Forktales

The Golden Steer Steakhouse, established in 1958, is Las Vegas’s oldest continuously operating steakhouse. It has been a favored dining spot for numerous celebrities, including Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and Marilyn Monroe. The restaurant is renowned for its classic ambiance, featuring red leather booths named after its famous patrons, tuxedoed servers, and tableside preparations of Caesar salads and flambéed desserts.

One diner once said, “The Golden Steer feels like the soul of Las Vegas.” 

Nick McMillan and Amanda Signorelli are the managing partners of the Golden Steer. Nick & Amanda took over as managing partners in 2018. Amanda’s father, Dr. Michael Signorelli, purchased the Golden Steer in 2001. 

Nick has spent his career building companies in both the technology and food industries. Amanda’s background is in the tech industry.

Nick and Amanda created a mail order offering called Goldbelly in 2020 as a way to offset the impact of lost sales during COVID. The online sales continue today with a variety of high end seasonings and compound butters.

Customer service and hospitality is a key part of the Golden Steer brand and they live that philosophy every day. It includes simple things like answering phones with a human voice, which Golden Steer has hired staff members to do.  

The Golden Steer has worked hard to build its social media presence, becoming one of the most viewed steakhouses on TikTok and using the channel to create offers that drive traffic to the restaurant. 

00:01.94

vigorbranding

Hello, welcome to Fork Tales. I’m Michael Pavone, and we’re really excited about this episode. This is gonna be a fun story. There’s a list, obviously, of truly legendary restaurants right in in the United States, but the Golden Steer in Las Vegas is one of those restaurants. it’s It’s the oldest continually operating steakhouse in Las Vegas, and our guests today are Nick McMillan and Amanda Signorelli. I’m Italian, so I got that right, right?

00:29.18

Nick _ Amanda

Nailed it.

00:29.73

vigorbranding

yeah Okay. So the managing partners, the Golden Steer, the Golden Steer is a steak house that became a regular stop of Fr

Anand is the Founder and Managing Partner of Gala Capital Partners, a diversified investment and holding company with interests in chain restaurants, software & technology, real estate development, franchising and public equities investment. He has spent the past 35 years in various executive capacities within the Software, Real Estate & Restaurant Industries.

Gala Capital Partners invests in (among other things) restaurants. The current portfolio includes CiCi’s Pizza, Famous Dave’s Barbeque, Rusty Taco and MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes.

Anand grew up in the restaurant industry. His mother was an early franchisee with Jack in the Box. 

Anand’s parents knew the restaurant industry was a difficult career path, so they encouraged Anand to pursue other careers. He graduated from USC with a degree in biology, but he was drawn back into the family business and fell in love with it all over again. 

When it comes to restaurants to invest in, Gala Capital Partners focuses on five key categories: burgers, chicken, tacos/Mexican, pizza and coffee. 

The brands that Gala Capital Partners focus on are between 25-350 units. They call those “adolescent brands.”  

When evaluating successful franchises, Anand starts with the quality of the food. Focusing on quality and taste is the easiest way for a restaurant to stand out from the competition. 

“(The restaurant industry) is usually the first job for many young adults and teenagers. It teaches them work ethic, it teaches them responsibility.” (Anand)

“When I returned to the (restaurant) business after university, I realized I could learn about finance, I could learn about accounting, I could learn about marketing, I could learn about HR, I could learn about IT, I could get into real estate. It was so multi-dimensional. It was remarkable and it just captivated me.” (Anand) 

“There were many, many humbling experiences. When you’re 25 you have a great deal of confidence and bravado. I had a couple lessons that I learned the hard way and I think I’m far better off for it today.” (Anand) 

“I’d encourage each and every (restaurant) executive to go work a week and do that every single year. You don’t know what a franchisee goes through and you don’t know what a store manager goes through until you’ve done it.” (Anand)

“Each and every one of our restaurant brands plays a significant role in how you serve the customer.” (Anand) 

“Our typical franchisee and the ideal profile is somebody who is new to franchising and really wants to get into the business and work in the business and be hands on in the stores. Or it’s going to be someone in a smaller market of the family business and they’ve got anywhere from 3 to 30 locations and they really love being hands on and involved.” (Anand) 

“We want very active and hands on operators. People who want to be there and build relationships with their leadership teams, with their managers, with their employees. They want to participate and support their local communities. Those are the folks we’re looking for.” (Anand) 

00:01.44

vigorbranding

Hello, everyone. Today’s guest is Anand Gala of Gala Capital Partners. Put simply, Anand is an investor, and one of those investments is restaurants. But I’ve known him for quite a while, and I’m always blown away by his stories, his growth, and and everything in between. So this will be a great conversation. Anand, welcome to Fork Tales. Thanks for doing this program.

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Andy is president of Gellert Global Group. The company imports more than 5,500 unique food items from more than 60 countries and is one of the largest food importers in the world. Gellert Global Group is home to 12 companies, led by Atalanta, the largest privately-held food importer in the U.S.

Gellert Global is a third-generation family-run business. The Gellert Global Group comprises many of the leading North American food-importing companies and has been importing food products for over 100 years. The combined revenues of the Group exceed $1.7 billion.

The Gellert Global family includes Andy’s sister, brother and cousin. Andy’s father and uncle are also part of the company. Andy’s father, George, was recently inducted into the New Jersey business hall of fame. 

Gellert Global’s goal is to be a part of every food and beverage experience. 

Andy and his team use a variety of factors to determine which products and brands to partner with, including trends and the needs of customers.

“Some of these family businesses and you hear about fighting and people not getting along. I think we’re successful because we keep growing and there’s enough things for everyone to do and for everyone to bring value.” (Andy) 

“You want (joining the family business) to happen organically. It’s a fun business. There’s opportunities for (family) to join if they want. There’s no obligation to come in. We’d like them to come in, but we don’t want to make a rule that they have to come in.” (Andy) 

“Network is important to my father. I learned that from him early on. Being a part of YPO (Young President’s Organization), I love leveraging my network. I like investing in early-stage CPG’s and helping and leading them to other opportunities.” (Andy) 

“We don’t want to lose direction. We’re very big and we’re happy where we are but we’re not in a rush to get to two billion. We’re going to get there smart. If it means pairing down and doing SKU rationalization to be more profitable, all the better.” (Andy) 

“It’s really all about efficiency. As you get bigger you can be more efficient, but you have to be diligent.” (Andy) 

“We’re an importer of products so our products are expensive already. We’re always looking for ways to (save). You always have to turn over rocks to look for more opportunities.” (Andy) 

“I love eating. I love food experiences. I love being surprised. I like going to a chef and saying ‘Just surprise me. Just give me what you do best.’” (Andy) 

00:00.45

Andy Gellert

Bye.

00:01.87

vigorbranding

Hey there, welcome to Fork Tales. I’m ah Michael Pavone, and I’m happy to really get a chance to talk to a good friend of mine. ah Today we have Andy Gellert here. He’s a good friend I’ve known for and respected for a long, long time. Andy’s the president of Gellert Global Group, one of the largest food importers in the world. ah They import more than 2,500 product lines from more than 60 countries. Andy, thank you so much for being here.

00:27.05

Andy Gellert

Mike, always a pleasure, always great seeing you, and nice seeing your smiling face, and I love hanging out with you. We’re always having a lot of fun together.

00:34.39

vigorbranding

Yeah, absolutely. You know, if they if they have music for this in the beginning, you know, I was going to, I was going to change up our, our forktails music and have a little.

00:41.1

Shannon is VP of Marketing for Rubix Foods. Rubix bills itself as “a premier culinary and food science-focused provider of flavor and functional ingredients, offering up insight-driven concepts and breakthrough food solutions for industry leading restaurants, retailers and manufacturers in the United States.”

Rubix works with about 70% of the top QSR and FSR chains with a focus on sauces, glazes and spreads. Rubix has a full R&D team that works on new flavors and processes to help with shelf life and other factors. 

Consumers today demand specific flavors from specific parts of the world. 

The quick-service restaurant (QSR) industry faces unique challenges in product development. Scaling products to meet operational demands, managing supply chains, and maintaining cost-effectiveness are all critical. 

Products must also maintain consistent taste, shelf stability, and not require refrigeration, adding to the complexity. This differs from fine dining, where chefs can source fresh ingredients from farmers’ markets and prepare them on-site. The technicalities involved in QSR make the development process much more intricate and demanding compared to traditional restaurant models.

Rubix Foods created the NEXT Flavor Network, an insight generator comprised of an exclusive group of social influencers who have joined the Rubix team to bring Gen Z-approved concepts to restaurant menus.

“What really sets (Rubix Foods) apart is the market research and consumer insights, which plays a huge role in what we do, and also speed-to-market. Because of our size and the team members that we have here we are able to be much more nimble and agile.” (Shannon) 

“We’re able to help restaurants capitalize on (flavor trends) at the peak of their virality and take advantage of trends much faster than (competitors).” (Shannon) 

“Gen Z is the most diverse demographic in history and they’re really excited about trying new flavors. Social media is a part of that.” (Shannon) 

“We’re seeing a lot of really exciting flavor profiles entering the marketplace. Like Korean flavors and Korean barbeque, Hawaiian flavors, a lot of spins on tropical and Caribbean flavors. It’s been really exciting. Not much is off limits right now.” (Shannon) 

“We all eat food. We all have our own unique food experiences. So it’s extremely interesting and nuanced and novel to see how other people are experiencing food. Food influencers have really tapped into that.” (Shannon) 

“There are very few companies that can allow brands to take advantage of social trends at the peak of their virality and actually get them on a menu while consumers still care about it. That is what brands need to do if they want to win with Gen Z.” (Shannon)

Renfro Foods is a privately owned, award-winning food producer of salsas, sauces and relishes, including 30 Mrs. Renfro’s products, located in Fort Worth, Texas. 

Founded in 1940, Renfro Foods is owned and managed by the second and third generations of the Renfro family. Its products are sold in the United States, the Caribbean, Canada and the U.K.

As president of Renfro Foods, Doug works closely with his cousins Becky and James to run the company. In particular, Doug focuses on research and development, private label and contract packing, quality assurance, sales and marketing, legal, information technology and a dozen other areas 

Doug and his cousins strive for family harmony in managing the company and don’t make any major decisions without a unanimous vote of support. 

For Doug, one of the benefits of working with family is the ability to be brutally honest with each other and still maintain a civil and professional relationship.  

The team at Renfro Foods pays close attention to flavor trends to identify new salsa flavors. 

“When I got out of college, if I had come to work here I would have been chopping cabbage. The executive positions were filled by my dad and my uncle.” (Doug)

“When I came (to Renfro Foods) I had been in charge of corporate accounting for a billion dollar company. My uncle was still doing pricing on a legal pad with his desk calculator. I said, ‘Here’s a spreadsheet. It’s going to instantaneously recalculate the cost of thousands of items in a millisecond.’ He saw what that did and he said, ‘Can you do that every 90 days from now on?’” (Doug) 

“If you don’t demand as much of your ego to be around, one of the secrets I tell (people) is get somebody without your last name to suggest the same idea you’ve been suggesting that’s been ridiculed and suddenly it’s a great idea.” (Doug)

“If you take business things personally, that screws (family) relationships up.” (Doug) 

“I think we lost money on every jar of Raspberry Chipotle we sold last year. Thankfully we didn’t sell many.” (Doug)

“I want everything on the label to be tasteable but you can’t always afford to do that without losing money,” (Doug) 

00:01.23

vigorbranding

All right, hey there, Fork Tales listeners and viewers. I am really happy to be joined today by a good friend of mine, Doug Renfro. Doug is president of Renfro Foods. And I had to say it like 25 times because somehow the word foods after Renfro, I mean, foods in Renfro is easy.

00:13.93

Doug Renfro

sorry

00:15.18

vigorbranding

Renfro Foods, I just struggled. But anyway, ah he is the the the president of Mrs. Renfro’s Salsa. ah Not only are they a family owned company, which always is interesting, but they’re one of the most innovative companies I know. Doug, welcome and thank you very much for joining us and for your time.

00:32.73

Doug Renfro

Thanks, happy to be here.

00:34.60

vigorbranding

So ah you know I’m going to start off by pointing out i’ve I’ve been very fortunate to know you and to ah have your product. And it’s phenomenal. And I’m not just saying that. ah Case in point, I have three jars behind me that were supposed to be props for this presentation. There w

Burney Jennings is the CEO and president of Biscuitville. Burney took over the leadership reins from his father and founder of Biscuitville Maurice Jennings in 1996. Burney’s bold leadership, vision and keen sense of knowing what customers want has contributed to the company’s growth and success. 

Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, Biscuitville Fresh Southern is a family-owned company serving authentic Southern food made fresh daily from locally sourced ingredients. Known as the Home of the Biscuit Window Since 1966, Biscuitville serves scratch-made biscuits baked fresh every 15 minutes. 

Biscuitville employs over 2,400 people and operates more than 70 restaurants in North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina. In July 2023, Biscuitville was voted the nation’s Best Fast Food Breakfast & Best Regional Fast Food restaurant in the 2023 USA Today Readers’ Choice 10Best contest. 

Burney’s father inherited his mother’s famous biscuit recipe after his ailing mother gave him a choice of his inheritance – the recipe or the farm. Burney’s father chose the recipe and the rest is history. 

Biscuitville has stood out from the competition for not working with food delivery services like Uber Eats and GrubHub. According to Burney, the decision was based on several factors including the inability to accommodate to-go orders because the restaurant is so busy. 

Biscuitville has made headlines with its “Life After 2” program in which each of its locations close at 2pm each day. The program allows employees to pursue other interests and spend more time with their families. 

“(My grandmother) gave my dad – since he was the oldest – the choice: My biscuit recipe or the farm. He chose the biscuit recipe.” (Burney)

“The key to a good biscuit is love.” (Burney)

“Growing up, my dad was fascinated by chain restaurants. My dad told me, ‘We all know how to make a McDonald’s hamburger. We know the ingredients. It’s not about the burger, it’s how they do it. It’s the system they put in place. It’s the marketing, it’s the brand, it’s the people, it’s the execution.’” (Burney)

“We started closing at 2pm. Our food quality went up, our food costs went down and our employees are much happier. Now of course, you need to be a morning person. If you’re not a morning person, we’re not a good place for you.” (Burney) 

“We really strive to work with local companies first, and if we can’t be local, we work with family businesses.” (Burney) 

“We’ve been able to differentiate ourselves in the breakfast space because we close at 2pm. People know breakfast is our focus.” (Burney) 

00:00.01

Burney Jennings

I can, this is not too close.

00:04.65

vigorbranding

No, ye you’re perfect.

00:05.35

Burney Jennings

No video? Okay.

00:06.54

vigorbranding

Yep. Okay. You ready to roll?

00:08.75

Burney Jennings

Now I’m ready to roll.

00:10.09

vigorbranding

All right. Welcome, Fork Tales fans. The best biscuits in the world are made in the South, of course. And the best place to buy those biscuits is a restaurant called Biscuitville. Today’s guest is the chairman of bisop but Biscuitville, Bernie Jennings, and we’re going to talk about biscuits, fam

Ben started Tocabe with his friend and business partner Matthew Chandra. Opened in 2008, Tocabe is one of the only restaurants in Denver specializing in Native and Indigenous cuisine and one of only a handful in the United States. 

Ben is a tribal member of the Osage Nation of northeast Oklahoma. 

Ben also created Seed To Soul, which creates prepared authentic Native American meals for people in need in Native American communities. In Ben’s words, Seed to Soul helps to create and develop a Native food system. 

Tocabe was featured on Diners, Drive-In’s & Dives in 2011. Before the appearance, Tocabe was struggling. After the appearance, business “skyrocketed.” 

Ben admits that operating a Native restaurant isn’t as easy as a burger or pizza restaurant because the food doesn’t have the built in knowledge and familiarity that other restaurants might have. 

“Whenever someone asks me ‘What is Native American cuisine?’, I don’t know. And that’s the whole point. We’re all so different depending on the region and tribal community.” (Ben) 

“I always like to say we’re the oldest cultures on the continent but in many ways we have the youngest cuisine because it’s not clearly defined.” (Ben) 

“When we started we said we wanted to create the trend for what a Native restaurant is in America.” (Ben) 

“We started with Osage-specific recipes, but now we’re ingredient-driven. We source from native food producers from all over the country.” (Ben) 

On Tocabe’s appearance on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives: “Guy (Fieri) was amazing. He was so fun, he was engaging. He enjoyed being there. You can tell he was into it.” (Ben) 

“For us to be a Native restaurant, we need to support the Native food system. And since it’s so spread out, we can’t always be locally made. So we say ‘Native first, local second.’” (Ben) 

“We source wild rice from the Great Lakes, blueberries from Maine, huckleberries from Washington state, olive oil from California, beans from the southwest. You name it, we source from all over.” (Ben)

“Whenever someone asks me ‘What is Native American cuisine?’, I don’t know. And that’s the whole point. We’re all so different depending on the region and tribal community.” (Ben) 

“I always like to say we’re the oldest cultures on the continent but in many ways we have the youngest cuisine because it’s not clearly defined.” (Ben) 

“When we started we said we wanted to create the trend for what a Native restaurant is in America.” (Ben) 

“We started with Osage-specific recipes, but now we’re ingredient-driven. We source from native food producers from all over the country.” (Ben) 

On Tocabe’s appearance on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives: “Guy (Fieri) was amazing. He was so fun, he was engaging. He enjoyed being there. You can tell he was into it.” (Ben) 

“For us to be a Native restaurant, we need to support the Native food system. And since it’s so spread out, we can’t always be locally made. So we say ‘Native first, local second.’” (Ben) 

“We source wild rice from the Great Lakes, blueberries from Maine, huckleberries from Washington state, olive oil from California, beans from the southwest. You name it, we source from all over.” (Ben)

Roboburger is billed as the “World’s First Burger Chef In a Vending Format.” RoboBurger condenses the average kitchen by 99% into just 12 square feet, including refrigeration, heating, ventilation, prep line and cleaning. Burgers are automatically grilled and assembled in under 4 minutes. 

Roboburger RoboBurger was invented by Audley Wilson, a data scientist; Dan Braido, a Rutgers PhD grad; and Andy Siegel, a serial entrepreneur. Audley and his team have been working on Roboburger for about five years but Audley’s passion for robotics goes all the way back to his childhood. 

Audley has been passionate about robotics and automation from a young age, and one of his teenage years robotics prototypes got him a scholarship at Carnegie Mellon. 

RoboBurger was in beta phase up until SharkTank. They launched their first beta location in a dive bar in Jersey City in 2020. They launched an NSF-certified model in 2022. The units now – generation 5 – are UL certified and are launching in locations from Indiana to Missouri. 

Future locations for Roboburger machines include colleges, airports and rest stops. 

Friends encouraged Audley to take his idea to Shark Tank since the earliest days of the Roboburger process. Shark Tank producers noticed the media coverage about RoboBurger and reached out to Audley in 2022 with an offer to appear. It wasn’t until 2023 that Audley and his team decided the machine was reach for a prime time appearance. 

“No one ever went bankrupt trying to feed America burgers.” (Michael) 

“One of the biggest challenges (with Roboburger) has been the health requirements. Getting that NSF certification was a gargantuan challenge and getting our UL certification on top of that was even more.” (Audley)

“We clean the griddle after every burger. We do heat sanitization every four hours. We’ve actually got our cleaning process certified by a third party.” (Audley) 

“(One of our goals is to) make food service accessible for vending.” (Audley)

“People are starting to shift to a higher convenience lifestyle. How can I get what I want, when I want it, wherever I am.” (Audley) 

“When you get to Shark Tank, it’s just one go. You’re standing on a carpet. It’s live. There are no cuts.” (Audley)

“Shark Tank was a really interesting experience. I’ve done thousands of pitches over the years, but I’ve never had one (like Shark Tank).” (Audley) 

“We’re very happy with the (Shark Tank) deal. Those are exactly the sharks that we wanted to make a deal with.” (Audley)

00:01.57

vigorbranding

Hello there to Fork Tales. Today’s guest is Audley Wilson. Now, typically, I have chefs on. Typically, I have restaurateurs. But today, we have a robotics expert. ah He is a burger expert and founder and CEO of Robo Burger, the world’s first burger chef in a vending machine. That’s right. He makes burgers within a vending machine. He also recently appeared on Shark Tank to pitch his idea to the investors. Audley, thank you so much for joining us today.

00:31.42

Audley Wilson

Well, thank you so much, Michael, for having me on. I’m excited to be speaking with you.

00:36.82

vigorbranding

Awesome. wow You and I got to meet, I think it was a little over a year ago and I i saw you then again in LA and

Craig is the founder of Doc B’s Restaurant & Bar. The restaurant is named after Craig’s late father, “Doctor B,” Doc B’s was first opened in Chicago in September 2013 and is a fresh, casual dining concept. Doc B’s has 10 locations in Chicago, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, and Coral Gables, FL; Austin, Dallas, and Forth Worth, TX.

Craig was inspired to follow a career in the restaurant industry after meeting Morton’s Steakhouse legend Allen Bernstein at a Knicks game. Craig and his dad talked to Allen at his courtside seats and he later formed a mentor relationship with Craig. 

Craig interviewed Allen Bernstein for a career report in the sixth grade about being a restaurant owner. Allen would later industry Craig to other restaurant industry leaders. 

Doc B’s started as a fast casual restaurant and transformed into a full service restaurant. That shift allowed Doc B’s to offer an elevated food offering and establish a better relationship with customers. 

Different layouts of each Doc B’s location provides opportunities for different design elements and features within each location. 

“(Allen Bernstein) really transformed my life to a certain extent. Allen drove me to pursue a career in the restaurant industry.” (Craig) 

“For me, the idea of hospitality and really going above and beyond for every guest was always really innate in the philosophy of our business. That’s why we transferred to full service.” (Craig)

“It’s about slow and steady growth. Not just growing for growth sake. Really trying to get great real estate, grow organically, grow from within and build the team from within.” (Craig) 

“I know the last chapter of our book. I just don’t know all the pages between today and then.” (Craig) 

“We don’t want to cut costs just to get more bodies inside the restaurant. We want to maintain our integrity, we want to maintain our value on the plate and we don’t want to trim the quality that we offer.” (Craig) 

“We’re traveling. We’re in our restaurants. We’re engaging with the team and engaging with guests. We’re doing constant evaluations of the food and service.” (Craig) 

“It really comes down to letting the general managers own their business and operate it like it was their four walls.” (Craig) 

“What’s fun about my job is you can have a day that’s the easiest day in the world and then you can have another day where nothing is going right.” (Craig)  

00:00.60

vigorbranding

Hey there hey I’m really excited today to talk to a guest ah a gentleman I met probably a couple months ago something happened there got an error message you the phone expensive fiction problems. She’s got internet connection.

00:20.20

vigorbranding

It’s still going just gonna let rather than stop it ended I think we’ll just I’ll trim this up so you let’s start over. Okay hi I’m really excited about today’s guest mainly because I love a good origin story. Our guest today is Craig Bernstein he’s the founder of dock be’s fresh kitchen restaurants Craig I really appreciate you joining us today. Um, ah you and I met like ah I don’t know a couple months ago out in l a and I got to talking to you and I just love a good story. So welcome to the show

Embassy Ingredients combines creativity and science to provide its customers with the very best innovative flavors and bakery ingredients available. 

Embassy Ingredients has an on-site flavor lab and full bakery test kitchen staffed with certified flavorists, food scientists and bakery specialists.They formulate, test and manufacture a wide range of flavors and bakery ingredients ensuring that taste, quality and performance are built into every product.

Natural ingredients and colors have taken over, with nearly 80% of flavors and ingredients being natural. Using high quality, natural ingredients is something Embassy Ingredients has been focused on for many years. 

It is possible to have indulgence AND clean labels. Many products that are indulgent and taste great have clean labels. The technology today allows for the use of natural ingredients that taste as good or better than the artificial ingredients of the past. 

The typical Embassy customer takes 12-18 months to launch a new product. For that reason, tracking trends that are in the earliest stages and will still be relevant a year from now is important.

]“When I started, I was the only employee. I got the orders in the morning, made them in the afternoon, delivered them the next day and got more orders.” (Martino)

“As a 17 year old kid I found out that persistence and perseverance were the personality traits you need as an entrepreneur.” (Martino) 

“In the 90s I’d say about 80% of the flavors that were sold were artificial and 20% were natural. Right now it’s about 80% natural and 20% artificial.” (Martino) 

“We’ve always tried to keep the junk out of mixes. Just because you’re buying something you want to indulge in, doesn’t mean it has to be completely unhealthy for you.” (Martino)

“If it’s not needed inside the product, why put it in?” (Martino) 

“When you indulge, it better be good. You don’t want something that’s being made as inexpensively as possible.” (Martino) 

“Every crisis you face you learn some new business skills you didn’t know you had.” (Martino) 

“During a crisis (like COVID), people eat more sweets than in a non-crisis.” (Martino)

“If you taste test new recipes for a living, you get really good at tasting without eating.” (Martino) 

00:01.76

vigorbranding

Today’s guest is someone who knows a lot about ingredients a lot about flavor trends and a lot about baked goods. He’s Martino Babila and he’s the founder and president of embassy ingredients welcome to show Martino and thank you very much for joining us. So.

00:13.47

Martino

Thank you Michael thanks for being glad to be on the show.

00:18.41

vigorbranding

Yep, So tell everyone you know a little bit about Embassy ingredients. What’s your mission and what do you guys? do.

00:21.59

Martino

So embassy ingredients is centered on the bakery trace so we supply ingredients to large scale bakeries. So we have a side of our business that makes flavors and a side that makes the industrial version you might say of a Duncan hides cake mix. So when you go off to your supermarket or to Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks you’ll find our ingredients and a lot of the baker that you’re going to be buying at those qsars or supermarkets.

00:47.54