Hospitality Industry Shifts Shaping 2026

Thank you. And we likewise have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of Fourth, who will be moderating the discussion with Jason. So Jason, how about I let you provide the audience some information about your background and you can also inform them a little bit about Chop Store. And after that I'll let you take it from there, Clinton.

Thanks Christina. My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Shop. I have actually 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 spent many of my career in hospitality in some shape or type. After a brief stint of trying to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into casino home and worked in business finance.

I was the first staff member there after personal equity purchased the business. 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 duplicate the success we had at Zos, and we're off to an actually great start.

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

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A little more complex than some of the walk-the-line ideas that are out there, but we believe we have actually got something pretty unique. We're going to include another shop this year and at least four stores next year. So we will be 31 approximately stores by the end of next year.

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I have actually been in this role for about six years. 4th, as numerous of you know, is a leading company of software options to the restaurant and hospitality market. Our objective is to assist our consumers be successful in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, handling inventory, and generally supplying them with tools they require to provide their vision.

It's rare to have companies that are cherished and growing quickly, that can duplicate that success every year. Jason, one of the reasons I was so thrilled to have you join our session is the success at Zos was incredible. I've only met a handful of brand names where there was such a strong consumer affinity for the brand name.

And now you're doing the exact same thing at Chop Store. When you talk to clients about Chop Shop, they like the location. They discuss its differentiation. And to be able to take what is a fairly complicated principle in regards to delivering an excellent experience for the client, and be able to grow that from a few stores to now north of 30 stores next yearit's fantastic.

We're going to talk about how to scale a dining establishment organization. Every restaurateur I ever talk with has imagine taking one store, 2 shops, five stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, across the state, into multiple states, and ultimately nationwide, even global reach. However it's hard, especially in today's environment.

It's not a simple time to drive success and development at the very same time. How do you scale it and make it successful? Second, beyond technology, how do you scale excellent teams?

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The very first question I have for you, Jasonlook, you've done this twice now in the dining establishment industry. What are a few of the lessons you've learned? What has your experience been in terms of what it takes to truly drive success in broadening restaurants? Tell me a little about your path, what you experienced along the method, and maybe some of the harder lessons you discovered.

We talked a bit before we started about LinkedIn, and I've got a post teed up to follow this next week about what the playbook is likepoint by pointfor growing a business. To me, among the essential things, and I feel extremely lucky, is that both brand names I've been involved with are distinct.

And there's absolutely nothing precisely like Chop Store in terms of what we're doing with a large, diverse menu. Many brands today are really singularly focused in terms of what they're providing from a food item. I feel like we began at an advantage with both brand names by having something unique that filled a niche nobody else was doing.

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

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The 2nd thingI came from a finance background, so a lot of my knowings are more financing and data-driven versus a lot of early startup restaurateurs who are innovative types. They like the food, they developed the menu, they built the brand name.

They don't know their breakeven sales. They don't understand how margin enhances as sales boost. I have actually seen so numerous companies where the numbers just don't work.

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If you do not have those 2 things, you shouldn't be constructing shops. Yeah, maybe both, right? Due to the fact that as I hear your description, you've highlighted three things: execution, brand name distinction, and financial viability. You've got to begin with execution. If you do not have an operating model that works, expanding it simply multiplies problems.

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Second, you require an engaging brand or special principle that resonates with clients. And another essential lesson is about getting in new markets.

When we expanded to Dallas, I anticipated brand-new shops to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the very first year. Too many operators presume brand-new markets will open at complete volume day one.