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Charlotte, N.C.-based smoothie and organic healthy foods chain Clean Juice saw significant growth during the pandemic with their focus on a healthy, organic lifestyle. Landon and Kat Eckles discuss how their brand saw double-digit growth in 2020 by focusing on the success of their franchisees and branding the Clean Juice concept as a lifestyle.
This week on a special bonus episode of the Extra Serving podcast, a production of Nation’s Restaurant News’ Last Bite Network, NRN editors Holly Petre and Sam Oches shared their takeaways from the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association’s (IFMA) annual Chain Operator Exchange (COEX) conference in Austin. The two discussed some of the key points from the conference, including: Everyone on the supply chain is struggling right now The key to sorting out your supply chain woes is communication with your vendors Efficiency is key to navigating supply chain and labor problems The labor situation is getting better — but overtime is still a big problem Nobody knows how gas prices will affect things Oches also spoke with three manufacturers at the conference about what they’ve been experiencing in their businesses, from supply chain to labor to gas prices to food trends. ...
In this episode of Extra Serving, senior editor Ron Ruggless speaks with CEO Robert Thompson about how he initiated the 50-year-old family-dining brand’s $140M investment. ...
Paul Griffin started out as a fine-dining chef, working his way through trendy restaurants with world-class chefs. But when he was working at a hip gastropub in Delray Beach, Fla., it seemed that all his customers wanted was his $20 all-natural burgers. “We were kind of shocked by the product mix,” he said. If customers weren’t interested in the lobster nachos and duck and other fun items and just wanted burgers, why not just make them? And so BurgerFi was born, serving all-natural beef and other items with clean labels. Griffin helped start the chain, where he holds the title of chief culinary officer, which has grown to around 120 units and just celebrated its 10th anniversary with a shake limited-time offer. His job changed from developing new menu items at the gastropub to training crew as new restaurants opened and handling a supply chain that has grown to $40 million worth of food & beverage annually. In this podcast he discusses how that supply chain was challenged over the past year – it turns out that buying all-natural beef shielded him from some of the supply-chain disruptions many other burger chains faced — some of the LTOs he has developed over the years, and how he and his team are adapting to drive-thrus, ghost kitchens and other necessities of the current age. ...
