In this episode of The QSR Experience Show, Bobby sits down with Doug Willmarth, President of MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes. Doug shares his journey from the packaged goods industry to leading a top franchise in the QSR sector, emphasizing the importance of quality food, brand love, and the unique role of franchisees in community building.
Topics discussed:
- Doug’s Path to MOOYAH: Starting with a passion for MOOYAH’s product quality, Doug outlines his career progression from Kraft Foods and PepsiCo to Wingstop and eventually MOOYAH, driven by a commitment to delivering the best-tasting cheeseburgers in America.
- Brand Attraction and Philosophy: Doug details what drew him to MOOYAH, highlighting the brand’s focus on great food, customer service, and the sense of family among franchisees, which serves as the cornerstone for the brand’s hospitality approach.
- Growth Strategy and Customer Focus: With 75 locations, MOOYAH targets a broad customer base, from burger enthusiasts to health-conscious individuals, emphasizing a quality experience over speedy service. Doug discusses refining the brand’s focus to ensure a consistent, high-quality customer experience across all locations.
- Challenges and Adaptations: Addressing the balance between speed and quality, Doug explains MOOYAH’s commitment to quality, the impact of COVID-19 on consumer behavior, and the importance of digital engagement in today’s fast-casual landscape.
- Future Outlook and Advice for Growth: Looking towards expansion, Doug shares insights on scaling up while maintaining brand identity and quality. He advises emerging chains on the importance of understanding their unique value proposition to ensure sustainable growth.
Guest Quotes:
“I think a lot of times the biggest challenges are creating alignment. If you have alignment and buy-in, a lot of other things get easier. So I almost always start with what’s our positioning and what’s our vision? Where are we trying to go and do we have a plan that’s going to get us there and where are the weak points?”
“It’s really important that you have to have your system and your foundation strong before you try to press and accelerate growth. If you don’t really have great tools and strong processes and foundation, then the faster you try to push growth, the more the risk that you take and the more that the experience starts to break down.”
“These days, it’s getting harder with sort of the split in terms of occasions. So back when everybody walked into your restaurant, it was a pretty simple formula, right? You greet everybody with hospitality. You take the order, deliver the food, you check on people. And in a world where 40, 50% of your business is going out the front door in a bag or going out a window, that gets a little bit harder. And so you just make sure that at every touchpoint, you’re exceeding customer expectations.”
“Any leader who starts needs to start asking questions before they start providing answers. And so I really travel around our system. I do it every year. I try to meet with every franchisee in every location. And so a lot of that is just listening, seeing what’s actually happening on the street, listening to what’s going well, where could we do better?”
“For thousands of years, people have gotten together around a table to celebrate moments, to build relationships. And I think we risk becoming a commodity if it’s just a bag out a window or somebody ringing your doorbell and leaving something in front of your door.”
Get in touch with Doug Willmarth:
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Website
Get in touch with Bobby Marhamat:
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