1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,070
There's also the risk of overcompensating
right.

2
00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:04,500
Becoming what would have got analysis
paralysis.

3
00:00:04,560 --> 00:00:06,180
I think our new term has been data drunk.

4
00:00:06,450 --> 00:00:06,720
Right.

5
00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:08,610
Well getting two down on the data at this
point.

6
00:00:08,610 --> 00:00:08,960
Right.

7
00:00:10,180 --> 00:00:12,480
Because you can overdo it at some point.

8
00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:19,350
Welcome to restaurant 365 Presents Behind
the Numbers show, where we talk

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00:00:19,350 --> 00:00:22,950
to restaurant owners and operators, chefs
and CFOs, everybody

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00:00:22,950 --> 00:00:25,860
in between about what makes successful
restaurants tick.

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00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:28,110
Now, before we get started, just a quick
reminder.

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00:00:28,620 --> 00:00:31,530
Don't forget, like and subscribe to the
show wherever you're tuning in.

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00:00:31,740 --> 00:00:33,390
And please consider leaving us a review.

14
00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:37,230
It helps us bring you all of our amazing
guests and conversations, as

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00:00:37,230 --> 00:00:40,680
well as continue to grow and support this
incredible restaurant community of ours.

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00:00:40,830 --> 00:00:44,520
And with that, I'm your host, Rick
Sweeney, and I'm Mark Cohen, and we're

17
00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:46,350
excited to be here today with Troy Hooper.

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00:00:46,500 --> 00:00:49,140
Troy, tell everybody a little bit about
who you are and what you do.

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00:00:49,650 --> 00:00:51,420
Well, I'm a CEO of Hop Out America.

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That's the parent holding company for
Pepper restaurants.

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00:00:55,110 --> 00:00:58,920
We have 560 560 restaurants

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00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:02,320
in the world as of the 30th of December,
2025.

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00:01:02,340 --> 00:01:05,640
So, yes, the couple were in 17 countries.

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00:01:06,450 --> 00:01:09,210
We're a Japanese fast casual hot plate
concept.

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00:01:09,420 --> 00:01:10,740
Protein rice or protein?

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00:01:10,740 --> 00:01:12,810
Pasta and vegetables on a hot plate.

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00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:14,820
You got about six sauces to choose from.

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00:01:15,450 --> 00:01:17,100
To build it and make it your own way.

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00:01:17,100 --> 00:01:19,860
And, yeah, that's me, myself and I.

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00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:23,160
Well, let's get into sort of a big
fundamental question.

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00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:24,030
We always like to start with.

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00:01:24,210 --> 00:01:27,900
So what's sort of the most important thing
you think leaders should be focused on

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00:01:28,110 --> 00:01:29,880
in store operations or finance.

34
00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:32,640
Like what's front of mind for you in the
In the Hot Palate team right now?

35
00:01:32,940 --> 00:01:36,900
Yeah, I think knowing what matters,
knowing what numbers matter

36
00:01:36,900 --> 00:01:40,230
the most to you and really matter the most
to your business.

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00:01:40,530 --> 00:01:41,910
And we're a franchise business.

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00:01:41,910 --> 00:01:46,050
So really understanding what matters to
our franchisees, the

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00:01:46,050 --> 00:01:46,380
most.

40
00:01:46,380 --> 00:01:49,950
And so, you know, it obviously touches all
parts, both front

41
00:01:49,950 --> 00:01:53,520
and back of the house and, you know, not
shying away from,

42
00:01:53,910 --> 00:01:56,760
variables within labor, both front and
back.

43
00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:00,420
But, you know, supply chain costs and, and

44
00:02:00,510 --> 00:02:04,080
waste and, and managing your, prep
schedule and all those kinds

45
00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:04,350
of things.

46
00:02:04,350 --> 00:02:07,080
So I just think knowing what you need to
know.

47
00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:07,380
Right?

48
00:02:07,380 --> 00:02:11,130
I think, I talked to a lot of, let's say
younger,

49
00:02:11,130 --> 00:02:14,730
smaller, newer, you know, emerging brand

50
00:02:14,730 --> 00:02:15,150
folks.

51
00:02:15,150 --> 00:02:18,900
And a lot of times, the focus isn't always
on the right thing.

52
00:02:19,710 --> 00:02:23,640
And so I just think really understanding
your numbers and what

53
00:02:23,820 --> 00:02:27,330
ranges need to be for what reason and in
every area

54
00:02:27,330 --> 00:02:31,590
of your business, and then really having a
plan to manage

55
00:02:31,590 --> 00:02:33,810
that and manage that proactively.

56
00:02:33,870 --> 00:02:34,170
Right.

57
00:02:34,170 --> 00:02:37,080
I think most people manage their numbers
reactively.

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00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:40,620
They get their monthly report and they
look back and they go, what happened?

59
00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:42,270
And they try to figure out what happened.

60
00:02:42,690 --> 00:02:44,040
I don't remember what happened.

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00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:45,330
Another months gone by, right?

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00:02:45,340 --> 00:02:45,440
Yeah.

63
00:02:45,450 --> 00:02:45,900
Honestly.

64
00:02:45,900 --> 00:02:46,890
And that's really what it does.

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00:02:47,910 --> 00:02:51,780
And so and so I think having a plan of
asking yourself, what

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00:02:51,780 --> 00:02:54,990
am I looking at daily, weekly, monthly,
quarterly.

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00:02:55,260 --> 00:02:57,540
How am I comparing myself to myself?

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00:02:57,540 --> 00:02:59,100
How am I comparing myself to others?

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00:02:59,430 --> 00:03:01,650
And what what am I comparing to?

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00:03:01,650 --> 00:03:05,160
What is am I comparing Tuesday to Tuesday
at the same time,

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00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:07,580
and what variables are in my business?

72
00:03:07,590 --> 00:03:10,530
And yeah, it gets a lot harder on
seasonality too, right?

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00:03:10,530 --> 00:03:11,910
There's external factors.

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00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:16,590
But you know, once you once you have that
sort of cadence, you

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00:03:16,590 --> 00:03:18,870
just have to stick to it and be consistent
with it.

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00:03:19,740 --> 00:03:23,310
You're speaking our language, and I do
think there's, you know, there's the risk

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00:03:23,310 --> 00:03:24,300
of not doing any of that.

78
00:03:24,300 --> 00:03:28,350
And there's also the risk of
overcompensating, right, becoming what

79
00:03:28,350 --> 00:03:28,830
paralysis.

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00:03:28,830 --> 00:03:30,480
Or I think our new term has been data
drunk.

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00:03:30,780 --> 00:03:31,050
Right.

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00:03:31,060 --> 00:03:32,930
Well, getting to in the data at this
point.

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00:03:32,940 --> 00:03:33,270
Right.

84
00:03:34,620 --> 00:03:36,810
Because you can overdo it at some point.

85
00:03:36,810 --> 00:03:38,310
So I think you bring up a great point.

86
00:03:38,340 --> 00:03:41,850
Understanding the KPIs that resonate to
you and focusing just on

87
00:03:41,850 --> 00:03:44,380
those rather than, you know, overwhelming
yourself with.

88
00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:44,610
Yeah.

89
00:03:44,620 --> 00:03:48,360
So my to my point of, I think looking at
the wrong numbers, I think a lot of people

90
00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:50,010
overlook prep labor.

91
00:03:50,310 --> 00:03:52,560
They overlook, shrink and waste.

92
00:03:52,890 --> 00:03:55,980
They overlook ordering too much and too
little.

93
00:03:55,980 --> 00:03:59,940
So, their inventory control and inventory
management

94
00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:03,840
process and system is not, relevant

95
00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:06,210
to their, to their sales.

96
00:04:06,210 --> 00:04:06,540
Right?

97
00:04:06,540 --> 00:04:10,290
And so they end up with too much or they
slack too much, or they slack

98
00:04:10,290 --> 00:04:10,800
too little.

99
00:04:10,980 --> 00:04:14,550
Now they're 86 and man, a gas comes in and
can't get

100
00:04:14,550 --> 00:04:15,270
what they wanted.

101
00:04:15,270 --> 00:04:18,780
When they for what they can, they might
pivot in

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00:04:18,780 --> 00:04:20,070
that moment and stick with you.

103
00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:23,010
You might walk out the door, but they
might say, good to you.

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00:04:23,190 --> 00:04:24,690
But that moment sticks in their mind.

105
00:04:24,690 --> 00:04:26,760
Oh, when I go, I can't always get what I
want.

106
00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:30,330
So, I think those are really important
attributes to, to,

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you know, KPIs, as you say, to look at.

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Absolutely.

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Well, let's talk about you've got
everything when everybody's coming in for

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You know, you you like you said, sometimes
they might pivot and go for that

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option.

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00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:45,450
But if you're craving that that one day
and you come in and you're like, oh,

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they don't have it, or it's even worse,
they don't have it again.

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You know, then it's kind of like the nail
in the coffin when you're building up a

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that's happening all the time.

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00:04:54,180 --> 00:04:54,510
Yeah.

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And consistency, at the end of the day,
consistency is king.

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00:04:57,030 --> 00:05:00,600
That the keywords, my favorite word in our
entire industry really

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00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:01,770
matters very little.

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00:05:01,770 --> 00:05:04,530
What you do and how you do it and who you
do it for.

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00:05:04,740 --> 00:05:08,490
If you're consistent, the audience will
find it right and or you'll find the

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00:05:08,490 --> 00:05:08,820
them in.

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00:05:09,090 --> 00:05:12,660
But if you are inconsistent, then you're
constantly changing who

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your audience, who you're for.

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00:05:15,300 --> 00:05:18,060
That gets to be a real problem because and
again, you say 86.

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00:05:18,270 --> 00:05:21,750
Well, next time I come in, I, I bring
somebody and you have what I want.

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00:05:22,470 --> 00:05:23,700
Last time you didn't have what I want.

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This time you have what I want.

129
00:05:24,690 --> 00:05:26,400
But now you don't have what they want,
right?

130
00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:28,500
And they just see that pattern of
inconsistency.

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And so I think that's really the most
important

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metric is consistency.

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Right.

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And one of those KPIs that I think we're
talking about more and more now is

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Right.

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00:05:38,610 --> 00:05:42,240
And if we're if we're inconsistent, we're
we're going to blow that frequency metric.

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Like they're to your point, they're not
going to be coming back on a regular basis

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special thing that they want.

139
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Yeah.

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Look, I eat at chick fil A way too much.

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Period.

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End of story.

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A year ago they they went from putting a
chick fil

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A a mile in both directions of my house to
putting one

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at the entrance to my neighborhood.

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00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:03,450
And so now I look at research works.

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00:06:03,570 --> 00:06:04,770
I have three within a mile.

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00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:06,180
Okay, let's just put it that way.

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00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:08,370
And this two hour is too easy.

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And you know what?

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Not the greatest food.

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00:06:11,940 --> 00:06:12,300
Yes.

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It's good hospitality and service.

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Yes, it's recognizable.

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00:06:15,060 --> 00:06:17,550
And they recognize, me as well.

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That's all.

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00:06:18,270 --> 00:06:18,750
Nice.

158
00:06:18,750 --> 00:06:21,300
It's like your favorite in the
neighborhood coffee shop type environment.

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But but it's consistency.

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00:06:23,340 --> 00:06:26,700
It's a I know I'm going to get in and out
in under seven minutes.

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00:06:27,150 --> 00:06:30,720
I'm going to get exactly what I asked for
every time the accuracy in the

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bag is 98.9%.

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00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:37,500
They have messed it up twice in two years
out of how

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many orders.

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But you know, the reality is it's
consistency is the reason I

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go to chick fil A.

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00:06:44,220 --> 00:06:45,060
It makes a lot of sense.

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00:06:46,050 --> 00:06:49,380
And let's, let's talk about some numbers
that, that we might care about.

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00:06:49,380 --> 00:06:52,380
So you're obviously you're no stranger to
the podcast environment.

170
00:06:52,380 --> 00:06:54,780
You have your own podcast called The
Pineapple Perspective.

171
00:06:55,020 --> 00:06:56,460
How many episodes have you done now?

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00:06:56,820 --> 00:06:57,870
I don't track it.

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00:06:57,870 --> 00:06:58,890
I have people that do that.

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00:06:58,890 --> 00:07:02,490
I, I am I'm somewhere I'm not the only

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00:07:02,490 --> 00:07:02,760
one.

176
00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:06,930
Yeah, somewhere over the hundred mark, or
something like that.

177
00:07:06,930 --> 00:07:08,390
But anyway, 75 to 100.

178
00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:09,290
I'm right in that neighborhood.

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00:07:09,300 --> 00:07:09,520
Yeah.

180
00:07:09,930 --> 00:07:12,600
And then you've you've been using
restaurant 365 for how long now?

181
00:07:13,140 --> 00:07:15,540
Since you guys were about 18 months old as
a company.

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00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:16,560
Wow.

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00:07:16,590 --> 00:07:20,460
So I, I've been a customer of restaurant
365 through several

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00:07:20,460 --> 00:07:24,630
brands as well as our consulting practice
has, recommended

185
00:07:24,630 --> 00:07:28,270
or place for our 365 in a lot of, a small

186
00:07:28,270 --> 00:07:30,090
and emerging brands as well over the
years.

187
00:07:31,020 --> 00:07:35,040
And with pepper lunch, we've been with our
365

188
00:07:35,700 --> 00:07:39,360
and basically as soon as we got a point of
sale system switched and turned

189
00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:41,820
on, at the brand a couple of years ago.

190
00:07:41,820 --> 00:07:42,960
So, yeah.

191
00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:44,310
This is not a plant, by the way.

192
00:07:44,310 --> 00:07:49,350
I was asked to be on the podcast now
because, I appreciate, ambassador,

193
00:07:49,350 --> 00:07:49,920
you're here.

194
00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:50,760
I'm definitely not.

195
00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:54,580
You are drinking the Kool-Aid, but I am a
I

196
00:07:54,580 --> 00:07:58,230
am an appreciative customer of of the
service.

197
00:07:58,230 --> 00:08:00,900
But, Yeah, you know, I'm very familiar.

198
00:08:00,900 --> 00:08:01,290
Obviously.

199
00:08:02,430 --> 00:08:04,680
And so I want to talk a little bit about a
crazy number.

200
00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:04,890
So.

201
00:08:04,890 --> 00:08:07,950
So you said how many locations do we have
internationally now?

202
00:08:07,950 --> 00:08:10,680
So 560 total stores globally.

203
00:08:11,370 --> 00:08:11,820
Wow.

204
00:08:11,820 --> 00:08:15,510
And then looking forward what what is this
aggressive growth plan you've

205
00:08:15,510 --> 00:08:15,930
you've got.

206
00:08:16,260 --> 00:08:16,530
Yeah.

207
00:08:16,530 --> 00:08:20,040
We'll have 1161 stores or more

208
00:08:20,370 --> 00:08:21,870
at the end of 2030.

209
00:08:21,870 --> 00:08:26,280
So when we sit here, January 2031,

210
00:08:26,670 --> 00:08:30,300
we'll have over 1100 stores and we'll

211
00:08:30,300 --> 00:08:32,760
have recorded our 500 podcast, which I.

212
00:08:33,060 --> 00:08:35,520
Yeah, I at least at least you got to put
on the list.

213
00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:35,730
Yeah.

214
00:08:36,660 --> 00:08:37,080
Yes.

215
00:08:37,290 --> 00:08:37,530
Yeah.

216
00:08:37,980 --> 00:08:41,430
Well we have to, we have to come back and
revisit that and see what that that's

217
00:08:41,430 --> 00:08:42,810
That that's super exciting.

218
00:08:42,980 --> 00:08:46,020
And so pepper lunch for for those of our
listeners.

219
00:08:46,020 --> 00:08:46,200
Right.

220
00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:49,350
This is a fairly new concept to to the
North American audience.

221
00:08:49,350 --> 00:08:52,920
And I know you talked a little bit about
sort of, how it works, but

222
00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:55,650
what's, what's sort of the genesis of this
story where where did this all start?

223
00:08:55,650 --> 00:08:57,930
Yeah, started in Tokyo, Japan in 1994.

224
00:08:57,930 --> 00:08:59,310
July 3rd, 1994.

225
00:08:59,310 --> 00:09:00,450
The first store opened.

226
00:09:00,930 --> 00:09:04,920
A famous, Japanese teppanyaki chef had
already had

227
00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:09,750
a, whole chain of, finer casual, Japanese

228
00:09:09,750 --> 00:09:10,530
steakhouses.

229
00:09:10,770 --> 00:09:14,340
And and, you know, he felt that, with
imported

230
00:09:14,340 --> 00:09:17,880
beef prices and the style of his
restaurant, he really only

231
00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:20,010
could serve a certain percentage of the
population.

232
00:09:20,010 --> 00:09:22,260
He had a limited, audience availability.

233
00:09:22,470 --> 00:09:26,100
And so he wanted to make beef more
accessible, and high

234
00:09:26,100 --> 00:09:29,310
quality beef more accessible to the
average consumer in Japan.

235
00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:33,360
So he created a fast casual version of
his, Japanese steakhouse,

236
00:09:33,810 --> 00:09:36,030
chain, which he had several hundred of
those as well.

237
00:09:36,810 --> 00:09:38,370
And so he created Pepper lunch.

238
00:09:38,370 --> 00:09:42,090
And within a year, he had franchised it
outside of Japan,

239
00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:46,140
the master license agreement outside of
Japan to Suntory food and beverage.

240
00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:46,940
Most people know.

241
00:09:47,070 --> 00:09:47,300
Okay.

242
00:09:47,370 --> 00:09:47,820
Liquor.

243
00:09:48,370 --> 00:09:49,860
That's the food and beverage business.

244
00:09:50,190 --> 00:09:52,080
Part of that that's on top three times.

245
00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:52,500
Yeah.

246
00:09:52,950 --> 00:09:55,800
And, and actually have a bottle arriving
today.

247
00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:58,110
Somebody who will send me some story
liquor all the time.

248
00:09:58,110 --> 00:09:58,770
It's pretty interesting.

249
00:09:58,770 --> 00:09:59,070
Yeah.

250
00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:01,760
Hopefully we get some some more here and
we'll see.

251
00:10:01,860 --> 00:10:05,220
And I know that sounds like a terrible
thing to have happened to you.

252
00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:07,380
Do you receive a all to my house?

253
00:10:07,380 --> 00:10:11,040
I think for a but and I've kind of laid
back like a lot

254
00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:11,370
of people.

255
00:10:11,370 --> 00:10:11,940
But anyway.

256
00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:12,840
Yeah.

257
00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:16,530
So so the chain started growing and
consistently, really, truly, consistently

258
00:10:16,530 --> 00:10:20,340
has grown pretty significantly 30 to 60
stores a year, almost

259
00:10:20,340 --> 00:10:21,000
every year.

260
00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:23,650
Over, over about a 30 year period.

261
00:10:23,650 --> 00:10:25,110
It definitely took a ramp up period.

262
00:10:25,620 --> 00:10:27,840
It's been in the U.S officially since
2018.

263
00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:31,710
We did have five stores open between 2018
and 2019.

264
00:10:32,190 --> 00:10:36,000
In the US under one master license, but
the brand was sold in 2020

265
00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:37,770
to a private equity group in Japan.

266
00:10:38,490 --> 00:10:42,420
And, they came knocking and they wanted to
see the North American Western

267
00:10:42,420 --> 00:10:43,410
Hemisphere growth.

268
00:10:43,650 --> 00:10:47,160
They wanted to kickstart growth, across
the rest of Asia

269
00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:49,500
and into Europe and other, territories.

270
00:10:49,500 --> 00:10:53,100
So, over the last three years, we've been
building a team

271
00:10:53,100 --> 00:10:56,310
and a system and reconstituting, the
business.

272
00:10:56,310 --> 00:10:58,920
We bought that Suntory food and beverage
business.

273
00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:02,580
We bought our first and largest
franchisee, the day I started was

274
00:11:02,580 --> 00:11:04,380
when they they closed on that deal.

275
00:11:04,620 --> 00:11:06,630
And so it gave us an infrastructure.

276
00:11:06,630 --> 00:11:08,310
It gave us 60 more corporate stores.

277
00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:12,180
So today we have 560 total stores, but we
operate 130

278
00:11:12,180 --> 00:11:13,680
corporate stores in three countries.

279
00:11:13,830 --> 00:11:18,030
We operate every store in Singapore,
China, in 60

280
00:11:18,030 --> 00:11:19,290
of the 200 in Japan.

281
00:11:19,290 --> 00:11:21,450
So, you know, we have a thousand
employees.

282
00:11:21,450 --> 00:11:23,490
We serve over 40 million plates a year.

283
00:11:24,090 --> 00:11:26,490
So as a franchisor, we know what we're
doing, right?

284
00:11:26,490 --> 00:11:29,700
And, and we operate a big business at the
same time.

285
00:11:29,970 --> 00:11:31,830
We're very, very focused on our
franchisees.

286
00:11:32,250 --> 00:11:35,760
You know, they're still obviously the
majority, 75% of the system.

287
00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:39,300
And going forward will continue to be 100%
of the growth of the

288
00:11:39,300 --> 00:11:39,690
system.

289
00:11:39,690 --> 00:11:41,460
So, we're very, very grateful.

290
00:11:41,460 --> 00:11:44,040
We have franchisees with 112 stores in
Indonesia.

291
00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:47,880
They just resign their agreement, for
another, 15

292
00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:48,600
years, I believe.

293
00:11:49,350 --> 00:11:53,100
And so, you know, very dedicated long term
franchise

294
00:11:53,100 --> 00:11:56,940
system, a growing system with a lot of
new, excited, multi-unit,

295
00:11:56,940 --> 00:11:59,250
multi-brand franchisees coming on in us
now.

296
00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:00,600
Right.

297
00:12:00,630 --> 00:12:01,110
That's awesome.

298
00:12:01,470 --> 00:12:02,580
That's been incredible growth.

299
00:12:02,580 --> 00:12:04,020
And then what is it?

300
00:12:04,260 --> 00:12:06,690
One of the newest locations was that the
Hawaii location.

301
00:12:06,810 --> 00:12:10,320
So we opened in Hawaii in their rocket in
Hawaii is excited.

302
00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:15,030
I you I won't give away exact numbers, but
I can just tell you, as

303
00:12:15,030 --> 00:12:18,630
of today, it's, three weeks open,

304
00:12:18,900 --> 00:12:21,630
and, the numbers have been consistent
every day.

305
00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:25,920
And right now, it's on par to be our
number one store in the United States.

306
00:12:26,910 --> 00:12:30,480
It's going to rival, our very high volume
Asia

307
00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:30,960
stores.

308
00:12:31,410 --> 00:12:32,580
If it continues on this pace.

309
00:12:32,580 --> 00:12:33,870
But, yeah, Hawaii's excited.

310
00:12:34,110 --> 00:12:37,680
Look, the Hawaiian, legacy culture of,

311
00:12:38,190 --> 00:12:41,730
Japanese and Asian, population.

312
00:12:42,690 --> 00:12:46,260
You know, immigration there and now,
second and third

313
00:12:46,260 --> 00:12:50,010
generation, population, you

314
00:12:50,010 --> 00:12:53,700
know, the Hawaiian native culture has
adopted Asian food and cuisine

315
00:12:53,700 --> 00:12:55,560
and culture, at scale.

316
00:12:55,560 --> 00:12:59,100
And so, it's been a very popular, opening,
you know,

317
00:12:59,430 --> 00:13:03,060
and, and you'll just see most people that
go to that store have experienced pepper

318
00:13:03,060 --> 00:13:06,630
lunch somewhere in the world because, you
know, if you live in Hawaii, it's just as

319
00:13:06,630 --> 00:13:09,470
easy to get to Asia as it is to get to
continental U.S..

320
00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:13,230
And so they're very, very familiar,
obviously, with Pepper lunch as a brand.

321
00:13:13,230 --> 00:13:15,390
And they're very excited to see stores
open.

322
00:13:15,390 --> 00:13:19,050
And by the way, that is store one of three
that are going to open in the next

323
00:13:19,050 --> 00:13:22,590
year and a half out of a total of ten that
are going to open across

324
00:13:22,590 --> 00:13:23,220
all the islands.

325
00:13:23,220 --> 00:13:26,970
So, Pepper, lunch is oh, okay, big, big
footprint in Hawaii.

326
00:13:26,970 --> 00:13:30,960
And, and the folks there have been very
excited and, and responded

327
00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:31,380
very well.

328
00:13:32,220 --> 00:13:36,420
Yeah, that would be if you need me to come
do an onsite opening

329
00:13:36,420 --> 00:13:40,170
or right, I can tell you that almost every
executive and leader

330
00:13:40,530 --> 00:13:44,190
management leader in this company
worldwide said for

331
00:13:44,190 --> 00:13:47,760
2 or 3 years, when Hawaii opens, I'm going
to go, I'm going to go, I want to go, I'm

332
00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:48,060
going to go.

333
00:13:48,060 --> 00:13:48,660
I'm going to be there.

334
00:13:48,870 --> 00:13:50,520
And I got there and nobody else showed up.

335
00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:53,220
So, you know, it's it's a want, right?

336
00:13:53,220 --> 00:13:55,620
But it's not a need for everybody to be
there.

337
00:13:55,620 --> 00:13:59,190
But I don't doubt that if you need Mark
and I to be there, we will

338
00:13:59,190 --> 00:14:00,450
happily fly out to Hawaii.

339
00:14:00,450 --> 00:14:01,200
Every vendor.

340
00:14:01,770 --> 00:14:01,980
Yeah.

341
00:14:01,980 --> 00:14:03,950
As long as you pay $41.

342
00:14:04,590 --> 00:14:06,430
But yeah, I know I do.

343
00:14:06,780 --> 00:14:10,290
I do think a lot of our folks are going to
pass through Hawaii, to

344
00:14:10,290 --> 00:14:11,550
see it and experience it.

345
00:14:11,550 --> 00:14:12,090
Oh, yeah.

346
00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:12,650
For the next year.

347
00:14:12,650 --> 00:14:12,750
Yeah.

348
00:14:12,780 --> 00:14:15,690
I remember opening a restaurant, Hawaii,
25 years ago.

349
00:14:15,690 --> 00:14:19,350
I was with a group and watching kids just
show up from all over the country

350
00:14:19,350 --> 00:14:20,560
to work there.

351
00:14:20,590 --> 00:14:22,000
Just really experience it.

352
00:14:22,090 --> 00:14:22,620
It was great.

353
00:14:22,620 --> 00:14:24,000
It was so fun to watch.

354
00:14:24,210 --> 00:14:27,870
And I know I also remember opening night,
like, those people can

355
00:14:27,870 --> 00:14:28,230
eat.

356
00:14:28,290 --> 00:14:31,860
So is your check average like it's do you
see an increase check

357
00:14:31,860 --> 00:14:32,730
average in Hawaii.

358
00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:33,330
Yeah.

359
00:14:33,390 --> 00:14:33,720
Yeah.

360
00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:37,500
It's it's somewhere in the neighborhood of

361
00:14:39,210 --> 00:14:41,160
just just under double it.

362
00:14:41,170 --> 00:14:42,270
It's wow.

363
00:14:42,300 --> 00:14:42,870
It's high.

364
00:14:42,990 --> 00:14:43,800
Wow.

365
00:14:43,860 --> 00:14:45,090
You're in a bubble, by the way.

366
00:14:45,090 --> 00:14:47,670
They also travel in larger family units,
right?

367
00:14:47,670 --> 00:14:48,090
No, no.

368
00:14:48,090 --> 00:14:48,690
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

369
00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:49,980
And we see that Utah too.

370
00:14:50,010 --> 00:14:51,630
We see we see larger family units.

371
00:14:51,630 --> 00:14:55,200
So you have a larger family unit,
especially a multi-generational family

372
00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:58,740
where, it's very common to have multiple
generations, three generations in a

373
00:14:58,740 --> 00:15:01,110
household, when they go out to eat, to go
out together.

374
00:15:01,110 --> 00:15:04,140
And so, yeah, we see larger groups, higher
per person.

375
00:15:04,140 --> 00:15:04,620
Check.

376
00:15:04,620 --> 00:15:06,390
Higher total check average there.

377
00:15:07,140 --> 00:15:07,410
Yeah.

378
00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:09,540
When they go out, they like to eat and and
eat.

379
00:15:09,540 --> 00:15:11,520
Hi portion and quality food.

380
00:15:12,810 --> 00:15:15,240
And I do remember opening a restaurant in
Utah as well.

381
00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:17,790
And we ran out of high chairs within the
first 25 minutes.

382
00:15:17,790 --> 00:15:18,330
A lot of kids.

383
00:15:18,900 --> 00:15:19,140
Okay.

384
00:15:19,140 --> 00:15:22,650
That's, so if you're if you're opening in
Hawaii, are you time to talk to

385
00:15:22,650 --> 00:15:24,780
try and I we've got some we've got some
good tips for you.

386
00:15:24,780 --> 00:15:27,600
Can you tell us the reason you're wanting
a kids menu in a couple weeks?

387
00:15:27,900 --> 00:15:28,380
Literally.

388
00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:29,480
That's very smart.

389
00:15:29,490 --> 00:15:31,050
It was on our radar, was on our plan.

390
00:15:31,050 --> 00:15:34,590
We launched it in Asia, about a year, a
little over about a

391
00:15:34,590 --> 00:15:35,130
year ago.

392
00:15:35,310 --> 00:15:38,820
And, you know, it was it was in our
roadmap of things to get done here in the

393
00:15:38,820 --> 00:15:39,210
US.

394
00:15:39,210 --> 00:15:40,920
And, the need was moved up.

395
00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:45,180
The priority was moved up very quickly
because, again, exactly what you said,

396
00:15:45,180 --> 00:15:48,690
in Utah just weren't really understanding
how to feed their kids

397
00:15:48,690 --> 00:15:51,960
off our regular menu, which takes a little
understanding and adaptation.

398
00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:52,410
I get it.

399
00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:55,440
So we've launched we're launching kids
menu in three weeks.

400
00:15:57,450 --> 00:16:01,080
And the footprint of the store is
notoriously is not they're not huge

401
00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:01,650
spaces.

402
00:16:01,650 --> 00:16:02,010
Right.

403
00:16:02,220 --> 00:16:05,970
Well, our highest volume stores in the
world are 209ft², doing

404
00:16:05,970 --> 00:16:09,630
700 plates a day on par, almost 800 plus
700 on,

405
00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:13,950
but then, look, those are food courts in
Hong Kong and that's, that's that's high

406
00:16:13,950 --> 00:16:16,860
But yeah, you know, in the US we're in
inline.

407
00:16:17,430 --> 00:16:21,000
No end cab, no drive thru, standard in

408
00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:21,750
line concept.

409
00:16:22,290 --> 00:16:24,630
We prefer 17 to 1900 square feet.

410
00:16:25,350 --> 00:16:29,780
That Hawaii store is barely 1300 square
feet, bursting.

411
00:16:29,940 --> 00:16:31,170
But but we're very fortunate.

412
00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:32,400
We get a lot of seats.

413
00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:35,910
We we're 13 50ft² in Hawaii, and we have
44

414
00:16:35,910 --> 00:16:39,240
seats inside, so, so we can get a lot.

415
00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:42,150
We don't need a large footprint for the
kitchen because we're not cooking.

416
00:16:42,150 --> 00:16:43,500
We have no ranges in ovens.

417
00:16:44,130 --> 00:16:46,620
We're not we're not sourcing what I think
about that.

418
00:16:46,620 --> 00:16:46,800
Yeah.

419
00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:49,260
We have no prep labor, no prep product.

420
00:16:49,470 --> 00:16:53,160
Everything comes prepped in by our
purveyors for us and so,

421
00:16:53,310 --> 00:16:57,090
our kitchens are, you know, as a result, a

422
00:16:57,090 --> 00:17:00,630
lot smaller scale, and we can we can also
be flexible with the size and

423
00:17:00,630 --> 00:17:04,140
shape of the kitchen so we can squeeze a
lot into a small

424
00:17:04,140 --> 00:17:07,830
space, you know, that was dictated by the
best space

425
00:17:07,830 --> 00:17:08,880
available in that area.

426
00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:13,560
But, you know, we are we are trying to be
north of, 1718

427
00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:14,730
hundred square feet, on average.

428
00:17:16,260 --> 00:17:21,020
And I'm like, it's like 1417 or so.

429
00:17:21,540 --> 00:17:21,990
Okay.

430
00:17:22,290 --> 00:17:25,980
That with that, with that part kind of
explain behind the concept.

431
00:17:25,980 --> 00:17:29,730
And then I mean like do you guys have like
your own proprietary

432
00:17:29,730 --> 00:17:32,770
like induction plates and like the plates
themselves.

433
00:17:32,770 --> 00:17:36,390
So I just kind of talk about that just a
little because it's so much different than

434
00:17:36,570 --> 00:17:37,380
Yeah, we're lucky.

435
00:17:37,380 --> 00:17:41,280
Our founding owner, chef, was a bit of an
inventor, and

436
00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:44,940
he created a, technology, an induction
unit, a high

437
00:17:44,940 --> 00:17:47,430
temperature on demand induction unit.

438
00:17:47,430 --> 00:17:51,330
What that means is it's induction cooking
or induction heating element, but

439
00:17:51,330 --> 00:17:52,650
it's high energy on demand.

440
00:17:52,650 --> 00:17:55,470
We store energy in a in an amplifier box.

441
00:17:55,650 --> 00:17:57,780
We fire that by pushing a button.

442
00:17:57,990 --> 00:18:01,890
And in 74 seconds, that hot plate, an iron
proprietary iron

443
00:18:01,890 --> 00:18:06,630
plate, goes from room temperature to 500°F
270°C

444
00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:08,130
in 74 seconds.

445
00:18:08,850 --> 00:18:11,640
And it stays over 200 degrees for about 30
minutes.

446
00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:14,580
And so you can actually cook on the plate.

447
00:18:14,820 --> 00:18:16,410
And it was every bite is hot.

448
00:18:16,410 --> 00:18:17,550
You have to blow on every bite.

449
00:18:17,550 --> 00:18:20,100
If you stir your food, every bite is very,
very hot.

450
00:18:20,670 --> 00:18:22,200
So that's a proprietary system.

451
00:18:22,350 --> 00:18:24,510
It allows for high throughput, high
volume.

452
00:18:24,510 --> 00:18:28,020
Like I said, in Hong Kong, we have many
most stores in Hong

453
00:18:28,020 --> 00:18:30,480
Kong are doing north of 700 covers a day.

454
00:18:30,870 --> 00:18:32,070
Just stop and think about that.

455
00:18:32,850 --> 00:18:36,720
If you're a regular operator listening to
this show, when

456
00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:40,410
the US average is 350 to 380 covers a day
for

457
00:18:40,410 --> 00:18:43,800
a casual, fast casual concept, you know,
fast food does higher throughput.

458
00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:46,440
But, but yeah, we're on demand.

459
00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:50,040
So we you place your order, we take all of
the clean, high

460
00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:53,640
quality raw ingredients, put them on this
iron plate, put the sauces

461
00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:57,150
or accouterment on there, and we send it
out to you and you cook it on your

462
00:18:57,150 --> 00:18:58,200
plate at the table.

463
00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:02,910
So if you're familiar with, Korean,
barbecue or Japanese

464
00:19:02,910 --> 00:19:05,610
yakiniku, it's very similar to that.

465
00:19:05,610 --> 00:19:07,680
But you don't have a cooking element in
the center of the table.

466
00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:09,630
You don't have ventilation at the table.

467
00:19:09,870 --> 00:19:13,410
The plate itself that you eat from is the
cooking instrument as

468
00:19:13,410 --> 00:19:13,740
well.

469
00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:17,970
So, you know, unique concept allows
through for high volume, high

470
00:19:17,970 --> 00:19:18,480
throughput.

471
00:19:18,660 --> 00:19:21,750
But our biggest thing is we have no prep
and no culinary labor in the building.

472
00:19:21,990 --> 00:19:26,160
And so you expect every ingredient from
our purveyors,

473
00:19:26,850 --> 00:19:30,420
to be consistent and be provided to us the
way we need it so we

474
00:19:30,420 --> 00:19:31,680
can just weigh and assemble.

475
00:19:31,860 --> 00:19:35,490
We just portion and assemble a very, very
tight spec

476
00:19:35,700 --> 00:19:39,510
on every ingredient and every spice and
resource that we use is very,

477
00:19:39,510 --> 00:19:41,310
very, very tight portion spec.

478
00:19:41,310 --> 00:19:44,280
And we do that very quickly and
consistently and get it out to you.

479
00:19:44,460 --> 00:19:48,030
So if you're if you're in line and there's
not an order in front of you, you're going

480
00:19:48,030 --> 00:19:48,570
three minutes.

481
00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:52,710
Our average ticket time is about 4.5
minutes,

482
00:19:52,980 --> 00:19:53,970
in most cases.

483
00:19:53,970 --> 00:19:57,720
And I'll tell you, like grand opening at
ASU, Grand opening in Hawaii,

484
00:19:57,840 --> 00:19:59,910
we had ticket time sub seven minutes.

485
00:20:00,180 --> 00:20:02,430
And so you can get most of our guests.

486
00:20:02,430 --> 00:20:05,970
Our average turnover is 24 minutes from
order to out

487
00:20:05,970 --> 00:20:06,360
the door.

488
00:20:06,510 --> 00:20:10,050
So from the time you place your order at
our kiosk with our hospitality host and

489
00:20:10,050 --> 00:20:13,680
you walk out the doors on average 24
minutes, I did

490
00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:14,280
some fun math.

491
00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:18,900
The original 500 degrees 700 covers
350,000

492
00:20:18,900 --> 00:20:20,790
degrees of cooking powder every single
day.

493
00:20:21,570 --> 00:20:23,030
I'm here for 140.

494
00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:24,470
Yeah, it's all over.

495
00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:25,580
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

496
00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:30,720
And so I have to imagine, as a first time
guest, this is probably a bit

497
00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:32,190
like what is happening.

498
00:20:32,580 --> 00:20:34,280
It is absolutely what's going on.

499
00:20:34,290 --> 00:20:37,860
You know, if you've been to a pepper lunch
before or not, you walk in with the

500
00:20:37,860 --> 00:20:38,880
menu board, look at the gas.

501
00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:41,190
That's why we have a hospitality host,
right.

502
00:20:41,190 --> 00:20:44,790
So when you walk in we have this greeter
ambassador that welcomes you as you if

503
00:20:44,790 --> 00:20:46,950
been here before, if you have, what do you
like.

504
00:20:47,130 --> 00:20:48,510
Oh, I always get the same thing.

505
00:20:48,510 --> 00:20:49,170
This is what I get.

506
00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:53,490
And, you know, we try to do a little
suggestive selling and it really do

507
00:20:53,490 --> 00:20:54,690
Not about the upsell.

508
00:20:54,690 --> 00:20:57,600
In that case, it's really about, hey, have
you ever put onions on it?

509
00:20:57,600 --> 00:20:58,590
Have you ever put mushrooms on?

510
00:20:59,220 --> 00:21:02,790
Our CEO's favorite is the, is the dried
garlic chips, you know, but

511
00:21:02,790 --> 00:21:04,050
put some garlic chips on that thing.

512
00:21:04,750 --> 00:21:06,480
Order it with double butter.

513
00:21:06,810 --> 00:21:07,430
Double market.

514
00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:08,550
So it's not butter.

515
00:21:08,550 --> 00:21:09,150
It's margarine.

516
00:21:09,660 --> 00:21:10,800
We call it the base.

517
00:21:10,980 --> 00:21:14,790
Whatever you want to call it, order it
with double secret pepper

518
00:21:14,790 --> 00:21:15,330
margarine.

519
00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:18,980
That's really where the secret sauce of
the flavor comes from, but.

520
00:21:19,020 --> 00:21:19,560
Okay.

521
00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:19,770
Yeah.

522
00:21:19,770 --> 00:21:22,110
So our hospitals, if you've not been there
before.

523
00:21:22,380 --> 00:21:22,920
Oh, great.

524
00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:23,340
Welcome.

525
00:21:23,340 --> 00:21:24,360
We're glad you're here.

526
00:21:24,750 --> 00:21:27,600
Let me just tell you a little bit about
it, and we can break it down very simply.

527
00:21:27,930 --> 00:21:29,940
You have six categories of entrees.

528
00:21:30,090 --> 00:21:31,590
It's protein, rice and veg.

529
00:21:31,590 --> 00:21:35,130
Unless you're a vegetarian or vegan, we
can accommodate that with tofu for a

530
00:21:35,130 --> 00:21:36,420
protein or all vegetables.

531
00:21:36,420 --> 00:21:36,720
Right.

532
00:21:36,900 --> 00:21:39,000
But we're basically protein rice and veg.

533
00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:39,810
We're meat centric.

534
00:21:39,810 --> 00:21:43,680
If you've never been here before, our
jumbo beef pepper rice is where you want

535
00:21:43,830 --> 00:21:45,330
Here's a couple link link secrets.

536
00:21:45,330 --> 00:21:46,560
Put that garlic chip on there.

537
00:21:46,770 --> 00:21:47,970
Double up on the sauce.

538
00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:51,780
And and then when we bring it to the
table, we will do the same

539
00:21:51,780 --> 00:21:53,340
thing when we bring it to the table.

540
00:21:53,510 --> 00:21:54,660
You've not been here before.

541
00:21:54,660 --> 00:21:57,780
Let us show you how to do the folding, the
incorporation.

542
00:21:57,780 --> 00:21:59,730
Let us show you how to stir fry food on
your own.

543
00:21:59,940 --> 00:22:03,750
Tap in plate and and that way you get that
comfortable experience.

544
00:22:03,750 --> 00:22:07,380
And I can just tell you, most guests who
come for the first time return within

545
00:22:07,380 --> 00:22:08,880
weeks, bring a guest with them.

546
00:22:09,300 --> 00:22:12,810
And then they say to us, the first time I
had

547
00:22:12,810 --> 00:22:16,500
no idea it was really good, but this time
was so much better

548
00:22:16,500 --> 00:22:20,010
because they felt comfortable adding on
all the mixes and things that you

549
00:22:20,010 --> 00:22:20,490
can do.

550
00:22:20,730 --> 00:22:23,130
You know, we're not unlike a ramen concept
in that way.

551
00:22:23,130 --> 00:22:27,300
You walk in and you decide we're having
chicken, pork, beef, vegetable.

552
00:22:27,300 --> 00:22:27,540
Right.

553
00:22:27,540 --> 00:22:29,640
Am I having to cancel the pork ramen?

554
00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:30,000
Great.

555
00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:31,740
It comes with a couple of things.

556
00:22:31,890 --> 00:22:33,390
I'm going to add fresh garlic.

557
00:22:33,390 --> 00:22:36,030
I'm going to add garlic oil or I'm going
to add broccoli.

558
00:22:36,030 --> 00:22:36,900
I'm gonna add asparagus.

559
00:22:37,140 --> 00:22:40,500
We're very much similar in that respect in
in stylistics.

560
00:22:41,850 --> 00:22:42,840
That makes a lot of sense.

561
00:22:43,470 --> 00:22:46,920
And so you've been there since store one
in North America.

562
00:22:47,210 --> 00:22:47,910
I'm not.

563
00:22:47,910 --> 00:22:49,680
So store one opened in 2018.

564
00:22:49,890 --> 00:22:52,800
We had two stores open when I got here
with one franchisee.

565
00:22:53,430 --> 00:22:55,200
We today have ten open.

566
00:22:55,410 --> 00:22:58,200
We have 13 under physical construction.

567
00:22:58,500 --> 00:23:02,460
We have just under 30 leases signed and
moving quickly.

568
00:23:03,090 --> 00:23:06,810
We will open, expecting to open around 18

569
00:23:06,810 --> 00:23:09,120
stores in North America this year.

570
00:23:09,330 --> 00:23:12,840
And that number will essentially double
every year going forward based on the

571
00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:13,830
commitments we already have.

572
00:23:13,980 --> 00:23:17,250
We have 120 stores already sold in the
United States.

573
00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:19,440
We are going after Canada.

574
00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:20,340
Canada is ready to go.

575
00:23:20,340 --> 00:23:24,030
We have some great leads and potential
partners in the pipeline

576
00:23:24,030 --> 00:23:25,440
that we're talking to now in Canada.

577
00:23:26,220 --> 00:23:30,030
And then, we are we are in the early
stages of development,

578
00:23:30,030 --> 00:23:33,570
infrastructure set up and development for
Brazil in the next year or

579
00:23:33,570 --> 00:23:34,020
so.

580
00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:37,620
We're looking to go to, Europe in the next
year or so as well.

581
00:23:37,620 --> 00:23:41,400
So, yeah, expanding both rapidly in the
United States.

582
00:23:41,490 --> 00:23:45,240
Right now, we're in eight states, coming
with stores under construction.

583
00:23:45,750 --> 00:23:48,570
And that will continue to expand with some
new deals coming this year.

584
00:23:48,570 --> 00:23:51,420
And then, obviously the new countries I
mentioned as well.

585
00:23:52,170 --> 00:23:55,740
And so so you come in obviously with the
goal of scalability first and

586
00:23:55,740 --> 00:23:56,220
foremost.

587
00:23:56,220 --> 00:23:56,430
Right.

588
00:23:56,430 --> 00:23:57,630
How do we build this thing?

589
00:23:57,900 --> 00:24:00,740
Tech stack is obviously critical to what
you do right.

590
00:24:00,740 --> 00:24:00,870
Yeah.

591
00:24:00,870 --> 00:24:03,060
So that was our 365.

592
00:24:03,060 --> 00:24:05,100
Just an immediate it sounded like a no
brainer.

593
00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:06,420
Yeah I'll say this and this.

594
00:24:06,420 --> 00:24:09,990
This comes from my consulting background
is that you have your

595
00:24:10,110 --> 00:24:10,860
bag of tricks.

596
00:24:10,860 --> 00:24:11,640
You have your tools.

597
00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:15,030
Now, I like my toolbox to have a lot of
tools in it.

598
00:24:15,030 --> 00:24:18,870
I like to know what all of my options are
because not every

599
00:24:19,380 --> 00:24:22,200
solution fits every system.

600
00:24:22,380 --> 00:24:24,900
And by the way, there's, there's scale.

601
00:24:24,900 --> 00:24:26,790
There's there's there's there's timing,
right.

602
00:24:26,790 --> 00:24:29,520
This comes down to, artistry for us.

603
00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:33,090
365 might be amazing, but it might not be
amazing for somebody

604
00:24:33,090 --> 00:24:34,110
with 2 or 3 stores.

605
00:24:34,110 --> 00:24:34,470
Right?

606
00:24:34,470 --> 00:24:35,520
Or 5 or 7 stores.

607
00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:39,210
I don't wherever the break is for that
person, to be a cost

608
00:24:39,210 --> 00:24:41,880
barrier could be some overlap with other
technology.

609
00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:43,680
Having to decide, do I consolidate?

610
00:24:43,980 --> 00:24:46,620
I move over to one or, you know, do I drop
another?

611
00:24:46,860 --> 00:24:50,370
And so for me, yes, I have my list, I

612
00:24:50,370 --> 00:24:52,110
have my relationships.

613
00:24:52,110 --> 00:24:54,060
And of course it comes with experience.

614
00:24:54,270 --> 00:24:58,110
If you have experience with a tool, a
technology, a platform, a group of people,

615
00:24:58,350 --> 00:25:00,240
then then you know what's going to happen.

616
00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:01,440
You know what to expect.

617
00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:02,820
It's not the unknown, right?

618
00:25:03,450 --> 00:25:07,070
Many things in technology, when you buy,
buy by

619
00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:08,430
salesperson, I love you.

620
00:25:08,430 --> 00:25:09,090
You're amazing.

621
00:25:09,090 --> 00:25:11,370
But it's like starting all over again,
right?

622
00:25:11,380 --> 00:25:12,450
It's a whole new experience.

623
00:25:12,900 --> 00:25:16,530
And so if you haven't gone through that
before, you know, it may not be

624
00:25:16,530 --> 00:25:20,070
as smooth as you were sold or told or
hoped it would be.

625
00:25:20,370 --> 00:25:24,300
And so, I look at every scenario very

626
00:25:24,300 --> 00:25:26,100
specifically to that.

627
00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:29,820
The need of the business at that stage of
the business.

628
00:25:30,690 --> 00:25:34,650
Now, do I think you should have multiple
places

629
00:25:34,650 --> 00:25:35,910
in a 5 or 7 year period?

630
00:25:35,910 --> 00:25:36,450
No.

631
00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:38,700
No offense to my friends who have gone
through that.

632
00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:41,220
Nobody's perfect.

633
00:25:41,250 --> 00:25:43,830
It started with somebody else, and now
we're toast.

634
00:25:44,850 --> 00:25:47,160
So so we we went through it as well.

635
00:25:47,790 --> 00:25:48,780
Hard lesson to learn.

636
00:25:48,870 --> 00:25:52,470
It is you do you make decisions based on
what you know at the time

637
00:25:52,470 --> 00:25:53,640
and when circumstances change.

638
00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:53,880
But.

639
00:25:54,150 --> 00:25:54,480
Yeah.

640
00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:58,190
So so for me, our 365 is always at the top
of the top three.

641
00:25:58,200 --> 00:25:59,220
Four things in the list.

642
00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:00,330
But it has to fit.

643
00:26:00,420 --> 00:26:03,930
It has to fit that brand and that system
for their goals

644
00:26:03,930 --> 00:26:04,680
at that time.

645
00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:07,380
And and luckily we're able to make that
work.

646
00:26:08,610 --> 00:26:12,330
And, you know, just, the I was going to
say just seeing the way

647
00:26:12,330 --> 00:26:16,050
that the relationship that we've gotten to
have from, you know, when you guys

648
00:26:16,050 --> 00:26:20,010
were coming on all the way through Craig
and I was showing up at the co-sponsored,

649
00:26:20,220 --> 00:26:23,880
pickleball tournament and and our 365,
like, you can't get rid of us.

650
00:26:24,180 --> 00:26:24,590
That's the.

651
00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:26,850
And now we're like, oh, no, please,
everybody.

652
00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:28,170
It's all over the place.

653
00:26:28,170 --> 00:26:31,710
Our marketing team went crazy with it,
but, you know, and then and then just kind

654
00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:35,310
build and see as you guys have been
growing and expanding and getting to talk

655
00:26:35,310 --> 00:26:38,610
the different kind of facets of the groups
as they're as they're growing out.

656
00:26:38,610 --> 00:26:39,480
It's been awesome to see.

657
00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:43,050
And I think part of that really came from,
you know, that standardization of the tech

658
00:26:43,050 --> 00:26:46,830
really trying to find tools that can
expand across as you guys grow.

659
00:26:47,250 --> 00:26:47,460
Yeah.

660
00:26:47,460 --> 00:26:47,700
Look.

661
00:26:47,780 --> 00:26:51,450
And when we talk about our 365, we mandate

662
00:26:51,450 --> 00:26:54,990
the operating platform so that our
franchisees have the

663
00:26:54,990 --> 00:26:58,500
tools we think they need, but so that we
also have the tool to help

664
00:26:58,500 --> 00:27:02,250
manage our franchisees and support them
and know what's going on in their

665
00:27:02,250 --> 00:27:06,630
To look, we have a very robust supply
chain management, system

666
00:27:06,630 --> 00:27:07,440
at Pepper lunch.

667
00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:11,160
We we have a global supply chain, self-
managed

668
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:11,640
system.

669
00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:15,450
We import a lot of proprietary
ingredients, products and equipment

670
00:27:15,450 --> 00:27:17,100
like the induction unit we talked about.

671
00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:21,570
And so we have to have visibility and
forecast ability if you

672
00:27:21,570 --> 00:27:26,110
want that pepper paste, which is our
pepper garlic margarine or

673
00:27:26,110 --> 00:27:29,190
our, our six sauces, we got to know how
much you're going through of it.

674
00:27:29,430 --> 00:27:33,120
Not in a lagging indicator of 45 days

675
00:27:33,120 --> 00:27:34,920
after we get our royalty reports, right.

676
00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:36,930
Like we've got to know in the moment.

677
00:27:36,930 --> 00:27:40,770
And so not only watching consumption, but
also looking at the changes

678
00:27:40,770 --> 00:27:41,340
in your business.

679
00:27:41,340 --> 00:27:42,450
So we can predict that.

680
00:27:42,450 --> 00:27:44,010
So, you know, we mandate that.

681
00:27:44,010 --> 00:27:46,650
But my point is we don't mandate the
accounting software.

682
00:27:46,650 --> 00:27:50,160
We only have a couple of our franchisees
using the accounting solution for our

683
00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:50,340
three.

684
00:27:50,550 --> 00:27:52,140
But it's a phenomenal solution.

685
00:27:52,140 --> 00:27:53,190
We use it as a brand.

686
00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:56,880
We're using it on our side as a brand to
manage our brand business as well.

687
00:27:57,090 --> 00:28:01,050
But but but we don't mandate it because
our franchisees,

688
00:28:01,290 --> 00:28:03,840
many or most of them are multi unit, multi
brand.

689
00:28:04,020 --> 00:28:06,330
And so they may already have systems in
place.

690
00:28:06,330 --> 00:28:09,870
They already have teams in place or they
have, you know, infrastructure around

691
00:28:09,870 --> 00:28:13,170
how they manage their finances and their
banking and their reporting.

692
00:28:13,170 --> 00:28:16,980
And so I can't tell them they have to
change their accounting system across

693
00:28:17,100 --> 00:28:20,190
four brands to or have a separate one for
my brand.

694
00:28:20,190 --> 00:28:23,370
So that was a optionality we put in the
system initially.

695
00:28:23,370 --> 00:28:24,150
But yeah.

696
00:28:24,150 --> 00:28:27,720
So it's again it's not always one shoe
fits right

697
00:28:28,140 --> 00:28:28,380
well.

698
00:28:28,380 --> 00:28:32,130
And if I'm backing into the KPIs you were
talking about at the beginning,

699
00:28:32,130 --> 00:28:35,370
labor, controlling spend, controlling, you
know, inventory.

700
00:28:35,820 --> 00:28:36,570
Absolutely.

701
00:28:36,630 --> 00:28:38,370
But this one our franchisees to be
profitable.

702
00:28:38,940 --> 00:28:39,330
Yeah.

703
00:28:39,690 --> 00:28:43,290
By the way that's a franchise or that just
said that we want

704
00:28:43,290 --> 00:28:46,800
our franchisees to there are franchisees
or businesses out

705
00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:49,170
there that don't give a damn if your
franchisees are profitable.

706
00:28:49,290 --> 00:28:50,730
They care about top line, right?

707
00:28:50,730 --> 00:28:51,980
But that's not success.

708
00:28:51,990 --> 00:28:54,540
Success is profit equals investment.

709
00:28:54,540 --> 00:28:56,280
Profit equals renewal.

710
00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:58,410
Profit equals expansion of territory.

711
00:28:58,410 --> 00:29:02,040
A new store is and it motivates people to
move quicker in those

712
00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:02,520
things.

713
00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:02,730
Right.

714
00:29:02,730 --> 00:29:05,880
And so we want our franchisees to be
profitable for God's sake.

715
00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:07,410
So we want to help them.

716
00:29:07,410 --> 00:29:11,550
And when we see things that there are
opportunities to help them with data

717
00:29:11,550 --> 00:29:15,720
analytics, reporting, operational
insights, technology

718
00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:19,260
insights, we are constantly in their
stores trying

719
00:29:19,260 --> 00:29:21,600
to help them adopt these things.

720
00:29:22,350 --> 00:29:26,190
And understand them better so they can
have more efficiency and optimize

721
00:29:26,190 --> 00:29:28,050
their performance and ultimately make more
money.

722
00:29:30,030 --> 00:29:30,450
Love that.

723
00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:33,990
Well, so yes, super

724
00:29:33,990 --> 00:29:34,410
critical.

725
00:29:35,280 --> 00:29:38,790
And so it sounds like the last three years
have been pretty transformative for your

726
00:29:38,790 --> 00:29:39,510
organization.

727
00:29:39,510 --> 00:29:43,080
But what are we what are we looking at for
2026, other than the growth we've been

728
00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:43,410
about?

729
00:29:43,650 --> 00:29:46,020
What's the next big initiative with Pepper
lunch.

730
00:29:46,020 --> 00:29:46,290
Yeah.

731
00:29:46,290 --> 00:29:49,800
So we're able to settle in now to some
things that we have to do as

732
00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:50,580
a franchisor.

733
00:29:50,580 --> 00:29:51,960
And our franchisees are excited.

734
00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:54,870
We're going to get on a cadence of
launching multiple logos.

735
00:29:54,870 --> 00:29:56,820
We did one in the latter half of last
year.

736
00:29:56,940 --> 00:29:59,340
That was our first sale to you in the US
and Asia.

737
00:29:59,340 --> 00:30:03,000
We're pumping out promotions and AES at
scale right across

738
00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:04,140
17 countries.

739
00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:08,190
We have centralized, system over there
that helps support that.

740
00:30:08,310 --> 00:30:10,290
We're now implementing that here in the
US.

741
00:30:10,290 --> 00:30:13,410
So, we have, some new folks coming on
board.

742
00:30:13,410 --> 00:30:16,350
We have some support coming over to Asia,
this month as well.

743
00:30:16,350 --> 00:30:19,920
So you'll see, 3 to 4 aes a year coming
out

744
00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:20,340
from us.

745
00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:22,620
You'll see some value promotions coming
out from us.

746
00:30:22,860 --> 00:30:26,490
We'll continue on menu innovation as far
as the what

747
00:30:26,490 --> 00:30:30,330
we call the grand menu, the fixed menu,
evaluation

748
00:30:30,330 --> 00:30:32,670
and analytics and adjusting of that.

749
00:30:33,330 --> 00:30:36,780
We have our first value promotion coming
out, in a few days.

750
00:30:37,740 --> 00:30:40,140
Depending on when this comes out, it could
still be out.

751
00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:45,330
We're going to increase our base, low,
priced

752
00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:46,890
beef pepper rice dish.

753
00:30:46,890 --> 00:30:48,420
Our entry level addition to the brand.

754
00:30:48,660 --> 00:30:51,690
We're going to increase our portion of
that and decrease the price of it.

755
00:30:51,690 --> 00:30:55,050
So 20% more beef for 20% less cost.

756
00:30:55,830 --> 00:30:59,250
So that's, you know, you're gonna be able
to get beef pepper rice at 1099.

757
00:30:59,910 --> 00:31:03,420
So we're going to be able to offer that
value entry point promotion for our

758
00:31:03,420 --> 00:31:03,840
customers.

759
00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:04,530
For the first time.

760
00:31:04,530 --> 00:31:07,050
I mentioned earlier, we launched a kids
menu.

761
00:31:07,590 --> 00:31:11,130
We are we are in the latter stages of,
our, our native

762
00:31:11,130 --> 00:31:11,970
app development.

763
00:31:11,970 --> 00:31:15,510
So we're going to have our okay, consumer
app and

764
00:31:15,510 --> 00:31:17,370
loyalty program coming out this year.

765
00:31:18,150 --> 00:31:22,170
We're working behind the scenes on other
systems for our franchisees, like

766
00:31:22,170 --> 00:31:23,460
a VR training system.

767
00:31:23,460 --> 00:31:27,300
So a hands on haptic, AI adaptive, VR

768
00:31:27,300 --> 00:31:30,840
training system for our franchisees, to,
to make sure

769
00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:34,470
that their employees, when they hire
employees and managers and things, that

770
00:31:34,470 --> 00:31:38,130
getting the reps and repetition and
experience they need and that they're

771
00:31:38,130 --> 00:31:41,910
getting the coaching they need for
accuracy because for us, accuracy plus

772
00:31:41,910 --> 00:31:44,670
speed, you know, plus hospitality
distancing.

773
00:31:44,670 --> 00:31:46,110
Yeah we've got to work there.

774
00:31:46,620 --> 00:31:47,040
So yeah.

775
00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:50,550
So we have a lot on our plate to
consistently work

776
00:31:50,550 --> 00:31:50,850
on.

777
00:31:51,810 --> 00:31:55,350
But you know, and opening stores and
really focusing on the success of our

778
00:31:55,350 --> 00:31:59,490
existing stores as they open and making
sure that, that

779
00:31:59,490 --> 00:32:03,180
we're in there and we're supporting them,
and we're making sure they have everything

780
00:32:03,180 --> 00:32:04,710
they need to, to be successful.

781
00:32:06,870 --> 00:32:07,720
Well that's awesome.

782
00:32:07,790 --> 00:32:08,600
I really love to hear that.

783
00:32:08,610 --> 00:32:12,210
You know, your, your, your first value
promotion that's coming out is really

784
00:32:12,210 --> 00:32:15,810
taking it back to your roots of, you know,
that was how the whole thing

785
00:32:15,810 --> 00:32:16,560
got started, right?

786
00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:20,220
Like trying to provide the, beef, option
that

787
00:32:20,220 --> 00:32:22,350
that's a really great product at an
affordable price.

788
00:32:22,350 --> 00:32:26,040
And that's you guys kind of taking your
taking it back to your roots for, for

789
00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:29,670
that, you know, so many people now are
always on the hunt for a deal and a

790
00:32:29,670 --> 00:32:31,080
and something that's great and tasty.

791
00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:32,700
So I think it's awesome you guys bring
that out for.

792
00:32:32,700 --> 00:32:37,440
But yeah, yeah, look at the macroeconomic
reality.

793
00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:39,450
We've waited as long as we could.

794
00:32:39,450 --> 00:32:39,720
Right.

795
00:32:39,900 --> 00:32:43,440
We have eaten tariffs, for, for a year

796
00:32:43,620 --> 00:32:44,250
basically.

797
00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:45,420
Almost.

798
00:32:45,420 --> 00:32:49,320
And and not passed that through to our
franchisees,

799
00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:50,400
therefore not to our guests.

800
00:32:50,700 --> 00:32:54,210
We have, taken, a 3% price increase

801
00:32:54,210 --> 00:32:55,380
in the last 18 months.

802
00:32:56,250 --> 00:33:00,500
The average brand took an 8% price
increase in 2024, and

803
00:33:00,540 --> 00:33:03,600
many continued to take a price increase in
25.

804
00:33:04,050 --> 00:33:04,920
We have not done that.

805
00:33:05,190 --> 00:33:07,950
And, so so we're very sensitive to the
consumer.

806
00:33:07,950 --> 00:33:11,610
We want to be consistent for them,
predictable for them and their wallet.

807
00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:15,870
And so we want to basically, like you
said, go back to our roots

808
00:33:15,870 --> 00:33:19,530
and make sure that our consumers can get
into a pepper lunch,

809
00:33:20,070 --> 00:33:23,610
for, let's just call it under $13 with,
entree and

810
00:33:23,610 --> 00:33:25,530
a drink and you'll see bundling.

811
00:33:25,530 --> 00:33:27,060
We're going to test some bundling as well.

812
00:33:27,060 --> 00:33:27,420
Right.

813
00:33:27,420 --> 00:33:29,520
We want people to experience our sides.

814
00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:33,180
We want them to experience our desserts
when on experience our beverage program

815
00:33:33,180 --> 00:33:36,780
with Pepsi, doctor Pepper Cure Egg and
Tractor Beverage, which is

816
00:33:37,050 --> 00:33:38,130
our organic Fresca.

817
00:33:38,130 --> 00:33:41,820
So we want them to really be adventurous
and, and try

818
00:33:41,850 --> 00:33:42,750
things there as well.

819
00:33:42,750 --> 00:33:46,440
So we're going to see some value
promotions in addition to Altos,

820
00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:49,950
which are new product, introductions, new
flavor profile

821
00:33:49,950 --> 00:33:52,800
introductions, as well as, bundling as
well.

822
00:33:54,180 --> 00:33:57,750
I would argue with the app, this is
probably good timing because I would think

823
00:33:57,750 --> 00:34:01,320
going to see an increase in check average,
because when you can customize on

824
00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:02,970
your own time, on your own screen.

825
00:34:03,420 --> 00:34:03,840
Right.

826
00:34:04,290 --> 00:34:05,220
We have a little proof of that.

827
00:34:05,790 --> 00:34:09,300
In this past year ago, exactly a year ago,
we put our first kiosk

828
00:34:09,300 --> 00:34:09,930
in the US.

829
00:34:09,930 --> 00:34:13,770
We had already started testing them in
Asia, but when we put the, we

830
00:34:13,770 --> 00:34:17,730
had every US store had had kiosk only
ordering with the hospitality

831
00:34:17,730 --> 00:34:21,510
host, all but with three stores, by April

832
00:34:21,510 --> 00:34:22,140
of last year.

833
00:34:22,770 --> 00:34:26,640
So, so we're nine months, into that
experiment and our

834
00:34:26,640 --> 00:34:30,030
average checkout, went up five and a half
dollars.

835
00:34:30,330 --> 00:34:31,050
And so.

836
00:34:31,500 --> 00:34:35,190
Yeah, so, so average plea went up about
$1.60

837
00:34:35,460 --> 00:34:39,240
and average check went up five and a half
dollars, which means they added

838
00:34:39,240 --> 00:34:43,440
more to the entrees and they added more on
their check like drinks

839
00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:44,760
and sides.

840
00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:47,490
At the time, dessert wasn't even really
under consideration then.

841
00:34:47,670 --> 00:34:50,250
Now that we have dessert out of Q4 last
year.

842
00:34:51,030 --> 00:34:54,900
So, so absolutely, you give people a
chance to, relax,

843
00:34:54,900 --> 00:34:58,470
review, add things, walk through

844
00:34:58,470 --> 00:35:02,010
a very prescribed process of we do this,
then we

845
00:35:02,010 --> 00:35:04,200
add that, then we understand this, then we
want that.

846
00:35:04,350 --> 00:35:05,700
Would you like to add a drink?

847
00:35:06,180 --> 00:35:06,570
Boom.

848
00:35:06,720 --> 00:35:09,390
Now you see average plate and check go up
dramatically.

849
00:35:09,390 --> 00:35:11,010
And so absolutely agree Mark.

850
00:35:11,610 --> 00:35:15,390
You know putting it in your hand only
gives people know choice.

851
00:35:15,390 --> 00:35:19,290
More freedom of time, more more less
pressure

852
00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:20,340
to quote order.

853
00:35:20,340 --> 00:35:20,550
Right.

854
00:35:20,550 --> 00:35:21,870
Hurry up because there's a line behind
you.

855
00:35:21,870 --> 00:35:22,170
Right.

856
00:35:22,980 --> 00:35:24,030
And so I think you're right.

857
00:35:24,030 --> 00:35:24,690
I think we'll see.

858
00:35:24,690 --> 00:35:28,230
Online order, adoption expand
dramatically.

859
00:35:28,230 --> 00:35:29,700
I think we'll find new customers.

860
00:35:29,940 --> 00:35:33,540
And I think our existing customers will,
we'll we'll we'll be buying

861
00:35:33,540 --> 00:35:35,400
more from us on a per order basis.

862
00:35:36,390 --> 00:35:37,110
Absolutely.

863
00:35:38,520 --> 00:35:40,270
And I mean, support for the kiosk
business.

864
00:35:40,270 --> 00:35:43,830
So you it's important, I think, to know
you still have that hospitality person

865
00:35:43,830 --> 00:35:45,570
there helping and guiding.

866
00:35:46,230 --> 00:35:49,800
And I think one of the interesting things
you said, is it like flipped your review,

867
00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:53,730
your reviews went from being all about the
food to being all about the people because

868
00:35:53,730 --> 00:35:56,130
of a piece of technology, which I thought
was just fascinating.

869
00:35:56,130 --> 00:35:56,430
Yeah.

870
00:35:56,430 --> 00:35:56,850
It was.

871
00:35:56,850 --> 00:35:58,890
That was a really big surprise to me.

872
00:35:58,890 --> 00:36:02,490
We knew when we were going to, when we
decided to do kiosks,

873
00:36:02,490 --> 00:36:06,180
and we were very cautious and careful and
took a long time to decide on

874
00:36:06,180 --> 00:36:10,230
our partner and our design, our, our flow,
you know, our guests, journey

875
00:36:10,230 --> 00:36:13,300
flow, etc. we knew it was going to be
good.

876
00:36:13,300 --> 00:36:16,860
Yeah, we knew it was going to help the
business we knew was going to help the

877
00:36:17,130 --> 00:36:20,700
But we weren't just going to remove the
cashier and just put a machine out

878
00:36:20,700 --> 00:36:21,900
front and say, good luck, right?

879
00:36:21,900 --> 00:36:22,260
Right.

880
00:36:22,260 --> 00:36:26,010
And so we're Japanese were founded in

881
00:36:26,010 --> 00:36:29,610
this, dramatic sense of hospitality and
the importance of

882
00:36:29,610 --> 00:36:33,300
hospitality, is a really important, value

883
00:36:33,300 --> 00:36:34,380
proposition for us.

884
00:36:34,590 --> 00:36:38,310
And so we added this position and we hired
for this position

885
00:36:38,460 --> 00:36:41,400
somebody you look 150 times in a shift.

886
00:36:41,610 --> 00:36:45,220
You got to be excited and welcome and, and
explain this.

887
00:36:45,230 --> 00:36:46,590
You you and you're right.

888
00:36:46,590 --> 00:36:49,230
And so so it takes a special person to do
that.

889
00:36:49,230 --> 00:36:53,070
It's more like hiring an actor than it is
hiring, you know, busser

890
00:36:53,070 --> 00:36:53,910
or a food runner.

891
00:36:53,910 --> 00:36:54,180
Right.

892
00:36:54,390 --> 00:36:58,080
And so so we did that knowing that a, we
wanted to give

893
00:36:58,080 --> 00:36:59,730
hospitality, wanted people to feel
welcome.

894
00:36:59,730 --> 00:37:03,330
We wanted them to have a chance to
discover and learn more about our

895
00:37:03,330 --> 00:37:06,930
brand in a 1 to 1 direct, interaction.

896
00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:11,340
But we also knew it gave people a chance
to ask questions and get comfortable

897
00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:13,980
and, and feel that sense of service.

898
00:37:13,980 --> 00:37:17,610
And and boy, oh boy, have they to your
point, Mark, what you're referring

899
00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:21,240
to is a few months into it, about 90 days
into it, we look

900
00:37:21,240 --> 00:37:23,610
back on our customer sentiment, our word
map.

901
00:37:23,610 --> 00:37:27,390
Well, how did people describe Pepper lunch
in the US before

902
00:37:27,390 --> 00:37:29,760
kiosks and 90 days after kiosk?

903
00:37:30,030 --> 00:37:31,290
And it was before kiosk.

904
00:37:31,290 --> 00:37:35,610
We we were excited people to sizzle hot
experience Instagrammable,

905
00:37:35,820 --> 00:37:39,540
you know, tasty high quality

906
00:37:39,540 --> 00:37:39,990
hot.

907
00:37:39,990 --> 00:37:43,560
You know, all these great words about the
food and the experience.

908
00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:44,970
And we were like, great people get it?

909
00:37:44,970 --> 00:37:45,510
They love it.

910
00:37:45,750 --> 00:37:46,530
They're addicted.

911
00:37:46,530 --> 00:37:47,310
It's craveable.

912
00:37:47,530 --> 00:37:51,120
We talk about probability a lot 90 days,
and there

913
00:37:51,120 --> 00:37:53,700
isn't a word about food in our entire word
map.

914
00:37:53,700 --> 00:37:57,360
The top 20 things that people used to
describe Pepper lunch didn't have a

915
00:37:57,360 --> 00:38:00,600
word about food or experience or hotter
sizzling.

916
00:38:00,780 --> 00:38:04,560
It was our number one word people used to
describe us today is friendliness,

917
00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:07,140
friendliness, service, hospitality, care.

918
00:38:08,070 --> 00:38:10,290
You know, it's it's it's a remark.

919
00:38:10,290 --> 00:38:11,430
And what did we do?

920
00:38:11,490 --> 00:38:15,060
We took away a cashier from across the
counter, put a kiosk in

921
00:38:15,060 --> 00:38:15,570
front of you.

922
00:38:15,780 --> 00:38:18,390
And now we are more hospitable because of
that.

923
00:38:18,390 --> 00:38:21,990
And so, that, that that switch for us has
really

924
00:38:21,990 --> 00:38:22,680
been dramatic.

925
00:38:23,370 --> 00:38:23,820
For sure.

926
00:38:25,110 --> 00:38:25,980
That's so cool.

927
00:38:27,180 --> 00:38:27,750
That's awesome.

928
00:38:27,750 --> 00:38:30,600
It's such a thing that you see kind of the
opposite for so many other brands.

929
00:38:30,600 --> 00:38:33,390
They just stick a kiosk and say, go figure
it out for yourself.

930
00:38:33,390 --> 00:38:33,770
Instead.

931
00:38:33,780 --> 00:38:37,320
You guys are using that as just a better
tool for interacting with clients

932
00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:40,140
and customers as they're coming in,
especially those those first time folks.

933
00:38:40,380 --> 00:38:42,240
Look, it's not what you do, it's how you
do it.

934
00:38:42,240 --> 00:38:45,750
And I won't name names, but my wife said,
hey, can we take a break and

935
00:38:45,750 --> 00:38:47,280
go get lunch today?

936
00:38:47,460 --> 00:38:51,120
And we went to a local fast casual burger

937
00:38:51,150 --> 00:38:51,750
joint.

938
00:38:53,100 --> 00:38:56,820
On the way out the door, she said, oh,
they have kiosks to

939
00:38:57,330 --> 00:38:59,400
on the way out the door, right?

940
00:38:59,400 --> 00:39:02,940
Yeah, because this brand decided to put
three kiosks in

941
00:39:02,940 --> 00:39:07,140
their dining room and keep the, the, the
cashier

942
00:39:07,140 --> 00:39:08,790
order taker at the thing.

943
00:39:08,790 --> 00:39:12,510
Well, at this brand, they're really well
known for letting you customize

944
00:39:12,510 --> 00:39:12,870
everything.

945
00:39:13,170 --> 00:39:16,590
You know, I'll have the this burger, but I
want it with a chicken patio.

946
00:39:16,590 --> 00:39:17,340
I want change the bread.

947
00:39:17,490 --> 00:39:20,340
Very customizable and people are very
comfortable with that.

948
00:39:20,640 --> 00:39:24,150
And so if you ask them to just go to a
machine and figure out how to

949
00:39:24,150 --> 00:39:27,030
make that happen, right, order what you
want.

950
00:39:27,030 --> 00:39:30,510
The way you've always wanted it, it's it's
going to be a learning curve.

951
00:39:30,660 --> 00:39:34,050
And so yeah, you can put a person out
front, which is what I would have done,

952
00:39:34,140 --> 00:39:37,740
I mean, I can't knock my own idea there,
but but

953
00:39:37,740 --> 00:39:42,090
but people are so accustomed to going to
that and ordering their typical fast

954
00:39:42,630 --> 00:39:46,380
paced custom order that nobody uses

955
00:39:46,380 --> 00:39:46,920
the kiosk.

956
00:39:46,990 --> 00:39:50,220
I just never see anybody using that
brand's kiosk.

957
00:39:50,220 --> 00:39:53,600
And so, it's not what you do, it's how you
do it at the end of the day.

958
00:39:55,170 --> 00:39:59,040
And I would, I would argue if they were
looking at their check average buy service

959
00:39:59,040 --> 00:40:02,550
type in R3 65, they would see that when
they do

960
00:40:02,550 --> 00:40:05,880
get an order of that kiosk, it is probably
the exact same effect.

961
00:40:05,880 --> 00:40:06,180
Right?

962
00:40:06,750 --> 00:40:08,070
It's double what they would be getting.

963
00:40:09,810 --> 00:40:11,250
You got to design it right to though.

964
00:40:11,370 --> 00:40:15,480
So the customer journey flow and map has
to, meet

965
00:40:15,480 --> 00:40:17,460
the customer where they are, the way they
order.

966
00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:17,910
Right?

967
00:40:18,660 --> 00:40:19,230
100%.

968
00:40:19,740 --> 00:40:20,250
Yeah we do.

969
00:40:20,250 --> 00:40:20,910
We talked about that.

970
00:40:20,910 --> 00:40:24,210
That hard hardware is you know, building
is as important as software.

971
00:40:25,290 --> 00:40:25,690
Exactly.

972
00:40:25,690 --> 00:40:27,870
It always got to come together and
balance.

973
00:40:27,870 --> 00:40:29,010
It's got to work out the right way.

974
00:40:29,580 --> 00:40:32,010
With the balance and things working out
the right way.

975
00:40:32,010 --> 00:40:35,760
I mean, how are you seeing yourself

976
00:40:35,760 --> 00:40:37,380
transform pepper lunch this year?

977
00:40:37,380 --> 00:40:41,130
Like, what are you guys doing to change
the restaurant space or change inside of

978
00:40:41,730 --> 00:40:45,330
You know, look, I think how we look at
things, how we look at loyalty,

979
00:40:45,330 --> 00:40:46,530
we come out with loyalty.

980
00:40:47,250 --> 00:40:50,760
Look, points for orders is 10% of the
loyalty.

981
00:40:50,940 --> 00:40:51,900
Customer.

982
00:40:52,770 --> 00:40:53,850
You know, customer.

983
00:40:54,090 --> 00:40:54,960
Infinity.

984
00:40:55,440 --> 00:40:59,550
Affinity I should say, you know, journey
and relationship

985
00:40:59,730 --> 00:41:01,380
between a brand and the consumer.

986
00:41:01,380 --> 00:41:04,920
And so, for us, we look at loyalty, we
look at

987
00:41:04,920 --> 00:41:06,570
offer engines very differently.

988
00:41:07,020 --> 00:41:10,590
I've said this pretty loudly, off and on
for the last couple of years, we our

989
00:41:10,590 --> 00:41:13,230
goal is to have a 1 to 1 known
relationship.

990
00:41:13,410 --> 00:41:16,770
We want them to feel comfortable giving us
insights and feedback.

991
00:41:16,950 --> 00:41:20,730
We want to be able to know them very, very
well

992
00:41:20,970 --> 00:41:24,600
and be able to offer that, offer them,

993
00:41:25,500 --> 00:41:28,470
what they want, where, when and how they
want it.

994
00:41:29,130 --> 00:41:31,800
In a very 1 to 1 personal relationship.

995
00:41:31,800 --> 00:41:32,670
And so that's our goal.

996
00:41:32,940 --> 00:41:37,020
Our goal is to get to a point where
through all of these modalities

997
00:41:37,260 --> 00:41:40,890
and all this data collection, we know them
so

998
00:41:40,890 --> 00:41:44,490
well that it seems obvious

999
00:41:44,490 --> 00:41:48,060
and it seems intuitive, and it seems
natural for them to receive

1000
00:41:48,060 --> 00:41:51,720
an offer, to encourage them to come back
or to buy something new

1001
00:41:51,720 --> 00:41:54,390
or to add something to their mix or
whatnot.

1002
00:41:54,390 --> 00:41:56,970
So, you know, that is our goal.

1003
00:41:56,970 --> 00:42:00,600
And so for me, it's just like everybody's
doing the same

1004
00:42:00,600 --> 00:42:00,900
thing.

1005
00:42:00,900 --> 00:42:03,090
But how you look at it, what is your
values?

1006
00:42:03,090 --> 00:42:05,400
How how do you come to the customer with
your values?

1007
00:42:05,670 --> 00:42:07,560
How do you impart hospitality?

1008
00:42:08,070 --> 00:42:11,580
For us, a very different loyalty
experience, a very

1009
00:42:11,580 --> 00:42:15,090
different marketing engine, CDP
experience, on their

1010
00:42:15,090 --> 00:42:18,990
side is they'll experience it, very data
driven, very

1011
00:42:18,990 --> 00:42:19,740
1 to 1.

1012
00:42:20,040 --> 00:42:23,760
And then and then for us, the next phase
of that is gamification.

1013
00:42:24,060 --> 00:42:27,780
I really want people to want to come to
our app and

1014
00:42:27,780 --> 00:42:31,380
come into our stores physically because
they did something on the

1015
00:42:31,380 --> 00:42:34,980
app, and it gave them a reward that drove
them into the store.

1016
00:42:34,980 --> 00:42:36,960
And so, you know, we look at that very
different.

1017
00:42:37,020 --> 00:42:39,660
We're also coming out with an entirely new
off premise program.

1018
00:42:39,660 --> 00:42:43,320
The technology side of that with Toast and
Boxee Locker

1019
00:42:43,320 --> 00:42:46,830
Systems deliver Act and Boxee Locker
Systems is in place and been going

1020
00:42:46,830 --> 00:42:47,190
great.

1021
00:42:47,430 --> 00:42:51,240
Our new branded packaging and our
performance packaging lands in the next

1022
00:42:51,690 --> 00:42:52,720
month to three months.

1023
00:42:52,720 --> 00:42:56,520
So some of it lands this month, some of it
lands later in the quarter, but

1024
00:42:56,520 --> 00:43:00,120
we're basically rolling out an entirely
new performance packaging based,

1025
00:43:01,230 --> 00:43:04,860
program that focuses on the customer's
experience again, how

1026
00:43:05,130 --> 00:43:08,000
they get their food, what condition their
food's in, what temperature their food is.

1027
00:43:08,010 --> 00:43:10,950
And we've we've put three years of
research into this.

1028
00:43:11,190 --> 00:43:14,700
And so again, off prem branded performance
packaging,

1029
00:43:14,700 --> 00:43:15,870
everybody's focused on it.

1030
00:43:15,870 --> 00:43:16,710
Everybody's looking at it.

1031
00:43:16,710 --> 00:43:17,820
Everybody's rolling something out.

1032
00:43:18,120 --> 00:43:21,870
We think we did and looked at that very
differently and through a different lens,

1033
00:43:21,870 --> 00:43:25,500
we think the end result is going to be
very unique and very innovative for us.

1034
00:43:26,240 --> 00:43:27,180
And it's exciting.

1035
00:43:27,780 --> 00:43:28,830
Just a few things going on.

1036
00:43:29,250 --> 00:43:32,760
Yeah, I know we're sorry, but we got

1037
00:43:32,760 --> 00:43:33,390
to wrap it up.

1038
00:43:34,200 --> 00:43:34,650
Yes.

1039
00:43:34,650 --> 00:43:37,590
We we look, we we always like to end these
things on a hot take.

1040
00:43:37,590 --> 00:43:41,490
I think for you it's this is a sizzling
hot take pepper lunch 500

1041
00:43:41,490 --> 00:43:43,380
degree hot take on the industry.

1042
00:43:43,380 --> 00:43:44,730
Something you love, something you hate.

1043
00:43:46,320 --> 00:43:46,770
Oh.

1044
00:43:46,770 --> 00:43:47,510
Hot cheek.

1045
00:43:48,630 --> 00:43:52,140
I, I love robotics, and I want to

1046
00:43:52,140 --> 00:43:54,870
see more people get more serious.

1047
00:43:56,310 --> 00:44:00,300
Your busters should not be carrying heavy
bins of heavy

1048
00:44:00,300 --> 00:44:04,140
plates and full liquid glassware back,
across

1049
00:44:04,140 --> 00:44:05,700
your restaurant to the dish pit.

1050
00:44:06,210 --> 00:44:08,190
They should have a, support.

1051
00:44:08,190 --> 00:44:11,160
Robotic support, apparatus.

1052
00:44:11,160 --> 00:44:13,890
They're following them around, food,
robotics.

1053
00:44:13,890 --> 00:44:17,850
We're exploring a variety of semi-
automated, automated type, food

1054
00:44:17,850 --> 00:44:20,700
production, cooking implementations as
well.

1055
00:44:21,540 --> 00:44:25,140
And so for me, the hot take is, I think we
all need to be

1056
00:44:25,140 --> 00:44:29,040
thinking a lot more about automations,
mechanics, robotics

1057
00:44:29,040 --> 00:44:29,790
in general.

1058
00:44:31,050 --> 00:44:34,890
And, you know, I'm not sure when

1059
00:44:34,890 --> 00:44:38,580
the shoe will drop on AI, but at some
point, AI

1060
00:44:38,580 --> 00:44:41,580
is going to be more than analytics and
data display.

1061
00:44:42,420 --> 00:44:44,160
I think it's going to become more
actionable.

1062
00:44:44,160 --> 00:44:47,220
I think it's going to become more
automated and self-driven.

1063
00:44:47,220 --> 00:44:50,370
And so I'm looking forward to more tools
getting to that point.

1064
00:44:52,530 --> 00:44:53,010
Absolutely.

1065
00:44:53,010 --> 00:44:53,520
That was good.

1066
00:44:53,520 --> 00:44:54,420
Sizzling hot take.

1067
00:44:54,420 --> 00:44:54,980
I'm here for.

1068
00:44:57,240 --> 00:44:58,920
Troy Hooper, thank you so much for joining
us.

1069
00:44:59,100 --> 00:45:02,610
You can find him on LinkedIn and you can
find Pepper lunch across a bunch

1070
00:45:02,610 --> 00:45:04,800
of states, with even more coming soon.

1071
00:45:04,800 --> 00:45:08,550
So make sure you check them out and you
can find them on all social media

1072
00:45:08,550 --> 00:45:10,620
as well as pepper lunch, restaurants, dot
com.

1073
00:45:11,280 --> 00:45:12,810
And of course, thank you all for joining
us.

1074
00:45:12,810 --> 00:45:16,110
We hope you have a great day, a profitable
Monday wherever your restaurant may be.

1075
00:45:16,350 --> 00:45:20,040
And don't forget to like and subscribe to
this podcast and Troy's podcast, The

1076
00:45:20,040 --> 00:45:20,700
Perspective.

1077
00:45:20,910 --> 00:45:24,540
Wherever you like to listen, you can find
us on YouTube, Spotify,

1078
00:45:24,540 --> 00:45:28,170
Apple Podcasts, wherever you are
listening, and you can follow us across

1079
00:45:28,170 --> 00:45:32,040
media on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook,
and of course, you can always visit us at

1080
00:45:32,040 --> 00:45:33,620
restaurant three 65.com.

1081
00:45:33,630 --> 00:45:36,580
Troy, really appreciate the time and the
and the insight.

1082
00:45:36,610 --> 00:45:38,040
Have a great, great evening.

1083
00:45:38,040 --> 00:45:38,610
Thanks guys.

1084
00:45:38,610 --> 00:45:39,390
Really appreciate it.

1085
00:45:39,550 --> 00:45:40,200
So glad to be here.

1086
00:45:46,530 --> 00:45:47,050
Today.