Nation's Restaurant News On the Go Weekly Newsletter #40

The age of entrepreneurialism

Sam Oches here, Nation’s Restaurant News editor-in-chief. ?We live in an age of entrepreneurialism.?

From Mark Zuckerberg to Sara Blakely to Elon Musk, business builders today are just as much household names as professional athletes and actors. They’re celebrated and fawned over, propped up as role models and even, in some cases, as saviors.?

There’s something innate to humans that spurs on this interest in entrepreneurialism. After all, entrepreneurialism is simply creativity with a business plan, and there is a drive to create, to produce, inside of everyone. I see it in my own kids: My 6-year-old daughter is frequently brainstorming ideas for a dog-walking business or lemonade stand she hopes to launch, and even my 4-year-old son recently told me he wants to start a company (perhaps of some concern: He told me his company would film and share videos of people falling during hikes. Kids these days?).

One of the reasons I love covering the restaurant industry is that it is rife with entrepreneurs, leaders who are driven not only to be creative but also to derive economic benefits from that creativity —?benefits for their employees, their communities, and their stakeholders. The impact of that entrepreneurialism is arguably among the most influential of any industry; to be a restaurant entrepreneur is to affect how people eat, how they commune, how they entertain.?

There’s a good reason why our team at Nation’s Restaurant News has named our signature annual event CREATE. It’s a gathering not of executives, not of business professionals, but of entrepreneurs — big thinkers who apply their own creativity to the industry in myriad ways, whether that’s as founder or CEO, executive or investor, franchisee or vendor.?

That entrepreneurialism is particularly at the core of our CREATORS winners. We launched this award as an opportunity to recognize those companies that are thinking the furthest outside the box — innovators and entrepreneurs who are upending the status quo and creating a new future for the rest of the industry to step into. Scroll to learn more about those winners, then join us in Palm Springs for CREATE: The Experience this Oct. 1-3 to learn from these innovators and dozens more. I promise you won’t regret it.

How Twisted by Wetzel’s is planning to disrupt the snack category

In the spring, Wetzel’s Pretzels opened a new concept called Twisted by Wetzel’s that is quite different from anything the company has done in its nearly-30-year history. The company describes Twisted as a “street concept that takes Wetzel’s fun-loving brand and timeless menu and elevates it to a whole new level.”

There are now two locations open and a third is under construction. No growth targets have been definitively set, but CMO Kim Freer is bullish on Twisted’s potential. That’s because it meets consumers’ increasing demands for innovative, snack-type food that is also visually appealing. The coveted and highly digital Gen Z consumer is the target for the concept.

The Twisted menu is nothing like a traditional Wetzel’s menu. Sure, the classics are available like Bitz and Bites, but the company also wanted to experiment with products that could create more of “360-degree experience,”. That means offerings like the Pizza Bomb (braided pretzel dough stuffed with marinara, pepperoni and mozzarella and positioned in a new Twistz category); Twisted Signature Dogz; and Topped Pretz, topped with ingredients such as Nashville spice or vanilla glaze and Oreo crumbles. There are also Loaded Bitz, topped with things like bacon bits, ranch and cheese sauce, or Baja sauce, roasted corn, jalapeno salsa and chipotle powder. And then there are the drinks, such as the Orange Creamsicle, horchata and strawberry coco dream.

And, of course, a meal wouldn’t be complete without a sweet ending, for which Twisted offers its Pretzel Chimney Cakes, or vanilla soft serve creations in a pretzel cone. Options include caramel chocolate crunch and rainbow crunch.

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Tupelo Honey’s innovative approach to its workforce is driving growth

Restaurant companies that can solve at least part of the recruitment and retention puzzle will undoubtedly be well positioned in this post-pandemic environment. Tupelo Honey has put many pieces into place to do just that.

According to COO Caroline Skinner, the Asheville, N.C.-based brand with about 25 units has spent the past 10 years dedicating its focus to putting its employees first and innovating its approach along the way. The company increased its wages before most states did the same, for instance, and now has a fair start wage of $15 an hour, guaranteed regardless of position. The company also provides paid time off, parental leave, medical and dental insurance, wellness, transportation and tuition reimbursements, and more.

All of these benefits are part of what the company calls its “Honeypot” program, which Skinner calls a catch-all to appeal to a diverse roster of employees.

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Donatos takes on automated technology while staying true to its values

When Donatos Pizza founder Jim Grote founded the restaurant company in 1963, he could have never foreseen the impact his company would ultimately have. Some 170 units later, the chain has become known for taking care of its employees while also staying on the cutting edge of innovation.

Grote opened the company’s Innovation Hub in its Columbus, Ohio, hometown decades ago and, partnered with sister company Agápe Automation, has hired engineers and scientists to test out new ideas or technology for the brand.

That includes Donatos’ most recent innovations: automated machines that distribute sauce, cheese, and pepperoni on pizzas (Donatos is known for its pepperoni pizza with 100 pepperoni slices) as well as a slicing machine that can cut the pies quickly and evenly. The machines drastically reduce the time it takes to make pizzas. The pepperoni and slicing machines are being rolled out throughout the system, while the sauce and cheese robots are still in testing phase.

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It’s a TikTok world, and Sweetfin’s embracing it

Sweetfin, a fast-casual poke brand founded in 2015, has leveraged influencers in food, fitness, music and even comedy to weave itself into the lifestyles of Southern California consumers.

The West Hollywood, Calif.-based company, which will have 20 units by mid-September, has worked with top chefs and social-media influencers to increase awareness of the brand in Southern California.

Seth Cohen, cofounder and president of the concept, said Sweetfin has partnered with food personalities like Phillip Frankland Lee, chef-owner of Sushi by Scratch Restaurants, and Richard Blais, the chef, restaurateur, cookbook author and television personality, but also Instagram and TikTok influencers Tway Nguyen and H. Woo Lee , comedians Chad Kroeger and J.T. Parr, and fitness expert Lacey Stone.

These partnerships include exclusive bowl offerings on the Sweetfin menu, promoted to each partner’s networks.

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Wow Bao out to make its product ‘as ubiquitous as the Chicken McNugget’

Over the past few years, the Asian street food brand Wow Bao has evolved from a combination fast-casual/ghost kitchen brand that delivers dumplings across the U.S. to a leader in omnichannel and digital innovation. At the end of 2022, Wow Bao entered the metaverse and then this year upgraded its rewards program to an NFT-based loyalty program where customers can purchase one-of-a-kind “CollectaBaos” in exchange for all sorts of loyalty perks.

Then, this summer, Wow Bao quadrupled its modest retail presence to 4,000 stores selling 5-7 flavors of the brand’s bao dumplings, thanks in large part to the company’s partnership with Walmart. This is all part of Wow Bao’s plan for its bao dumpling to be “as ubiquitous as the Chicken McNugget,” whether through a takeout bag, airport, freezer aisle, or even vending machine —?the brand had launched a partnership with Automated Retail Technologies to serve warm bao buns in vending machines across the country last year.

But it isn’t enough for a brand to be ubiquitous with a craveable product — it also has to have a strong digital presence and experience. For Wow Bao, that avenue is the metaverse and (rebranded) NFT loyalty programs. Last November, the company announced its first foray into the metaverse with a new tiered NFT membership program as an extension of its current Bao Bucks rewards program.

Then, this May, the digital rewards program was extended even further by launching the minting of digital one-of-a-kind “CollectaBaos” (like NFTs) that allow owners to be part of the Hot Buns Club tiered loyalty program.

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5 Unique Experiences at CREATE: The Experience in Palm Springs

For more on CREATE: The Experience or to register visit us here .

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