New Jersey: The American Dream Served Fresh with The Salad House CEO & Founder, Joey Cioffi
This week marks our 100th episode on the Titans of Food Service podcast! Nick Portillo speaks with Joey Cioffi, the CEO and founder of the rapidly expanding Salad House chain. With a vision for healthier, fast-casual dining, Joey has successfully opened 20 locations and is set to scale even further across the Northeast and beyond. His story begins in his family's deli in New Jersey, where he learned the intricacies of the food service industry at a young age. Nick and Joey discuss the importance of community involvement, the challenges of maintaining quality in a franchise model, and the insights gained from both successes and setbacks in business. As they explore the dynamics of the food service landscape, Joey shares his passion for creating a brand that resonates with customers seeking convenient yet nutritious options.
TIMESTAMPS
(00:00) Intro
(03:40) Joey Cioffi's Background
(11:04) The Salad House Journey
(15:33) Franchise Growth and Community Involvement
(27:30) The Future of the Brand Expansion
RESOURCES
CONTACT
Transcript
There are a million ways to make money in the food service industry.
Nick Portillo:You just have to find one.
Nick Portillo:On the Titans of Food Service podcast.
Nick Portillo:I interview real life movers and shakers in the food game who cut through all the noise to get to the top.
Nick Portillo:My name is Nick Portillo, and welcome to the Titans of Food Service podcast.
Nick Portillo:Let's jump right into it.
Nick Portillo:Welcome back to season three of Titans of Food Service.
Nick Portillo:I'm your host, Nick Portillo, and I'm continuing my journey across America 50 weeks tour where I travel to every single state and sit down with a titan of food service who's shaping their region and their state in incredible ways.
Nick Portillo:And this week, I'm going to the Garden State, New Jersey, where I'm thrilled to welcome Joey Ciaoffi.
Nick Portillo:He's the CEO and founder of the Salad House.
Nick Portillo:The Salad House is.
Nick Portillo:It's a growing fast casual chain with 20 locations and counting, built on the foundation of family quality and fresh, healthy food.
Nick Portillo:Joey's food service journey began in his family's deli in Springfield, New Jersey, where he learned the ropes of running a restaurant at a very young age.
Nick Portillo: In: Nick Portillo:Blending his father's legacy with his vision for a healthier, fast casual dining experience.
Nick Portillo:Over the years, the Salad House has grown into a beloved regional brand with plans to expand its franchising model throughout the Northeast, throughout the country, and at some point in the future, globally.
Nick Portillo:Before we dive into Joey's inspiring story, I want to take a closer look at at New Jersey's food service scene.
Nick Portillo:I do this every episode to kind of give a little background on, you know, what's happening in that state.
Nick Portillo:So New Jersey is known for its diverse cuisine and proximity to major metropolitan hubs.
Nick Portillo:New Jersey also boasts an impressive 19,000 restaurants, which is a lot of restaurants contributing to over $19 billion in annual sales.
Nick Portillo:The state is famous for its diners, often referred to as the diner capital of the world, with classics like the TikTok Diner in Clifton and the White Mana in Hackensack.
Nick Portillo:New Jersey also has deep cultural food traditions, from Italian delis to boardwalk eats like pork roll sandwiches and saltwater taffy.
Nick Portillo:Okay, now with that, let's go ahead and jump into the.
Nick Portillo:Jump into my conversation with Joey.
Nick Portillo:All right, Joey, welcome to the Titans of Food Service podcast.
Nick Portillo:Man, I appreciate you.
Nick Portillo:Hey, you're an entrepreneur.
Nick Portillo:You're a busy guy, and I appreciate you coming on here and, and sharing a little bit about yourself.
Joey Ciaoffi:Nick, thank you.
Joey Ciaoffi:Thank you so much.
Joey Ciaoffi:For having me.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, I listen to some of your stuff, and you have some really awesome guests, and I like what you do and.
Joey Ciaoffi:Ready to share.
Nick Portillo:Yeah, you know, it's cool.
Nick Portillo:I've had so many people within the food business that I've had on this podcast that I would not have met, you know, without doing this podcast.
Nick Portillo:It's really cool to meet really interesting people like yourself and hear how other people are running their business, you know, because I've got my own business that I run with my dad here in the West.
Nick Portillo:We're food brokers and cover California, Nevada, and Hawaii.
Nick Portillo:And it's really interesting to hear other, you know, entrepreneurs and their stories and kind of pick up little nuggets from them along the way and then also, you know, have this recorded as well so other people can listen to it.
Nick Portillo:Listen to it, too.
Joey Ciaoffi:Love it.
Joey Ciaoffi:Yeah.
Joey Ciaoffi:Great, man.
Joey Ciaoffi:It's.
Joey Ciaoffi:It's so.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know what?
Joey Ciaoffi:I've kind of, you know, as I've grown, like, listening to the stories and just, you know, and just going through all, like, the.
Joey Ciaoffi:The ebbs and flows of business and hearing other people's, you know, journeys is always.
Joey Ciaoffi:It's.
Joey Ciaoffi:It's.
Nick Portillo:It's.
Joey Ciaoffi:It's interesting, but it's also a tool, like you said, like, you know, I'm able to learn, and hopefully we could share some insight, you know.
Nick Portillo:Yeah.
Nick Portillo:So tell me, how'd you get into the food business?
Joey Ciaoffi:Well, you know, I'm a proud son of immigrant parents from Italy.
Joey Ciaoffi:They came off the boat legitimately off the boat, 11 days at sea.
Joey Ciaoffi:Came here expecting the American dream, expecting streets paved in gold.
Joey Ciaoffi:And, you know, to their dismay, Newark, New Jersey, had no streets in gold.
Joey Ciaoffi:And it was.
Joey Ciaoffi:It was tough sledding early on, and they came here not knowing the language and just, you know, working in a factory, and it just.
Joey Ciaoffi:It didn't look very bright.
Joey Ciaoffi:My dad ended up learning how to make pizza.
Joey Ciaoffi:He worked at pizzeria just, you know, a few hours on the weekend.
Joey Ciaoffi:And, you know, the owner was really nice and, like, you know, hooked him up and gave him, like, 25 doll, like.
Joey Ciaoffi:And my dad didn't make that in the entire week working in the factory.
Joey Ciaoffi:And my dad was like, wait, there's something to this.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, it's pizza business.
Joey Ciaoffi:Like, it's.
Joey Ciaoffi:It's pretty awesome that, you know, like, I can't believe I only worked two days, and, you know, I'm killing myself in the factory.
Joey Ciaoffi:So, long story short, the guy was kind of on his way out, and he.
Joey Ciaoffi:He basically struck me with my father for the building and the pizzeria.
Joey Ciaoffi:And my father, you know, kind of slid in and, you know, baptism by fire, became an entrepreneur at that moment, you know, and he had the apartment upstairs, which is pretty.
Joey Ciaoffi:Pretty.
Joey Ciaoffi:It's crazy because he was literally open 24 hours a day.
Joey Ciaoffi:He had a telephone wire from downstairs his pizzeria all the way up to the apartment, so he'd be ready for, I mean, like a 2am drunk person calling for a pizza.
Joey Ciaoffi:It'll make it.
Joey Ciaoffi:And delivered himself, you know, just because he had that hustle and he had that drive to be successful, you know, and to show his parents, to show everybody that he came to America and, you know, he was chasing that American dream.
Joey Ciaoffi:So fast forward, you know, I kind of was indoctrinated into the business because I always joke that I.
Joey Ciaoffi:I used to want to be around my father.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, he had multiple businesses leading up until, you know, my childhood.
Joey Ciaoffi:And, you know, I wanted to see him, but, like, I never got to see him because he was always working, you know, like, old school Italians, you know, they're always working.
Joey Ciaoffi:So after school, I was like, oh, Dad, I was about 12 years oldish, and.
Joey Ciaoffi:And.
Joey Ciaoffi:And I would go and see him after school, and I'd be like, hey, like, oh, I want to be around you.
Joey Ciaoffi:He's like, oh, why don't you play with the register?
Joey Ciaoffi:I'm like, started playing with the register, started taking phone orders.
Joey Ciaoffi:And, you know, it was fun for me.
Joey Ciaoffi:I was like, playing with money.
Joey Ciaoffi:It was like, you know, it was like, you know, just like, having fun.
Joey Ciaoffi:Next thing you know, about, like, not even a week or so later, I'm like, where's Rita?
Joey Ciaoffi:I go, the girl that she was, you know, that he goes, oh, we don't need a Rita no more.
Joey Ciaoffi:We got you.
Joey Ciaoffi:And I'm like.
Joey Ciaoffi:He goes, every day coming.
Joey Ciaoffi:I'm like, every day, I'm like, what did I just do?
Joey Ciaoffi:Next thing you know, I'm working, like, weekends, summers.
Joey Ciaoffi:Like, I'm like, totally bummed.
Joey Ciaoffi:Everybody else is so excited for the summer, and I'm like, I got like, you know, it's like.
Joey Ciaoffi:It's like, what's going to camp?
Joey Ciaoffi:They're going here, they're going there, Pool, sprint.
Joey Ciaoffi:And I'm like.
Joey Ciaoffi:And I'm literally at Chavi's Deli working.
Joey Ciaoffi:But you know what?
Joey Ciaoffi:In hindsight, it was the greatest education of my life.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, I learned so much at such a young age.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, the ins and outs, the, you know, the complexities of, you Know, dealing with customers, you know, the hospitality aspect of it, you know, from the food quality to, you know, to just employees.
Joey Ciaoffi:And just seeing it firsthand was so invaluable.
Joey Ciaoffi:So, you know, I kind of stayed in the business, but I really wanted to be out of business.
Joey Ciaoffi:I excelled in sports in high school, so I was able to play collegiate football.
Joey Ciaoffi:Went to Monmouth University, one double A school, you know, had a four year stint there was amazing.
Joey Ciaoffi:Best four years of my life.
Joey Ciaoffi:And I studied finance, got my, got my finance degree and I was the first one in my family to graduate university.
Joey Ciaoffi:So it was like a proud moment for my father.
Joey Ciaoffi:And I was about to leave the business.
Joey Ciaoffi:I'm like, all right, I got to get out of the business.
Joey Ciaoffi:Got out of the business.
Joey Ciaoffi:And I worked on Wall street, worked at Merrill, Merrill lynch on my series seven.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, it was like, you know, I was like in there calling, you know, doing, doing my thing.
Joey Ciaoffi:Didn't love it.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, there was something empty about it.
Joey Ciaoffi:I, I, you know, I guess like having my brother, my brother's 14 years older than me.
Joey Ciaoffi:He's also my partner in the business.
Joey Ciaoffi:He, you know, having other people telling you what to do and like, you know, in the stock market and it was just like, so like it, it didn't sell.
Joey Ciaoffi:It wasn't, it was, it wasn't selling for me because it was like I, I knew what I was doing in the store.
Joey Ciaoffi:I'm giving you good food, making your stomach smile, making you, you know, happy.
Joey Ciaoffi: s just like, and it was early: Joey Ciaoffi:So after Merrill, I was about to take another job, actually non 9, 11.
Joey Ciaoffi:And obviously what happened I, you know, was I was supposed to be there and you know, I chose the later time to meet with the person.
Joey Ciaoffi:And that was kind of an omen, you know, I was like, you know what?
Joey Ciaoffi:I don't like this business now.
Joey Ciaoffi:It's a little crazy.
Joey Ciaoffi:So I came back into the family business, was there.
Joey Ciaoffi:But I also saw a ceiling in the mom and Pop's business.
Joey Ciaoffi:Like, my brother and I had a great business, we enhanced it and.
Joey Ciaoffi:But I always wanted to do something else.
Joey Ciaoffi:And that's where Salad House came to be.
Nick Portillo:Incredible.
Nick Portillo:I love that one.
Nick Portillo:I'm actually pretty familiar with Monmouth University.
Nick Portillo:I, in college, I, I did a study abroad in Florence in Italy for four months.
Nick Portillo:And I lived in this apartment in the city and the guys below me was four guys from Monmouth and I had never heard of that school.
Nick Portillo:So it was Monmouth and then.
Nick Portillo:So those four guys.
Nick Portillo:And then there was a lot of girls that.
Nick Portillo:From that school there.
Nick Portillo:And then there was another school too.
Nick Portillo:Not sure if it was New York.
Nick Portillo:Mary Marist.
Nick Portillo:Marist.
Nick Portillo:For whatever reason, Monmouth and Marist were really popular, you know, within this, within the program that I did.
Nick Portillo:And so I thought that I was like, hey, that's pretty cool.
Nick Portillo:You know, so that's cool that you went to Monmouth.
Nick Portillo:You know, it takes me back to a memory.
Joey Ciaoffi:Wow.
Joey Ciaoffi:That's right.
Joey Ciaoffi:It's.
Joey Ciaoffi:Wow.
Joey Ciaoffi:That's because a small school.
Joey Ciaoffi:So it's like.
Nick Portillo:Yeah, yeah.
Nick Portillo:Well, I love that story too.
Nick Portillo: ere from Italy as well, early: Nick Portillo:Grew up in East Harlem and, you know, very poor neighborhood where he lived there in the city.
Nick Portillo:And, you know, he would tell me stories of going around.
Nick Portillo:He would sell ice, he would run numbers.
Nick Portillo:You know, back then it was, you know, there was definitely organized, you know, gangs and things like that that he, as a young kid, you just kind of born into it, right?
Nick Portillo:And then.
Nick Portillo:But he moved out here to California and then, you know, our family started out here in California.
Nick Portillo:But it's cool to see, you know, just the rich, like Italian heritage that's.
Nick Portillo:That exists in the northeastern part of.
Nick Portillo:Of the country.
Nick Portillo:You know, I think his.
Nick Portillo:The kids parents ended up moving me to Boston.
Nick Portillo:I never met them.
Nick Portillo:They.
Nick Portillo:They passed way before I was born, but you know, just really cool.
Nick Portillo:So, you know, I appreciate that.
Nick Portillo:And family business.
Nick Portillo:I'm also in a family business working with, with my dad as well.
Nick Portillo:So when.
Nick Portillo:And I, I liked what, you know, working on Wall Street.
Nick Portillo:I always thought working on Wall street would be pretty cool.
Nick Portillo:Coming out of college, I actually want to be a financial advisor myself.
Nick Portillo:So.
Nick Portillo:Tell me about that.
Nick Portillo:Having a background in finance, right, and in, you know, money and things like that.
Nick Portillo:How does that help you when you started Salad House and how it, you know, how you view the business?
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, I'm not going to lie to you.
Joey Ciaoffi:I, you know, I just never, it never resonated with me.
Joey Ciaoffi:It never, you know, and that was another, that was another thing that I felt, you know, I didn't feel comfortable because it wasn't, it wasn't just like it wasn't absorbing, you know, I wasn't absorbing it as much.
Joey Ciaoffi:Like I knew.
Joey Ciaoffi:I knew enough about it, you know, to obviously have a profession, but it just wasn't.
Joey Ciaoffi:It wasn't my thing.
Joey Ciaoffi: t I started my first location: Joey Ciaoffi:I saw a void in the marketplace for healthy eating that was convenient.
Joey Ciaoffi:That also was a little bit more, you know, our menu is a little bit more broad where, like, you could feed your entire family, where it's not just, you know, you go to some of these other places in New York City and stuff, where it's like just salad, you know, or, you know, where you're just eating healthy.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, I had a young family at the time, and I was not a salad eater at the time when I first.
Joey Ciaoffi:When I.
Joey Ciaoffi:When I first started the business.
Joey Ciaoffi:So, you know, there's like a crispy chicken sandwich or there's fries.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, you could cheat a little bit.
Joey Ciaoffi:And appetizers.
Joey Ciaoffi:And there's kids food, too.
Joey Ciaoffi:So, you know, the Salad House was.
Joey Ciaoffi:Was that, you know, going, you know, so that was.
Joey Ciaoffi:That was my.
Joey Ciaoffi:That was my specialty.
Joey Ciaoffi:I identified.
Joey Ciaoffi:I saw that there was a need for this.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, basically, my wife, I give her a lot of credit all the time because she was.
Joey Ciaoffi:She was a voice in my ear like, there's no chopped salads in the suburbs.
Joey Ciaoffi:And, you know, so that's.
Joey Ciaoffi:That's kind of how it came to fruition.
Joey Ciaoffi:But.
Joey Ciaoffi:But to your question, as I opened my second location, one of my.
Joey Ciaoffi:One of my partners is.
Joey Ciaoffi:He was in the hedge fund space.
Joey Ciaoffi:Now he is the finance guy.
Joey Ciaoffi:He's the guy that.
Joey Ciaoffi:He was my strategic partner that happened to be a customer.
Joey Ciaoffi:He was a customer of my Italian deli.
Joey Ciaoffi:Had an injury, a paddle board injury with his shoulder.
Joey Ciaoffi:So he asked me, he's like, where's your salad place?
Joey Ciaoffi:I'm like, it's in Milburn.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, here.
Joey Ciaoffi:He started going there.
Joey Ciaoffi:He fell in love with the place, and he said.
Joey Ciaoffi:He didn't mix words.
Joey Ciaoffi:He said, if you want to scale this and you end up doing something, please let me know, because I want to be a part of this.
Joey Ciaoffi:And Jerry, Ike, my partner, we struck a partnership, and he came in and was just like, okay, this is not a charity.
Joey Ciaoffi:He goes, I understand you're good at making food and having this menu and all this stuff like that, but we got to get our cogs in order.
Joey Ciaoffi:We got to do this.
Joey Ciaoffi:We shrunk the menu by 30%.
Joey Ciaoffi:We brought on Tim Benos, another partner of mine, and it was just me and my, my, my part, my other part.
Joey Ciaoffi:There's four of us in the business.
Joey Ciaoffi:Jared Bravo, who was there from day one, he's the director of ops.
Joey Ciaoffi:So it was like the four of us, you know, in a, in a, you know, little, little office.
Joey Ciaoffi:And it was like, it was tough sledding because it was hard for us to, to really like, oh, this is my baby.
Joey Ciaoffi:And now here comes, you know, you know, Tim and Jerry, like, kind of like saying, okay, we can't put this on the menu.
Joey Ciaoffi:And it's like, I'm like, oh my God, what's going on?
Joey Ciaoffi:But at the same time, it was understood.
Joey Ciaoffi:I understood that, you know, we needed to make money, especially if we were franchising and they had to, you know, hit numbers and pay a royalty.
Joey Ciaoffi:So, you know, it was a lot of work, a lot of effort, and I give them all the credit for, you know, really.
Joey Ciaoffi:Table by the warrants, by that.
Nick Portillo:When you started with your first location, did you expect to get into franchising?
Joey Ciaoffi:You know what?
Joey Ciaoffi:I did.
Joey Ciaoffi:I didn't.
Joey Ciaoffi:I, I believe that salad house was special.
Joey Ciaoffi:I believe that it is, you know, at least, you know, national and potentially global brands.
Joey Ciaoffi:I really, I really do with my heart of hearts because, you know, I identify, you know, I, I look at myself as, as a consumer where, you know, it's like, you know, the McDonald's of the world.
Joey Ciaoffi:And like, eating like that is kind of like, everybody understands it's really not good for you.
Joey Ciaoffi:You can't do it that often.
Joey Ciaoffi:But then you got, you know, the, the, the vegan and you know, super ultra healthy stuff.
Joey Ciaoffi:And that's like, it's hard to sustain that in a high stress world especially, you know, nowadays, you know, where life is tough.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, like, I don't care where you are in America, you know, life is hard and like, you're stressed out and a lot of people use food as comfort.
Joey Ciaoffi:And so like, I felt there was this big gap in the middle and I really wanted to fill that gap with an approachable salad concept.
Joey Ciaoffi:A concept that wasn't like, you know, one of my favorite optics is seeing like a construction worker or somebody walking into a Salad house getting a salad and stuff like that.
Joey Ciaoffi:Whereas like, you don't, you don't necessarily see them going into like a sweet green or somewhere like, you know, where it's a little bit more, you know, where, you know, I always joke about like googling, you know, Ingredients, like, you know, our place is pretty cut and dry.
Joey Ciaoffi:It's like Caesar salad, cob salad.
Joey Ciaoffi:Like, a lot of familiar than a fiesta salad.
Joey Ciaoffi:Like, you have a lot of things that are very familiar and people, you know, and.
Joey Ciaoffi:And.
Joey Ciaoffi:And I'll tell you, I think that's.
Joey Ciaoffi:That's a.
Joey Ciaoffi:That's a huge part of our success and why we're growing so rapidly in New Jersey.
Joey Ciaoffi:And actually, we're breaking out of the state, too.
Nick Portillo:And you're at about, what, 10 units right now?
Nick Portillo:10 locations?
Joey Ciaoffi:No, we.
Joey Ciaoffi:We just opened up our 20th location.
Joey Ciaoffi:Yeah.
Nick Portillo:Oh, wow.
Nick Portillo:Double that.
Nick Portillo:That's.
Joey Ciaoffi:Yeah, we.
Joey Ciaoffi:We opened our 20th.
Joey Ciaoffi:We have another 12 sold.
Joey Ciaoffi:So we'll be up to 32 units.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, this past year, we came first out of state.
Joey Ciaoffi:We were in Brooklyn.
Joey Ciaoffi:Brooklyn, New York.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, we sold the Westchester Territory of Virginia.
Joey Ciaoffi:And, you know, know, we have some other states that we're very close to breaking out to.
Joey Ciaoffi:So, yeah, we're moving along.
Nick Portillo:How do you find people to.
Nick Portillo:And how do you pitch this concept to people with, you know, who want to invest in, you know, in your concept and start their own units?
Joey Ciaoffi:Well, you know what, at first, it was like, you know, kind of word of mouth, friends and family and, like, people that, you know, just that we knew.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, I'll be honest with you.
Joey Ciaoffi:I'll put like, a Facebook post.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, one of our first franchisees that I always hold in my heart, Dave Delingo, he actually pivoted from being a lawyer that he believed so much in the brand that he became a franchisee, pretty much the first franchisee.
Joey Ciaoffi:And Dave, you know, sort of Facebook, you know, posted on my own franchising, I got my FTD out there, and.
Joey Ciaoffi:And then it just became like, you know, friends and then referrals.
Joey Ciaoffi:Like, you know, it's like one person that bought my original Milburn location told his friend he bought a couple, he bought two, three.
Joey Ciaoffi:And, you know, so that was the first kind of, you know, that was the first little bump of growth.
Joey Ciaoffi:Then the second part was, you know, we believed in it so much that we started, you know, collectively telling our friends and family, saying, listen, there's an investment opportunity.
Joey Ciaoffi:We pull some money.
Joey Ciaoffi:We identified an amazing operator, offered them some equity in the business, and said, okay, here, you know, this is your store.
Joey Ciaoffi:We got, you know, we got this money behind you.
Joey Ciaoffi:You're well capitalized, and let's rock and roll, you know, and we did that.
Joey Ciaoffi:And we did.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, we actually.
Joey Ciaoffi:It was so successful.
Joey Ciaoffi:We did multiple times so, you know, we have that and now we are currently working with a sales team.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, we hired a professional salesperson that's out there and you know, and he's pitching what we got because we have something really special, our $1.7 million, you know, which is pretty strong in the fast casual space.
Joey Ciaoffi:And again, you know, we believe wholeheartedly that this is, you know, definitely a national brand and something that, you know, we'll expand.
Nick Portillo:So 1.7 million per, per location.
Nick Portillo:Correct.
Nick Portillo:Per store on average.
Joey Ciaoffi:12 month.
Joey Ciaoffi:Like in a 12 to 12 month period.
Nick Portillo:In a 12 month period, yeah, that's definitely pretty strong.
Nick Portillo:You know, what are as a, as a franchise?
Nick Portillo:Let's say I'm a franchisee, right?
Nick Portillo:I'm an owner of, you know, one of your locations.
Nick Portillo:I'm looking at top line revenue of know, dollars coming in my expenses is probably what food cost labor, you know, any utilities, things like that, maybe some sort of fee back to, you know, salad house corporate, I'd imagine.
Nick Portillo:And then do you own the real estate or do they own the real estate or is it just a rent?
Joey Ciaoffi:Do they just lease mostly leases?
Joey Ciaoffi:Yeah, yeah, but we, but we're very, we have our hands in it.
Joey Ciaoffi:We have a great real estate team and we really, we want them to be successful, obviously.
Joey Ciaoffi:So we, we really find, you know, we take a refined call and just make sure that these leases are fair, you know, for franchisees.
Nick Portillo:How does, you know, what's so funny was, you know, in.
Nick Portillo:I found that, you know, with franchises that there are groups, right?
Nick Portillo:And I think you've kind of mentioned some of these groups or strong operators that have their own teams and they may have like three of these types of concepts or four of those, five of these.
Nick Portillo:You know, as somebody, I, I also think in the franchise world there's probably, you know, mom and pop, you know, kind of, or a family that buys a unit, operates it themselves.
Nick Portillo:How involved is somebody, you know, when they purchase or when they partner with you in their units?
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, we, we really encourage them to be their hands on because, you know, we're, we're still like a mob of pops type feel, you know, with a corporate look if, if you know, if that makes any sense.
Joey Ciaoffi:Like.
Joey Ciaoffi:Yeah, and we're immersed in every, every community that we get into.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, we encourage them to be a part of like, you know, sponsoring little league teams to, you know, to just, you know, being a part of the community, local fundraisers and, and really, you know, be front facing.
Joey Ciaoffi:Case in point.
Joey Ciaoffi:The guy.
Joey Ciaoffi:Dave, you Know, I mentioned him, one of our first franchisees, you know, he has a place in Livingston, New Jersey.
Joey Ciaoffi:Now there's a competitor, Salad, that's coming in.
Joey Ciaoffi:That's a corporate location for them and on the boards, because he's done so much for the community, the outpouring of support on these, on these message boards is just, it's, it's really beautiful to see because he's done so much, the community has given so much to the community that they are actually, you know, kind of galvanizing and saying, hey, you know, we, we stand by Dave.
Joey Ciaoffi:We love Salad House.
Joey Ciaoffi:I mean, you know, how dare Jeff Salad come in, you know, come into his domain?
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, so, you know, obviously it's going to affect him a little bit, but seeing was definitely, you know, up exactly what, you know, what we, we expect of our owners or the owner operators, you know, to really be involved and listen, you're there, you know, it's like you, you know, you gotta, you know, live, you know, you gotta live there for a little while and really get the place operated and going, going, going strong and then, you know, on to the next.
Nick Portillo:Like any business not, or any industry, not all operators, not all entrepreneurs or owners are, you know, the same.
Nick Portillo:What are some of the ones that are the better ones?
Nick Portillo:What do they do really well when they, you know, running their units, you.
Joey Ciaoffi:Know, when they really stick to the playbook.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, when you get into this, when you buy, you're buying our mistakes.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, the reason why there's a franchise fee, there's a reason why there's royalties because you're, you're buying basically all the mistakes that I've made in the past and we've made.
Joey Ciaoffi:So when, when, you know, listen, we all have like, somewhat of a little ego and you know, to be a ball, you know, to be somebody that's in charge, you know, you have some sort of semblance of like, hey, I'm.
Joey Ciaoffi:I know this and this will gonna work and stuff like, and when they start putting, you know, different things into play that, that really we haven't tested or proved out kind of leads them in a different direction.
Joey Ciaoffi:And, and it's a challenge because, you know, if it doesn't work out now, you're looking back to us like, oh my God, you know, what do we do now?
Joey Ciaoffi:It's like, you know, getting customers to come back.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, whether it's, you know, you know, with they're operating it improperly or food quality, like, whatever the case may be, you know, it's hard to get the customers back, you know, and you run into that.
Joey Ciaoffi:But the more successful operators and franchises that we had that, you know, had the most success have been the people that have listened to the playbook have not, you know, you know, stepped on.
Joey Ciaoffi:Oh, like, look, we take feedback and we, we want you to give us some, you know, some a.
Joey Ciaoffi:Maybe this, maybe that.
Joey Ciaoffi:Because, like, you know, I'm.
Joey Ciaoffi:I play college football.
Joey Ciaoffi:So I look at this as our team.
Joey Ciaoffi:And I mean, like, you know, it's our team and we need all, you know, all, all people to be on the same page and work in.
Joey Ciaoffi:In unison.
Joey Ciaoffi:So I listen to every single person because I wanted, you know, I want to make sure that we all, you know, there's no egos in our room.
Joey Ciaoffi:Like, we have.
Joey Ciaoffi:We have a standing meeting every Wednesday and we kick around ideas left and right and, And I want to hear feedback.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, it's important for me to hear exactly, you know, the boots on the ground people that are there, you know, but are they right all the time?
Joey Ciaoffi:I mean, some of these ideas are a little crazy and, you know, and whether they, you know, it's like you kind of want to pull them back a little.
Nick Portillo:Yeah, exactly.
Nick Portillo:Exactly.
Nick Portillo:You know, I've noticed, like, in my business, because we sell food or, you know, food products into different chains or hotels, college, university, whatever it may be.
Nick Portillo:And sometimes with these, the chains or especially the ones that are franchise that you have, the franchisees such as you get to like 100 units to some of them are.
Nick Portillo:They're total renegades.
Nick Portillo:You know, they might have a corporate contract with a Cisco or US Foods or whoever it may be, but this, this operator, that one is going to shop at Costco or Walmart and getting their own things, you know, and they deviate off of what they should be buying.
Nick Portillo:You know, so kind of controlling that type of, you know, mentality has got to be.
Nick Portillo:There's got to be a challenge to that for sure.
Joey Ciaoffi:Yeah, we've definitely, you know, encountered a few people that.
Joey Ciaoffi:That would go a little rogue.
Joey Ciaoffi:But we, we're pretty good at, like, you know, like I said, I have such a great team and, you know, like, just seeing, like auditing their, you know, their orders and seeing like, exactly.
Joey Ciaoffi:Like, wait a minute, you're doing this much business and we have this much chicken.
Joey Ciaoffi:Like, what's going on?
Joey Ciaoffi:Oh, I want to get hold like, oh, wait, you sure?
Joey Ciaoffi:You got to let us know first.
Joey Ciaoffi:And you've got to make sure that it's.
Joey Ciaoffi:It actually reminds me of a story like, growing up, because I.
Joey Ciaoffi:I have endless stories.
Joey Ciaoffi:My father, you know, he.
Joey Ciaoffi:He.
Joey Ciaoffi:I'll never forget when I first, you know, left Mom.
Joey Ciaoffi:I left.
Joey Ciaoffi:He left Wall Street.
Joey Ciaoffi:I was working and I was trying to, like, you know, make.
Joey Ciaoffi:Make an impact in the business.
Joey Ciaoffi:And this guy came.
Joey Ciaoffi:Came up.
Joey Ciaoffi:He's like, listen, I got chicken for.
Joey Ciaoffi:I forget what it was.
Joey Ciaoffi:It was like, really cheap.
Joey Ciaoffi:It was like 25 cents a pound.
Joey Ciaoffi:He was like, really cheap.
Joey Ciaoffi:And the guy's like, oh, I got a whole truck chicken.
Joey Ciaoffi:And.
Joey Ciaoffi:And I'm like, oh, my God, like, super.
Joey Ciaoffi:Only we're paying like, a dollar.
Joey Ciaoffi:So.
Joey Ciaoffi:Oh, my God.
Joey Ciaoffi:I run in the back.
Joey Ciaoffi:Like, I go, dad, I go, I got this guy.
Joey Ciaoffi:I got this guy.
Joey Ciaoffi:And he's got a little chicken.
Joey Ciaoffi:And he goes.
Joey Ciaoffi:His Italian accent.
Joey Ciaoffi:Excuse my friends, because where the he getting the chicken from?
Joey Ciaoffi:You know where he gets it?
Joey Ciaoffi:Where is this guy from?
Joey Ciaoffi:Where is he dis.
Joey Ciaoffi:He goes, we got customers.
Joey Ciaoffi:We can't get him sick tonight.
Joey Ciaoffi:He goes, I don't know where this guy come from.
Joey Ciaoffi:I don't know the quality.
Joey Ciaoffi:I know exactly who this guy's getting food from.
Joey Ciaoffi:So, you know, that.
Joey Ciaoffi:That was like, you know, like, he's right.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, it's like that holds true.
Joey Ciaoffi:And that's something that we really.
Joey Ciaoffi:But.
Joey Ciaoffi:But also, like, you know what it's like.
Joey Ciaoffi:Like you're in the business.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, we're.
Joey Ciaoffi:Or buying power is just getting better, you know, you know, we're.
Joey Ciaoffi:We're, you know, because we're growing.
Joey Ciaoffi:Our footprint is so much bigger now that we're able to negotiate better pricing than you go into, you know, I mean, getting, you know, one off or something.
Nick Portillo:So, yeah, you get that scale, right?
Nick Portillo:As you get bigger, your costs, they become smaller because you can just buy in such greater power, especially as you get to, you know, 20 units.
Nick Portillo:So that's quite a bit of volume.
Nick Portillo:You're already flowing through these distributors, you know, buying the products that you have for sure.
Joey Ciaoffi:Yeah.
Joey Ciaoffi:We actually did something really cool for Instagram for Christmas.
Joey Ciaoffi:We.
Joey Ciaoffi:We're giving away a gift card.
Joey Ciaoffi:And when is.
Joey Ciaoffi:Is this airing anytime soon?
Nick Portillo:This comes out in January.
Joey Ciaoffi:Oh, j.
Joey Ciaoffi:Okay.
Joey Ciaoffi:So.
Joey Ciaoffi:So it's after the.
Joey Ciaoffi:So I could tell.
Joey Ciaoffi:I could say.
Joey Ciaoffi:So we did.
Joey Ciaoffi:How many pounds of french fries?
Joey Ciaoffi:Because we're salad concept, but we.
Joey Ciaoffi:We put it out there.
Joey Ciaoffi:How many pounds of French fries?
Joey Ciaoffi:And it's 95, 000 pounds of french fries has been sold and salad, you know, so, you know, it was like a fun little.
Joey Ciaoffi:You Know, little thing we were doing, just.
Joey Ciaoffi:But, but it's just.
Joey Ciaoffi:You don't have to speak on.
Joey Ciaoffi:We do.
Nick Portillo:Yeah, that's significant, for sure.
Nick Portillo:I mean, that's, that's multiple trucks of French fries just in.
Nick Portillo:French fries.
Joey Ciaoffi:Yeah, it's a solid concept.
Nick Portillo:Yeah.
Nick Portillo:What.
Nick Portillo:You know, if you looked into the Future, you're at 20 locations now, right.
Nick Portillo:With more on the books coming.
Nick Portillo:Where do you want to take this?
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, listen, we're.
Joey Ciaoffi:We've been very, very smart with our growth.
Joey Ciaoffi:Like, it's been a slow grow.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, again, my, My, you know, my guys in my office, everyone's been very, you know, we have, we have the infrastructures to, like, open up 30, 40, 50 of them, but we've been, you know, slowly growing, constantly reinvesting money into technology.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, just, Just, you know, we were doing so much to, you know, I just recently hired a cmo, and we're just, we're doing so many different things to make sure that our infrastructure is.
Joey Ciaoffi:Is strong enough to hold and support and to really be successful.
Joey Ciaoffi:I've seen, you know, I'm not going to mention names, but I've seen some franchises that literally got it, got a concept.
Joey Ciaoffi:It was great.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, one of New Jersey that I know, and I actually know founders, and they blew it out like crazy all over the country.
Joey Ciaoffi:And then, you know, it's like I, you know, I, I have a, you know, I have a hard time selling something that, you know, like, these people are, some of these people are like, putting, you know, they're, they're basically their, their life savings into this, you know, and, you know, and them believing in us.
Joey Ciaoffi:Like, I'm all about gratitude and, and, and it's like, you know, that even just taking calls, like, you know, when I start, like a sales call, I got, you know, my gratitude just that they're interested in our brand.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, it's just like I have so much.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, it's like, thank you.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, I mean, for even considering us.
Joey Ciaoffi:But even more so when you, when they're investing, you know, you know, 550,000 into a location to open it up.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, that's, you know, that's, That's a real, That's a real number.
Joey Ciaoffi:That being said, you know, we're growing across the eastern seaboard.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, we're.
Joey Ciaoffi:We're targeting Florida, you know, up in Massachusetts.
Joey Ciaoffi:We have some interest in Detroit area, Michigan, Arkansas as well.
Joey Ciaoffi:And I, I really, you know, in the future, I really believe that this will be nationwide.
Joey Ciaoffi:I Believe it also to be a global brand because, you know, a lot of things here, like if, you know, Subway did it, then like, I believe that, you know, we could do it.
Joey Ciaoffi:And I see like my relatives in Italy and stuff, like things that America, you know, you know, American based things are, you know, bright and shiny over there and, and healthy eating is never going to go away.
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, like I always tell people, it's like, you know, your doctor's never going to call you up at like, you know, like you're 90 something years old.
Joey Ciaoffi:Be like, listen, you got to stay away from Sound House.
Joey Ciaoffi:Like, you know, maybe you have to stay away from our Buffalo poppers or some of us, you know, some of the fried stuff that we have.
Joey Ciaoffi:But, but for the most part, you know, I think we're creating customers for life.
Joey Ciaoffi:And I see with my kids too, like I mentioned earlier on that we have the, the kids menu and that was literally crafted because my wife, we would always be crazy about like, what are we gonna get for dinner?
Joey Ciaoffi:You know, so it's like, you know, we had the kids portion, but my kids, they transitioned to healthier eating because of Salad House.
Joey Ciaoffi:And I've had a lot of friends and family that said the same thing where it's like, you know, my wife's eating a salad, like, oh, let me take a bite.
Joey Ciaoffi:Oh, you mean I could have carrots and egg whites and all things that I like and put it in my, you know, like in my creature, all like, yeah, you could do that.
Joey Ciaoffi:My head ranch dressing and some croutons.
Joey Ciaoffi:But they're eating vegetables and, and, and they're getting, you know, and if they're fueling their body with good stuff.
Joey Ciaoffi:So, you know, I really believe that we have something really special and we're really, we're ready to take off and you know, it's happening.
Joey Ciaoffi:But, but it was a slow grow in the beginning, but now we're, I think we're ready to go.
Nick Portillo:Amazing.
Nick Portillo:Well, Joe, I just want to say thank you for, for coming on and sharing your story.
Nick Portillo:And I wish you nothing, nothing but just continued success.
Nick Portillo:And I really, I love what you're building as well.
Nick Portillo:You know, 20 units, that's a, that's, that's a big, that's a pretty big business right there, you know, interviewing a lot of different people, you know, on this podcast or just being in the industry, it's not easy to achieve that.
Nick Portillo:And I love your, your, you know, your, your perspective on healthy eating and, you know, growth into the future.
Nick Portillo:And I, I want to wish you nothing but success, man.
Nick Portillo:And I'm.
Nick Portillo:I'm pumped for you.
Joey Ciaoffi:Thanks.
Joey Ciaoffi:Same to you, man.
Joey Ciaoffi:I.
Joey Ciaoffi:I know what you do as a grind, too.
Joey Ciaoffi:I have some friends that are on the east coast that do it, and.
Joey Ciaoffi:And it's a grind, and people are always trying to, you know, get their pencil sharpened and, you know, it's.
Joey Ciaoffi:But.
Joey Ciaoffi:And you got a great podcaster.
Joey Ciaoffi:I really listen to Melt.
Joey Ciaoffi:It's really interesting.
Joey Ciaoffi:And, yeah, it's good stuff.
Nick Portillo:Thank you.
Nick Portillo:I appreciate it.
