Latest / The Weekly Run / Don't Forget Mom! | #18

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Don't Forget Mom! | #18 · The Weekly Run

• Jeff Perera: Welcome to the Weekly Run, I'm Jeff. And today we're talking about what's hot at Jeff's Bagel Run. Aaron, what's hot at Jeff's Bagel Run this week? Aaron: And I am Aaron I feel like a lot. I feel like it's been a busy week. I don't know why. It just, it feels busy. Jeff Perera: Well, I know why, because I broke Au-Dough-Mation on Sunday. That started, I broke Au-Dough-Mation on Sunday. Aaron: Yeah bro, come on. Is this when we talk about this? Jeff Perera: I ignored it for three days, you texted me and then you called me and you were like, hey, did you change a dough type? And I was like, yeah, I'm like, my op, my computer's fine. I can see my, I can see dough plan. And like, I'm in Ocoee right now, taco bagels showed up. Like, I don't understand. And he's like, it doesn't work that way. Yeah, so sorry about breaking Au-Dough-Mation. I figured I'd just put it out here into the open and apologize. Aaron: Ha ha! Works on my machine. ⁓ Ha ha! Yeah. I'm glad that we waited until this very public space to have this discussion. know, Here's a real problem with it. Or with, like, you know, with the moment for me is that, so I wake up and you never like to wake up to text and messages. That's honestly how I know it's going to be a good day or not. And this is something unique to the bagel run or I guess this, you know, this industry is... Jeff Perera: Yeah Hmm. Aaron: know, stores days start 5 a.m., 5.30 a.m., right? Depends, there's a lot of catering, maybe four. But it starts early. And so, they're well on their way by the time I'm trying to get up and going. And so, it's how many messages do I wake up to? Jeff Perera: Yeah, early. Aaron: A perfect day, a day I'm looking forward to is a zero message day. When I pull my phone off the counter. This wasn't one of those days. There was a backlog of And as I was starting to look at them, I'm like, what is going on? But I remembered, Jeff Perera: Hahaha Aaron: I remembered seeing you drop a message, or Cassie did on your behalf, in the Operators Slack channel that said, hey, just so everybody knows, kind of like, hey, attention, take action on this, and I read it and I'm like, mm. Jeff Perera: Yeah. Aaron: Should I do a little more digging on this? Should I pull this thread? And I was like, no, it's late Friday. no, it's fine. I'm sure it's fine. I'm sure it's fine. And then, you know, of course I wake up to regret. That's what happens is you wake up to regret. Trust but verify. And at the end of the day, it's on me. You click the buttons in the system. It lets you. It shouldn't have let you, but it lets you. So all greens, all greens for you. Jeff Perera: You let me. I had the go sign, you know? So I did- I had the go sign, so I rounded third and I was barreling towards home. I had no idea that the relay was coming. Aaron: You got the go. ⁓ yeah, Catch you had the ball, man. You were nowhere close. But we survived. We survived. We've got great franchisees, so they weathered the storm and we get a dev team that moves quick. Jeff Perera: Nowhere close. Nowhere close. Yeah. They figured... They weathered... Well, I figured I'd just say sorry for breaking it. It's fine. I like to do that for you. Aaron: Yeah. Well, you know, it keeps things, it's job security, man. I'll take it. Jeff Perera: Keeps it spicy, keeps it spicy. but what actually is hot, I think, at Jeff's Bagel Run, is we're coming to an end of pimento. We lamented over this a little bit last week, we are now into the last three or four days here. So pimento and peach season is fully coming to an end, ⁓ we're kick off our next LTO soon. ⁓ And it's ⁓ it's ice cream summer. I'm just gonna leave it at that and allow that. Aaron: True. Which is... Jeff Perera: I'd get a linger a little bit because it does, but if you have ever heard me say this before, it might help you understand what's coming. I just believe that if it can be ice cream, it can be cream cheese. Aaron: That means everything and nothing at the same time. That's excellent. Ooh, that's just a menu. That's just what's possible. Listen. Jeff Perera: The possibilities are endless and I'm really excited for it. There's gonna be a fun collaboration. There's gonna be some fun beverages coming through. yeah, exciting things happening, exciting things. It's, I mean it's, yes and it's also big national because the brand we collabed with has got, you know, well over 100 stores and they're in a lot of places that we're in. So I'm super hyped for it. I think the ice cream summer is gonna be just delicious. Aaron: that's right. I forgot about the collaboration. That is gonna be fun. That's Big Local for us here in Central Florida. How do you guys, so last year we did, summer seems to be our big, like, well, we do LTOs all the time to be honest, but summer we always seem to really break out the creative ones. Or this. Jeff Perera: Summer is a long, summer is a big period of time to fill with an LTO, it runs from May 26 all the way right up until pumpkin season, towards the end of August, beginning of September. it's a... Aaron: Correct. But we had a big one last year with Summer of Sips and now we're doing Ice Cream Summer. Where'd you guys come up with this stuff? Jeff Perera: It really starts at menu creation and what we think is going to taste delicious. And from there, we build the strategy and the marketing around that. Aaron: But that's like, you simplify it. And I know it's not that simple. I see all the work that goes into it and all the people sort of scrambling behind the scenes to build up these menus and to do all the tastings and to do all, like it's a lot of work behind the scenes to do that. How do you guys roll around those ideas to kind of get that initial seed, like an ice cream summer or insanity that was 14 drinks at Summer Sips last year. Like where does it start? You guys just start throwing, is it just brainstorming? Jeff Perera: Yeah. So I think it starts with crazy statements like if it can be ice cream, it can be cream cheese. And so when I say something like that, usually what happens is Catriona or someone else on the marketing team is like, well, what if we did this? And what if we did this? And then that ideation sort of snowballs in that creative space where you end up on this ⁓ far outlier ⁓ and then you say, ⁓ Aaron: Hahaha Jeff Perera: This has got legs, how do we reel it into something that we can execute on? So we really try to take it to the extreme and then pull it back to something that is manageable. Catriona 's great at this, she's excellent at planning strategy around creative storytelling ⁓ get to be, ⁓ I'm just the vessel. Aaron: I mean, feel like for a brand our size, why is that so important? Like from perspective, right? As somebody leading us from a culinary standpoint, obviously you're deeply involved in the brand and ⁓ marketing and all of those things. So sort of ⁓ from that cross-functional perspective, why is... ⁓ Why is putting all this work into our menu and refreshing things, introducing new things? why is that so important? I mean, people love our bagels, people order our standards a lot. So why put all this effort into the innovative side? Jeff Perera: I mean plain bagels and plain cream cheese are our number one seller. Right? So I mean, it doesn't every, mean, maybe by store there's variation in the day here or there, but when it comes right down to it, you're right. The standard staple kind of core products really continue to show up every day and perform really well. Aaron: I don't think that changes, to be honest. No matter what we do, it's a delicious bagel and that's what people like. Jeff Perera: So it begs the question, right, why do anything? Why not just sell that stuff? menu innovation is important drive guest visits. I mean, think in the world of food service, something new and fresh adds another reason to come. And part of our job, believe, as a franchisor is to create a menu that is meeting the guests where they're at. You know, if they're thinking about these, about a particular flavor profile, then we should, we should fill that gap. We should try to chase it. We should get in there and see if There's a way for that to show up as a bagel, as a spread, as a coffee beverage, or non-coffee beverage, for that matter. I think we also look at the things that we see in the marketplace that people are gravitating towards and say, how do we incorporate that into what we do, but stick core to our philosophy and brand philosophy? You know, we operate bakeries. So creating ⁓ scratch-made bagels. Aaron: Yeah. Jeff Perera: is effort that the team focuses on and that product shines through. Scratch made cream cheeses, craft beverages, these are all things that we want to make sure we put forward as our brand. so when other items slip in, we have to really filter that and say, well, is that our brand? then how does that particular thing show up? the way Jeff's Bagel Run can do it. Aaron: ⁓ in addition to all of and don't oversimplify it, it also just seems to be who we are. ⁓ Like, we're gonna do it because we want to do it and because can. ⁓ And because ⁓ that's, ⁓ that's when I think of the brand and we've grown That's in the DNA. experimentation. ⁓ ⁓ trying to delight customers with something interesting, something new. Jeff Perera: Yeah. thank you for being the engineer that you are and boiling it down to the zeros and ones, because I think you're right. It really is ⁓ about who we are the core. We innovate consistently. We explore flavors. We are constantly putting forward something new with our bagels of the day. And we want to try to find ways to do that in the other categories as well. And the LTO programs, I think are Aaron: You Jeff Perera: perfect vehicle to deliver that in a way that's consistent and measured and you know we have data behind it and we can track it and we can see what it does for our franchisees and so yeah yeah 100 % thanks for you simplified it just perfectly and I was trying to make something I don't know whatever it's because it's who we are it's what we do okay I could have said that great could have said that Aaron: Yeah. I Ha ha ha. You know, this is, I'm just, I'm just taking the mentoring and the mentorship, Jeff. This is just me reflecting. I'm a mirror back onto yourself and all that you've taught me about this bagel game. Jeff Perera: It's brilliant. It's good. You've been hitting the gym. You're looking good. I like this mirror. It's a good mirror. It's a good mirror. So do you know what else is hot this week? Catering. Aaron: Mmm Jeff Perera: popping off. can't... I need you to pull some data next week for me that really outlines a number of catering order stores had. ⁓ I'm interested to know because there is a very special convergence of things happening. This week you've got ⁓ nurses week. So this is a very popular time for Aaron: Tell me about it. Jeff Perera: hospitals, doctors, care facilities, anybody that has a nurse on the staff, this is a week for you to appreciate them. And it's also Teacher Appreciation Week. we think of nurses and we think of teachers, we think of people who are here to ⁓ take care us and support us. teachers shape our teachers are there for us when we're young, when maybe no one else is. ⁓ They really have such a pivotal role ⁓ in ⁓ our for such a long period of time. And the nurses usually see us at our worst, you know, when we're sick, when we're hurting, and they always seem to find a way to pick us up, make us feel better. this week has been you know what makes nurses teachers feel great? Bagels. ⁓ Bagels and cream cheese and coffee, ⁓ we have been cranking out orders this week. Aaron: I agree with you my perspective, because I've seen the volume from maybe a different side where I'm realizing, ⁓ man, do we have enough systems in place ⁓ to handle ⁓ basically a 4x jump in catering this little It's like somebody took Mother's Day and Easter and just jammed them together this week ⁓ and this Sunday, yeah. Jeff Perera: Oh, and it's Mother's Day. Gah! Sunday is Mother's Day. So we're talking about... I got... The bagel volume this week has got to be one of the top weeks of the year. We have to... We need to mark this on the calendar at 35 stores. Yeah. Yeah. We have to mark this on the calendar, 35 stores, and do a comparison to, like, the same 35 stores. Aaron: It's like the Holy Grail of dozens of bagels. It has to be. It's gonna be threatening Thanksgiving. It is a convergence. I hadn't really thought about that. Jeff Perera: in like what's traditionally a busy week because ⁓ May 4th 10th doesn't really just jump out as a week that usually like pops like this. It's just not. Aaron: Well, the number one feedback or reach out that I've got, that I've received from stores this week has been, hey, I've got X order or X order and the Y order and is the bake system gonna be ready? They're just like kicking the tires. Like, hey, listen, I'm gonna get. hammered tomorrow, the next day or whatever. Just wanna make sure that it's gonna, yeah, it's gonna fine. I'm just reassuring people, yes, yes, it'll work as it's intended. But that's been the number one question. This is true, this is true. This is why you can't give people nice things and you're gonna be on Fisher Price access to the system pretty soon. It's gonna make the jitterbug version. You're just gonna have three big buttons. Jeff Perera: Yeah, the only thing that, it only breaks, it only breaks when I break it. So, yeah. Lock me out. Do know who's gonna love... You know, you lock me out, Anova, and I can't do some of the work that Danielle asked me to do, she's gonna be really upset. So, you're gonna have to just... You're gonna have to draw a circle around the access and just give me just certain touch points. That's all. That's all. Add new bagels of the day. That's all I'm allowed to do. Build the... Aaron: This is true. Then we're both in trouble. Jeff Perera: Build the LTO calendar, that's all I'm allowed to do. Don't touch dough types. I mean important work, yeah. All right, well Mother's Day this week at the Bagel Run, it's gonna be a busy one on Sunday. My favorite part about Mother's Day at Jeff's Bagel Run is we don't see any of the moms. Aaron: You see a lot of very confused dads line, in the stores, trying order. Even though the ⁓ dads have eaten Jeff's Bagel Run ⁓ dozens times and have never stepped foot in the store. ⁓ It's what it is. ⁓ Holding a phone looking at their text. I'll have six of this, four of that. Jeff Perera: So many, so many. Yeah, they walk into the... ⁓ there are going to be... The number of deer in the headlight looks at the register on Sunday is... It's so fun to watch, actually. ⁓ My favorite part is when our team recognizes the dad via the kids. You know? And they're like, ⁓ They're always like, Aaron: Ha! ⁓ yeah, they're the marker. Jeff Perera: You know, Danielle loves a rosemary salt or a jalapeno cheddar. You should probably just get both today. Yeah, get both today. And then, no, no, she doesn't drink cold brew. No, she wants a blueberry frost latte with oat milk so it doesn't hurt her tummy. I'm like, get it straight. Like this is fun. Mother's Day is a great day. It's really good. Aaron: They hook them up, they help them out, like, listen, this is what you want. Why did you write down cold brew? Check your text. Ha ha. This is what we can do for next year. We can have a place for dads to sign up and if they sign up, we can send them, like, hey, here's her favorite stuff. It's like a little, like the day before we'll send, here's the favorite order, just so you know, kind of sly. Jeff Perera: mean, because we come up with the best marketing ideas on this podcast, maybe we should have a, like, she wants bagels, not roses portion on the app. it's like, your wife's phone number in so we can access her loyalty account to know what you should order. And we'll send you a custom order to make her day. Aaron: That's what I'm saying! I don't know why, but it just happens. Creative Space Jeff. Yes! Yeah. You just have to accept it, place it. Jeff Perera: It'd be so great. We'd end up with a bunch of new app users because you know who runs the household is the one who runs the app too. don't forget to celebrate moms. they're quite frankly the reason we're all here. ⁓ celebrate ⁓ Sunday, every day, but especially on Sunday Bengals. Aaron: So there we go. Yeah. one. Jeff Perera: The other thing I wanted to bring up today and I need your take because ⁓ you and I talk this at times ⁓ where we are of slightly older generation, you know, we're both in our ⁓ 40s, ⁓ and my son 20, home from college, ⁓ he asked me, he's have you been to this new place called Saucy? Have you heard of Saucy? Aaron: Okay. Hmm, I've not heard of saucy. I mean, I can guess. Jeff Perera: Saucy is a chicken tenders concept by the people at KFC. And ⁓ they sell tenders, they sell some other items too. He was really raved about the french fries. But his whole point was they have all these great sauces. And he says to me, he know, I think Gen Z might be the sauce generation. Aaron: You me at tenders. Ooh, that's profound. Jeff Perera: Yeah, I know. He's a polysci major, so he does lot of thinking. And he's like, think about it. Saucy, you got Raising Canes, and people love the Chick-fil-A sauce. And I just heard on one of the other trade pods from the National Restaurant News, or maybe it was Restaurant Business, but they were talking about how KFC in their... Aaron: Deep thinker. True. Jeff Perera: full-blown KFC stores are going to be introducing new sauces as a way to draw more customers in. So we talk about menu innovation, right? And like how these items create a new customer for an old brand, I'm just fascinated this idea that Gen Z could be the sauce generation because chicken tenders have been around forever. Aaron: Yeah. ever. But ketchup and barbecue, at best. Jeff Perera: That's all you had. That's what you had. Ketchup barbecue. If you found a place that had a honey mustard... Aaron: Yeah, honey mustard was like exotic. Exotic. Jeff Perera: You're like, you did what? You put honey in the yellow stuff? Yeah, I know. Aaron: That's why Chick-fil-A changed the game with the Chick-fil-A sauce. Which is just... Honey mustard ash. But, like, they had their own sauce. Okay? Jeff Perera: It's- So then it got me thinking, you know, we're a young brand and we don't do sauces. I mean, obviously we're, but we do spreads and there is an entire generation of kids now that are going to be coming up on Jeff's Bagel run spreads. And I wonder if we're creating the spread generation. Aaron: Okay. So I have a thought on that as you talk about it. So test this out, test drive this, see if I can extend your son's wisdom. Which it seems to be proving, the more I think about it, I'm like, yeah, I got that. Like the chicken tender wars are really the sauce wars. Like they've all got sauces. It's genius. But. Jeff Perera: All sauces. Aaron: What I'm wondering with this generation, because I'm also thinking about things like Dutch Brothers, is it really just about broad flavor profiles? But when you think of Dutch Bros or you think of other places that just sort of do completely different things, I wonder if this generation wants flavor variety. Which then comes all the way back around to your comment about spreads and it's like, you look at our spread palette and I get to tell you, it's a pretty big difference between classics like Chive and Onion and then our hot sauce and then cake batter, right? Like, okay, banana pudding. When I first joined the business, I remember everybody raved about banana pudding. Jeff Perera: Banana pudding, yeah. Aaron: Strawberry my daughter couldn't get enough the strawberry spread like kind of the weird ones or the non-traditional So you might be onto something Jeff Perera: So maybe, I think you might be right. I think that could be what it is. It's about a spectrum of flavors that... Aaron: aggressive spectrum, like they're like different. Jeff Perera: that this generation's, and they're willing to explore it. They'll test the limits across that. Huh, maybe we... Aaron: Yes, that's probably more than anything. think most people, yeah. That's the only way I can explain most of Dutch Bros menu. It's like, wait a second, what did you put in this drink? You know, but that's what they're down for. Jeff Perera: See you. Okay, well then, this theory may hold true for a test that I did today at Discovery Day. Aaron: What did you do? I was there, I didn't see you do anything. Jeff Perera: You saw me do this. I, okay, I'll back up, because I'm good at jumping ahead in the story, because I just get so excited. I was making myself a latte, and I asked the barista, Alec, I said, what should I make? And the suggestion was a blueberry vanilla latte. And I thought, ⁓ that's good. You we make the blueberry frost with the white mocha, maybe the vanilla will be a nice touch. I was like, what's your suggestion? He's like, two pumps. vanilla, one blueberry. I was like, great. So I start making my latte, I go for my vanilla syrup, and then I pump blackberry syrup into my cup. No, accidentally, because blueberries and blackberries look exactly the same. I mean, not really, but I just totally messed up. And I was like, okay, and he goes, says, he goes, ⁓ Aaron: intentionally. We'll just pretend it does. Jeff Perera: That was blackberry and I go, well, I guess I'm having a blackberry and vanilla latte. And then I had a sip of it and it was delicious. Like really, really delicious. So right there at the table where we were sitting with you know, with the prospective franchisees and Discovery Day ⁓ table, ⁓ younger women sat down next to us and they were. Aaron: Perspectives, yeah. Jeff Perera: kind of like, oogling their drinks, and I was like, oh, what'd get? You know, just kind of doing the typical thing I do, chatting up people in the shop, and they said, oh, we got banana bread, cold brew, and we got a cinnamon vanilla latte, and I was like, oh, great choices, classics, and they're like, what are you drinking? And I was like, well, I kind of made a mistake, and I just think I created something, this is, it's blackberry and vanilla, and they were like, oh, wow, ooh, and I was like, do you wanna try one? And they were like, yeah, let me try one. So I ran to the back, and I started making it. And Faith goes, what are you doing? And I saw her making a mistake drink and she's like, what was the mistake? said, I blackberries in a blueberry, told her the whole story. She's like, add some vanilla cold foam and graham cracker crumbles to that and you have a blackberry cobbler. Yeah. Mind blown doubt. I go, I drop the drink off. I dropped the drink off with the girls at the table. Yeah. Blackberry cobbler latte, iced on oat milk, dropped it in front of them. Aaron: Faith, wow. This is how this happens. Did you do the full suggestion? Jeff Perera: And I was like, give it a try, let us know what think. And they're like big eyes, delicious expression, like the whole thing, they loved it. They were like, this is so good. They're like, it tastes like a piece of Blackberry Cobbler. so innovation, menu innovation happening right there. And so while, we can give Dutch Bros a hard time for the wacky wild flavor combinations that they create across, their portfolio of beverages, normalizing fruit in a coffee drink. We should be doing this more. We should just be doing it more. I know you're like a drip coffee, little bit of cream guy, but... Aaron: I like myself a fine latte or cappuccino. ⁓ As much that is true, ⁓ I remember first time ⁓ I tried. one of our banana bread lattes, ⁓ And I didn't wanna like it, but I liked it. Jeff Perera: Didn't want to like it Aaron: I didn't, I didn't, I'm like this ⁓ is too much. This is too much, this is not how coffee should be and it was delicious. So you could probably find me shame drinking a Blackberry Cobbler in the corner. Just turned, don't look at me. Don't judge me. That's right, I'll just do it at my, I come early in the morning and just hide and drink them. Jeff Perera: Don't look at me drinking this delicious coffee beverage. Leave me alone. Leave me alone. You're so funny. I don't know, I think there's just innovation in front of us everywhere and being willing to try new stuff or making a mistake that turns into something glorious is just so fun. Aaron: Oh, my pro tip to anybody, honestly, that's coming into a Jeff's and for the first time, for the hundredth time, it doesn't matter, ask the staff. Ask the staff. Jeff Perera: Ugh. Aaron: Like if you're curious ⁓ what to drink. ⁓ What's your favorite drink? They've got one, I promise you. And they'll tell you. Jeff Perera: 100%, they absolutely know what they want and they are going to it for you because they're really proud of it. ⁓ yeah, and I think that part, ⁓ one of the beautiful things about Jeffs Bagel or Run when you're coming into a shop and you're, getting to know that team ⁓ and it your shop. ⁓ It just, feels ⁓ good to like as an employee, that this person is enjoying something that you created. Aaron: And that shows. ⁓ completely. They love it. Because it's a craft side of it, like you said. It's not... Yeah, go ahead. Jeff Perera: It's just something really... I just want to like, because you experienced that very briefly today. ⁓ I standing with you before we jumped into the discovery day and we were talking about our system Au-Dough-Mation and you were like, wow, this is like really cool. ⁓ it. Aaron: Yeah. I had very non-humble, I had an un-humble moment. Jeff Perera: No, no, no, no, I don't think it stems from that because I think it stems from the fact that you had just worked with the team, you were showing them a feature, whatever, you're going through it, and they're like, this is really good, it works. The team was like, that's cool, I can't believe it kept up. You said to not make custom bakes and guess what happened, it worked. So it's just kinda neat to, it's neat sometimes to know that the thing you created brought joy to someone else. And sometimes just bringing... Aaron: Yeah. Yes. Jeff Perera: Joy can be simple in that a work process is more efficient, which is great. Aaron: or they liked my bagel pairing. Jeff Perera: Or they liked your bagel pairing. yeah, exactly. That's exactly it. So... I don't know. It's, I woke up at 1.30 this morning, so... I'm... Aaron: I don't know how you're functioning at all. I mean, I think so. I think it's great. You know? Hey listen, that bagel life never sleeps. Jeff Perera: Am I functioning? Am I functioning? That's a question. The bags under my eyes tell a different story. I need like, I need like, yeah, bagel life chose me. Don't sleep in. No rest for the weary. So many things I could say. ⁓ Tomorrow I'm gonna go get caffeineed up though. Aaron: ⁓ you guys, have a little trip. Jeff Perera: Yeah, Field Trip to Amonin, our syrup supplier and partner in crime. They have a whole research and development department that they open up to their customers and we go out there about once a year and visit with them and talk about trending flavors and understand how we can incorporate their products into ⁓ drinks and food products or whatever. So it's kind of neat. It's a fun day. Aaron: It's gonna be like a test kitchen sort of thing, right? Like you guys are go down there and do tastings and see their new lines and... Jeff Perera: Yeah. 100%. Yeah, they asked us to bring bagels because they created a few spreads for us to try. Yeah, yeah, pretty neat. Yeah, it's pretty neat. I really like the relationship using their syrups, yeah. Aaron: No they did not. That's crazy. with their syrups? Wow, that would be kind of wild. Jeff Perera: We use their syrup in a couple of different ways. So we have a Bagel of the Day coming up this month that uses their syrup as part of the topping. We used their blueberry syrup in our blueberry muffin bagel that was just a Bagel of the Day a couple of weeks ago. there's a few different applications for the syrups. It's not just a flavor your drink. It can be used in culinary. Aaron: I remember that one. Jeff Perera: experiences as well. So it's pretty cool. It's it's always fun to go down there. They have a great team. They're super passionate, just like we are. And it's just fun to go down there collaborate. The root beer float latte for my birthday last year came out of the last time we went there. Yeah, they had a they were creating some kind of ⁓ I can't remember the drink that they created with it, but they had ⁓ root beer. Aaron: with that trip. Jeff Perera: Like a root beer syrup or some concoction that created a root beer syrup. I can't remember exactly how it went down, but I was just like, oh, I was like, oh man, I love a root beer float. I was like, what if we did that as a latte? And basically their executive chef was like, I got you. Yeah, she's like, I got you. And next thing you know, it's like, pour it. And she's like, taste that. And we were all like, whoa, that's good. So, super fun. Aaron: One second. Hold my coffee. I remember I met that team when we were just at RLC. They were near us in the exhibition space and great team, really great team. They all came over and said hi and obviously we're already collaborating with them. So there's no, it was just, yeah, was just a good meet and greet and they're just excited and yeah, great partnership. Jeff Perera: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, there's like no sales pitch, yeah. I think that the cool part about at restaurant leadership conference while they were there, they were not there to position their brand, they were there to position a nonprofit they support, which I thought was really cool. So when I look at their brand values and the way their company operates, it really aligns with what we believe in as well. And so it's pretty great to have partners that not only create delicious food, but also, you know. Aaron: Yeah. Jeff Perera: aligned in the things that you believe in. Aaron: I agree. What bagels are you bringing down? Jeff Perera: No. ⁓ I don't know. I think I said I don't have time to stop and if I go into, here's the real truth, if I go into the store in South Tampa to just grab bagels, and that's my air quotes, you know, that you can't see, grab bagels, I'm stuck there for three hours. Yeah, like there's no leaving. There's no leaving. There's like, Jeff, we have this question or what about this and can you do that, can you do that? So we just asked. Aaron: Yeah. An hour. Hey, our kettle's not working. Can you climb down there and take a look? Jeff Perera: Yeah, so they just ask, I just ask the rep to pick him up just because I don't think this trip is not intended to go as a visit to the store and then if we do that we'll just end up being there and our timeline will get all wonky so yeah. So they're gonna grab the bagels for us. I'm assuming they're gonna get them from our shop. If they show up with some Thomas's from the grocery store nonsense I'm gonna be like, I can't do this. I'm like, me second I'll be right back. Or maybe let's do a door dash him or something. Be that guy. I'll be like, hey. Aaron: Like, listen, I'll be back in three hours. Hey listen, integrated delivery in our app. You can place the order right from their location. Jeff Perera: That's it? was like, I'm gonna look at Matt, rep, and be like, give me your phone, I'm ordering right now. I'll go to double tap on Apple Pay and I'll be like, I need your face. Thomas's. Who does grocery store bagels? Not this guy. Aaron: That's good, that's a nice one. Give them the points. Yeah, exactly. This is what you get for making this mistake. That would actually be pretty funny if somebody did that to you. Jeff Perera: There's content. There's content in that. There's definitely content in that. ⁓ my goodness. I'm slap happy Aaron. I think that's the podcast this week, I think that's it. It's that time. Bake fresh, bring joy, build community. We'll see you next week. Aaron: It's bedtime. It's time for sleep.