pick the things that's most

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<v Speaker 4>important for them, whether it be technology, access, governance, guardrails,

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<v Speaker 4>budgets and create the program around it and then switch

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<v Speaker 4>it on. And then they trust us to really do

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<v Speaker 4>this at scale across the nation.

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<v Speaker 1>So give us your origin story or the easy cater

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<v Speaker 1>origin story. And did you.

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<v Speaker 2>Bootstrap this business? It's grown to an institutional size now

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<v Speaker 2>and how do you finance?

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<v Speaker 1>How do you fund this business? And what's the growth

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<v Speaker 1>look like to you?

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<v Speaker 4>Our co founders Stefan Mlt and Brisco Rodgers really saw

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<v Speaker 4>this well before a lot of us, you know, a

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<v Speaker 4>lot of us saw it, and they really started from

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<v Speaker 4>a place of sales representatives would bring in food to

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<v Speaker 4>prospects and clients, but they wanted to sell the product,

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<v Speaker 4>wanted to talk about what it is you know that

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<v Speaker 4>they were selling, not deal with food. And so that

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<v Speaker 4>was the original use case through which this started, and

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<v Speaker 4>it was growing spectacularly well. COVID did a number on us.

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<v Speaker 4>And you know, it turns out that business catering was

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<v Speaker 4>one of those classic businesses that would should die during

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<v Speaker 4>a COVID situation. But we survived and now we're thriving now.

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<v Speaker 3>But let me ask this, Fewer people are going into

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<v Speaker 3>the office post COVID. It just it's a fact. How

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<v Speaker 3>has that impacted your business.

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<v Speaker 4>In the offices? Potentially? Yes, you're right, some of the

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<v Speaker 4>return to work mandates have really I think subsided. But

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<v Speaker 4>in Alexis there's seven out of ten Americans. Six out

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<v Speaker 4>of ten Americans hold positions that required them to be

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<v Speaker 4>at their workplace. Think about the distribution center workers, think

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<v Speaker 4>about transportation, retail, media, universities.

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<v Speaker 3>We're here. We're here all the time. I want a

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<v Speaker 3>number one train in food catering right now for business

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<v Speaker 3>is number one trend.

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<v Speaker 4>Individualized packaged food delivered a scale at a price point

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<v Speaker 4>that matters.

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<v Speaker 3>Individualized.

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<v Speaker 1>Very cool.

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<v Speaker 3>You want a roast beef sandwich?

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<v Speaker 1>I take I'm so hungry.

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<v Speaker 3>I know you are?

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<v Speaker 1>You know me?

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<v Speaker 2>And how are going to go out for something? We're

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<v Speaker 2>gonna go grab some food at Haiku. We're gonna go

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<v Speaker 2>to Westchester. Yeah, we'll go to the to the east

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<v Speaker 2>Chester Haiku. It's two packed, it's too full at all times.

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<v Speaker 1>And haiku is delicious if you've never had before.

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<v Speaker 2>Thanks so much for joining us. He had Ramen there

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<v Speaker 2>from Easy cater