Quick Service Industry Trends

And we also have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of Fourth, who will be moderating the conversation with Jason. Jason, how about I let you offer the audience some information about your background and you can likewise inform them a little bit about Chop Shop.

Thanks Christina. My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Shop. I've been doing this for about nine years now. We purchased the brand in 2016three unitsand I have actually grown it to 26. Prior to this, I've invested the majority of my career in hospitality in some shape or type. After a quick stint of trying to be an accounting professional for about a year and a half, I transitioned into gambling establishment residential or commercial property and operated in corporate finance.

I was the first staff member there after private equity bought the service. Helped grow that from 20 to 150 areas, took it public in 2014, and after that left about a year and a half after going public to do this at Chop Shop. My hope is that we can replicate the success we had at Zos, and we're off to a really good start.

We're at the counter, we bring the food to the table. It is mainly protein bowlsabout 40 percent of the mix. We likewise do salads, sandwiches. The secret to the program is we have a beverage component also with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes. We do all stables, we do breakfast all the time.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

A little more complex than a few of the walk-the-line principles that are out there, however we believe we've got something quite special. We're going to include another shop this year and a minimum of four stores next year. So we will be 31 or so stores by the end of next year.

Fast Casual Industry Growth

I've been in this function for about 6 years. 4th, as many of you understand, is a leading company of software application solutions to the dining establishment and hospitality industry. Our goal is to help our customers be successful in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, managing inventory, and essentially offering them with tools they need to deliver their vision.

It's uncommon to have companies that are precious and growing rapidly, that can repeat that success every year. Jason, among the reasons I was so thrilled to have you join our session is the success at Zos was remarkable. I've just fulfilled a handful of brand names where there was such a strong customer affinity for the brand name.

When you talk to consumers about Chop Store, they like the location. And to be able to take what is a fairly complex idea in terms of delivering a terrific experience for the consumer, and be able to grow that from a few stores to now north of 30 stores next yearit's incredible.

We're going to talk about how to scale a dining establishment company. Every restaurateur I ever speak with has imagine taking one store, two shops, 5 shops, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, throughout the state, into multiple states, and eventually national, even international reach. It's not simple, particularly in today's environment.

Labor is tough. Inventory expenses stay high. It's not a simple time to drive success and development at the exact same time. But we're delighted to have you here today, Jason, since we're going to dig into that subject. The concerns are going to be actually around: how do you grow a business? How do you scale it and make it effective? How do you replicate early success? And from there, after we speak about your experience and the lessons you've learned, we 'd like to then state: well, look, how could technology assist? How can you use innovation as a multiplier to reproduce early success to significant success? Second, beyond technology, how do you scale fantastic groups? And last but not least, AI.

Strategic Expansion Targets for 2026

The very first question I have for you, Jasonlook, you have actually done this two times now in the dining establishment market. What are a few of the lessons you've found out? What has your experience been in terms of what it takes to actually drive success in broadening dining establishments? Tell me a little about your course, what you experienced along the way, and possibly a few of the harder lessons you learned.

We talked a little bit before we started about LinkedIn, and I have actually got a post teed approximately follow this next week about what the playbook is likepoint by pointfor growing a business. To me, among the essential things, and I feel very fortunate, is that both brands I have actually been included with are unique.

And there's nothing exactly like Chop Shop in regards to what we're making with a large, varied menu. The majority of brands today are very singularly focused in regards to what they're using from a foodstuff. I seem like we started at a benefit with both brands by having something special that filled a specific niche nobody else was doing.

A lot of it starts with the brand name. Does your brand name have something special that no one else is doing?

High-ROI Business Ventures Arising in 2026

The second thingI came from a finance background, so a lot of my knowings are more financing and data-driven versus a lot of early start-up restaurateurs who are imaginative types. They love the food, they developed the menu, they constructed the brand name.

They do not know their breakeven sales. They don't comprehend how margin enhances as sales increase. I've seen so many companies where the numbers simply don't work.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

If you don't have those 2 things, you should not be developing shops. Yeah, perhaps both, right? Since as I hear your description, you have actually highlighted three things: execution, brand name distinction, and monetary practicality. You've got to start with execution. If you do not have an operating design that works, broadening it just increases issues.

Is Fast Casual the Wise Move?

Second, you need a compelling brand name or distinct idea that resonates with consumers. And third, the mathematics needs to work. If you don't understand your system economics, your fixed and variable costs, you may be expanding blind and losing cash. Precisely. And another key lesson is about entering brand-new markets.

When we broadened to Dallas, I anticipated new shops to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the very first year. A lot of operators assume new markets will open at complete volume day one. That nearly never ever occurs. And when the shops open sluggish, however you have actually signed leases and constructed a monetary design based on greater volumes, you get overextended.