Emerging Brands Podcast

Seasoned food industry leader, Joe Guith, President of McAlister’s Deli®, shares his ideas about the future outlook of the brand.

Top executives from emerging brand Tupelo Honey talk on how building an engaging lifestyle brand can help you build a rockstar brand through people.

Hunter Pond of East Hampton Sandwich Co. shares the early challenges that came with opening a restaurant brand with zero experience under his belt at the young age of 25.

Nicole Marquis, Founder and CEO of HipCityVeg, tells us how she developed her restaurant to show people that plant-based cuisine can be delicious. Her mission started when her desire to help her father fix his high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes became a debate about genetics versus diet. Nicole knew that she needed to show, not tell, her father that he could eat well and not give anything up that he loves about food, to instill a lifestyle change.

In 2010, Steve Schulze was working to become a healthier version of himself, just like everyone else. But after learning that the “healthy” juices he was drinking were actually made with additives and fillers, he knew society needed a better option for all the consumers trying to improve their lifestyles. So he began his mission with Nekter to become the “people’s juice;” affordable, accessible, and truly healthy.

Now with 100 locations across the U.S., Nekter provides juices, smoothies and acai bowls, all without fillers. For less than $5, people can easily grab and drink 5 pounds of vegetables as opposed to the $8 filler juices offered at what Schulze calls “elitist juice bars.”

Schulze points to his people as his best marketing strategy. He says it’s all about listening to what your consumer wants, not what you want, and consistently providing that. With the next generation looking even more intently at healthy options, Schulze is excited to see what’s next.

Sam Polk was a hedge fund manager before he had, what he calls, a “crisis of conscience.” He was awakened by a number of structural inequalities he saw in our society, especially those in our food system. So he set out to confront those inequalities, first with his nutrition program Groceryships, and now with Everytable.

Everytable is first and foremost a business just like Tender Greens or McDonalds. But Polk’s mission is a little loftier. Seeing that access to healthy food is scarce in underprivileged neighborhoods, Everytable strives to provide healthy options to underserved neighborhoods at truly affordable prices. Clean, vegetable-forward, culinarily-driven meals are sold at lower price points than their larger, less-healthy competitors.

So how does he do it? You’ll have to take a listen to this episode of Foodable’s Emerging Brands Podcast Series for his full business model, but variable pricing plays a major role in creating profitable stores that are truly accessible to all income levels.

The Little Beet emerged out of a partnership between Andy Stern and John Rigos’ company Aurify Brands (formerly Five Points Partners) and Andy Duddleston. After a trip to LA, the team was inspired by the restaurant concept Lemonade and wanted to bring a sort of vegetable-focused healthy concept to New York. At the time, the team would look for healthy concepts in the city but could only find salad shops and wanted to provide another option in their market. Offering 11 different vegetable sides, The Little Beet has distinguished itself as a brand serving healthy and delicious vegetable-focused dishes without having to only serve salad. Consumers off all diet types can find something on their menu.

The Little Beet does things “the hard way.” Using all premium ingredients and ingredients that can be difficult to source, Duddleston says “I think that’s what makes us special.” But it takes more than good food to create an emerging brand.

Listen to this episode of the emerging brand series to see how The Little Beet combines a great food offering, a fun environment, and their “secret sauce” to keep customers coming back for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

By the time he was 24, Scott Davis was working as a manager at Au Bon Pain with soon to be CEO of Panera, Ron Shaik. He helped evolve Au Bon Pain into Panera Bread and there spent 25 years as the chief concept officer.

Through his years of experience with one of America’s most widely known brands, he has learned many lessons which he carried over into his position as the president of Corelife Eatery. Some of the most important lessons being that, as a company, you must always be ready for a change.
Customers are always looking for something new. Today it’s about fresh, healthy and clean. But as this new trend was coming to be, Panera and its high-quality offering noticed that while customers were coming to them for great food, they were also coming for the atmosphere. Something that hasn’t seemed to change.

Listen in to this episode of Foodable’s Emerging Brands Podcast Series to hear more about what customers are looking for and how your brand can provide the best product and experience.

CEO of Shake Shack, Randy Garutti, has 18 years of experience with Union Square Hospitality under his belt. He’s learned directly from one of the greatest minds in our industry, Danny Meyer, and it shows in Garutti’s leadership style. As the chief executive of Foodable’s highest-ranked emerging brand, Garutti knows a thing or two about creating a successful, loved, and lasting brand.

There are few key factors Garutti lives by. Firstly, Garutti believes success begins with those in leadership. To build a successful company, those guiding the way must be incredible problem-solvers with a focus and ethos aligning with the brand. Beyond that, key indicators of a successful brand include having a deep personal connection with customers, providing an array of convenient options alongside incredible service, and a commitment to improving with every step taken towards growth.

Listen to this episode of Foodable’s Emerging Brands Podcast Series for more insights into how Foodable’s highest ranking emerging brand is meeting customers where they are.