April 21, 2025 • 36 mins
In this episode of The Restaurant Technology Guides podcast, host Jeremy Julian speaks with the founders of Kids Menu, Herman and Chrissy, to discuss their innovative platform aimed at transforming the children’s dining experience. Kids Menu provides restaurants with customizable, entertaining, and on-demand kids menus that capture children's interest, allowing families to have a more pleasant dining experience. They delve into the ease of use of their platform, which is inspired by tools like Canva, and discuss the business impact of engaging kids menus on restaurant revenue. The founders also share their long-term vision, including gamification, loyalty programs, and enhanced community connectivity. This episode offers valuable insights for restaurant operators seeking to enhance family dining experiences.
00:00 Kids Menu
00:52 Introduction and Welcome
01:17 Meet the Founders: Background and Experience
02:12 Introducing KidsMenus.com
04:02 The Problem with Traditional Kids Menus
04:26 How KidsMenus.com Solves the Problem
11:47 Ease of Use and Quick Setup
18:15 Affordability and Market Research
20:44 Impact on Business and Customer Stories
28:44 Legal Risks and Brand Integrity
33:19 Future Vision and Roadmap
35:24 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
This is the RestaurantTechnology Guides podcast,
helping you run your restaurantbetter.
Jeremy Julian (00:15):
In today's episode we are joined by the
founders of Kids Menu.
Kids Menu is reallyrevolutionizing the game as it
relates to producing kids menusand allowing your restaurants to
get kids menus that are unique.
And engage the children at thetable.
They've got a really easy to usesolution that, uh, that the
(00:38):
founders from on and Chrissy gothrough today on the call.
If you don't know me, my name isJeremy Julian.
I am the chief revenue officerfor CBS Northstar.
We sell Northstar point of salefor multi units now onto the
show.
Welcome back to the RestaurantTechnology Guys podcast.
I thank everyone out there forjoining us.
As I say each and every time, Iknow you guys have got lots of
(00:58):
choices, so thanks for hangingout with me this week.
Today is going to be a funepisode, and for those long time
listeners, I know you guys, alot of you guys know this, that
I've got four kids, so thisepisode and this product
actually hit straight to themiddle of, Of my heart.
And so I'm excited for you forour listeners to learn a little
bit about where it came from,what it is and how it's trying
to solve some things.
But since you're the founder,why don't you explain where you
(01:21):
came from prior to talking aboutthe product?
We'll get Chrissy on as well.
Talk a little bit about herbackground and then we'll talk
about what you guys are tryingto solve for the restaurant
world.
German Wegbrait (01:28):
Yeah, sure.
Hi, thanks for having us.
basically I'm a creativedirector and designer and I've
been working on that for thepast maybe 30 years of my life.
and has been something.
Close to who I am since I was afive year old, art, graphics.
And also, I own a company calledCake, cakedidit.
(01:49):
com, which, is a full creativeagency.
I'm in touch with developers,and I manage a team of
developers.
there's a good mix between artand technology in my brain at
all times.
And when I am confronted withSomething where I see a problem
or an opportunity, myentrepreneurial, creative mind
kind of jumps in with my talentsto try to solve this.
(02:12):
And that's where Kid's Menuscomes from.
Jeremy Julian (02:15):
I love it.
and I'm excited to talk aboutthe products.
And for those that are watchingon video, you see the artwork
behind them.
Definitely much nicer than whatI've got back behind me here.
He's got the guitars behind him.
So from that perspective, itactually reminds me and I know
we'll talk more in the show.
My father's the same way.
he was, he's a creative guy.
He went to Juilliard for musicschool.
So very familiar with kind ofall of that.
(02:37):
And every time I give him aproblem, he wants this, he wants
the solution.
I'm like, I just want you tolisten.
Don't, I don't need you to solveit.
Just listen.
so well, Chrissy, why don't youintroduce yourself to our
listeners?
Who is Chrissy and, talk alittle bit about kind of your
background and then we'll talkabout what you guys have been
building the last.
Last number of months.
Crissy Saint (02:52):
Yeah, absolutely.
also, thanks for having me.
Hey, everybody.
I'm I'm our chief marketingofficer here at kids menus dot
my background is similar to hermom's, although there is quite a
difference.
So, I hail from the world ofbrand development and, marketing
and business development andthat sort of and where her mom
(03:16):
is very much a creativevisionary.
That helps us all think out ofthe box and solve problems when
creative, and design solutions.
I'm much more of the structuredmarketing.
What's the go to marketing plan?
Where's our business plan?
Do we have all the necessarycomponents to make this work and
(03:38):
can we de risk it and can we addmore value, So, Bringing in a
lot of the functional, kind ofintegrator perspective to, our
duo
German Wegbrait (03:47):
demo gear.
Jeremy Julian (03:48):
Oh, and funny enough, that's the role I get to
play for our businesses, thatintegrator role.
And I'm constantly having tohold the reins back from my
father.
Who's out trying to create, I'mlike, stop, let's just sell what
we have.
We don't need to create anythingnew.
Let's just sell what we have.
Herman, you've never heard thatbefore.
I'm sure.
Crissy Saint (04:02):
Yes!
Jeremy Julian (04:02):
Herman, tell us a little bit about what is kids
menus.
com.
Cause I, when I first.
Was actually introduced to it,through a mutual friend of ours.
Sean Walshef, who a lot of ourlisteners will be familiar with.
He posted some content aboutyour guys's stuff a while back.
And I'm like, that is brilliant.
So I'm excited for the world tohear what is it that you guys
have built.
And then we can talk a littlebit about why it got created and
(04:24):
such.
German Wegbrait (04:24):
Sounds good.
Thank you.
kidsmenu.
com is a platform that helps,restaurant and hospitality
places, kid activity placematsand coloring placemats.
on demand, very easily.
There's hundreds of worlds outthere.
They can pick from already madetemplates on things that have to
(04:44):
do with cultures and, sports andall kinds of cuisines and,
cultural information.
The idea is that, an operatorand the person in charge to
making these menus doesn't needany knowledge of, Adobe or any,
graphic design or other tools inour platform, they log in and,
(05:05):
In less than five minutes, theycan have a mat that they use.
And I saw the problem with mykids going to the restaurants
that we, usually used to go to.
And they had the same kid's menufor seven years.
and those are the ones whoactually put some effort into
that and have it, and havesomebody that, that develops
them for them.
(05:25):
So the range of what we find isthings that are very poorly
done.
fringe illegal because they'redownloading things without a
license from the internet toother things that are maybe well
made but they stay too long sokids lose interest and that box
that people thought they werechecking of entertaining kids is
(05:47):
no longer there after the secondor third visit so my platform
solves, our platform solves forall those problems.
Jeremy Julian (05:55):
Yeah, and I can't wait to dig into it is funny
enough from one of therestaurants that we used to
frequent after church, my kidsactually would, they had two
different versions of the menuand they knew every one of the
kids jokes that were on the menubecause we go there so often and
so they'd be like, Oh, whichmenu did you get today?
And so very familiar with thatidea of it being there for so
long, Chrissy, talk to me realquick as you've learned a little
(06:18):
bit about what the state of thecurrent industry, like how do
people do it today prior to kidsmenu?
Yeah.
Would you mind sharing a littlebit about what you've learned
because I completely, honestly,I'm ignorant to it and for me, I
wouldn't even know where tostart if I were running a
restaurant and having to buildthis.
And so what do most people dotoday that actually have
something in the field so thatwe can talk about what the
(06:38):
change process might look like?
Crissy Saint (06:39):
Yeah, absolutely.
So it's been super fascinatingtalking to operators at all
levels, right?
We've talked to
German Wegbrait (06:47):
to
Crissy Saint (06:48):
single location operators.
We've talked to independentgroups, managing multiple
restaurant brands with multipleunits.
And we've talked to chains andlarge and franchises as well.
And so really what folks aredoing kind of varies based on
how large they are and whattheir in house team looks like.
(07:09):
What's amazing about ourplatform is we have a solve.
for all of those differentscenarios, regardless of how
many units are brand you'reoperating.
Most folks right now, if theyhave any kids assets at all,
they're paying probably afreelance designer, a flat fee
to create one static brandedasset.
(07:31):
So it's not easily updatable,there's it's a one and done type
of thing like we've just talkedabout.
or G mentioned, folks have somany different things going on
in store all the time.
Sometimes it's a manager, ifthey have the time, getting on
to Google and doing a search forPokemon art and printing
(07:51):
something off illegally withoutcopyright right?
So If folks have anything,that's typically what's
happening.
We have brought on severalcustomers who, they're well
established.
Maybe they have an in housemarketing team.
Maybe there's a designer inhouse.
And, again, I've hopped onconversations with these folks
(08:13):
and said, Hey, I realize youhave the design capabilities to
do this.
But why haven't you updated themat, if, and the response has
been, again, I've got 30 otherhigh priority initiatives that
I've got to knock out and thatalways gets pushed to the bottom
of my to do list.
it never rises to the top.
(08:34):
And if you can tell me that Ican make a mat on your platform
in under five minutes, that's agame changer for us, because, I
can't always, I don't have thetime to hop into design this
stuff out myself, and folks areout there doing all kinds of
different they're doing anythingat all.
And kidsmenuse.
(08:55):
com is here to reduce thatoperational lift.
Provide branded art with all thesame art style.
and make it to get fresh contentout there,
Jeremy Julian (09:06):
Yeah.
and when I first saw theplatform, I, equated it and I
know I said this to you,Chrissy, it reminded me a lot of
Canva.
I'm not a graphic artist.
I don't have a graphical, bonein my body, but between having
assets that are already thereand templates that are already
there to Insert what it is thatyou want and you need it became
so much easier for me to do evensome of the stuff we do with the
(09:27):
podcast and some of thethumbnails and stuff.
It's get me a thumbnail for andI just type it in and it just
creates it.
And so from that perspective,that's one of the things that I
equated it to her mom.
Talk to me a little bit abouteven where was the pain point
like you see this as a businessopportunity, but As you said at
the onset, you had pain in yourlife or you had, typically, and
one of my favorite types ofepisodes are those people that
(09:49):
scratch an itch that they had intheir life.
Like the people that are like,I'm gonna go make a million
dollars because I think this isjust amazing to do.
it doesn't sound like that'swhere it came from.
I've got the skill set that I'vebeen given and I have a problem
and I see it and I see it as anopportunity to make a difference
in the world.
Can you tell that back story ofwhere
German Wegbrait (10:05):
came from?
Yes, I have two daughters, oneis seven and a half, the other
one is twelve.
They have different interests,but as a family we go to the
same restaurants.
Mainly where we go, they, Ihaven't seen more than one kid's
menu in one restaurant at anytime.
And my daughter, my oldestdaughter have been feeling that
(10:26):
same menu for the past sixyears, my youngest daughter for
the past, five maybe, but Myoldest daughter already doesn't
want to have anything to do withit.
she's already at the threshold,I understand that, but still,
last year, she already kneweverything about it, what
entertains.
A five year old will notentertain a kid that is older,
(10:48):
so I saw that in my own table,where one kid was like Not even
interested.
The other one was like, Oh yeah,this word, this word soup is
like here, and here.
She already memorized where thehidden words were.
And I was like, this is, theywere both done with that Matt in
15 seconds.
(11:08):
And then they were back todaddy, mommy, this, that,
getting anxious,
Jeremy Julian (11:14):
so that I can sit And melt my brain with, with
YouTube videos or whatever.
and again, it's the pain point,especially as a family of I need
to keep them entertained so Ican have an experience, but
also.
You can be part of it.
if it's new and it's fresh, youcan be in their lives.
that's one of the things that Ilike about going to new places
is you get that menu and back towhat Chrissy said, it's hard.
(11:35):
It's hard to do it because it'salways the last item on the
list.
And so the fact that you guyshave,
German Wegbrait (11:39):
I
Jeremy Julian (11:40):
don't say commercialized it, but put it
into a way that it is so easy todo is one of the things that I
found also incredible aboutthat.
I'd love for you guys to talk alittle bit about why was ease of
use and quickness to get tomarket.
Such a critical part of what itis that you guys wanted to make
sure.
Crissy Saint (11:56):
yep.
Before we hit on that, I justalso wanted to add, Regarding
I'm also a mom of a six yearold, and last year we went on a
two week road trip in NorthernCalifornia.
we were eating out a lot.
I love staying at Airbnbs,right?
we're eating out of all thesedifferent restaurants multiple
times a day.
(12:16):
One out of maybe 20 some had anykind of mad at all.
And imagine this scenario, He'swatched his shows at the AirBnB
or while we've been traveling onthe road.
Electronic devices are low onpower and I'm not a big fan of
that anyhow.
I'm going out to experience thisrestaurant, the world with and
(12:38):
we roll into a restaurant supertired.
And, just coming off the road,that one restaurant that had a
mat and crayons, it was anabsolute game entire tone of our
eating he was on the verge of ameltdown.
We're both hangry.
I'm getting a little impatient.
(13:00):
That 15 20 minute wait time forfood could make or break the
entire experience.
And that one venue, it was aseafood venue.
the guy put the mat down.
My kid lit up.
I was so grateful.
And he and I, went to townplaying games together and
coloring and the food was therebefore we knew it.
(13:21):
And that is a monumentallydifferent experience than what
we had at any of the otherrestaurants we stopped to eat
at.
So, I just want to, share thatbecause me, if I can be part of
something that alleviates thatpain and such a phenomenal
experience in its scale, and wecan provide that relief to
(13:43):
parents, operators, kids, somany people win.
that's what we're here to do.
that's the impact at scaleglobally.
Imagine how many families we cantransform that dining for.
While also benefiting anoperator,
Jeremy Julian (13:58):
and before you keep going on why you guys made
it so approachable.
All of us know all three of ushere and anybody that has a
family that knows ultimately,it's the kids that make the
decision where you're going tosit down and have a meal.
And if they're going to enjoythe meal, and especially Herman,
as you said, these places thatyou go to frequently, if they
know they're going to go, theymay love the food, but they
don't love the experience.
(14:19):
And they got to wait that 20minutes.
They're going to pick a placethat they're going to be able to
enjoy.
That experience more.
And so from a wallet spend andhopefully we'll get to it before
we get done is just what are weseeing the benefits to these
people that have it from whatthey didn't used to have.
But why?
Why was it so important to makeit easy?
Because again, I think the easeof use and the Speed to market
(14:41):
and we'll talk a little bitabout the templates and how you
guys got there.
But why was that such a premisefor you guys because I find I
host the show.
I've hosted the show for awhile.
We're 200 plus episodes in a lotof people are reluctant to take
on new tech because it takes toomuch time.
It takes too much effort.
And so if it's not easy.
It doesn't get adopted.
If it doesn't get adopted, itdoesn't make the results.
So why was that such a criticalpiece to your guys, a solution
(15:04):
when you guys went to market?
German Wegbrait (15:05):
one thing that I, in my earlier career, I also
have been a server and part ofthe restaurant business at all
levels from buzzer to manager.
I understand how busy it gets.
I understand that people don'thave much time, or maybe the
skills required to do this.
And, and if it creates any kindof pain point for them, just to
(15:27):
add that.
It won't be, accepted, it's notokay.
I gotta make something thatmakes people's life easy, that
takes zero time to learn, thatwith the skills of computers and
writing emails and posting insocial that you have, you'll be
able to, basically anybody inthe new world can create this.
We have put kids to do it andthey can pull up a mat in no
(15:51):
time.
So we knew that.
For adoption, it was importantthat it was very easy to use,
very quick to production, anddriven by value, which is
another part that I know fromthe restaurant business that the
margins are very, looked at witha magnifying glass to make sure
(16:12):
that you're maximizing senseeverywhere, and so I understood
that as well, and that was thecore of the things that this,
platform needed to have.
how
Jeremy Julian (16:23):
did you go about doing that?
Because again, I've gotten aprivilege to see the platform.
many of the listeners knowalready that I typically won't
take on guests unless I believein the product that they have
and as a father of four, andjust, I love what you guys are
doing, but.
I also, again, not a graphicartist, if I was running a
restaurant, I'd be like, how didyou make it simple?
(16:43):
You talked about templates, youtalked about the search bar on
the left and you talked aboutsome of those pieces.
So help our listeners understandhow did you make it so simple
for them?
And then I'm going to kick itover to Chrissy to talk about
how you, how you made sure thatit wasn't too overbearing on the
financial side
German Wegbrait (16:57):
for the operators.
Sure.
you know as a graphic designerand a creative artist and
somebody in the marketing I amfamiliar with canva.
I am familiar with all theiStock in stock Image banks i'm
familiar with the adobe creativesuite so I know how Complex
programs that do a lot of thingsfor you look like.
(17:19):
And so I was like, okay, what doI need to distill here for?
our, the people that are doingthis to have just enough tools,
that is what they need withoutoverwhelming anybody, and I was
like, okay, let's start, what doyou need?
Okay, if I put this here and Istarted going through the motion
of being one of them and I said,all right, I need a button that
(17:41):
allows me to take that out ortake the whole thing or bring it
up or down in the mat and justMaybe five different buttons and
different tools that allow youto do basic things, and that's
it.
Jeremy Julian (17:54):
no.
And I think that the templatelibrary, the picture library,
the fact that you can.
Put your logo up there veryquickly and then the fact that
it's like, Hey, we've got itemsbecause everybody, I do want to
get before we get done into eventhe ease of changing kids menus.
Cause that's also a bigchallenge is they don't change
the kids menus because the mainmenu gets the majority of the
attention and the kids menu getsleft off.
(18:15):
So Chrissy, you guys made thisso inexpensive when you told me
the price, I was like, hang on.
Can you tell me again what thatprice was?
And you're like, no, that's whatit is.
And I'm like, all right, that,that seems almost.
Too good to be true.
So rather than I don't, thisisn't a sales pitch per se, but
help me understand when you'rethe go to market lady, you're
the one that wants to make sureand restaurants are not
(18:35):
necessarily the earliestadopters as you've learned as
you've gotten to the space.
And so help me understand why.
Making sure that it wasaffordable was such a critical
piece of what it is that youguys were doing.
It's a penny business and reallywhere did that come from?
Crissy Saint (18:49):
Yeah, absolutely.
the model came from speaking toa lot of different operators at
a lot of different levels duringour market right?
And really trying to understand,what do folks pay for to have
these mats designed currently?
And how can we provide so muchmore value and make it more
accessible from a costperspective when we know that
(19:13):
restaurants are operating leanmargins, right?
It's, there's inflation goingon, it is a tough, crowded
market right now.
If we can get in there and showour value, this version of the
platform is only the of what weplan to launch that's on our
product roadmap, right?
And so Let's get in there andlet's change that perception
(19:37):
that exist in the industry that,Oh, kids menus are an
afterthought, kids meals are aloss leader.
Let's go in and prove to folksthat there's so much value to be
had, and make it very easilyaccessible from a price point
perspective, right?
So, currently you set up anaccount, you have access to all
the features.
(19:58):
It's three hundred dollars ayear per brand, per tax.
So, again, you're probably goingout paying a designer, 500 to 2,
000 depending on their skilllevel.
It's taking a couple weeks, atleast.
It's taking a couple weeks.
You're having to manage theprocess, but you don't know
anything about art and design.
(20:20):
and they're just, we wanted tomake it simple, easy,
accessible.
and show the value.
And a lot of this is a numbersgame, right?
If we can get, it, get thisgoing with thousands upon
thousands, 10 thousands oflocations around the world,
we're making at scale for somany people and that's the
German Wegbrait (20:42):
that's
Jeremy Julian (20:43):
Yeah.
So what has that impact been onthe business side?
Because this is the part that Ithink is, as if I'm sitting here
and I'm a restaurant owner, Iknow that it's been it's been
the ugly couch in the cornerthat we've just ignored forever.
everybody knows that place.
we got to not deal with that,but everybody's, everybody has
that problem.
We talk about it.
I talk about this brand that weused to go to, that the kids do
all of the jokes.
(21:03):
They knew where all of the wordsearch things where they do all
of the, crossword puzzle pieces.
And so it's always been one ofthose items, but what kind of
impact are we seeing on even theuptick in kids?
Adoption of those brands, or areyou guys seeing in the brands
that you guys have gone in, doyou guys have anything, stories
that you guys can talk throughthat, that I think are going to
(21:24):
resonate with people that aresitting here listening, going,
if I choose to invest in this iswhat it looks like
Crissy Saint (21:29):
Yeah, I can speak to that one.
So there are so many different,benefits from a business
perspective for the operators,right?
So let's take a scenario.
It's a restaurant brand.
because we do also serve hotelsthat have restaurants on
property, which is a, they haveso many other use cases.
We've I've spoken with a guy whocame on as a customer who, he
(21:52):
operates a cafe in NorthernCalifornia.
He said, oh my gosh, we're sofamily friendly, but we don't
have an actual dedicated menufor the kids.
And so we got him set up, and hewas one of the very customers
on, so we were learning a lotfrom It's amazing how many
(22:13):
different ways folks use thesemats.
What he was able to do with ourmat, because now he has a whole
dedicated kids menu canvas towork with.
is he's built out a whole kidsmenu breakfast mat, lunch mat,
and dinner mat.
and was able to amplify his kidsmenu options in that way just
(22:34):
given the tool, right?
So, there's
Jeremy Julian (22:38):
I think even in that being able to change menu
selection, you talked about itearlier or something, Herman
talked about it earlier as beingable to change the menu
selection, not just the graphicsand the artwork and the, And,
the games and such, which I'dlove to talk about that in a few
minutes as well.
But also being able to be nimblewith what is trending for kids.
So they're not coming inbecause, again, I think the kids
(23:00):
make a lot of the decisions.
And if they know that it's goingto be the same static four items
on the menu, and they don't wantone of those four items, but if
they know that there's going tobe some variability like there
is on the adult menu, They mayconsider it at least my kids
would because they're allfoodies because stupid YouTube.
they love to watch food shows,but at the end of the day,
they're going to go and be like,I know that they're always going
to have the staple chickenfingers and mac and cheese, but
(23:22):
maybe they'll have something newthat I'm going to be able to
try.
So I don't mean to cut you off,but I think it's one of those
things that if you make it easyfor the restaurant operator to
do, there's opportunities foryou to continue to play with the
menu to add a dessert on there,more regularly to be able to
upsell those things.
I, Chili's has gotten our moneyrecently and my daughter gets a
stupid Blue Lagoon drink that Ispent an extra 3 on, because she
(23:44):
likes it.
And so we go there and she'sDaddy, I only want to go to
Chili's if I can have my BlueLagoon drink.
And same idea, but if theyweren't able to change that
easily.
And they didn't have the BlueLagoon on there before.
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Crissy Saint (24:33):
Absolutely yes.
And so we always adviseSubscribers, pull the dessert
items over, pull those drinkitems over, pull over the sides,
right?
Let's empower kids.
A lot of kids can read their ownmenus, yet nine times out of 10,
they're tugging on theirparents, sleeve saying, what are
the options for me?
And it's three things and theparents not going to go read
(24:55):
them the drinks and read themthe desserts.
But if we can empower the kid,it's automatically upselling,
automatically increasing thataverage order value.
we've looked at studies thatshow a venue that has an
engaging kids mad and caters tofamilies can 35%.
So that's just 1 benefit.
(25:17):
The others are, you get parentsinto a venue, into a restaurant.
They're the strongest marketersout there.
If they find a spot that takescare of their kids.
I'm going back and I'm tellingall the other parents at my kids
soccer games, I'm bringing mykids, friends and their parents
here now it's the hangout spotfor the neighborhood or the
(25:40):
community.
And so there's that bounce backloyalty right and it's not just
loyalty with the parents, it'smulti generational loyalty.
We're more.
Jeremy Julian (25:51):
McDonald's had it right with the kids menu years
ago.
The kids meal, and I'm, I say itjokingly, but I think people go,
why do they still have thestupid box?
But the kids force that issuebecause, and it starts when
you're super young.
And it goes into your adultyears because they get them
young.
And, and continue to migrate.
Herman, talk to me a little bitabout how you've seen brands or
(26:12):
your vision behind multiple kidsmenus, because you talked about
it.
You've got two daughters thatare in two different
demographics and to solve theirproblems, it is almost
impossible because they're inthat, preteen to, elementary,
early elementary years, as youtalked about it earlier.
That's a challenge.
Now, my four kids, my youngestis nine of four.
(26:36):
The other three are teenagers.
And so the kids menu, now atthis time, my 16 year old son is
200 plus pounds.
He's not eating off the kidsmenu unless he has three of
them, but different story.
But even a couple of years ago,he, there was a different
demographic and with.
It's hard to do it previously,but now with your guys solution,
you can have the opportunity toprint multiples.
(26:56):
Was that part of your visionwhen
German Wegbrait (26:57):
came up with it?
Totally.
Totally.
Because we believe in reallythinking about what we're doing
and really providingentertainment.
And that without accounting forthe age of kids is, you're lying
to yourself basically.
there's two ways that we canempower kids.
and restaurants as well.
So one is by having multiplekids menus that have to do with
(27:22):
H brackets.
and the other one is by havingchoices within those brackets,
because if the kid goes thereand he gets presented with
three, and you can say, whichone would you like?
And they pick one, they're goingto want to come back to the
other one.
In the future.
And they'll have that each intheir mind.
Oh, yeah.
Oh,
Jeremy Julian (27:41):
the stupid kid's, it's the toy inside of the meal
at the Happy Meal at McDonald's.
It's the same thing.
Oh, I want to go back againbecause I want the second toy.
Same idea.
Sorry, I didn't mean to
German Wegbrait (27:50):
We reversed engineer that and then apply it
to our menus.
and we tell, like Chrissy wassaying, we, we advise,
restaurants to have thesemultiples of, and really think
about the age brackets, and weprovide art that can adapt to
all of those things, and,activities that adapt to all
those things, we feel likebasically you'll be able to make
(28:12):
the kids of all ranges happywith our service.
and by that, it's, we call it awin because it's like the
parents, the kids, the patronsthat are at that restaurant that
are not part of that familybecause the environment will be
more quiet.
The server will make more moneyon that check because, like
Chrissy was saying, you getincreased up to 35%.
(28:36):
The restaurant owner will behappy with all of that
happening.
yeah.
Jeremy Julian (28:40):
One last question before I, give our listeners how
do they, what would it look liketo engage with you guys?
Both of you guys brought up theidea that some people are
building their own menus,whether it be in Canva or in
Adobe, but they're notnecessarily doing it in the
most, Legal way, by going outand taking our artwork from a
Google search and then insertingit into the menus, what's the
(29:00):
risk there?
Or what's the, for those brandsthat maybe you're listening,
they've done that or somebodyout in their world built them
their kids menu 2 years ago.
And it was some kid that was incollege that was a friend of
their kids or whatever.
And now they're like, oh, crap.
I might be at risk, help meunderstand or help our listeners
understand, cause I don't, Idon't have any menu, so I'm not
in risk, but I'm certain there'ssome of our listeners out there
(29:22):
that are like, Ooh, you'retalking about me.
What does that risk look like?
and how should they at least beconsidering it?
Crissy Saint (29:28):
Yeah, I can.
I can take that one.
when it comes to using otherpeople's art, one, there's just
an integrity issue there, right?
We don't want to steal otherpeople's art and use it for our
own brand.
the other is, there is a legalissue.
it's essentially copyrightinfringement.
To take someone else's goods andbrand them as your own, right?
(29:49):
We all know that in business,but sometimes when it comes to
the internet, we get a littleloosey goosey.
But besides the legal risk thereand the integrity and perception
risk, you risk devaluing yourbrand, If I go to a restaurant
and everything's branded and allof a sudden my kids handed A
random, outdated Mickey Mousemat that I know is Disney.
(30:13):
and has nothing to do with thisbranded experience.
There's a fracture that happens,right?
and so there's that to consideras well.
And then on the point of Canva,all the art on Canva, if you're
paying for a subscription.
You have a that art.
But man, good luck findingconsistent.
(30:34):
art elements that you can piecetogether a mat with and create
multiple mats from easily thatare also cohesive And again on
brand it's just difficult to doin that sort of platform, right?
Ours is built Intentionality forthis industry For the needs for
this industry and when you signup as a subscriber you have
(30:56):
access to all of that art and weadd our weekly the opportunities
are endless your risk is zeroand you're out there making
mealtime fun for folks
Jeremy Julian (31:07):
love that.
Is that, is that the tagline?
I missed that one makingmealtime
Crissy Saint (31:11):
That is
Jeremy Julian (31:11):
I must've missed that one on the,
Crissy Saint (31:12):
fun.
Absolutely.
Jeremy Julian (31:14):
I must've missed that one.
So Herman, tell me what would itlook like?
So I'm a restaurant operator outthere.
I'm listening and I'm like, Ineed kids menu now.
What does the engagement looklike?
What, break it down for them.
How do they get started?
What is it?
What does that look like for abrand that wants to jump on
German Wegbrait (31:27):
today?
Yeah, the basic thing.
Yeah.
Thing is really simple.
You go to kidsmenus.
com, you sign up, you have afree trial period where allows
you to really play with thewhole, platform, but it does not
allow you to download and printone yet.
For doing that, you have to signup, and pay for your
subscription.
(31:47):
And so It's as easy as that.
When you create an account, youwill be asked to upload your
logo of your company, and thatis a one time thing that anytime
it will pull up that logo.
and you input the menu items ifyou have them, and if you want
them on that mat, you inputthem.
(32:08):
If not, you can have a full matof activities and art.
And like we said, in fiveminutes, maybe the first time
because you're, you like toclick around, takes you a minute
longer, but in five minutes,you'll have your first mat.
And then after that, you canduplicate that one.
So you don't have to reenter allyour elements of your menu and
pick a different art.
(32:29):
And basically, let's say in 15minutes, you'll have multiple
kids menus to offer.
If you are, a really bigestablishment with a lot of
brands, a lot in a lot oflocations, you may want to sign
and send us an email and talk tous about how we can tailor this
best for you, give you pricingper, that it's more enterprise
(32:52):
style pricing.
And so it depends a little biton the range of who you are, but
it's as simple as going tokidsmenus.
com and signing up and you'll beup and running in no time.
I
Jeremy Julian (33:03):
love it.
I'm going to ask Chrissy.
Cause, I know if I ask you thevision of where the thing is
going, you're going to go foranother 10 minutes or 15 minutes
and our listeners will, we'llslow down her and I talked a
little bit about what that lookslike, but Chrissy, why don't
you, why don't you give ourlisteners roadmap that if they
get on board early, where dothey, where can they see this
product going?
Cause I was pretty impressedwith some of the other visions
that you guys had to.
sorry, what was your taglineagain?
(33:25):
I gotta ask the marketing girl.
Making mealtime fun again?
Crissy Saint (33:28):
That's like real time fun.
Yeah, so the vision isfantastic.
this is just the beginning,right?
So, we will be launching newfeatures just within the base
platform that we have already,to make it even more
customizable and be able toleverage that more for
operators, right?
But beyond this base platform,some stuff on the roadmap looks
(33:49):
like How can we gamify andcreate kids menus, loyalty
programs that tie in with ourworld of arts and that sort of
thing to ensure that we'retracking bounce back traffic,
right?
in driving that.
How can we insert and QR codeson these mats so folks can take
photos of their coloring matsand upload them for coloring
(34:11):
contest online?
we also want to create a bridgebetween the consumers, the
parents and the diners.
And operators.
So, imagine a geo targeteddirectory, Whereas a parent, I
might be traveling somewhere,and I want to find kid friendly
restaurants that are kids menuapproved.
(34:33):
That I know they're going tohave thought and intent behind
activities that they provide forkids when we go to their venue.
And I can search that bylocation.
I can see all the kid friendlyvenues in the network.
we can license art through otherbrands as well, To bring in more
art and more partnerships inthat way.
(34:53):
And we can really start to justdrive this, community, whether
it's operators or diners whocare about the family experience
in these settings, forward inall the ways.
Content, learning, education,this is really just the
beginning of what we're doing.
Anything that's going to helpfamilies have a great time.
(35:14):
At mealtime and help operators.
We're going to look at that andMarch forward when it makes
sense.
So I'm excited what's to comeand I'm sure everyone else will
be as well.
So,
Jeremy Julian (35:24):
I, I am, standing here on the sideline cheering
you guys on.
I'm excited to see the successthat you guys have had since I,
since I heard about it.
I was like, oh, this is awesome.
And, As I said to her mom beforeyou jumped on and Chrissy, your
energy is infectious.
So from that perspective, lovethat you guys are doing this, to
our listeners, guys, like Isaid, at the onset, I know that
you guys got lots of choices,but thanks for hanging out her
mom and Chrissy, thank you guysfor sharing some of the beauty
(35:45):
that you guys have put out intothe world and to our listeners,
German Wegbrait (35:47):
make it a great day.
Thank
Crissy Saint (35:48):
so much for having us
German Wegbrait (35:50):
us
Thanks for listening to TheRestaurant Technology Guys
podcast.
Visit restaurant technologyguys.com for tips, industry
insights, and more to help yourun your restaurant better.
This is the RestaurantTechnology Guides podcast,
helping you run your restaurantbetter.
Jeremy Julian (00:15):
In today's episode we are joined by the
founders of Kids Menu.
Kids Menu is reallyrevolutionizing the game as it
relates to producing kids menusand allowing your restaurants to
get kids menus that are unique.
And engage the children at thetable.
They've got a really easy to usesolution that, uh, that the
(00:38):
founders from on and Chrissy gothrough today on the call.
If you don't know me, my name isJeremy Julian.
I am the chief revenue officerfor CBS Northstar.
We sell Northstar point of salefor multi units now onto the
show.
Welcome back to the RestaurantTechnology Guys podcast.
I thank everyone out there forjoining us.
As I say each and every time, Iknow you guys have got lots of
(00:58):
choices, so thanks for hangingout with me this week.
Today is going to be a funepisode, and for those long time
listeners, I know you guys, alot of you guys know this, that
I've got four kids, so thisepisode and this product
actually hit straight to themiddle of, Of my heart.
And so I'm excited for you forour listeners to learn a little
bit about where it came from,what it is and how it's trying
to solve some things.
But since you're the founder,why don't you explain where you
(01:21):
came from prior to talking aboutthe product?
We'll get Chrissy on as well.
Talk a little bit about herbackground and then we'll talk
about what you guys are tryingto solve for the restaurant
world.
German Wegbrait (01:28):
Yeah, sure.
Hi, thanks for having us.
basically I'm a creativedirector and designer and I've
been working on that for thepast maybe 30 years of my life.
and has been something.
Close to who I am since I was afive year old, art, graphics.
And also, I own a company calledCake, cakedidit.
(01:49):
com, which, is a full creativeagency.
I'm in touch with developers,and I manage a team of
developers.
there's a good mix between artand technology in my brain at
all times.
And when I am confronted withSomething where I see a problem
or an opportunity, myentrepreneurial, creative mind
kind of jumps in with my talentsto try to solve this.
(02:12):
And that's where Kid's Menuscomes from.
Jeremy Julian (02:15):
I love it.
and I'm excited to talk aboutthe products.
And for those that are watchingon video, you see the artwork
behind them.
Definitely much nicer than whatI've got back behind me here.
He's got the guitars behind him.
So from that perspective, itactually reminds me and I know
we'll talk more in the show.
My father's the same way.
he was, he's a creative guy.
He went to Juilliard for musicschool.
So very familiar with kind ofall of that.
(02:37):
And every time I give him aproblem, he wants this, he wants
the solution.
I'm like, I just want you tolisten.
Don't, I don't need you to solveit.
Just listen.
so well, Chrissy, why don't youintroduce yourself to our
listeners?
Who is Chrissy and, talk alittle bit about kind of your
background and then we'll talkabout what you guys have been
building the last.
Last number of months.
Crissy Saint (02:52):
Yeah, absolutely.
also, thanks for having me.
Hey, everybody.
I'm I'm our chief marketingofficer here at kids menus dot
my background is similar to hermom's, although there is quite a
difference.
So, I hail from the world ofbrand development and, marketing
and business development andthat sort of and where her mom
(03:16):
is very much a creativevisionary.
That helps us all think out ofthe box and solve problems when
creative, and design solutions.
I'm much more of the structuredmarketing.
What's the go to marketing plan?
Where's our business plan?
Do we have all the necessarycomponents to make this work and
(03:38):
can we de risk it and can we addmore value, So, Bringing in a
lot of the functional, kind ofintegrator perspective to, our
duo
German Wegbrait (03:47):
demo gear.
Jeremy Julian (03:48):
Oh, and funny enough, that's the role I get to
play for our businesses, thatintegrator role.
And I'm constantly having tohold the reins back from my
father.
Who's out trying to create, I'mlike, stop, let's just sell what
we have.
We don't need to create anythingnew.
Let's just sell what we have.
Herman, you've never heard thatbefore.
I'm sure.
Crissy Saint (04:02):
Yes!
Jeremy Julian (04:02):
Herman, tell us a little bit about what is kids
menus.
com.
Cause I, when I first.
Was actually introduced to it,through a mutual friend of ours.
Sean Walshef, who a lot of ourlisteners will be familiar with.
He posted some content aboutyour guys's stuff a while back.
And I'm like, that is brilliant.
So I'm excited for the world tohear what is it that you guys
have built.
And then we can talk a littlebit about why it got created and
(04:24):
such.
German Wegbrait (04:24):
Sounds good.
Thank you.
kidsmenu.
com is a platform that helps,restaurant and hospitality
places, kid activity placematsand coloring placemats.
on demand, very easily.
There's hundreds of worlds outthere.
They can pick from already madetemplates on things that have to
(04:44):
do with cultures and, sports andall kinds of cuisines and,
cultural information.
The idea is that, an operatorand the person in charge to
making these menus doesn't needany knowledge of, Adobe or any,
graphic design or other tools inour platform, they log in and,
(05:05):
In less than five minutes, theycan have a mat that they use.
And I saw the problem with mykids going to the restaurants
that we, usually used to go to.
And they had the same kid's menufor seven years.
and those are the ones whoactually put some effort into
that and have it, and havesomebody that, that develops
them for them.
(05:25):
So the range of what we find isthings that are very poorly
done.
fringe illegal because they'redownloading things without a
license from the internet toother things that are maybe well
made but they stay too long sokids lose interest and that box
that people thought they werechecking of entertaining kids is
(05:47):
no longer there after the secondor third visit so my platform
solves, our platform solves forall those problems.
Jeremy Julian (05:55):
Yeah, and I can't wait to dig into it is funny
enough from one of therestaurants that we used to
frequent after church, my kidsactually would, they had two
different versions of the menuand they knew every one of the
kids jokes that were on the menubecause we go there so often and
so they'd be like, Oh, whichmenu did you get today?
And so very familiar with thatidea of it being there for so
long, Chrissy, talk to me realquick as you've learned a little
(06:18):
bit about what the state of thecurrent industry, like how do
people do it today prior to kidsmenu?
Yeah.
Would you mind sharing a littlebit about what you've learned
because I completely, honestly,I'm ignorant to it and for me, I
wouldn't even know where tostart if I were running a
restaurant and having to buildthis.
And so what do most people dotoday that actually have
something in the field so thatwe can talk about what the
(06:38):
change process might look like?
Crissy Saint (06:39):
Yeah, absolutely.
So it's been super fascinatingtalking to operators at all
levels, right?
We've talked to
German Wegbrait (06:47):
to
Crissy Saint (06:48):
single location operators.
We've talked to independentgroups, managing multiple
restaurant brands with multipleunits.
And we've talked to chains andlarge and franchises as well.
And so really what folks aredoing kind of varies based on
how large they are and whattheir in house team looks like.
(07:09):
What's amazing about ourplatform is we have a solve.
for all of those differentscenarios, regardless of how
many units are brand you'reoperating.
Most folks right now, if theyhave any kids assets at all,
they're paying probably afreelance designer, a flat fee
to create one static brandedasset.
(07:31):
So it's not easily updatable,there's it's a one and done type
of thing like we've just talkedabout.
or G mentioned, folks have somany different things going on
in store all the time.
Sometimes it's a manager, ifthey have the time, getting on
to Google and doing a search forPokemon art and printing
(07:51):
something off illegally withoutcopyright right?
So If folks have anything,that's typically what's
happening.
We have brought on severalcustomers who, they're well
established.
Maybe they have an in housemarketing team.
Maybe there's a designer inhouse.
And, again, I've hopped onconversations with these folks
(08:13):
and said, Hey, I realize youhave the design capabilities to
do this.
But why haven't you updated themat, if, and the response has
been, again, I've got 30 otherhigh priority initiatives that
I've got to knock out and thatalways gets pushed to the bottom
of my to do list.
it never rises to the top.
(08:34):
And if you can tell me that Ican make a mat on your platform
in under five minutes, that's agame changer for us, because, I
can't always, I don't have thetime to hop into design this
stuff out myself, and folks areout there doing all kinds of
different they're doing anythingat all.
And kidsmenuse.
(08:55):
com is here to reduce thatoperational lift.
Provide branded art with all thesame art style.
and make it to get fresh contentout there,
Jeremy Julian (09:06):
Yeah.
and when I first saw theplatform, I, equated it and I
know I said this to you,Chrissy, it reminded me a lot of
Canva.
I'm not a graphic artist.
I don't have a graphical, bonein my body, but between having
assets that are already thereand templates that are already
there to Insert what it is thatyou want and you need it became
so much easier for me to do evensome of the stuff we do with the
(09:27):
podcast and some of thethumbnails and stuff.
It's get me a thumbnail for andI just type it in and it just
creates it.
And so from that perspective,that's one of the things that I
equated it to her mom.
Talk to me a little bit abouteven where was the pain point
like you see this as a businessopportunity, but As you said at
the onset, you had pain in yourlife or you had, typically, and
one of my favorite types ofepisodes are those people that
(09:49):
scratch an itch that they had intheir life.
Like the people that are like,I'm gonna go make a million
dollars because I think this isjust amazing to do.
it doesn't sound like that'swhere it came from.
I've got the skill set that I'vebeen given and I have a problem
and I see it and I see it as anopportunity to make a difference
in the world.
Can you tell that back story ofwhere
German Wegbrait (10:05):
came from?
Yes, I have two daughters, oneis seven and a half, the other
one is twelve.
They have different interests,but as a family we go to the
same restaurants.
Mainly where we go, they, Ihaven't seen more than one kid's
menu in one restaurant at anytime.
And my daughter, my oldestdaughter have been feeling that
(10:26):
same menu for the past sixyears, my youngest daughter for
the past, five maybe, but Myoldest daughter already doesn't
want to have anything to do withit.
she's already at the threshold,I understand that, but still,
last year, she already kneweverything about it, what
entertains.
A five year old will notentertain a kid that is older,
(10:48):
so I saw that in my own table,where one kid was like Not even
interested.
The other one was like, Oh yeah,this word, this word soup is
like here, and here.
She already memorized where thehidden words were.
And I was like, this is, theywere both done with that Matt in
15 seconds.
(11:08):
And then they were back todaddy, mommy, this, that,
getting anxious,
Jeremy Julian (11:14):
so that I can sit And melt my brain with, with
YouTube videos or whatever.
and again, it's the pain point,especially as a family of I need
to keep them entertained so Ican have an experience, but
also.
You can be part of it.
if it's new and it's fresh, youcan be in their lives.
that's one of the things that Ilike about going to new places
is you get that menu and back towhat Chrissy said, it's hard.
(11:35):
It's hard to do it because it'salways the last item on the
list.
And so the fact that you guyshave,
German Wegbrait (11:39):
I
Jeremy Julian (11:40):
don't say commercialized it, but put it
into a way that it is so easy todo is one of the things that I
found also incredible aboutthat.
I'd love for you guys to talk alittle bit about why was ease of
use and quickness to get tomarket.
Such a critical part of what itis that you guys wanted to make
sure.
Crissy Saint (11:56):
yep.
Before we hit on that, I justalso wanted to add, Regarding
I'm also a mom of a six yearold, and last year we went on a
two week road trip in NorthernCalifornia.
we were eating out a lot.
I love staying at Airbnbs,right?
we're eating out of all thesedifferent restaurants multiple
times a day.
(12:16):
One out of maybe 20 some had anykind of mad at all.
And imagine this scenario, He'swatched his shows at the AirBnB
or while we've been traveling onthe road.
Electronic devices are low onpower and I'm not a big fan of
that anyhow.
I'm going out to experience thisrestaurant, the world with and
(12:38):
we roll into a restaurant supertired.
And, just coming off the road,that one restaurant that had a
mat and crayons, it was anabsolute game entire tone of our
eating he was on the verge of ameltdown.
We're both hangry.
I'm getting a little impatient.
(13:00):
That 15 20 minute wait time forfood could make or break the
entire experience.
And that one venue, it was aseafood venue.
the guy put the mat down.
My kid lit up.
I was so grateful.
And he and I, went to townplaying games together and
coloring and the food was therebefore we knew it.
(13:21):
And that is a monumentallydifferent experience than what
we had at any of the otherrestaurants we stopped to eat
at.
So, I just want to, share thatbecause me, if I can be part of
something that alleviates thatpain and such a phenomenal
experience in its scale, and wecan provide that relief to
(13:43):
parents, operators, kids, somany people win.
that's what we're here to do.
that's the impact at scaleglobally.
Imagine how many families we cantransform that dining for.
While also benefiting anoperator,
Jeremy Julian (13:58):
and before you keep going on why you guys made
it so approachable.
All of us know all three of ushere and anybody that has a
family that knows ultimately,it's the kids that make the
decision where you're going tosit down and have a meal.
And if they're going to enjoythe meal, and especially Herman,
as you said, these places thatyou go to frequently, if they
know they're going to go, theymay love the food, but they
don't love the experience.
(14:19):
And they got to wait that 20minutes.
They're going to pick a placethat they're going to be able to
enjoy.
That experience more.
And so from a wallet spend andhopefully we'll get to it before
we get done is just what are weseeing the benefits to these
people that have it from whatthey didn't used to have.
But why?
Why was it so important to makeit easy?
Because again, I think the easeof use and the Speed to market
(14:41):
and we'll talk a little bitabout the templates and how you
guys got there.
But why was that such a premisefor you guys because I find I
host the show.
I've hosted the show for awhile.
We're 200 plus episodes in a lotof people are reluctant to take
on new tech because it takes toomuch time.
It takes too much effort.
And so if it's not easy.
It doesn't get adopted.
If it doesn't get adopted, itdoesn't make the results.
So why was that such a criticalpiece to your guys, a solution
(15:04):
when you guys went to market?
German Wegbrait (15:05):
one thing that I, in my earlier career, I also
have been a server and part ofthe restaurant business at all
levels from buzzer to manager.
I understand how busy it gets.
I understand that people don'thave much time, or maybe the
skills required to do this.
And, and if it creates any kindof pain point for them, just to
(15:27):
add that.
It won't be, accepted, it's notokay.
I gotta make something thatmakes people's life easy, that
takes zero time to learn, thatwith the skills of computers and
writing emails and posting insocial that you have, you'll be
able to, basically anybody inthe new world can create this.
We have put kids to do it andthey can pull up a mat in no
(15:51):
time.
So we knew that.
For adoption, it was importantthat it was very easy to use,
very quick to production, anddriven by value, which is
another part that I know fromthe restaurant business that the
margins are very, looked at witha magnifying glass to make sure
(16:12):
that you're maximizing senseeverywhere, and so I understood
that as well, and that was thecore of the things that this,
platform needed to have.
how
Jeremy Julian (16:23):
did you go about doing that?
Because again, I've gotten aprivilege to see the platform.
many of the listeners knowalready that I typically won't
take on guests unless I believein the product that they have
and as a father of four, andjust, I love what you guys are
doing, but.
I also, again, not a graphicartist, if I was running a
restaurant, I'd be like, how didyou make it simple?
(16:43):
You talked about templates, youtalked about the search bar on
the left and you talked aboutsome of those pieces.
So help our listeners understandhow did you make it so simple
for them?
And then I'm going to kick itover to Chrissy to talk about
how you, how you made sure thatit wasn't too overbearing on the
financial side
German Wegbrait (16:57):
for the operators.
Sure.
you know as a graphic designerand a creative artist and
somebody in the marketing I amfamiliar with canva.
I am familiar with all theiStock in stock Image banks i'm
familiar with the adobe creativesuite so I know how Complex
programs that do a lot of thingsfor you look like.
(17:19):
And so I was like, okay, what doI need to distill here for?
our, the people that are doingthis to have just enough tools,
that is what they need withoutoverwhelming anybody, and I was
like, okay, let's start, what doyou need?
Okay, if I put this here and Istarted going through the motion
of being one of them and I said,all right, I need a button that
(17:41):
allows me to take that out ortake the whole thing or bring it
up or down in the mat and justMaybe five different buttons and
different tools that allow youto do basic things, and that's
it.
Jeremy Julian (17:54):
no.
And I think that the templatelibrary, the picture library,
the fact that you can.
Put your logo up there veryquickly and then the fact that
it's like, Hey, we've got itemsbecause everybody, I do want to
get before we get done into eventhe ease of changing kids menus.
Cause that's also a bigchallenge is they don't change
the kids menus because the mainmenu gets the majority of the
attention and the kids menu getsleft off.
(18:15):
So Chrissy, you guys made thisso inexpensive when you told me
the price, I was like, hang on.
Can you tell me again what thatprice was?
And you're like, no, that's whatit is.
And I'm like, all right, that,that seems almost.
Too good to be true.
So rather than I don't, thisisn't a sales pitch per se, but
help me understand when you'rethe go to market lady, you're
the one that wants to make sureand restaurants are not
(18:35):
necessarily the earliestadopters as you've learned as
you've gotten to the space.
And so help me understand why.
Making sure that it wasaffordable was such a critical
piece of what it is that youguys were doing.
It's a penny business and reallywhere did that come from?
Crissy Saint (18:49):
Yeah, absolutely.
the model came from speaking toa lot of different operators at
a lot of different levels duringour market right?
And really trying to understand,what do folks pay for to have
these mats designed currently?
And how can we provide so muchmore value and make it more
accessible from a costperspective when we know that
(19:13):
restaurants are operating leanmargins, right?
It's, there's inflation goingon, it is a tough, crowded
market right now.
If we can get in there and showour value, this version of the
platform is only the of what weplan to launch that's on our
product roadmap, right?
And so Let's get in there andlet's change that perception
(19:37):
that exist in the industry that,Oh, kids menus are an
afterthought, kids meals are aloss leader.
Let's go in and prove to folksthat there's so much value to be
had, and make it very easilyaccessible from a price point
perspective, right?
So, currently you set up anaccount, you have access to all
the features.
(19:58):
It's three hundred dollars ayear per brand, per tax.
So, again, you're probably goingout paying a designer, 500 to 2,
000 depending on their skilllevel.
It's taking a couple weeks, atleast.
It's taking a couple weeks.
You're having to manage theprocess, but you don't know
anything about art and design.
(20:20):
and they're just, we wanted tomake it simple, easy,
accessible.
and show the value.
And a lot of this is a numbersgame, right?
If we can get, it, get thisgoing with thousands upon
thousands, 10 thousands oflocations around the world,
we're making at scale for somany people and that's the
German Wegbrait (20:42):
that's
Jeremy Julian (20:43):
Yeah.
So what has that impact been onthe business side?
Because this is the part that Ithink is, as if I'm sitting here
and I'm a restaurant owner, Iknow that it's been it's been
the ugly couch in the cornerthat we've just ignored forever.
everybody knows that place.
we got to not deal with that,but everybody's, everybody has
that problem.
We talk about it.
I talk about this brand that weused to go to, that the kids do
all of the jokes.
(21:03):
They knew where all of the wordsearch things where they do all
of the, crossword puzzle pieces.
And so it's always been one ofthose items, but what kind of
impact are we seeing on even theuptick in kids?
Adoption of those brands, or areyou guys seeing in the brands
that you guys have gone in, doyou guys have anything, stories
that you guys can talk throughthat, that I think are going to
(21:24):
resonate with people that aresitting here listening, going,
if I choose to invest in this iswhat it looks like
Crissy Saint (21:29):
Yeah, I can speak to that one.
So there are so many different,benefits from a business
perspective for the operators,right?
So let's take a scenario.
It's a restaurant brand.
because we do also serve hotelsthat have restaurants on
property, which is a, they haveso many other use cases.
We've I've spoken with a guy whocame on as a customer who, he
(21:52):
operates a cafe in NorthernCalifornia.
He said, oh my gosh, we're sofamily friendly, but we don't
have an actual dedicated menufor the kids.
And so we got him set up, and hewas one of the very customers
on, so we were learning a lotfrom It's amazing how many
(22:13):
different ways folks use thesemats.
What he was able to do with ourmat, because now he has a whole
dedicated kids menu canvas towork with.
is he's built out a whole kidsmenu breakfast mat, lunch mat,
and dinner mat.
and was able to amplify his kidsmenu options in that way just
(22:34):
given the tool, right?
So, there's
Jeremy Julian (22:38):
I think even in that being able to change menu
selection, you talked about itearlier or something, Herman
talked about it earlier as beingable to change the menu
selection, not just the graphicsand the artwork and the, And,
the games and such, which I'dlove to talk about that in a few
minutes as well.
But also being able to be nimblewith what is trending for kids.
So they're not coming inbecause, again, I think the kids
(23:00):
make a lot of the decisions.
And if they know that it's goingto be the same static four items
on the menu, and they don't wantone of those four items, but if
they know that there's going tobe some variability like there
is on the adult menu, They mayconsider it at least my kids
would because they're allfoodies because stupid YouTube.
they love to watch food shows,but at the end of the day,
they're going to go and be like,I know that they're always going
to have the staple chickenfingers and mac and cheese, but
(23:22):
maybe they'll have something newthat I'm going to be able to
try.
So I don't mean to cut you off,but I think it's one of those
things that if you make it easyfor the restaurant operator to
do, there's opportunities foryou to continue to play with the
menu to add a dessert on there,more regularly to be able to
upsell those things.
I, Chili's has gotten our moneyrecently and my daughter gets a
stupid Blue Lagoon drink that Ispent an extra 3 on, because she
(23:44):
likes it.
And so we go there and she'sDaddy, I only want to go to
Chili's if I can have my BlueLagoon drink.
And same idea, but if theyweren't able to change that
easily.
And they didn't have the BlueLagoon on there before.
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(24:28):
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Crissy Saint (24:33):
Absolutely yes.
And so we always adviseSubscribers, pull the dessert
items over, pull those drinkitems over, pull over the sides,
right?
Let's empower kids.
A lot of kids can read their ownmenus, yet nine times out of 10,
they're tugging on theirparents, sleeve saying, what are
the options for me?
And it's three things and theparents not going to go read
(24:55):
them the drinks and read themthe desserts.
But if we can empower the kid,it's automatically upselling,
automatically increasing thataverage order value.
we've looked at studies thatshow a venue that has an
engaging kids mad and caters tofamilies can 35%.
So that's just 1 benefit.
(25:17):
The others are, you get parentsinto a venue, into a restaurant.
They're the strongest marketersout there.
If they find a spot that takescare of their kids.
I'm going back and I'm tellingall the other parents at my kids
soccer games, I'm bringing mykids, friends and their parents
here now it's the hangout spotfor the neighborhood or the
(25:40):
community.
And so there's that bounce backloyalty right and it's not just
loyalty with the parents, it'smulti generational loyalty.
We're more.
Jeremy Julian (25:51):
McDonald's had it right with the kids menu years
ago.
The kids meal, and I'm, I say itjokingly, but I think people go,
why do they still have thestupid box?
But the kids force that issuebecause, and it starts when
you're super young.
And it goes into your adultyears because they get them
young.
And, and continue to migrate.
Herman, talk to me a little bitabout how you've seen brands or
(26:12):
your vision behind multiple kidsmenus, because you talked about
it.
You've got two daughters thatare in two different
demographics and to solve theirproblems, it is almost
impossible because they're inthat, preteen to, elementary,
early elementary years, as youtalked about it earlier.
That's a challenge.
Now, my four kids, my youngestis nine of four.
(26:36):
The other three are teenagers.
And so the kids menu, now atthis time, my 16 year old son is
200 plus pounds.
He's not eating off the kidsmenu unless he has three of
them, but different story.
But even a couple of years ago,he, there was a different
demographic and with.
It's hard to do it previously,but now with your guys solution,
you can have the opportunity toprint multiples.
(26:56):
Was that part of your visionwhen
German Wegbrait (26:57):
came up with it?
Totally.
Totally.
Because we believe in reallythinking about what we're doing
and really providingentertainment.
And that without accounting forthe age of kids is, you're lying
to yourself basically.
there's two ways that we canempower kids.
and restaurants as well.
So one is by having multiplekids menus that have to do with
(27:22):
H brackets.
and the other one is by havingchoices within those brackets,
because if the kid goes thereand he gets presented with
three, and you can say, whichone would you like?
And they pick one, they're goingto want to come back to the
other one.
In the future.
And they'll have that each intheir mind.
Oh, yeah.
Oh,
Jeremy Julian (27:41):
the stupid kid's, it's the toy inside of the meal
at the Happy Meal at McDonald's.
It's the same thing.
Oh, I want to go back againbecause I want the second toy.
Same idea.
Sorry, I didn't mean to
German Wegbrait (27:50):
We reversed engineer that and then apply it
to our menus.
and we tell, like Chrissy wassaying, we, we advise,
restaurants to have thesemultiples of, and really think
about the age brackets, and weprovide art that can adapt to
all of those things, and,activities that adapt to all
those things, we feel likebasically you'll be able to make
(28:12):
the kids of all ranges happywith our service.
and by that, it's, we call it awin because it's like the
parents, the kids, the patronsthat are at that restaurant that
are not part of that familybecause the environment will be
more quiet.
The server will make more moneyon that check because, like
Chrissy was saying, you getincreased up to 35%.
(28:36):
The restaurant owner will behappy with all of that
happening.
yeah.
Jeremy Julian (28:40):
One last question before I, give our listeners how
do they, what would it look liketo engage with you guys?
Both of you guys brought up theidea that some people are
building their own menus,whether it be in Canva or in
Adobe, but they're notnecessarily doing it in the
most, Legal way, by going outand taking our artwork from a
Google search and then insertingit into the menus, what's the
(29:00):
risk there?
Or what's the, for those brandsthat maybe you're listening,
they've done that or somebodyout in their world built them
their kids menu 2 years ago.
And it was some kid that was incollege that was a friend of
their kids or whatever.
And now they're like, oh, crap.
I might be at risk, help meunderstand or help our listeners
understand, cause I don't, Idon't have any menu, so I'm not
in risk, but I'm certain there'ssome of our listeners out there
(29:22):
that are like, Ooh, you'retalking about me.
What does that risk look like?
and how should they at least beconsidering it?
Crissy Saint (29:28):
Yeah, I can.
I can take that one.
when it comes to using otherpeople's art, one, there's just
an integrity issue there, right?
We don't want to steal otherpeople's art and use it for our
own brand.
the other is, there is a legalissue.
it's essentially copyrightinfringement.
To take someone else's goods andbrand them as your own, right?
(29:49):
We all know that in business,but sometimes when it comes to
the internet, we get a littleloosey goosey.
But besides the legal risk thereand the integrity and perception
risk, you risk devaluing yourbrand, If I go to a restaurant
and everything's branded and allof a sudden my kids handed A
random, outdated Mickey Mousemat that I know is Disney.
(30:13):
and has nothing to do with thisbranded experience.
There's a fracture that happens,right?
and so there's that to consideras well.
And then on the point of Canva,all the art on Canva, if you're
paying for a subscription.
You have a that art.
But man, good luck findingconsistent.
(30:34):
art elements that you can piecetogether a mat with and create
multiple mats from easily thatare also cohesive And again on
brand it's just difficult to doin that sort of platform, right?
Ours is built Intentionality forthis industry For the needs for
this industry and when you signup as a subscriber you have
(30:56):
access to all of that art and weadd our weekly the opportunities
are endless your risk is zeroand you're out there making
mealtime fun for folks
Jeremy Julian (31:07):
love that.
Is that, is that the tagline?
I missed that one makingmealtime
Crissy Saint (31:11):
That is
Jeremy Julian (31:11):
I must've missed that one on the,
Crissy Saint (31:12):
fun.
Absolutely.
Jeremy Julian (31:14):
I must've missed that one.
So Herman, tell me what would itlook like?
So I'm a restaurant operator outthere.
I'm listening and I'm like, Ineed kids menu now.
What does the engagement looklike?
What, break it down for them.
How do they get started?
What is it?
What does that look like for abrand that wants to jump on
German Wegbrait (31:27):
today?
Yeah, the basic thing.
Yeah.
Thing is really simple.
You go to kidsmenus.
com, you sign up, you have afree trial period where allows
you to really play with thewhole, platform, but it does not
allow you to download and printone yet.
For doing that, you have to signup, and pay for your
subscription.
(31:47):
And so It's as easy as that.
When you create an account, youwill be asked to upload your
logo of your company, and thatis a one time thing that anytime
it will pull up that logo.
and you input the menu items ifyou have them, and if you want
them on that mat, you inputthem.
(32:08):
If not, you can have a full matof activities and art.
And like we said, in fiveminutes, maybe the first time
because you're, you like toclick around, takes you a minute
longer, but in five minutes,you'll have your first mat.
And then after that, you canduplicate that one.
So you don't have to reenter allyour elements of your menu and
pick a different art.
(32:29):
And basically, let's say in 15minutes, you'll have multiple
kids menus to offer.
If you are, a really bigestablishment with a lot of
brands, a lot in a lot oflocations, you may want to sign
and send us an email and talk tous about how we can tailor this
best for you, give you pricingper, that it's more enterprise
(32:52):
style pricing.
And so it depends a little biton the range of who you are, but
it's as simple as going tokidsmenus.
com and signing up and you'll beup and running in no time.
I
Jeremy Julian (33:03):
love it.
I'm going to ask Chrissy.
Cause, I know if I ask you thevision of where the thing is
going, you're going to go foranother 10 minutes or 15 minutes
and our listeners will, we'llslow down her and I talked a
little bit about what that lookslike, but Chrissy, why don't
you, why don't you give ourlisteners roadmap that if they
get on board early, where dothey, where can they see this
product going?
Cause I was pretty impressedwith some of the other visions
that you guys had to.
sorry, what was your taglineagain?
(33:25):
I gotta ask the marketing girl.
Making mealtime fun again?
Crissy Saint (33:28):
That's like real time fun.
Yeah, so the vision isfantastic.
this is just the beginning,right?
So, we will be launching newfeatures just within the base
platform that we have already,to make it even more
customizable and be able toleverage that more for
operators, right?
But beyond this base platform,some stuff on the roadmap looks
(33:49):
like How can we gamify andcreate kids menus, loyalty
programs that tie in with ourworld of arts and that sort of
thing to ensure that we'retracking bounce back traffic,
right?
in driving that.
How can we insert and QR codeson these mats so folks can take
photos of their coloring matsand upload them for coloring
(34:11):
contest online?
we also want to create a bridgebetween the consumers, the
parents and the diners.
And operators.
So, imagine a geo targeteddirectory, Whereas a parent, I
might be traveling somewhere,and I want to find kid friendly
restaurants that are kids menuapproved.
(34:33):
That I know they're going tohave thought and intent behind
activities that they provide forkids when we go to their venue.
And I can search that bylocation.
I can see all the kid friendlyvenues in the network.
we can license art through otherbrands as well, To bring in more
art and more partnerships inthat way.
(34:53):
And we can really start to justdrive this, community, whether
it's operators or diners whocare about the family experience
in these settings, forward inall the ways.
Content, learning, education,this is really just the
beginning of what we're doing.
Anything that's going to helpfamilies have a great time.
(35:14):
At mealtime and help operators.
We're going to look at that andMarch forward when it makes
sense.
So I'm excited what's to comeand I'm sure everyone else will
be as well.
So,
Jeremy Julian (35:24):
I, I am, standing here on the sideline cheering
you guys on.
I'm excited to see the successthat you guys have had since I,
since I heard about it.
I was like, oh, this is awesome.
And, As I said to her mom beforeyou jumped on and Chrissy, your
energy is infectious.
So from that perspective, lovethat you guys are doing this, to
our listeners, guys, like Isaid, at the onset, I know that
you guys got lots of choices,but thanks for hanging out her
mom and Chrissy, thank you guysfor sharing some of the beauty
(35:45):
that you guys have put out intothe world and to our listeners,
German Wegbrait (35:47):
make it a great day.
Thank
Crissy Saint (35:48):
so much for having us
German Wegbrait (35:50):
us
Thanks for listening to TheRestaurant Technology Guys
podcast.
Visit restaurant technologyguys.com for tips, industry
insights, and more to help yourun your restaurant better.
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