WEBVTT - Just Salad’s Kenner on Operations, Store Growth

0:00:13.360 --> 0:00:15.680
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Chopping It Up. I'm your host, Mike Allen,

0:00:15.720 --> 0:00:18.760
<v Speaker 1>a senior restaurant and food service analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence.

0:00:19.400 --> 0:00:22.079
<v Speaker 1>Our research and that a bi's five hundred analysts around

0:00:22.079 --> 0:00:24.919
<v Speaker 1>the globe can be found exclusively on the Bloomberg terminal.

0:00:25.360 --> 0:00:27.120
<v Speaker 1>If you enjoy the pod, I'd love it if you

0:00:27.120 --> 0:00:30.000
<v Speaker 1>could leave us a review on Apple or Spotify. Today

0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:33.640
<v Speaker 1>we're joined by Nick Kenner, founder and CEO of Just Salad.

0:00:34.040 --> 0:00:35.519
<v Speaker 1>Thanks for joining me, Nick.

0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:38.120
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, thanks for having me. Mike appreciate it.

0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:39.720
<v Speaker 1>So are you a native New Yorker?

0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:40.720
<v Speaker 2>Yes?

0:00:41.080 --> 0:00:44.000
<v Speaker 1>Are you No, I'm Jersey. I'm a Jersey guy man.

0:00:44.159 --> 0:00:47.400
<v Speaker 1>So I saw that your office is actually right down

0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:52.080
<v Speaker 1>the street from our Bloomberg's New York flagship. And I

0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:55.120
<v Speaker 1>saw that you went to Colgate, So I thought, maybe

0:00:55.160 --> 0:00:55.440
<v Speaker 1>you know.

0:00:56.280 --> 0:00:59.120
<v Speaker 2>Having strayed too far from New York City in life,

0:00:59.200 --> 0:01:02.240
<v Speaker 2>so actually one of my bigger personal regrets. But I

0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:03.520
<v Speaker 2>do love it.

0:01:04.400 --> 0:01:07.280
<v Speaker 1>Okay, So you grew up in the city I grew Yeah, I.

0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:13.600
<v Speaker 2>Grew up downtown in Greenwich Village and yeah, went to Colgate, graduated,

0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:19.600
<v Speaker 2>came back, got a job in finance, quit started Just Salad,

0:01:19.640 --> 0:01:22.240
<v Speaker 2>and I've been in New York City ever since.

0:01:22.760 --> 0:01:25.720
<v Speaker 1>A very cool So what inspired you to start just salad?

0:01:26.280 --> 0:01:30.680
<v Speaker 2>Well, the first thing was actually to answer a question directly. Actually,

0:01:30.720 --> 0:01:35.880
<v Speaker 2>in some ways it was seamless web. I was twenty four,

0:01:36.360 --> 0:01:40.080
<v Speaker 2>was my turn to order lunch for the entire trading floor,

0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:45.399
<v Speaker 2>and everyone wanted a salad and I went on to

0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:48.200
<v Speaker 2>and no one was specific about where it was from. Right,

0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:50.800
<v Speaker 2>these were the days where there was no one in

0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:55.760
<v Speaker 2>midtown specializing in salad, and so people were getting salads

0:01:55.800 --> 0:01:59.480
<v Speaker 2>from a suit place called Hale and Hardy from places

0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:03.120
<v Speaker 2>like packs Metro, and of course when everyone got them,

0:02:03.200 --> 0:02:09.440
<v Speaker 2>people would complain about the quality and the options. And

0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:12.320
<v Speaker 2>so that was kind of an epiphany moment where if

0:02:12.400 --> 0:02:14.919
<v Speaker 2>someone I realized, if someone just did salad, but did

0:02:14.960 --> 0:02:19.280
<v Speaker 2>it really well and specialized, there could be a big opportunity,

0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:21.320
<v Speaker 2>not just in New York City, but you know nationally

0:02:21.400 --> 0:02:21.760
<v Speaker 2>as well.

0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:23.000
<v Speaker 1>What did you trade?

0:02:23.560 --> 0:02:25.480
<v Speaker 2>I was moved all over the place. It was kind

0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:27.240
<v Speaker 2>of a I was working at a hedge fund, and

0:02:27.280 --> 0:02:29.480
<v Speaker 2>as people would get fired, they would put me as

0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:34.560
<v Speaker 2>an assistant to going from the consumer retail analysts to

0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:39.200
<v Speaker 2>a person running the syndicate desk. Eventually I ended up

0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:43.480
<v Speaker 2>working for a great guy named Peter Jepson doing you know,

0:02:43.520 --> 0:02:46.360
<v Speaker 2>handling the helping him handle the macroeconomic book.

0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:49.480
<v Speaker 1>Okay, cool, Yeah, I was an equity pop prop trader

0:02:50.320 --> 0:02:54.320
<v Speaker 1>in a previous life. And about the salads, man, we

0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:59.800
<v Speaker 1>used to I worked at Sadodi covering restaurants prior to Bloomberg.

0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:02.560
<v Speaker 1>I guess it was early twenty teens, and we actually

0:03:02.600 --> 0:03:05.360
<v Speaker 1>had a salad spot that we found on Lexington. It

0:03:05.400 --> 0:03:09.000
<v Speaker 1>was like maybe around the high forties, I guess maybe

0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:11.920
<v Speaker 1>forty eighth and lex And they did a great salad

0:03:11.919 --> 0:03:14.200
<v Speaker 1>and we were there almost every day for five dollars

0:03:14.240 --> 0:03:16.320
<v Speaker 1>and fifty cents. They would pack that thing with so

0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:19.720
<v Speaker 1>much protein, you know, and me and my friends were

0:03:19.760 --> 0:03:22.320
<v Speaker 1>there probably four days a week, maybe you know, Fridays

0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:24.840
<v Speaker 1>we would treat ourselves to something a little bit nicer.

0:03:24.880 --> 0:03:29.400
<v Speaker 2>But if Fridays or the weekdays for most salads in general,

0:03:29.480 --> 0:03:33.400
<v Speaker 2>it's it's a pizza and Burger's thrive on Fridays for sure.

0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:36.200
<v Speaker 1>Man. So I'm assuming at some point the menu was

0:03:36.360 --> 0:03:37.840
<v Speaker 1>in fact just salad.

0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:41.920
<v Speaker 2>Yes, yes, when we started it was it was just salad.

0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:47.440
<v Speaker 2>And then yeah, we started with a reusable bowl program.

0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:52.720
<v Speaker 2>Actually we were only selling salads in reusable bulls. Then

0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:57.920
<v Speaker 2>we realized two things. One people wanted more than salad

0:03:58.000 --> 0:04:01.680
<v Speaker 2>from us. They wanted things that were healthy, fast and affordable.

0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:05.119
<v Speaker 2>And not everyone want was going to reuse their bull

0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:08.120
<v Speaker 2>and so people were throwing those out. So about a

0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:15.040
<v Speaker 2>year in we quickly pivoted. We added wraps, and we

0:04:15.280 --> 0:04:19.400
<v Speaker 2>started to have disposable bowls as well to accommodate those

0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:22.800
<v Speaker 2>that we're not going to reuse. And today, I mean,

0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:26.960
<v Speaker 2>now it's the menu. Is it's ironic given the name

0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:31.560
<v Speaker 2>because we're probably more diversified in health than anyone in

0:04:31.600 --> 0:04:35.440
<v Speaker 2>the salad category. We sell smoothies, we sell warm bowls,

0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:39.720
<v Speaker 2>we sell wraps, soup, and we just introduced something called

0:04:39.760 --> 0:04:43.560
<v Speaker 2>marketplates a couple of weeks ago. So we're really anything

0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:48.279
<v Speaker 2>where we feel we can create a great culinary product

0:04:48.480 --> 0:04:54.520
<v Speaker 2>that's fast and healthy and affordable, we're gonna try and do. So.

0:04:54.560 --> 0:04:57.479
<v Speaker 1>How many restaurants are there currently, and what's a split

0:04:57.520 --> 0:04:59.640
<v Speaker 1>between your company owned and franchise units.

0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:04.719
<v Speaker 2>So we're virtually all company owned, and I mean we

0:05:04.800 --> 0:05:10.880
<v Speaker 2>have three that are franchised out of ninety eight, and

0:05:10.920 --> 0:05:14.560
<v Speaker 2>so we're coming up on one hundred locations, and we're

0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:20.240
<v Speaker 2>all over the northeast, so Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut,

0:05:20.920 --> 0:05:25.479
<v Speaker 2>New York, Long Island. And then we're also got twenty

0:05:25.520 --> 0:05:30.039
<v Speaker 2>five restaurants in Florida everywhere from Orlando down to South Florida,

0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:32.000
<v Speaker 2>Port Saint Luci in between. And then we're in the

0:05:32.080 --> 0:05:33.280
<v Speaker 2>Chicago area as well.

0:05:34.120 --> 0:05:36.279
<v Speaker 1>All Right, So I saw you raised some money recently,

0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:41.320
<v Speaker 1>So should that should that be an indication? Is that

0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:43.919
<v Speaker 1>an indication that you're going to be primarily focused on

0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:45.760
<v Speaker 1>building company owned units going forward?

0:05:45.839 --> 0:05:49.480
<v Speaker 2>Yes, yeah, that's a good rate. Yeah, we're not franchising

0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:53.640
<v Speaker 2>right now, so you know, the capital is meant to

0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:58.320
<v Speaker 2>just continue to accelerate our growth. So we we open

0:05:59.320 --> 0:06:05.040
<v Speaker 2>ten restaurants roughly in twenty twenty three, we open twenty

0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:09.320
<v Speaker 2>restaurants in twenty twenty four, and we'll hopefully open thirty

0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:13.599
<v Speaker 2>restaurants this year, and we'll continue to ramp up a

0:06:13.680 --> 0:06:14.680
<v Speaker 2>company owned growth.

0:06:15.240 --> 0:06:20.120
<v Speaker 1>Okay, cool. This leads me into a few different questions.

0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:22.960
<v Speaker 1>I guess let's start here. How big are the restaurants

0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:24.320
<v Speaker 1>and how much do they cost to build?

0:06:25.080 --> 0:06:28.880
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean the restaurants, it really depends based on

0:06:30.160 --> 0:06:33.240
<v Speaker 2>are they urban, are they suburban, but you know, call

0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:38.839
<v Speaker 2>it roughly two thousand square feet and net build out

0:06:38.839 --> 0:06:41.160
<v Speaker 2>costs are typically around eight hundred and fifty.

0:06:41.000 --> 0:06:45.159
<v Speaker 1>K Okay, is there any other un economic data you'd

0:06:45.160 --> 0:06:47.479
<v Speaker 1>like to share, cash on cash returns, whatever it might be.

0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:51.120
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean, we we've the business model is in

0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:53.839
<v Speaker 2>a very good place. I say that humbly because you

0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:57.200
<v Speaker 2>know it wasn't always the case, but certain in the

0:06:57.279 --> 0:07:01.240
<v Speaker 2>last few years we've hit a lot of goals that

0:07:01.320 --> 0:07:04.520
<v Speaker 2>we've had. One of them was getting above twenty percent

0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:08.280
<v Speaker 2>store lovely bit on margins, which we're significantly above that.

0:07:08.480 --> 0:07:13.400
<v Speaker 2>Now we're above the two million AUV that we'd always wanted.

0:07:13.920 --> 0:07:16.440
<v Speaker 2>And most importantly, these are all like means to an end.

0:07:16.560 --> 0:07:18.520
<v Speaker 2>The most important, like you said, is cash on cash

0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:23.160
<v Speaker 2>return and you know we're typically around forty to fifty

0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:27.680
<v Speaker 2>percent or more on that. So it's been it's been

0:07:27.720 --> 0:07:30.920
<v Speaker 2>a great business the last couple of years, and want

0:07:30.960 --> 0:07:33.000
<v Speaker 2>to continue to keep that going.

0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:36.840
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, strong. What percentage of your new store gms are

0:07:36.840 --> 0:07:40.840
<v Speaker 1>brought in from other existing just sellid restaurants.

0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:46.440
<v Speaker 2>That's a great question. Virtually all our general managers have

0:07:46.680 --> 0:07:53.080
<v Speaker 2>been line level employees, assistant managers or supervisors at existing locations,

0:07:53.080 --> 0:07:56.760
<v Speaker 2>so we have an unbelievable farm team, we call it.

0:07:57.280 --> 0:08:03.560
<v Speaker 2>And we don't hire on the operations level outside general

0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:07.760
<v Speaker 2>managers almost ever. Sometimes there are unique situations in newer

0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:10.600
<v Speaker 2>markets where someone doesn't want to raise a hand and

0:08:10.640 --> 0:08:14.720
<v Speaker 2>move to but that hasn't been an issue in Florida,

0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:20.440
<v Speaker 2>by the way, But typically it's just existing employees who

0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:24.520
<v Speaker 2>see the opportunity. And you know, speaking of Florida, we

0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:26.320
<v Speaker 2>have a husband and wife that had been with us

0:08:26.520 --> 0:08:30.880
<v Speaker 2>in New York for over ten years and they moved

0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:36.520
<v Speaker 2>down to Florida together to run separate locations. Our regional

0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:41.160
<v Speaker 2>director who heads up Florida. She worked with me at

0:08:41.160 --> 0:08:44.520
<v Speaker 2>our second location in a basement, doing all of the

0:08:44.559 --> 0:08:49.880
<v Speaker 2>deliveries for Midtown together. She ended up actually moving to

0:08:49.960 --> 0:08:55.320
<v Speaker 2>Florida year to ahead of just salad working at a

0:08:55.440 --> 0:08:58.720
<v Speaker 2>Chase Bank, and then when we moved there, she raised

0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:00.800
<v Speaker 2>her hand and now she's our regional director, which has

0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:03.880
<v Speaker 2>been pretty pretty amazing journey for both of us there.

0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:07.520
<v Speaker 2>So yeah, I mean, we really on the operation side,

0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:10.480
<v Speaker 2>we want our employees to see the growth, to see

0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:13.239
<v Speaker 2>the opportunity, and I think it can be somewhat discouraging

0:09:13.320 --> 0:09:18.400
<v Speaker 2>when you're bringing in people from the outside with quote

0:09:18.440 --> 0:09:21.640
<v Speaker 2>unquote great resumes, right Starbucks, Chipotle, whatever it might be,

0:09:22.160 --> 0:09:24.600
<v Speaker 2>and putting them over people that have been busting their

0:09:24.600 --> 0:09:29.640
<v Speaker 2>butt at your company for years. That's something we've really

0:09:29.640 --> 0:09:30.360
<v Speaker 2>tried to avoid.

0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:32.680
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, that's great, and it keeps the culture intact.

0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:35.679
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and culture is a big part of operations for us.

0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:40.880
<v Speaker 2>We have something called the three c's, so every location,

0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:44.360
<v Speaker 2>every employees trained on it. It starts with the culture,

0:09:44.600 --> 0:09:49.199
<v Speaker 2>creating a culture of positivity, opportunity, and growth, and then

0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:52.599
<v Speaker 2>it leads to connection with the customers. We want to

0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:55.800
<v Speaker 2>connect with every guest that comes through, and we want

0:09:55.800 --> 0:10:02.000
<v Speaker 2>to have consistency, consistency of product and consistently see of hospitality.

0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:03.240
<v Speaker 1>Wh's a core customer.

0:10:03.720 --> 0:10:06.280
<v Speaker 2>There is no core customer for Jess Salad. It is

0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:08.880
<v Speaker 2>a extraordinarily broad customer.

0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:10.120
<v Speaker 1>We have.

0:10:11.360 --> 0:10:18.360
<v Speaker 2>Really we have locations in Midtown, New York, We're in Harlem,

0:10:18.360 --> 0:10:22.160
<v Speaker 2>We're in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. You know we're in these are

0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:25.000
<v Speaker 2>these are radically different demos from each other. Then and

0:10:25.080 --> 0:10:27.040
<v Speaker 2>even in Florida, you know, we'll be in Brickle but

0:10:27.080 --> 0:10:32.120
<v Speaker 2>we'll be in Port Saint Lucy or Pembroke Pines. So

0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:36.319
<v Speaker 2>you know, Pembroke Pines, the average household income is about

0:10:36.880 --> 0:10:41.160
<v Speaker 2>high seventies equal to US household income. Brickles off the charts.

0:10:41.440 --> 0:10:48.920
<v Speaker 2>It worked for really anyone that's middle income, upper income,

0:10:49.280 --> 0:10:52.320
<v Speaker 2>and even lower middle income. I think there's just a

0:10:52.520 --> 0:10:57.280
<v Speaker 2>giant desire in this country to have healthy food that

0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:01.600
<v Speaker 2>tastes great, that's actually affordable, and I think we're delivering

0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:03.839
<v Speaker 2>on that better than anyone col Do you.

0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:07.600
<v Speaker 1>Think that's a bigger opportunity maybe on the coasts than

0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:08.720
<v Speaker 1>it is in Middle America?

0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:12.679
<v Speaker 2>No, I mean, I think we're kind of seeing from

0:11:12.920 --> 0:11:15.880
<v Speaker 2>the average household income in the markets that we exist

0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:21.680
<v Speaker 2>in the Northeast and Florida that there's a huge opportunity

0:11:22.360 --> 0:11:26.439
<v Speaker 2>all over the country. And so you know you're you're

0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:28.200
<v Speaker 2>going to see that in our site selection in the

0:11:28.200 --> 0:11:29.200
<v Speaker 2>coming years as well.

0:11:29.920 --> 0:11:31.480
<v Speaker 1>What's the split between lunch and dinner?

0:11:32.320 --> 0:11:35.320
<v Speaker 2>So suburbs it's about sixty forty in favor of lunch,

0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:38.440
<v Speaker 2>and then although that is that is changing with the

0:11:38.480 --> 0:11:41.800
<v Speaker 2>release of the marketplates, our dinner's actually going up pretty significantly,

0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:46.600
<v Speaker 2>and urban's like anywhere from seventy or eighty percent. Lunch

0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:49.720
<v Speaker 2>just is a lot of a lot of these areas

0:11:49.720 --> 0:11:50.959
<v Speaker 2>empty out at night.

0:11:51.559 --> 0:11:54.280
<v Speaker 1>Okay, I see you're getting into the drive through game

0:11:54.360 --> 0:11:57.479
<v Speaker 1>this year. Are you having any issues finding good locations,

0:11:57.559 --> 0:12:01.360
<v Speaker 1>be it drive through or traditional in how many restaurants

0:12:01.360 --> 0:12:04.080
<v Speaker 1>and would you say about thirty ish or so this year?

0:12:04.200 --> 0:12:08.280
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, So we'll open around thirty restaurants this year, about

0:12:08.320 --> 0:12:12.440
<v Speaker 2>one or two we'll be drive throughs. Drive through real

0:12:12.559 --> 0:12:16.200
<v Speaker 2>estate's impossible to get in the markets we operate, so

0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:19.160
<v Speaker 2>it's certainly not a need to have, but if there

0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:21.520
<v Speaker 2>is a good opportunity, we'll do it. And we're not

0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:25.440
<v Speaker 2>doing pick up lanes like at Chipotle. We're doing actual

0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:29.880
<v Speaker 2>drive through lanes where you can point and shoot and

0:12:29.920 --> 0:12:31.680
<v Speaker 2>get what you want at that time. You don't have

0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:34.240
<v Speaker 2>to download our app or anything like that. And so

0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:37.920
<v Speaker 2>we think that's a huge part of disrupting fast food

0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:41.400
<v Speaker 2>is doing drive through and doing it well. And so

0:12:41.559 --> 0:12:43.760
<v Speaker 2>far we've had a great experience. We open our first

0:12:43.800 --> 0:12:46.200
<v Speaker 2>one in Livingston, New Jersey. The drive through is doing

0:12:46.400 --> 0:12:49.679
<v Speaker 2>really well for us, and they'll be There'll be more

0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:51.319
<v Speaker 2>on the way when there's opportunities.

0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:54.439
<v Speaker 1>All right, So that's it. There's two near me. I

0:12:54.520 --> 0:12:56.719
<v Speaker 1>have not been yet, but there's a Clifton location and

0:12:57.200 --> 0:12:59.040
<v Speaker 1>Livingston location for mail have.

0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:01.599
<v Speaker 2>Come come on check it. I mean, where are you

0:13:01.720 --> 0:13:02.200
<v Speaker 2>in Jersey?

0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:05.800
<v Speaker 1>I live in Verona, New Jersey, right next to Moncley.

0:13:05.800 --> 0:13:09.880
<v Speaker 2>Okay, yeah, that's well, we'll try and get closer to

0:13:09.920 --> 0:13:10.199
<v Speaker 2>you then.

0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:14.800
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, so when I'm out running my errands on Saturday,

0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:18.520
<v Speaker 1>I'll swing by the Livingston drive through. How are you

0:13:18.520 --> 0:13:20.560
<v Speaker 1>looking to drive Seamstar sales growth this year?

0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:25.240
<v Speaker 2>Good question. I mean, we were coming off double digit

0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:29.280
<v Speaker 2>same store sales since twenty eighteen with the exception of

0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:33.680
<v Speaker 2>COVID twenty twenty, and unfortunately, I could say with confidence

0:13:33.720 --> 0:13:36.319
<v Speaker 2>this year very unlikely. It's going to be double digits

0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:43.200
<v Speaker 2>this year. It's certainly a harder consumer environment, and I

0:13:43.240 --> 0:13:48.839
<v Speaker 2>think there's been dramatic tailwinds to just salad and the category,

0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:53.520
<v Speaker 2>and I think it's a little more of a market

0:13:53.520 --> 0:13:56.120
<v Speaker 2>share game this year because they're just you know, doesn't

0:13:56.160 --> 0:14:02.160
<v Speaker 2>seem to be the consumers. Seems like it's tightening a

0:14:02.160 --> 0:14:06.320
<v Speaker 2>little bit. So with that, you know, we're launching our

0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:10.720
<v Speaker 2>Loyalty this summer. That's gonna be a big part of

0:14:11.720 --> 0:14:15.120
<v Speaker 2>Q three, Q four and and the future, and it'll

0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:20.440
<v Speaker 2>be offering instant rewards to our customer and some other

0:14:21.600 --> 0:14:26.240
<v Speaker 2>at this point confidential, but really fun, amazing gifts for

0:14:26.400 --> 0:14:30.280
<v Speaker 2>our customers. And then marketplaces has been a big boon

0:14:30.360 --> 0:14:32.720
<v Speaker 2>that's going to have tailwinds. So we only released that

0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:40.520
<v Speaker 2>about three weeks ago, it's already besides salads, our biggest category,

0:14:41.480 --> 0:14:44.040
<v Speaker 2>and people the feedback has been amazing in a lot

0:14:44.080 --> 0:14:45.840
<v Speaker 2>of ways. I think it's our one of our best

0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:48.640
<v Speaker 2>culinary products we've ever put forth, and I think that

0:14:48.720 --> 0:14:51.560
<v Speaker 2>will create a new occasion for customers who come to

0:14:51.640 --> 0:14:54.720
<v Speaker 2>us for salad but might want something heartier at night

0:14:54.800 --> 0:14:57.760
<v Speaker 2>or on weekends, and I think that should help drive

0:14:57.800 --> 0:15:01.560
<v Speaker 2>sales uh there as well. And then there's the general look.

0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:04.360
<v Speaker 2>We're in the restaurant business. The food's got to continually

0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:07.400
<v Speaker 2>get better and it's hard to define, but when it

0:15:07.480 --> 0:15:10.360
<v Speaker 2>gets better, you get more customers. And so there's constant

0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:14.280
<v Speaker 2>culinary innovation that's happening all the time, including this year.

0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:19.040
<v Speaker 1>Obviously, commodity prices have been swinging around with a lot

0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:23.360
<v Speaker 1>of the tariff news and headlines, and so I guess

0:15:23.400 --> 0:15:26.600
<v Speaker 1>how much inflation are you expecting at right now for

0:15:26.680 --> 0:15:28.960
<v Speaker 1>the year, and how much price do you intend to take?

0:15:29.160 --> 0:15:32.320
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, impossible to say. No one knows where this ends up.

0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:39.000
<v Speaker 2>If it ended up where it is today, not much.

0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:42.560
<v Speaker 2>All our food pretty much comes from America, with the

0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:49.080
<v Speaker 2>exception of Mexican avocados, where Canadian and Mexican agriculture are

0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:52.280
<v Speaker 2>excluded from the terrorists as of now. So on the

0:15:52.320 --> 0:15:58.080
<v Speaker 2>food side, not much. There could be significant packaging costs

0:15:58.640 --> 0:16:04.320
<v Speaker 2>and significant cost to kitchen equipment, and it's too hard

0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:09.880
<v Speaker 2>to know. Ultimately, Look, if it looks like it's truly

0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:14.160
<v Speaker 2>affecting our margins, we will, you know, have to take price.

0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:16.840
<v Speaker 2>But I don't think at this point it's it's it's

0:16:17.120 --> 0:16:19.160
<v Speaker 2>it's too hard to know what that actual effect is.

0:16:19.320 --> 0:16:21.160
<v Speaker 1>What was your plan for price coming into the year.

0:16:23.160 --> 0:16:25.160
<v Speaker 1>All right, good stuff? So when I when I pull

0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:27.160
<v Speaker 1>up to the drive through Saturday, what should I order?

0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:30.040
<v Speaker 2>Well, I gotta know a little bit more about you, Mike,

0:16:30.320 --> 0:16:34.640
<v Speaker 2>So are you do you like chicken? Are you vegan?

0:16:34.680 --> 0:16:36.640
<v Speaker 2>Do you like spicy? So?

0:16:36.720 --> 0:16:39.600
<v Speaker 1>I like spicy, I like chicken. You know I like steak.

0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:41.320
<v Speaker 1>You know, protein's big, I.

0:16:41.320 --> 0:16:44.640
<v Speaker 2>Would say so. The crispy chicken peblano is always a

0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:48.240
<v Speaker 2>crowd pleaser. That's a salad. The spicy chicken sees a

0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:51.320
<v Speaker 2>wrap might be up your alley. And if you're looking

0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:56.240
<v Speaker 2>for something hardier and you don't want a salad, the

0:16:56.320 --> 0:16:59.560
<v Speaker 2>Tazeki market plate pro tip with like a little siracha

0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:03.800
<v Speaker 2>on the yok cucumber is pretty amazing. So those are

0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:05.040
<v Speaker 2>my favorites right now.

0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:09.640
<v Speaker 1>Those all sound fantastic. What's your personal favorite? Number one

0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:10.760
<v Speaker 1>go to order?

0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:14.320
<v Speaker 2>I eat it four times a week, so at this

0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:17.080
<v Speaker 2>point there is I have to mix it up. But

0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:21.840
<v Speaker 2>right now I've been odeing on the marketplates, either the

0:17:21.880 --> 0:17:25.439
<v Speaker 2>Pesto or the Tazeki my all time in terms of

0:17:25.440 --> 0:17:27.359
<v Speaker 2>what I've ordered the most itch just out. The Tokyo

0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:31.960
<v Speaker 2>super Greens is an amazing one. And the Crispy Chicken Peblano,

0:17:32.280 --> 0:17:34.400
<v Speaker 2>I don't do Krispy chickens. I sub that out for

0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:38.000
<v Speaker 2>our braised chicken, which my opinion is the best chicken

0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:40.280
<v Speaker 2>in all of fast casual or fast food is amazing.

0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:42.880
<v Speaker 2>That's that's what gets me excited.

0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:44.800
<v Speaker 1>All right, good stuff, You gave me a few things

0:17:44.800 --> 0:17:47.639
<v Speaker 1>to try. That pesto is right on my alley too, man,

0:17:47.720 --> 0:17:49.280
<v Speaker 1>so I think you're gonna have to try that one.

0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:51.240
<v Speaker 1>This was great, Thanks again for doing it.

0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:53.560
<v Speaker 2>Nick. Was nice to meet you. Yeah, nice to meet

0:17:53.600 --> 0:17:56.159
<v Speaker 2>you and appreciate you having me on.

0:17:57.000 --> 0:17:59.920
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, you got it. Where can listeners go to find

0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:02.159
<v Speaker 1>their nearest Just salad?

0:18:02.200 --> 0:18:06.080
<v Speaker 2>Just go to just salid dot com and click on

0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:08.680
<v Speaker 2>the order now now I'm kidding, it's just salad dot

0:18:08.720 --> 0:18:12.200
<v Speaker 2>com and you can click on locations and it'll show

0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:13.680
<v Speaker 2>show you what's closest.

0:18:14.359 --> 0:18:17.120
<v Speaker 1>All right, great? And uh, which social media channels are

0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:17.520
<v Speaker 1>you big on?

0:18:18.440 --> 0:18:23.240
<v Speaker 2>We have an actress salad At on Instagram and uh,

0:18:23.520 --> 0:18:26.600
<v Speaker 2>you know, we have a LinkedIn profile, but Instagram is

0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:27.680
<v Speaker 2>the best place to find us.

0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:29.919
<v Speaker 1>All right, good stuff. I also want to thank the

0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:32.280
<v Speaker 1>audience for tuning in. If you like the discussion, please

0:18:32.280 --> 0:18:34.760
<v Speaker 1>share it with your friends and colleagues. Check back soon

0:18:34.840 --> 0:18:38.120
<v Speaker 1>for an interview with Vishal Augerwal, the founder and CEO

0:18:38.359 --> 0:18:39.080
<v Speaker 1>of Checkmate