Latest / Choppin’ It Up by Bloomberg Intelligence / Cava’s Rebhun on Driving Brand Awareness, Sales

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Cava’s Rebhun on Driving Brand Awareness, Sales · Choppin’ It Up by Bloomberg Intelligence

• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Chopping It Up. I'm your host, Mike Hallon,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: the senior Restaurant and Food Service Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Our research and that a bi's five hundred analysts around
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: the globe can be found exclusively on the Bloomberg terminal. Today,
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: we're joined by Andy Rebin, chief Experience Officer at Cava.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Thanks for joining me, Andy.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: Hey, Mike, great to see you again.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Man, it's been over a year and a half.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: We're long overdue for this episode. Man, it's great to
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: finally catch up with you. Thank you again for having me.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: For sure. Man, So when we met, you were the
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: CMO at l Poyolco. Now you've been at Kava for
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: almost a year and a half. Man, time flies. Can
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: you talk about the culture that Brett and the team
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: have built there.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: For sure, Kava's culture is really aligned with our mission
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: of bringing heart, health and humanity to food. It really
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: drives everything we do. Everything we do is grounded in
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: the Mediterranean Way, where food is at the center of connection.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: We implore a spirit of generosity to our guests, team members,
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: in community. It's really ingrained in the culture. We have
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: a special feature called the Love button, which I know
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: has gained some traction in social media. But if someone's
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: having a bad day, we want to treat a regular
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: and say thanks for coming in. And also some of
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: our newer guests have the opportunity to experience that. We
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: really create engaging experience through delicious, innovative and naturally good
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: for you food. It helps people eat well and live
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: well and it's really food without compromise. And our company
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: culture is aligned with the heritage and values of our founders.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: I know you mentioned Brett and Ted, Iike and Dimitri.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: They really focus on that generosity, warmth and welcoming everyone
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: to our table. So it's a really beautiful culture and
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: it was a huge reason why I joined the.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: Organ So what's different about the new Project Soul store design.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's incredible. It really reflects elements of our heritage
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: and culture. It makes our physical channel even more experiential
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: and welcoming. Consumers still want to dine out, and Project
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: Soul really allows us to re emphasize what it means
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: to have Mediterranean hospitality. We reflected this in our new
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: Wicker Park location, which features some of these elements, and
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: we continue to refine the model we've rolled out a
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: few so far in twenty twenty four. You can actually
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: check out our newest freestanding Project Soul location on McPherson
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: Boulevard in Fort Worth, Texas, and you'll notice there's softer seating,
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: increased greenery, and really a warmer brand palette to create
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: a comfortable, welcoming environment and really better express our concept essence.
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: So I'm really excited for you to check that one out, Mike.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Very cool. I'm looking to go plant shopping this weekend. Man,
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: I need more greenery in my apartment.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: I love it all right.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: So you were CMO at Lpoil Loco. So how does
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: your current role differ from your last one?
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: So current role is Chief Experience Officer. I lead the marketing,
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: digital and catering teams and really focus on that end
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: to end user journey from everything that the customer does
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: before they get into our restaurant. So all of our advertising,
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: everything that would motivate a consumer to choose us, whether
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: it be helping inform the menu strategy, really building the
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: life cycle marketing capability through our loyalty program, and then
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: building the off premise in group occation through catering and
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: It's really a cool opportunity at Kava because it really
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: focuses on all elements of what that experience means. We're
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: rapidly growing across the United States and really trying to
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: build that experience from day one and even before consumers
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: find out about the brand. It's a really great opportunity
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: for us to build that journey and think about how
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: all our different touch points are going to help inform
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: the vision of cop for the future.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: Awesome man. Yeah, and you see a lot about how
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: it's bringing Mediterranean cuisine, so I guess to a lot
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: of parts of the country that didn't have it prior.
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: Do you have any data on how fast Mediterranean's growing
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: in the US?
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, we believe Mediterranean is obviously the next major
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: cultural cuisine category. It's ranked number one diet eight years running.
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: As our nation has become more diverse, consumers are craving
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: more bold, interesting flavors, and consumers are also increasingly focused
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: on wellness but really unwilling to trade taste for health,
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: and Mediterranean definitely checks a lot of those boxes. We
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: have over seventeen billion combinations at Kava, so it's one
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: of those cuisine categories that you can dip your toe
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: into lamb or Harisa chicken, or hummus or tasiki. It's fun.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: I love love the food. I can get something unique
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: every single day. It's amazing.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: No, it's cool, man. I'm a huge fan of Mediterranean
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: food and cobs great. So, yeah, you don't have to
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: sell me. Talk to me about the importance of value
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: in this economy.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, value is very important. I think you've seen as
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: fast food restaurant chains have become a little bit more expensive,
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: the value equation of kava is becoming more reasonable for
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: consumers to trade up. You know, many times you find
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: two or three dollars difference between the menu prices, and
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: when you think about kava. Our food is delicious. You
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: bring in that Horisa chicken, you bring in hummus, rice,
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: super greens. It's really a full, complete meal. And many
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: consumers can have one or two meals out of our
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: food because our portions are very generous. And so you know,
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: you think about what value means. It's really about consumer experience.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: It's about the food and really welcoming environment. And we
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: do that at our restaurants and through our digital channels.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: Awesome. Yeah, and I noticed no price hikes in California, right.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, We've we've maintained a very good price value experience
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: equation in our California market for sure.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: And that's good man. I mean, I've seen outperformance in
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: the companies I cover. Unfortunately I don't cover Cave yet.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: I'm hoping soon. But you know, for Winkstop and Texas
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: Roadhouse are two names that really come to mind that
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: underpriced competitors, and it's really helped their traffic. Can you
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: talk a little bit about how the IPO has impacted sales?
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's difficult to tease out one thing as you
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: look at our revenue growth, but the IPO clearly increased
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: brand awareness and the interest which helps drive some of
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: the sales on the near and long term. But you know,
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: we've really focused on building what it means to be
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: a category defining Mediterranean brand, and you know, the IPO
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: was one of several different levers that I think we've
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: pulled to really increased brand awareness across the United States.
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: We really have leaned into our social media. It's been
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: a huge part of our growth strategy and it's been
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: effective from a cost perspective as well as just making
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: sure that people feel that accessibility and that personality, and
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: so it's definitely been a combination of factors that has
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: helped really increase that brand awareness.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: I think I saw that customer awareness is about forty percent.
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: How much has it have grown over the last few years.
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, awareness is growing as we've expanded our presence across
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: the country. We have more than three hundred and forty
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: restaurants now in twenty five states in the District of Columbia,
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: and like I stated earlier, we have an extremely passionate
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: fan base on social media who have followed us and
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: have reposted a lot of earned media has helped support
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: that brand awareness as well as our CpG business has grown,
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: so people are making the connection between the restaurant and
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: what we sell in CpG. So brand awareness has grown.
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: It's been really exciting to see as we've opened up
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: more locations and had a more well rounded media strategy.
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah awesome, I'm the Red Pepper Hummus for years.
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: Local that's awesome. So here, so yeah, thank you?
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah so yeah, yeah. Man, I'm customer. I've been a
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: longtime customer, both in and outside the restaurant, dude, and
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: this is just you know, This is a small sample size,
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: this is my local kava, but it sure seems like
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: the customers are getting younger.
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, look, we have a broad appeal across
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: ages and genders, geographies and market types. It's really one
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: of the things that's made the company successful. We don't
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: talk about the specific demographics, but we do do well
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: among some of our younger consumers, and like I stated earlier,
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: lots of diversity. From a background perspective, they really create
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: bold and interesting flavors over the more standard cuisine. Eating
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: is a form of self expression, and so with our
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: Mediterranean way hospitality, delicious and differentiated food, it clearly resonates
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: with this cohort.
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, there's definitely been They've definitely taken over my local
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: kava for sure. Man grilled steak that was has been
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: highly successful for you. I think even on the call,
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: Brett said it was even more successful than you had expected.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: You know, is there anything interesting about who's ordering that
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: the demographics of the customers that are ordering that order.
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: We don't really talk about the demographic deal, you know,
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: detail for competitive reasons, but our menu with steak and
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: it really has broad appeal. You know, we've seen it
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: ordered at lunch, at dinner. It's light, it feels really good,
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: especially when you pair it with our super greens. It's
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: a really delicious entree to have throughout the day, and
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: so we've seen customers order it at all day parts
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: in all types of customer bases.
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: So I'm usually a Lamb meatball guy, So i haven't
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: had the steak. Yeah, I'm going to have to try it.
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: Sounds like that might be dinner tonight in the Haleen household.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: Dude, it might be. I you know, I'm we eat
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: a lot of steak and ground beef here, so you know,
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: when I go out, I try not to eat it.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: But yeah, I know what's going to happen. I'm going
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: to get the grilled steak and it's can be awesome,
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: But then I'm also going to be like I need now,
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: i need Lamb meet Ball. So I think you might
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: get an incremental visit from me this month.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: Amazing, thank you.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: So on the last Ernie's called, Brett mentioned there were
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: some gaps in the menu that you're going to try
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: to attempt to fill through innovation. Is there anything you
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: could share about those gaps?
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think to offer just a little clarity there.
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: Guests have been asking for a beef option, so we
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: saw a perceived gap and we felt we could fill
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: it with steak. It's already something for there's really already
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: something for everyone at Kava, and we really felt like
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: steak was another opportunity to add to that. Everyday Craving
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: shared this earlier, but seventeen billion possible combinations, and we
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: really try to use our culinary authority and strength and
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: innovation to provide that newness for the guests. We really
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: try to offer items that aren't available elsewhere and then
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: put our spin on it. Grilled steak is obviously seasoned
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: with our bold Mediterranean spices, sun dried tomatoes, smoky a
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: lepo pepper, It's fired on our grill. You really can't
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: find anything else like it, So I'm excited that you're
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: gonna have it for dinner tonight. And then we recently
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: came out with garlic ranch peda chips. It's our first
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: ever new peda chip flavor. Peda chips have been a
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: cult favorite both in the restaurants and on social media,
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: and we really felt like there was an opportunity to
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: lean into it.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: My son, he'll like to hear that he likes to
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: peda chips. I'm going to give you one of my
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: cooking secrets.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: Man.
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: I use Aleppo on my steaks too, so it sounds
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: like it's right up my alley. And you mentioned social
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: media advertising is doing well for you. I guess where
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: do you do? You know where have you been most
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: successful on social media? And do you have any plans?
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: Are there anything big coming up either this year and next?
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah? So social media continues to be a strong in
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: cost effective marketing strategy for us, particularly with people in
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: driving consideration. Our campaigns have been affected because they've been organic, authentic,
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: and really expressed that genuine love guests have for Kava.
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: What I really like about it too is as we've
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: opened up in new markets like Chicago, there was a
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: really growing speculation about when we were getting ready to open,
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: and once we opened, we had incredible amount of receptivity
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: for that Wicker Park location. We had a organic video
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: post by a guy by the name of Cody Premer
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: who did something called make me your Favorite. It has
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: over forty million views now and many of our brand
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: fans were passionate before they work with us. So a
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: great example would be Lindsay Horan. She's captain of the
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: US women's soccer team. Her and her team reached out
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: to us heading into the Olympics, and she loves our
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: food and incorporates it into her training regimen. And she
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: has an extensive and growing following.
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: And I saw your testing some ads on connected TV.
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: So what kind of av bump do you think you
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: can get from National Advertising?
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we ran a very small test several months ago.
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: It performed well, and we continue to learn and we
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: continue to be focused on digital, social and earned media.
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's something I'm going to be watching, you know,
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: because you know, obviously it's more online and connected media now,
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: but you know, TV ads still have an ROI and
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: you know there's some examples of some chains. I once
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: say when National man, they kind of blew up Sonic
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: pop Eyes. You know, from what I know of Kava,
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: it's always been a leader in terms of, you know,
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: in restaurant technology, right and so I know that you
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: have your fingers in a lot of different technologies right now.
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: Can you talk a little bit about the Connected Kitchen initiative?
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we're really in the second wave of our digital
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: transformation at Kava and the Connected Kitchen initiative is just
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: another example of our attempt to continue to lean into it.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: And so we're using data driven and gen AI tech
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: to drive quality and consistency, increase order accuracy, and boost
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: our speed of service. So we're running a small pilot
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: of AI video tech that monitors how quickly ingredients on
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: the in restaurant makeline are being depleted, and it also
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: alerts the team in real time for prep and cook
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: batch amounts. So it's a really really neat technology and
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: it's going to really help us as we continue to grow.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: Okay, very cool, and there's been talk about some labor
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: model improvements right I think is hourly turnover improved twenty
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: eight percent in the second quarter.
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we're we're also doing some testing on labor deployment,
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: so we're reallocating hours to deliver better food, better hospitality,
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: and more efficient speed of service. This test is progressing.
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: It's in twenty nine restaurant where net neutral labor dollars
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: and labor hours in the test locations. We're really focusing
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: on more time to coach and train and more time
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: to interact with guests and a more positive work environment
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: and we'll continue testing throughout twenty twenty four, with hopefully
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: the intent to rollout in twenty twenty five if the
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: results meet the expectations.
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: All right, great, And then I also saw something about
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: real time guess feedback technology. What's out of.
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we're doing restaurant health testing. That technology that really
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: allows us to try to keep a finger on the
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: pulse of the business down to the specific locations, and
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: it really supports our teams in consistently delivering an exceptional
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: guest experience.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: Awesome. All right, So the most important question, what's your
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: favorite kava order?
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: My favorite kava order spinach, brown rice, I get hummus,
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: two scoops of eggplant, I do half horisa chicken, half
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: roasted veggies, tomato, onion, tomato, cucumber, feta, pickled onions, avocado,
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: and then I do either scub or I do Greek vinagrette.
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: I have that down to a tea. That was the
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: easiest question of the day.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: You do have that? You do have that down to
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: a tea? Because it's gonna take me a little while
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: to think about everything. But now I'm a lamb meatball guy.
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: I have I definitely herisa crazy feta and that red
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: pepper Hummus pickles, hot peppers. I'm definitely missing some other
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: stuff in there, but yeah, Covas CoV is great man.
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: And you guys, you guys do a great job. Man.
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: I I'm I'm very excited to continue following this story
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: and hopefully covering it pretty soon. Well, listen, man, thanks
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: for joining me. This was a lot of fun. It's
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: great to see you. You know, obviously our guests can't
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: see you, but it was good to see you. It's
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: been a while.
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: Great to see you too, Mike, Thank you so much.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I want to thank the audience for tuning in.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: If you liked the episode, please subscribe and leave us
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: a review. Check back soon for another installment of Chopping
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: It Up.