June 23, 2025 • 39 mins
Join Paul Barron and Paul Molinari on The Restaurant Report as they dive deep into the fast casual revolution with Brianna Keefe, founder and CEO of Toastique. Discover how this gourmet toast and juice bar concept has exploded from a single Washington D.C. location in 2018 to 42 units nationwide, with plans for 25+ more by year's end. Learn about the "better-for-you" category that's driving the fast casual sector toward a projected $300 billion market by 2030, and explore Toastique's unique approach to quality, franchising, technology, and customer experience. From house-made everything to wellness shots and local artist collaborations, find out why this brand is setting new standards in healthy fast casual dining and what it means for the future of the restaurant industry.
FastCasual #RestaurantFranchise #HealthyEating
~This episode is sponsored by: Gusto → https://gusto.pxf.io/PBN ~
#1 rated HR platform for payroll, benefits, and more
With Gusto’s easy-to-use platform, you can empower your people and push your business forward. See why over 400,000 businesses choose Gusto.
Get Your Podcast Now! Are you a hospitality or restaurant industry leader looking to amplify your voice and establish yourself as a thought leader? Look no further than SavorFM, the premier podcast platform designed exclusively for hospitality visionaries like you. Take the next step in your industry leadership journey – visit https://www.savor.fm/
Capital & Advisory: Are you a fast-casual restaurant startup or a technology innovator in the food service industry? Don't miss out on the opportunity to tap into decades of expertise. Reach out to Savor Capital & Advisory now to explore how their seasoned professionals can propel your business forward. Discover if you're eligible to leverage our unparalleled knowledge in food service branding and technology and take your venture to new heights.
Don't wait – amplify your voice or supercharge your startup's growth today with Savor's ecosystem of industry-leading platforms and advisory services. Visit https://www.savor.fm/capital-advisory
FastCasual #RestaurantFranchise #HealthyEating
~This episode is sponsored by: Gusto → https://gusto.pxf.io/PBN ~
#1 rated HR platform for payroll, benefits, and more
With Gusto’s easy-to-use platform, you can empower your people and push your business forward. See why over 400,000 businesses choose Gusto.
Get Your Podcast Now! Are you a hospitality or restaurant industry leader looking to amplify your voice and establish yourself as a thought leader? Look no further than SavorFM, the premier podcast platform designed exclusively for hospitality visionaries like you. Take the next step in your industry leadership journey – visit https://www.savor.fm/
Capital & Advisory: Are you a fast-casual restaurant startup or a technology innovator in the food service industry? Don't miss out on the opportunity to tap into decades of expertise. Reach out to Savor Capital & Advisory now to explore how their seasoned professionals can propel your business forward. Discover if you're eligible to leverage our unparalleled knowledge in food service branding and technology and take your venture to new heights.
Don't wait – amplify your voice or supercharge your startup's growth today with Savor's ecosystem of industry-leading platforms and advisory services. Visit https://www.savor.fm/capital-advisory
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We are back here on the Restaurant Mastermind podcast, and
today we're going to be diving into something that is
going to be close to my heart, and that is
the fast casual sector. It is going to be a
good one. I got a lot of data for you
guys on this one, and we have a very special
guest coming in from Toastique. We'll break it all down
for you. Paul. How are you.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
I am doing well, mister Baron. It's always a pleasure
to be with you.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Yeah. Did you know that fast Well, we kind of
know that fast casual is the leading sector in terms
of growth, but I did not realize that this could
be a three hundred billion dollar market in as early
as twenty thirty. I mean that that would be three
hundred billion even if the if the industry creeps up
(00:44):
to say one point two to one point three. I mean,
you're talking about thirty, maybe thirty percent of the of
the major Western markets controlled by fast casual. Were you
aware of that? Was that big? Idalize?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
I wasn't aware of that number. But the reality is
just that fast casual is the sweet spot, right, This
is this is the this is the segment of the
industry that's not only driving the most excitement, but it's
also driving really the most the most revenue. And I
think and one of the things we'll talk about today,
(01:16):
when I heard that you're bringing on our special guests,
Brianna from Testique, this is one of these. This is
one of these hot brands. This is one of those
brands that you can kind of like look at and say, Okay,
I get it. I understand why all all of this
excitement and huge expectations.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Are happening well, and a lot of it is built
around these, uh you know, these emerging categories. And and
when you look at fast casual, which has been a
star studded group of brands that have grown out of
the freshmach space. Obviously Panera Bread came out of the
baker cafe space. We've seen almost a winner in every category,
(01:55):
the good for you category, which is kind of where
I would put this, but it has a lot of
uniqueness to it is one of those that is really growing.
We're gonna dive in deep, so you guys stick around.
We'll be right back. My name is Paul Baron. As
(02:31):
the early pioneer in fast casual, I've seen the industry
evolve from just a few operators to the most sought
after segment by consumers around the world. Now we're planning
to shape its future. Tap into decades of my expertise
identifying the emerging brands and tech winners in the space.
(02:52):
Saber Capital will be fueling the next generation of fast
casual innovation. All right, we are back here and today
we are being joined by a special guest. And of
course you guys have probably heard of this brand, but
you may have never actually got a chance to hear
a little bit about them. But we're going to bring
on their CEO, Brianna Keith. How are you.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
I'm doing great? How are you guys.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Having saked excellent?
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Yeah, So let's go into a couple of points with you, Brianna,
Paul and I will kind of pepper you with questions
on the concept of a brand. But what you guys
have been able to do. First of all, for our audience.
Some people may have heard of Toastek or have seen
some of your locations. Give us a rundown on how
(03:38):
big you guys are, what your focus is, Give me
a kind of a foural one there.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Sure.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Yeah, So Toasteek we originated in Washington, d C. Back
in twenty eighteen, and we are a gourmet toast and
juice bar with also handcrafted coffee. Everything that we do
is intentional at the highest quality that.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
We possibly can make things out of.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
You know, all of our juices are made in house,
there's no added sugars or sweeteners.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Our gourmet toasts are our specialty.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
All of our toppings are made in house, down to
our peanut butter, pickled onions, our avocado smash. Everything on
our toast is housemeade. And then we also have smoothies
assay evils, again no hidden sugars sweeteners on them.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
And then we have a full express of our.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
Menu which that is actually something that we added a
little bit later on to the brand which has really
taken off. We partner with a local roaster that is
hand selects their farms.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Goes out and meets with them.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
They actually coach and train the farmers on how to
grow their beans at the highest quality. So it's really
just a high quality cafe. Currently we have forty two
stores open. Yes, you can see our beautiful website on there,
all of our beautiful toppings.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
It's really something for everyone.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
You know, we have something for someone who has dietary
restrictions or as on a strict diet. But also we
have something that's a little more you know, traditional breakfast
or lunch. We have our smoked salmon toes with real
cream cheese, pastami salmon, which is delicious. So whatever someone's
in the mood for, we got them covered.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Many how many total units?
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Right now we have forty two open.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
We will be opening around twenty five to twenty seven
by the end of this year.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, this is huge, this is wit a bide the
end of the year, Brianna. You have to understand we're
basically setting like land speed records the number of number
of locations you've already opened and have in development. I
mean a little bit bigger than a golf clap for.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Big bigger than the golf CP. I like that one. Okay,
So what do you attribute the growth to right now?
Speaker 4 (06:05):
I think, honestly, from the beginning, the very first location
was to create myself a job, and it exploded obviously
into way much more than that. But from the very beginning,
I wanted everything to be perfect. I wanted the experience
to be perfect, the quality to be perfect, the presentation
to be perfect, and I think that's what really lends
(06:28):
itself to the growth. You know, the details in everything
that we do, everything that we touch really really reflects
on the sales and the freshness and the quality.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
And I think really also, the fast casual, like.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
You mentioned, is a booming industry, and I think we
learned how special the operation was through the pandemic because
we actually don't have any cooking equipment, but everything's made
in house, but just without that extra overhead, and we
don't need to hire a cook or a chef to
operate a toastyk, and so it makes it very scalable.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
And so starting in Washington, d C.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Which is very touristy, we opened in the middle of
somewhere at the Wharf, which was also a.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
New development itself.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
We saw people all across the world and people were
just wowed by it. The feedback was amazing, and so
that's I think really when it took off, people were like,
I want to open one.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
How do we do this? Like you should.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
Franchise, And at that point in time, I didn't really
understand franchising, and I never It's not something that ever
crossed my mind. So I started to look into it
and I think something that we're doing a little bit
differently with franchising is really looking for owner operators, Like
we want people that are part of the community, that
have the same passion as I do to go represent
(07:51):
Toasteek in their community. I think that's, you know, how
we're going to be sustainable for many years to come
with that passion behind.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
It, no doubt. What was your background.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
I had a degree or I have a degree in
hospitality management and minor in business, but I've always worked
in restaurants and in events, and after college I was
working in events in downtown d C. But I think
for me, I've always I'm very much a people person.
I've loved enjoying talking to people, gaining to know people,
and combining it with my passion for cooking just fresh,
(08:25):
yummy food.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
It's kind of how Tosy came about.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Yeah, I read a quick article about uh, you know,
in preparation for this podcast today. I was doing a
little bit of research and I read a quote from you,
and I'll just paraphrase, but you were you had you
always you'd worked in restaurants, and you said you said,
if I'm going to work this hard, I might.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
As well do it for myself.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Yeah, and I love that because I mean, that's just it.
One does not simply open up a restaurant withoutout the
real understanding like this is just an app. This is
something that you have to go in with full mind,
body and soul in order for it to succeed.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
The idea of toast, the toast concept come from because
this is one of the few. Obviously we've seen brands
that have integrated avocado toast and all sorts of savory
toast elements as a menu item. But this was really
the first true concept that I saw built around the
idea of this as a category. Where did that come from?
Speaker 3 (09:33):
For me?
Speaker 4 (09:34):
I just loved great quality of toast and bread, you know,
very classic bread and butter. But I love, I do
love a good carb and I feel like having one
piece on their artists in bread topped with nice fresh toppings.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
It always just made me feel so good.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Somethings you eat a really big sandwich, even if there's
some healthy things on there, it always just made it
weigh me down a little bit. And I'm very I'm
a very visual person. So even when I was making
food and toast for myself at home. I wanted to
make it be beautiful and fresh and naturally colorful, and
I feel like there's, you know, such an opportunity for
(10:16):
open based sandwiches. You know, people overseas have been doing
it for years and years, maybe just calling it tartines
or open based sandwiches. But I think that you can
that you can see the freshness, see the ingredients, and
it tastes just as good, and then it'll still fill
you up and you feel very satisfied, but it'll keep
fueling you instead of weighing you down for the rest
(10:38):
of the day.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Are you finding the savory products flying on the menus?
I noticed some of the things we just showed on
screen a little bit there. One was like more of
a peebee with bananas, peanut butter. It had strawberries on it,
you know, some other elements in there as far as nuts.
Are you finding there the cat When someone walks into
a toasteek, do they think more I won't say dessert,
(11:01):
but something that is more on the treat side versus
the savory side. Or are you seeing a mix of both.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
I would definitely say a mix of both.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
I think people because we really only have one sweet
toast or peanut butter crunch toast, and so people who
come in for toast normally want something savory and then
essentially everything else on our menu, the smoothies, the juice
in bowls are going to be on the sweeter side.
So our toasts do make up between like thirty to
(11:30):
fifty percent of our sales depending on the location.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
And that's kind of what I wanted, you know.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
I want toast to be the specialty item, the thing
that sets us apart, and it does show in our sales,
you know, but we definitely do get like the peanut
our crunch is one of my favorite that it's definitely
a little bit more popular in the morning, but it's
so good. So I think there's a lot of people
that kind of work their way down the menu, trying every.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Item to see what they like best and then coming
back from more.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
So I'm going through the in you right now. We've
got the gourmet toast components, handcrafted coffee, which I think
is a good slide in there in terms of beverage bowls,
which are good. I like the wellness shot component that
is really is that a category that you're finding some
growth in because we've seen a lot of beverage companies
that have started to integrate wellness shots, you know, all
(12:20):
sorts of you know, additives into the beverage category. You've
got housemaid troops, Grab and Grow Go obviously, the collagen
lattes another you know, potential win there. How big is
the is the category from a beverage side of things,
Do you see that as maybe one of the bigger
growth opportunities for you guys?
Speaker 4 (12:40):
Yeah, I think because we have a lot of beverages,
you know, this movies, the youth, the college and lattes,
coffee and the wellness shots. The wellness shots are actually
huge seller and we okay develop those actually during the
pandemic because we naturally saw people adding fresh tender into
their smoothies and saw that demand. And truthfully, it's something
(13:01):
that I've always wanted to create, but it always went
on the back burner. And in the pandemic I had
a little more time on my hands. We never closed
a single day, but it allowed for us to get
a little more creative and add.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Some new things to the menu.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
So yeah, I mean, I think we have such a
variety of options that even if you don't drink caffeine.
We have juices, we have macha, we have other teas
that you know, it doesn't have to be coffee. So
I would say that that is a big component to
our business.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
How big is the mix for you guys in terms
of like third party you mentioned you didn't close during
the pandemic. That meant it was all delivery. This seems
like a product that travels or could travel very well,
you know, in terms of.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
I asked, I was livery how well could it? How
well does it travel? I mean toast, you know, when
you have it, when it's loaded with stuff, I mean
it could does it good?
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Soggy?
Speaker 4 (13:56):
That?
Speaker 3 (13:56):
Surprisingly? Surprisingly it does.
Speaker 4 (13:59):
And we actually the first two years of business, up
until the pandemic, we didn't do.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
Any online ordering, no third parties.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
You physically had to be in our store to make
a purchase because I was like, the smoothies are gonna mild,
the toast is gonna get soggy.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
I'm not serving that.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
And then of course the pandemic came and we're like, Okay,
we're going to do thor Dash, Uber Eats, Grip, We're
gonna do it all. And I was very pleasantly surprised
by the fact that no one really complained.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Ever. We even have gotten.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
Reviews that were like, Wow, I'm actually surprised how well
the toast traveled.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
And I think it's because we take a lot of
care in all of our products.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
But when we're when someone orders a smoothie or a
bowl or anything cold, we put it in the freezer
until the driver comes.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
So we're really trying to get.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
That extra injection of coldness ASATRU exactly. Well, I like
that is how big are the units are they in
terms of square footage?
Speaker 4 (14:56):
Our sweet spy is around twelve hundred and fifteen hundred,
our smallest just under one thousand, and our biggest is
around twenty three hundred. But really where we find our
sweet spot is around fifteen hundred. It's a nice mix
of I would say, like sixty percent front of house
forty percent back of house.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
You mentioned owner operator. You know you look at real estate,
which is paramount I would think for a brand like this,
because you've got to be in the right demographic, you're
going to have the right kind of you know, expendable income,
plus you're going to have to have a certain amount
of exposure in terms of brand awareness. How do you
guys go about that process of this many units open?
(15:38):
Real estate is a big part of this whole game.
How are you guys doing it?
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (15:43):
Absolutely, I mean our biggest thing that we look for is,
like you said, being in an area, a neighborhood where
it's it's middle to upper class because we do have
a product where you can eat every single day and
still feel great about yourself. It's just a matter can
can people to every single day. We don't want to
be in a community where people will go once a
(16:03):
month as a tree. And that's that's really what's most
important to us. A very easy answer is the walkability,
foot traffic. That's a that's a no brainer. We start
in DC. Foot traffic's amazing for visibility. But we have
so many locations that are in a suburb area where
there's zero foot traffic, but it doesn't matter because it's
(16:26):
you know, people will drive there because that's just the community.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
To cut it, then, looking at your your forty two
somewhat locations, it is a nice mix of suburban and
some other urban locations. I noticed that you you have
a store in New York City now in Wryatte Park.
That's that's fantastic, huge.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Yeah, that's a good spot.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
That's a really great spot. I'm wondering how's that working
for you? Uh and and you guys on the sum
you're just breakfast in lunch, right, We're not open during
dinner dinner hours.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
Or our typical hours are either seven to five or
seven to seven. We do have a few outliers outside
of that, but are definitely our peak hours are breakfast, brunch, lunch.
But the stores that are open till seven, or we
do have one store open at say till nine on
the weekend, we get a nice afternoon pop people leaving work,
leaving the gym that will either come in for you know,
(17:20):
a light dinner or something after. But we always start
seven to five. That's really like where our sweet spot is.
But we do actually have a handful of stores that
also have a liquor license with healthier cocktails, so those
all tend to have a nice like happy hour rush
from that five to seven period as well.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Has that has that been a big injection for you
guys in terms of a brand to bring in a cocktail,
want to license the process that you have to deal
with from a staffing side of things, anything that has
changed for you, because we haven't seen too much of
that in the fast casual sector yet.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
Yeah, and it's really it's it's absolutely optional and it's
based you know, and DC was super easy to get
and cheap where it made sense to try it out.
But then there's places like New Jersey and Pennsylvania where
you basically there's a limited number amount you have to spend,
like one hundred thousand dollars, and that just doesn't make
sense at all. So we kind of take it on
a base by base. If one, if the franchise owner
(18:18):
is interested, that's step one. Step two is looking at
the state rules and regulations, how much it costs, to
see if it makes sense. Because the brand obviously works
perfectly fine without it.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
It just kind of elevates the brunch scene.
Speaker 4 (18:31):
You have opportunity to do happy hour specials, but we
do keep it a very limited menu anyway. It's not
a full bar where you can pretty much order any
drink you want.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
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you there, Paul. Have you seen many brands, especially in
the fast casual sector, start to move into the you know,
especially into the limited cocktail scene.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Well, you know, from what I've been tracking, it feels
like it's it's less alcoholic, it's going.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Out to the under mocktails a lot. Yeah, exactly, and you.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Know, the non alcoholic beers, the athletic brewery and you know,
and those types of things that seem to have movement. Uh.
But I'd like to switch gears for a second and
talk a little bit about technology, if that's for sure.
I'm always fascinated when I talk to franchisers about how
they coach their tech stack. And like Brianna, when you are,
(21:03):
when you're scaling the way that you are, and you know,
you have a brand that you know, let's face it
is very gen Z oriented, right, so you need to
have that that perfect blend of technol that convenience, personalization
and convenience that technology usually affords. How do you approach
(21:24):
your tech stack? I mean, do you have like a
mandate for all new franchises or are they are they
allowed to use whatever technologies they wish? What does how does?
How does that work?
Speaker 4 (21:35):
Yeah, so we try to keep it all in house.
We have a loyalty program that we use and everyone
uses the same pos the loyalty program, and that really
helps gauge our customer, you know, just feedback and what
they're ordering in data for us to analysize. And then
also what's something that's really big for us is Google
(21:56):
and Google ads and are and honestly even social media.
Our brand is very aesthetic and it makes it pretty
easy because nine out of ten people take photos of
their foods. You know, of course that we need to
make sure it's consistent and all the photos and everything
is coming out great, but you know, posting on Google
(22:17):
and social media, and then once you put a little
ads spend behind that, that just elevates that in itself
organically and the low push with AdSpend. So that's something
that we really lean into because it's just naturally there
and you know, if There's some people that some of
our franchise owners that have some ideas or some things
(22:37):
they want to try out.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
We're open to them, but that's kind of where our
focus is right now.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
With not having a kitchen that is a traditional back
of house, you know, with all the prep equipment, et cetera.
Do you feel like this could be something that at
some point you could see some robotics play into this.
Chipotle started to integrate this. We send a handful of
others casual brands that have started use more tech in
back house. Any potential there for you, guys, I don't
(23:06):
think so.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
Maybe you can ask me at a later date, But
I think something that has always been important to me
is just the culture of the brand and the experience
of the brand, and just from experience, our clientele is very,
very talkative.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
And really relies on us.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
Like people always come in they say, oh, you know,
I feel like I'm getting a little sick.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
What do you recommend?
Speaker 4 (23:29):
Oh I don't feel so great, or I just I've
been traveling for two weeks. And really that's what's some
you know, they trust us, you know, to help make
recommendations and suggestions, and I think that's something that we
provide ourselves in Like every all of our employees down
to our part time people have a fifty question quiz
(23:49):
that they need to pass before we've been working on
the register, just so that they're able to answer questions
like that. So I mean, I think what we do
is is very detailed and really intentional that that would
be hard for me to replace one of our great
team members.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
With a robot. I could do it, but.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Things like well, I like your attitude towards it. But
at some point, you know, when you look at thousands
of units, you know, let's assume you get up to
thousands of units. You know, obviously food, cost labor, those
are the two controllables that you have to deal with
in the space. So it is going to be interesting
to see how because I always look at it this way.
I've seen operations where they've done some automation and when
(24:37):
talking to their CEOs, most of the time they tell
me they haven't reduced their staff. Instead, they've refocused their
staff onto more customer facing value additions. And if you
think about I was looking at this article right here,
let me share this with you guys. This was a
good one and it was all talking about guest experience,
and a lot of times tech is usually the big
(24:59):
lead factor on guest experience. And you look at speed
what we're going to see in terms of personalization, which
I think is the big key thing that you're you're
you know, kind of alluding to there, that's going to
be an opportunity I think in the future that could
be big. What do you think, Paul, do you think
we're going to see more robots or not?
Speaker 3 (25:18):
You know?
Speaker 2 (25:20):
You and I feel like we always come back to
the robot conversation in somebody, shape or form.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Bearn it's a it's a forever question here, Well here's
the kind of the question of the year right now.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
It's yeah, I think the with scale, uh, those opportunities
really start to show up. And you know, it's interesting
when I look at Brianna mentioned earlier about all of
our menu items are scratch made, right. This is like
every single ingred you are building menu items from scratch,
(25:56):
which is really interesting, and I wonder with that, what
kind of customization do you offer your customers, Like are
you able to build your own toast or is everything
kind of curated? And the reason why I asked that
is because when I look at some of these huge,
fast casual scale brands that really scaled well the Chipotle
(26:19):
is the Kava. They seem to have these menu items,
like these ingredients, where as a consumer, you can't make
a bad decision.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
It's like every exactly well.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
With everything else. You know what I mean? Is that
part of the plan, Like are you choosing your ingredients?
You know? So like I can walk in and almost
build just about anything and it's going to end up
tasting good.
Speaker 4 (26:44):
Yeah, that's funny that you actually bring this up, because
it's kind of an internal debate that we have because
I think the big difference, at least as far as
smoothies and asse roles go, if you put a bunch
of stuff on chipol and your chipoli bowl or a
salad or wherever, or a burger, it's like at any
point in time you can pull out something.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
But like if you build your own smoothief, all that
flavor is going in there and it's just gonna be
one flavor. You know.
Speaker 4 (27:15):
However, all of our items besides our juice, so our smoothies,
our bowls, our toasts are made to order, so lots
of times people do they kind of take a base.
They'll say, Okay, I want the smoked salmon, but I
don't want.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
The cream cheese. Can we stub it for avocado?
Speaker 4 (27:31):
And so they kind of take a base and create
it and it's made to order, so they can do
whatever they want essentially, and kind of the same thing
with the smoothies as well. They'll take a base that
they like and then maybe sub the strawberries and have
blueberries or something like that. But that is something that
we do have an open kitchen concept, which I feel
like our customers really appreciate too, especially for people who
(27:53):
have allergies, so they can just watch their food being made.
Gives them that little bit of comfort of Okay, yeah
I'm allergic to final pineapples and pineapples go and get dink.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Go in there.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
But yeah, I mean everything can be made to order.
It isn't something that we promote just for the fact
that I feel like we we spent a lot of
time and our menu is we partnered with the chef
to make it what it is today. So everything's in
there for a reason, the balance the flavors and so
you know, we like it to try to stick how
it is. But of course, if people want to set.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Your brand is I mean, it's quite beautiful, right. It
really has this elevated look and feel, and you from
the website to the different locations in the there's an
elevated atmosphere.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
I'm going to try some of these toast recipes at home.
They look pretty, they look good, luck gorgeous, they look
so good.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
You know, it's like everything's like, like you said, in
the very beginning brand, you were very detail oriented and
you wanted everything to look perfect, and I feel like
that's kind of the way it is. So I almost
feel like it would be against brand to offer any
customization because you're like, no, we put all the thought
into this.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
This is what you want to keep you from messing
it up.
Speaker 4 (29:11):
But we do realize that people do want to customize
things and it makes it feel personal, which is why
we actually also can make suggestions like our avocaves mass
shows is the most popular. The marinated tomatoes on there
is by far my favorite item that we make. That
some people don't like tomatoes, so if they ask for
without it, we will offer them, oh, do you want
(29:31):
to do cucumbers instead? Or pickled onions, and still try
to make that that toast still special if they are
removing something.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
Okay, so that's something that we train to spend.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Yeah, I think that's a good spin. Do you find
and we'll kind of skip to the franchise strategy because
you've talked about trying to get owner operator but do
you find that the owner operators try to bring in
their own style or their how consistent have you the
brand stay now that you're franchising with owner operators? Is
(30:05):
everybody kind of bought on board or do you kind
of vet them in that way? What's the process there?
Speaker 4 (30:11):
Yeah, we have a pretty thorough and I don't know
vigors is the right word, but a very great process
to vet franchisees because people are people are everything to
our companies, starting with the people working in the store
and then of course our franchise owners. We're very people
driven company and that's something that's important to us. So
we want to make sure the people that are we're
(30:33):
franchising with that they understand our vision and our mission
and don't want to completely reinvent the whole wheel as far.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
As the menu goes.
Speaker 4 (30:42):
You know, the menu is what's tried and true, and
we have data that we you know, when we go
into a new market, we'll look to see if something
doesn't sell, but that's normally not the case. But with
the owner operator, we do want them to make their
store their own, you know, without losing the insight of
to seek in the menu. But we always work with
(31:02):
a local artist that will do a mural that is
relevant to their location and just doing little things like that.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
So no matter what story you walk into it, it's cool, see,
but it's going to be a little different to make
it their own.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Yeah, you know, firehouse subs used to do well. They
still do it, I think they have, but they ended
up hiring an artist that goes into each each unit
and builds out a mural to match that particular you
know location that they're building on. It does personalize it
and I think it also draws it down to the
local level that a lot of people really like. When
you start to see multi unit brands, they do like
(31:40):
that local attachment for sure. Let's get into the last category,
and that is the future of fast casual. This being
a new sector, especially one that is leaning into what
I would say is the perfect target audience for fast casual,
and that's gen Z. What do you see in terms
(32:00):
of opportunities and challenges down the road right now? In
terms of the.
Speaker 4 (32:05):
Market, I mean, I think fast casual is really where
the whole food industry is going. I feel like most
of the fast casual restaurants are the ones that really
made it through the pandemic and even thrides like I
would say that to a seek scribe through the pandemic,
and so it just expedited the trends that were already there.
And I think it's exciting that we're, you know, fast
(32:29):
casual I think used to be and maybe still it's
a little bit like you think of like firs and
fries and fried chicken and things like that. But breaking
into a healthier fast casual is really what people want
and they don't want to sacrifice their time to go
sit for an hour at a restaurant to get something
healthy or make it at home, like.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
Those are typically two only options.
Speaker 4 (32:52):
So if we can combine that whereas someone can still
have something healthy and quick and be on their way
do whatever they're doing, is really where the trends are going.
Speaker 3 (33:02):
And I don't think that's going anywhere.
Speaker 4 (33:05):
I think people are being more aware of what they're eating,
leading a more active lifestyle, and I think it's exciting
to see.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
It's really exciting.
Speaker 4 (33:15):
So yeah, I mean, I think that's just going to
exped a year over a year to more kind of
morph into fast casual for the people that are not
in that sector yet.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
This concept, your concept in particular, feels very I mean
so gen Z in the sense that I mean you
can see this across any college campus like this to
me feels like the perfect fit for a franchise opportunity
on college campus locations. So I was going to ask you, though, Brianna,
(33:49):
is there a concept out there or a brand that
you are trying to emulate at all? Is there anybody
is there a brand out that you're looking at and
you say, you know, these guys are doing it right,
I think we need to. I'd like to model our
company a little bit more like them, if possible.
Speaker 4 (34:05):
Yeah, there, I actually don't think so. I think what
we're doing is very unique. You know, there's a lot
of coffee shops, a lot of juice bars, for sure,
but I think what we're doing is something unique. I
think starting with our buildouts using elevated, higher end finishes,
we're using real wood, We have real plans, you know, glass,
(34:26):
herring bone tile, all the little details that make it
very welcoming. And people do want a brunch there, They
want to meet their friends. If someone's visiting out of town,
they're excited to meet them at Toasteek. But then also
having I don't really like the phrase one stop shop,
but really, if you just want a coffee, high quality coffee,
(34:48):
we have. If you just want to juice their smoothie
in and out, we have it. If you want to
sit down and have a whole meal and substantial food,
we have that.
Speaker 3 (34:54):
And I feel like there's really.
Speaker 4 (34:56):
Not other companies that are are kind of hitting and
checking all the boxes. So we like to you know,
we always say kind of we're our own competitor. We're
always trying to better ourselves and do better, raise the
bar for ourselves. So we still got a lot of
word cut out for us. But I feel like we're
(35:17):
on the right path.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Well, you know, good luck to you guys, because I
think the better for you category is going to be
one that could see a large amount of growth. We've
started to see a little bit of deviation. You know,
Ethnic kind of was the winner over the last I
would say last couple of years with Cova's breakout. Prior
to that, it was you know, the traditional sectors like
(35:40):
fresh mechs, you know, bakery, cafe, et cetera. But I
think good for you. I think you're on something, Branda.
So first of all, thank you so much for coming
in on the podcast today. We appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
Of course, Thank you so much. Guys.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
Yeah, it's been great having you. We're going to check
back on Tostik as you guys continue to grow, so
be on the lookout for that. But appreciate you stopping it.
All right, excellent, All right, Paul, So there you have
another big I think revelation for the categories that we're
seeing right now grow the better for you. You and
(36:12):
I talk about this quite a bit in terms of,
you know, like the idea around gluten free, specialized menus,
all those kind of components. Do you think that we're
going to see copycat brands of this?
Speaker 3 (36:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Absolutely, you know it's funny, it's the humble piece of toast.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
All the taco was kind of that way, and how
you look at where Kipaule and Baha Rush has kind
of come.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
From the things though you know, when you look at
a company like Toasteek and the culture and the you know, listen,
this is a young company that's doing things quickly. These
are growing fast folks that are just going fast and
you know, just believing in themselves and moving. But when
you when you look at like the big components of
(36:58):
what makes the most you know, what is the winning
formula for fast cat I think that checking the boxes
on customization and freshness, convenience, uh, strong branding and focus,
elevated atmosphere, smart expansion strategies. Right, So all of these
different boxes they're they're they're ticking, so good for them.
(37:22):
I think we're going to see more of this. I
think we're going to see more special specialization.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
Uh and in the good for you category.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
In the good for you like you know, it's it's
that attention to nutrition, eating well, feeling good. Like Brianna mentioned, Uh,
this is something that you know you can eat every
day and still feel good about.
Speaker 1 (37:44):
Well. They got a lot of variety too. I mean
they're they're going after the beverage market. They have a
great menu component. I love the idea of the additives
which you get into the shots and all sorts of
you know components there. I was really surprised when she
mentioned cocktails at this because I wouldn't called that one.
I did not know it in looking at the brand originally.
So the flexibility of it's good.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
Yeah, yeah, we'll see see. I'm really interested. I'll be
watching this one for sure.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
Yeah, this is a good one. Listen. If you guys
are not subscribed to the podcast, make sure and do
that right now. If you're watching this on YouTube, make
sure and hit the button, and of course hit subscribe
there as well. It's just you know the button down below.
And of course you guys can reach mister Paul Molinari
where thin I find you these days?
Speaker 2 (38:27):
Can find me at Popcorn GTM dot com. We are
helping all sorts of restaurant technology companies go to market
and we're busy, but reach out to me. Yeah, love
to connect.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
All right, You got it, all right. We'll catch you
guys next time right here on the Restaurant Master RINDS podcast.
See you sooner to stand past
We are back here on the Restaurant Mastermind podcast, and
today we're going to be diving into something that is
going to be close to my heart, and that is
the fast casual sector. It is going to be a
good one. I got a lot of data for you
guys on this one, and we have a very special
guest coming in from Toastique. We'll break it all down
for you. Paul. How are you.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
I am doing well, mister Baron. It's always a pleasure
to be with you.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Yeah. Did you know that fast Well, we kind of
know that fast casual is the leading sector in terms
of growth, but I did not realize that this could
be a three hundred billion dollar market in as early
as twenty thirty. I mean that that would be three
hundred billion even if the if the industry creeps up
(00:44):
to say one point two to one point three. I mean,
you're talking about thirty, maybe thirty percent of the of
the major Western markets controlled by fast casual. Were you
aware of that? Was that big? Idalize?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
I wasn't aware of that number. But the reality is
just that fast casual is the sweet spot, right, This
is this is the this is the segment of the
industry that's not only driving the most excitement, but it's
also driving really the most the most revenue. And I
think and one of the things we'll talk about today,
(01:16):
when I heard that you're bringing on our special guests,
Brianna from Testique, this is one of these. This is
one of these hot brands. This is one of those
brands that you can kind of like look at and say, Okay,
I get it. I understand why all all of this
excitement and huge expectations.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Are happening well, and a lot of it is built
around these, uh you know, these emerging categories. And and
when you look at fast casual, which has been a
star studded group of brands that have grown out of
the freshmach space. Obviously Panera Bread came out of the
baker cafe space. We've seen almost a winner in every category,
(01:55):
the good for you category, which is kind of where
I would put this, but it has a lot of
uniqueness to it is one of those that is really growing.
We're gonna dive in deep, so you guys stick around.
We'll be right back. My name is Paul Baron. As
(02:31):
the early pioneer in fast casual, I've seen the industry
evolve from just a few operators to the most sought
after segment by consumers around the world. Now we're planning
to shape its future. Tap into decades of my expertise
identifying the emerging brands and tech winners in the space.
(02:52):
Saber Capital will be fueling the next generation of fast
casual innovation. All right, we are back here and today
we are being joined by a special guest. And of
course you guys have probably heard of this brand, but
you may have never actually got a chance to hear
a little bit about them. But we're going to bring
on their CEO, Brianna Keith. How are you.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
I'm doing great? How are you guys.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Having saked excellent?
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Yeah, So let's go into a couple of points with you, Brianna,
Paul and I will kind of pepper you with questions
on the concept of a brand. But what you guys
have been able to do. First of all, for our audience.
Some people may have heard of Toastek or have seen
some of your locations. Give us a rundown on how
(03:38):
big you guys are, what your focus is, Give me
a kind of a foural one there.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Sure.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Yeah, So Toasteek we originated in Washington, d C. Back
in twenty eighteen, and we are a gourmet toast and
juice bar with also handcrafted coffee. Everything that we do
is intentional at the highest quality that.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
We possibly can make things out of.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
You know, all of our juices are made in house,
there's no added sugars or sweeteners.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Our gourmet toasts are our specialty.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
All of our toppings are made in house, down to
our peanut butter, pickled onions, our avocado smash. Everything on
our toast is housemeade. And then we also have smoothies
assay evils, again no hidden sugars sweeteners on them.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
And then we have a full express of our.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
Menu which that is actually something that we added a
little bit later on to the brand which has really
taken off. We partner with a local roaster that is
hand selects their farms.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Goes out and meets with them.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
They actually coach and train the farmers on how to
grow their beans at the highest quality. So it's really
just a high quality cafe. Currently we have forty two
stores open. Yes, you can see our beautiful website on there,
all of our beautiful toppings.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
It's really something for everyone.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
You know, we have something for someone who has dietary
restrictions or as on a strict diet. But also we
have something that's a little more you know, traditional breakfast
or lunch. We have our smoked salmon toes with real
cream cheese, pastami salmon, which is delicious. So whatever someone's
in the mood for, we got them covered.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Many how many total units?
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Right now we have forty two open.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
We will be opening around twenty five to twenty seven
by the end of this year.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, this is huge, this is wit a bide the
end of the year, Brianna. You have to understand we're
basically setting like land speed records the number of number
of locations you've already opened and have in development. I
mean a little bit bigger than a golf clap for.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Big bigger than the golf CP. I like that one. Okay,
So what do you attribute the growth to right now?
Speaker 4 (06:05):
I think, honestly, from the beginning, the very first location
was to create myself a job, and it exploded obviously
into way much more than that. But from the very beginning,
I wanted everything to be perfect. I wanted the experience
to be perfect, the quality to be perfect, the presentation
to be perfect, and I think that's what really lends
(06:28):
itself to the growth. You know, the details in everything
that we do, everything that we touch really really reflects
on the sales and the freshness and the quality.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
And I think really also, the fast casual, like.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
You mentioned, is a booming industry, and I think we
learned how special the operation was through the pandemic because
we actually don't have any cooking equipment, but everything's made
in house, but just without that extra overhead, and we
don't need to hire a cook or a chef to
operate a toastyk, and so it makes it very scalable.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
And so starting in Washington, d C.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Which is very touristy, we opened in the middle of
somewhere at the Wharf, which was also a.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
New development itself.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
We saw people all across the world and people were
just wowed by it. The feedback was amazing, and so
that's I think really when it took off, people were like,
I want to open one.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
How do we do this? Like you should.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
Franchise, And at that point in time, I didn't really
understand franchising, and I never It's not something that ever
crossed my mind. So I started to look into it
and I think something that we're doing a little bit
differently with franchising is really looking for owner operators, Like
we want people that are part of the community, that
have the same passion as I do to go represent
(07:51):
Toasteek in their community. I think that's, you know, how
we're going to be sustainable for many years to come
with that passion behind.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
It, no doubt. What was your background.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
I had a degree or I have a degree in
hospitality management and minor in business, but I've always worked
in restaurants and in events, and after college I was
working in events in downtown d C. But I think
for me, I've always I'm very much a people person.
I've loved enjoying talking to people, gaining to know people,
and combining it with my passion for cooking just fresh,
(08:25):
yummy food.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
It's kind of how Tosy came about.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Yeah, I read a quick article about uh, you know,
in preparation for this podcast today. I was doing a
little bit of research and I read a quote from you,
and I'll just paraphrase, but you were you had you
always you'd worked in restaurants, and you said you said,
if I'm going to work this hard, I might.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
As well do it for myself.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Yeah, and I love that because I mean, that's just it.
One does not simply open up a restaurant withoutout the
real understanding like this is just an app. This is
something that you have to go in with full mind,
body and soul in order for it to succeed.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
The idea of toast, the toast concept come from because
this is one of the few. Obviously we've seen brands
that have integrated avocado toast and all sorts of savory
toast elements as a menu item. But this was really
the first true concept that I saw built around the
idea of this as a category. Where did that come from?
Speaker 3 (09:33):
For me?
Speaker 4 (09:34):
I just loved great quality of toast and bread, you know,
very classic bread and butter. But I love, I do
love a good carb and I feel like having one
piece on their artists in bread topped with nice fresh toppings.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
It always just made me feel so good.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Somethings you eat a really big sandwich, even if there's
some healthy things on there, it always just made it
weigh me down a little bit. And I'm very I'm
a very visual person. So even when I was making
food and toast for myself at home. I wanted to
make it be beautiful and fresh and naturally colorful, and
I feel like there's, you know, such an opportunity for
(10:16):
open based sandwiches. You know, people overseas have been doing
it for years and years, maybe just calling it tartines
or open based sandwiches. But I think that you can
that you can see the freshness, see the ingredients, and
it tastes just as good, and then it'll still fill
you up and you feel very satisfied, but it'll keep
fueling you instead of weighing you down for the rest
(10:38):
of the day.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Are you finding the savory products flying on the menus?
I noticed some of the things we just showed on
screen a little bit there. One was like more of
a peebee with bananas, peanut butter. It had strawberries on it,
you know, some other elements in there as far as nuts.
Are you finding there the cat When someone walks into
a toasteek, do they think more I won't say dessert,
(11:01):
but something that is more on the treat side versus
the savory side. Or are you seeing a mix of both.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
I would definitely say a mix of both.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
I think people because we really only have one sweet
toast or peanut butter crunch toast, and so people who
come in for toast normally want something savory and then
essentially everything else on our menu, the smoothies, the juice
in bowls are going to be on the sweeter side.
So our toasts do make up between like thirty to
(11:30):
fifty percent of our sales depending on the location.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
And that's kind of what I wanted, you know.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
I want toast to be the specialty item, the thing
that sets us apart, and it does show in our sales,
you know, but we definitely do get like the peanut
our crunch is one of my favorite that it's definitely
a little bit more popular in the morning, but it's
so good. So I think there's a lot of people
that kind of work their way down the menu, trying every.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Item to see what they like best and then coming
back from more.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
So I'm going through the in you right now. We've
got the gourmet toast components, handcrafted coffee, which I think
is a good slide in there in terms of beverage bowls,
which are good. I like the wellness shot component that
is really is that a category that you're finding some
growth in because we've seen a lot of beverage companies
that have started to integrate wellness shots, you know, all
(12:20):
sorts of you know, additives into the beverage category. You've
got housemaid troops, Grab and Grow Go obviously, the collagen
lattes another you know, potential win there. How big is
the is the category from a beverage side of things,
Do you see that as maybe one of the bigger
growth opportunities for you guys?
Speaker 4 (12:40):
Yeah, I think because we have a lot of beverages,
you know, this movies, the youth, the college and lattes,
coffee and the wellness shots. The wellness shots are actually
huge seller and we okay develop those actually during the
pandemic because we naturally saw people adding fresh tender into
their smoothies and saw that demand. And truthfully, it's something
(13:01):
that I've always wanted to create, but it always went
on the back burner. And in the pandemic I had
a little more time on my hands. We never closed
a single day, but it allowed for us to get
a little more creative and add.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Some new things to the menu.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
So yeah, I mean, I think we have such a
variety of options that even if you don't drink caffeine.
We have juices, we have macha, we have other teas
that you know, it doesn't have to be coffee. So
I would say that that is a big component to
our business.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
How big is the mix for you guys in terms
of like third party you mentioned you didn't close during
the pandemic. That meant it was all delivery. This seems
like a product that travels or could travel very well,
you know, in terms of.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
I asked, I was livery how well could it? How
well does it travel? I mean toast, you know, when
you have it, when it's loaded with stuff, I mean
it could does it good?
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Soggy?
Speaker 4 (13:56):
That?
Speaker 3 (13:56):
Surprisingly? Surprisingly it does.
Speaker 4 (13:59):
And we actually the first two years of business, up
until the pandemic, we didn't do.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
Any online ordering, no third parties.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
You physically had to be in our store to make
a purchase because I was like, the smoothies are gonna mild,
the toast is gonna get soggy.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
I'm not serving that.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
And then of course the pandemic came and we're like, Okay,
we're going to do thor Dash, Uber Eats, Grip, We're
gonna do it all. And I was very pleasantly surprised
by the fact that no one really complained.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Ever. We even have gotten.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
Reviews that were like, Wow, I'm actually surprised how well
the toast traveled.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
And I think it's because we take a lot of
care in all of our products.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
But when we're when someone orders a smoothie or a
bowl or anything cold, we put it in the freezer
until the driver comes.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
So we're really trying to get.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
That extra injection of coldness ASATRU exactly. Well, I like
that is how big are the units are they in
terms of square footage?
Speaker 4 (14:56):
Our sweet spy is around twelve hundred and fifteen hundred,
our smallest just under one thousand, and our biggest is
around twenty three hundred. But really where we find our
sweet spot is around fifteen hundred. It's a nice mix
of I would say, like sixty percent front of house
forty percent back of house.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
You mentioned owner operator. You know you look at real estate,
which is paramount I would think for a brand like this,
because you've got to be in the right demographic, you're
going to have the right kind of you know, expendable income,
plus you're going to have to have a certain amount
of exposure in terms of brand awareness. How do you
guys go about that process of this many units open?
(15:38):
Real estate is a big part of this whole game.
How are you guys doing it?
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (15:43):
Absolutely, I mean our biggest thing that we look for is,
like you said, being in an area, a neighborhood where
it's it's middle to upper class because we do have
a product where you can eat every single day and
still feel great about yourself. It's just a matter can
can people to every single day. We don't want to
be in a community where people will go once a
(16:03):
month as a tree. And that's that's really what's most
important to us. A very easy answer is the walkability,
foot traffic. That's a that's a no brainer. We start
in DC. Foot traffic's amazing for visibility. But we have
so many locations that are in a suburb area where
there's zero foot traffic, but it doesn't matter because it's
(16:26):
you know, people will drive there because that's just the community.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
To cut it, then, looking at your your forty two
somewhat locations, it is a nice mix of suburban and
some other urban locations. I noticed that you you have
a store in New York City now in Wryatte Park.
That's that's fantastic, huge.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Yeah, that's a good spot.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
That's a really great spot. I'm wondering how's that working
for you? Uh and and you guys on the sum
you're just breakfast in lunch, right, We're not open during
dinner dinner hours.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
Or our typical hours are either seven to five or
seven to seven. We do have a few outliers outside
of that, but are definitely our peak hours are breakfast, brunch, lunch.
But the stores that are open till seven, or we
do have one store open at say till nine on
the weekend, we get a nice afternoon pop people leaving work,
leaving the gym that will either come in for you know,
(17:20):
a light dinner or something after. But we always start
seven to five. That's really like where our sweet spot is.
But we do actually have a handful of stores that
also have a liquor license with healthier cocktails, so those
all tend to have a nice like happy hour rush
from that five to seven period as well.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Has that has that been a big injection for you
guys in terms of a brand to bring in a cocktail,
want to license the process that you have to deal
with from a staffing side of things, anything that has
changed for you, because we haven't seen too much of
that in the fast casual sector yet.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
Yeah, and it's really it's it's absolutely optional and it's
based you know, and DC was super easy to get
and cheap where it made sense to try it out.
But then there's places like New Jersey and Pennsylvania where
you basically there's a limited number amount you have to spend,
like one hundred thousand dollars, and that just doesn't make
sense at all. So we kind of take it on
a base by base. If one, if the franchise owner
(18:18):
is interested, that's step one. Step two is looking at
the state rules and regulations, how much it costs, to
see if it makes sense. Because the brand obviously works
perfectly fine without it.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
It just kind of elevates the brunch scene.
Speaker 4 (18:31):
You have opportunity to do happy hour specials, but we
do keep it a very limited menu anyway. It's not
a full bar where you can pretty much order any
drink you want.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
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you there, Paul. Have you seen many brands, especially in
the fast casual sector, start to move into the you know,
especially into the limited cocktail scene.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Well, you know, from what I've been tracking, it feels
like it's it's less alcoholic, it's going.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Out to the under mocktails a lot. Yeah, exactly, and you.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Know, the non alcoholic beers, the athletic brewery and you know,
and those types of things that seem to have movement. Uh.
But I'd like to switch gears for a second and
talk a little bit about technology, if that's for sure.
I'm always fascinated when I talk to franchisers about how
they coach their tech stack. And like Brianna, when you are,
(21:03):
when you're scaling the way that you are, and you know,
you have a brand that you know, let's face it
is very gen Z oriented, right, so you need to
have that that perfect blend of technol that convenience, personalization
and convenience that technology usually affords. How do you approach
(21:24):
your tech stack? I mean, do you have like a
mandate for all new franchises or are they are they
allowed to use whatever technologies they wish? What does how does?
How does that work?
Speaker 4 (21:35):
Yeah, so we try to keep it all in house.
We have a loyalty program that we use and everyone
uses the same pos the loyalty program, and that really
helps gauge our customer, you know, just feedback and what
they're ordering in data for us to analysize. And then
also what's something that's really big for us is Google
(21:56):
and Google ads and are and honestly even social media.
Our brand is very aesthetic and it makes it pretty
easy because nine out of ten people take photos of
their foods. You know, of course that we need to
make sure it's consistent and all the photos and everything
is coming out great, but you know, posting on Google
(22:17):
and social media, and then once you put a little
ads spend behind that, that just elevates that in itself
organically and the low push with AdSpend. So that's something
that we really lean into because it's just naturally there
and you know, if There's some people that some of
our franchise owners that have some ideas or some things
(22:37):
they want to try out.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
We're open to them, but that's kind of where our
focus is right now.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
With not having a kitchen that is a traditional back
of house, you know, with all the prep equipment, et cetera.
Do you feel like this could be something that at
some point you could see some robotics play into this.
Chipotle started to integrate this. We send a handful of
others casual brands that have started use more tech in
back house. Any potential there for you, guys, I don't
(23:06):
think so.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
Maybe you can ask me at a later date, But
I think something that has always been important to me
is just the culture of the brand and the experience
of the brand, and just from experience, our clientele is very,
very talkative.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
And really relies on us.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
Like people always come in they say, oh, you know,
I feel like I'm getting a little sick.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
What do you recommend?
Speaker 4 (23:29):
Oh I don't feel so great, or I just I've
been traveling for two weeks. And really that's what's some
you know, they trust us, you know, to help make
recommendations and suggestions, and I think that's something that we
provide ourselves in Like every all of our employees down
to our part time people have a fifty question quiz
(23:49):
that they need to pass before we've been working on
the register, just so that they're able to answer questions
like that. So I mean, I think what we do
is is very detailed and really intentional that that would
be hard for me to replace one of our great
team members.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
With a robot. I could do it, but.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Things like well, I like your attitude towards it. But
at some point, you know, when you look at thousands
of units, you know, let's assume you get up to
thousands of units. You know, obviously food, cost labor, those
are the two controllables that you have to deal with
in the space. So it is going to be interesting
to see how because I always look at it this way.
I've seen operations where they've done some automation and when
(24:37):
talking to their CEOs, most of the time they tell
me they haven't reduced their staff. Instead, they've refocused their
staff onto more customer facing value additions. And if you
think about I was looking at this article right here,
let me share this with you guys. This was a
good one and it was all talking about guest experience,
and a lot of times tech is usually the big
(24:59):
lead factor on guest experience. And you look at speed
what we're going to see in terms of personalization, which
I think is the big key thing that you're you're
you know, kind of alluding to there, that's going to
be an opportunity I think in the future that could
be big. What do you think, Paul, do you think
we're going to see more robots or not?
Speaker 3 (25:18):
You know?
Speaker 2 (25:20):
You and I feel like we always come back to
the robot conversation in somebody, shape or form.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Bearn it's a it's a forever question here, Well here's
the kind of the question of the year right now.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
It's yeah, I think the with scale, uh, those opportunities
really start to show up. And you know, it's interesting
when I look at Brianna mentioned earlier about all of
our menu items are scratch made, right. This is like
every single ingred you are building menu items from scratch,
(25:56):
which is really interesting, and I wonder with that, what
kind of customization do you offer your customers, Like are
you able to build your own toast or is everything
kind of curated? And the reason why I asked that
is because when I look at some of these huge,
fast casual scale brands that really scaled well the Chipotle
(26:19):
is the Kava. They seem to have these menu items,
like these ingredients, where as a consumer, you can't make
a bad decision.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
It's like every exactly well.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
With everything else. You know what I mean? Is that
part of the plan, Like are you choosing your ingredients?
You know? So like I can walk in and almost
build just about anything and it's going to end up
tasting good.
Speaker 4 (26:44):
Yeah, that's funny that you actually bring this up, because
it's kind of an internal debate that we have because
I think the big difference, at least as far as
smoothies and asse roles go, if you put a bunch
of stuff on chipol and your chipoli bowl or a
salad or wherever, or a burger, it's like at any
point in time you can pull out something.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
But like if you build your own smoothief, all that
flavor is going in there and it's just gonna be
one flavor. You know.
Speaker 4 (27:15):
However, all of our items besides our juice, so our smoothies,
our bowls, our toasts are made to order, so lots
of times people do they kind of take a base.
They'll say, Okay, I want the smoked salmon, but I
don't want.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
The cream cheese. Can we stub it for avocado?
Speaker 4 (27:31):
And so they kind of take a base and create
it and it's made to order, so they can do
whatever they want essentially, and kind of the same thing
with the smoothies as well. They'll take a base that
they like and then maybe sub the strawberries and have
blueberries or something like that. But that is something that
we do have an open kitchen concept, which I feel
like our customers really appreciate too, especially for people who
(27:53):
have allergies, so they can just watch their food being made.
Gives them that little bit of comfort of Okay, yeah
I'm allergic to final pineapples and pineapples go and get dink.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Go in there.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
But yeah, I mean everything can be made to order.
It isn't something that we promote just for the fact
that I feel like we we spent a lot of
time and our menu is we partnered with the chef
to make it what it is today. So everything's in
there for a reason, the balance the flavors and so
you know, we like it to try to stick how
it is. But of course, if people want to set.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Your brand is I mean, it's quite beautiful, right. It
really has this elevated look and feel, and you from
the website to the different locations in the there's an
elevated atmosphere.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
I'm going to try some of these toast recipes at home.
They look pretty, they look good, luck gorgeous, they look
so good.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
You know, it's like everything's like, like you said, in
the very beginning brand, you were very detail oriented and
you wanted everything to look perfect, and I feel like
that's kind of the way it is. So I almost
feel like it would be against brand to offer any
customization because you're like, no, we put all the thought
into this.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
This is what you want to keep you from messing
it up.
Speaker 4 (29:11):
But we do realize that people do want to customize
things and it makes it feel personal, which is why
we actually also can make suggestions like our avocaves mass
shows is the most popular. The marinated tomatoes on there
is by far my favorite item that we make. That
some people don't like tomatoes, so if they ask for
without it, we will offer them, oh, do you want
(29:31):
to do cucumbers instead? Or pickled onions, and still try
to make that that toast still special if they are
removing something.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
Okay, so that's something that we train to spend.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Yeah, I think that's a good spin. Do you find
and we'll kind of skip to the franchise strategy because
you've talked about trying to get owner operator but do
you find that the owner operators try to bring in
their own style or their how consistent have you the
brand stay now that you're franchising with owner operators? Is
(30:05):
everybody kind of bought on board or do you kind
of vet them in that way? What's the process there?
Speaker 4 (30:11):
Yeah, we have a pretty thorough and I don't know
vigors is the right word, but a very great process
to vet franchisees because people are people are everything to
our companies, starting with the people working in the store
and then of course our franchise owners. We're very people
driven company and that's something that's important to us. So
we want to make sure the people that are we're
(30:33):
franchising with that they understand our vision and our mission
and don't want to completely reinvent the whole wheel as far.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
As the menu goes.
Speaker 4 (30:42):
You know, the menu is what's tried and true, and
we have data that we you know, when we go
into a new market, we'll look to see if something
doesn't sell, but that's normally not the case. But with
the owner operator, we do want them to make their
store their own, you know, without losing the insight of
to seek in the menu. But we always work with
(31:02):
a local artist that will do a mural that is
relevant to their location and just doing little things like that.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
So no matter what story you walk into it, it's cool, see,
but it's going to be a little different to make
it their own.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Yeah, you know, firehouse subs used to do well. They
still do it, I think they have, but they ended
up hiring an artist that goes into each each unit
and builds out a mural to match that particular you
know location that they're building on. It does personalize it
and I think it also draws it down to the
local level that a lot of people really like. When
you start to see multi unit brands, they do like
(31:40):
that local attachment for sure. Let's get into the last category,
and that is the future of fast casual. This being
a new sector, especially one that is leaning into what
I would say is the perfect target audience for fast casual,
and that's gen Z. What do you see in terms
(32:00):
of opportunities and challenges down the road right now? In
terms of the.
Speaker 4 (32:05):
Market, I mean, I think fast casual is really where
the whole food industry is going. I feel like most
of the fast casual restaurants are the ones that really
made it through the pandemic and even thrides like I
would say that to a seek scribe through the pandemic,
and so it just expedited the trends that were already there.
And I think it's exciting that we're, you know, fast
(32:29):
casual I think used to be and maybe still it's
a little bit like you think of like firs and
fries and fried chicken and things like that. But breaking
into a healthier fast casual is really what people want
and they don't want to sacrifice their time to go
sit for an hour at a restaurant to get something
healthy or make it at home, like.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
Those are typically two only options.
Speaker 4 (32:52):
So if we can combine that whereas someone can still
have something healthy and quick and be on their way
do whatever they're doing, is really where the trends are going.
Speaker 3 (33:02):
And I don't think that's going anywhere.
Speaker 4 (33:05):
I think people are being more aware of what they're eating,
leading a more active lifestyle, and I think it's exciting
to see.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
It's really exciting.
Speaker 4 (33:15):
So yeah, I mean, I think that's just going to
exped a year over a year to more kind of
morph into fast casual for the people that are not
in that sector yet.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
This concept, your concept in particular, feels very I mean
so gen Z in the sense that I mean you
can see this across any college campus like this to
me feels like the perfect fit for a franchise opportunity
on college campus locations. So I was going to ask you, though, Brianna,
(33:49):
is there a concept out there or a brand that
you are trying to emulate at all? Is there anybody
is there a brand out that you're looking at and
you say, you know, these guys are doing it right,
I think we need to. I'd like to model our
company a little bit more like them, if possible.
Speaker 4 (34:05):
Yeah, there, I actually don't think so. I think what
we're doing is very unique. You know, there's a lot
of coffee shops, a lot of juice bars, for sure,
but I think what we're doing is something unique. I
think starting with our buildouts using elevated, higher end finishes,
we're using real wood, We have real plans, you know, glass,
(34:26):
herring bone tile, all the little details that make it
very welcoming. And people do want a brunch there, They
want to meet their friends. If someone's visiting out of town,
they're excited to meet them at Toasteek. But then also
having I don't really like the phrase one stop shop,
but really, if you just want a coffee, high quality coffee,
(34:48):
we have. If you just want to juice their smoothie
in and out, we have it. If you want to
sit down and have a whole meal and substantial food,
we have that.
Speaker 3 (34:54):
And I feel like there's really.
Speaker 4 (34:56):
Not other companies that are are kind of hitting and
checking all the boxes. So we like to you know,
we always say kind of we're our own competitor. We're
always trying to better ourselves and do better, raise the
bar for ourselves. So we still got a lot of
word cut out for us. But I feel like we're
(35:17):
on the right path.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Well, you know, good luck to you guys, because I
think the better for you category is going to be
one that could see a large amount of growth. We've
started to see a little bit of deviation. You know,
Ethnic kind of was the winner over the last I
would say last couple of years with Cova's breakout. Prior
to that, it was you know, the traditional sectors like
(35:40):
fresh mechs, you know, bakery, cafe, et cetera. But I
think good for you. I think you're on something, Branda.
So first of all, thank you so much for coming
in on the podcast today. We appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
Of course, Thank you so much. Guys.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
Yeah, it's been great having you. We're going to check
back on Tostik as you guys continue to grow, so
be on the lookout for that. But appreciate you stopping it.
All right, excellent, All right, Paul, So there you have
another big I think revelation for the categories that we're
seeing right now grow the better for you. You and
(36:12):
I talk about this quite a bit in terms of,
you know, like the idea around gluten free, specialized menus,
all those kind of components. Do you think that we're
going to see copycat brands of this?
Speaker 3 (36:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Absolutely, you know it's funny, it's the humble piece of toast.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
All the taco was kind of that way, and how
you look at where Kipaule and Baha Rush has kind
of come.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
From the things though you know, when you look at
a company like Toasteek and the culture and the you know, listen,
this is a young company that's doing things quickly. These
are growing fast folks that are just going fast and
you know, just believing in themselves and moving. But when
you when you look at like the big components of
(36:58):
what makes the most you know, what is the winning
formula for fast cat I think that checking the boxes
on customization and freshness, convenience, uh, strong branding and focus,
elevated atmosphere, smart expansion strategies. Right, So all of these
different boxes they're they're they're ticking, so good for them.
(37:22):
I think we're going to see more of this. I
think we're going to see more special specialization.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
Uh and in the good for you category.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
In the good for you like you know, it's it's
that attention to nutrition, eating well, feeling good. Like Brianna mentioned, Uh,
this is something that you know you can eat every
day and still feel good about.
Speaker 1 (37:44):
Well. They got a lot of variety too. I mean
they're they're going after the beverage market. They have a
great menu component. I love the idea of the additives
which you get into the shots and all sorts of
you know components there. I was really surprised when she
mentioned cocktails at this because I wouldn't called that one.
I did not know it in looking at the brand originally.
So the flexibility of it's good.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
Yeah, yeah, we'll see see. I'm really interested. I'll be
watching this one for sure.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
Yeah, this is a good one. Listen. If you guys
are not subscribed to the podcast, make sure and do
that right now. If you're watching this on YouTube, make
sure and hit the button, and of course hit subscribe
there as well. It's just you know the button down below.
And of course you guys can reach mister Paul Molinari
where thin I find you these days?
Speaker 2 (38:27):
Can find me at Popcorn GTM dot com. We are
helping all sorts of restaurant technology companies go to market
and we're busy, but reach out to me. Yeah, love
to connect.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
All right, You got it, all right. We'll catch you
guys next time right here on the Restaurant Master RINDS podcast.
See you sooner to stand past
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I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com