Shakey’s Pivots Manufacturing

 

Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® has pontificated time and time again that restaurants are food manufacturing sites.  That is to say maximizing your space, plant, operation to prepare Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food and sell it in every avenue of distribution you can should be your goal.

Ok, you guessed it. Shakey’ has evolved its thinking to maximize it space, its franchisees, and its legacy brand with its first virtual-only brand, Mojos&. Mojos& will feature fried chicken and the beloved fried potato slices as a virtual concept in starting in Los Angeles. Consumers are dynamic not static.  Don’t watch you customer go somewhere else. Do something about garnering a larger share of stomach.

Regular readers of this blog know that ‘chicken has been hot, wings have been hot, and fried potato’s well, what can I say except consumer love hand held food for immediate consumption.  Let me note right here the average American consumers 16 pounds of French Fries yearly!

Johnson continued, “legacy brands that have lost their ‘mojo’ need to evolve with relevance and the best way to do that is leveraging an existing footprint with a non-core product via a virtual brand.” So, with chicken dominating the virtual brand space, pizza concept Shakey’s is jumping into the middle, which may not be the best move but far from a bad move.

Shakey’s Pizza, virtual brand Mojos& is a fried chicken delivery-only concept offers fried chicken sandwiches, bone-in fried chicken and Shakey’s famous Mojo Potatoes, which are fried thick slices of potato. Will this add customer relevance? The simple answer is yes. More important will it add top line revenue and bottom-line profits to each of the locations offering it.  We believe it will.

To start, Mojos& will be prepared out of the kitchens of seven Shakey’s locations across Los Angeles and delivered via DoorDash. Focusing on grocerant niche Mix and Match meal component bundling the menu items include various combinations of chicken or chicken sandwiches, Mojos, sauces and bottles of Pepsi. Price range from $6.99 to $15.99 for the combination meals. Mojos& also sells wings, legs or breast by the pound with a choice of seven sauces, kind of like an afterthought in our minds-eye.

Shakey’s Pizza CEO Nick Mayer stated, “The Shakey’s business model has historically been a dine-in experience,” … “When the pandemic hit and indoor dining was shuttered throughout most of California, we expanded our capabilities for delivery, curbside pickup and patio seating. Since we are still operating well below capacity, the idea of creating a delivery-only concept featuring our craveable fried chicken with a twist made a lot of sense.”

So, the “twist”, differentiation that is in fact familiar not different, is supporting inclusion as a pillar of the Shakey’s Pizza brand chicken. Mojos& is taking more of a tongue-and-cheek approach to marketing, directly targeting the LGBTQ community and supporters with their “inclusive” chicken sandwich.

Mojos& has partnered with the Varsity Gay League, the largest recreational sports league for LGBTQIA+ in the country, to provide food for any upcoming in-person games, COVID-permitting. “I can put [my] 'fried chicken’ [money] where my mouth is,” said Andrew Miller, Director of Operations, Varsity Gay League, said in a statement.

Mayer continued, “The pivot [to a virtual brand using Shakey’s kitchens] was not only designed to optimize back-of-house operations and keep hundreds of valued team members employed, but also fill a gap within the competitive landscape that has largely dismissed an important segment of the population,” said in a statement.

Note: Chick-fil-A came under fire several years ago after its CEO made public statements against gay marriage, and for corporate donations to charities that were considered anti-LGBTQ, though the brand has worked to change that reputation. Meanwhile, the “Chicken Sandwich Wars” of 2019 began with the Popeyes sandwich, sparking the launch of a steady stream of competitors that have joined wings as a much-in-demand delivery favorite.

Are you looking for a new partnership to drive sales? Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing tactics look more like yesterday that tomorrow?  Visit GrocerantGuru.com for more information or contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us Remember success does leave clues and we just may have the clue you need to propel your continued success.

Battle for Share of Stomach