How To Scale a Convenience Store Food Brand With Dan Shapiro, CEO at Krispy Krunchy Foods

From Persona To Personal

Dan Shapiro is the CEO of Krispy Krunchy Foods. He started his career as a third-shift cashier at a convenience store and worked his way up the ranks by getting promoted simply because he always showed up on time. Taking a leap of faith, Dan joined Krispy Krunchy Foods, taking the company to the top of the nationwide quick-service food industry.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

How can you promote a food brand when your food is primarily sold at convenience stores? Is advertising or developing an app a smart and cost-effective way to make your brand known so the company can grow, or is there an alternate way to scale your company?

If your brand is only sold at third-party locations, you have to find ways to promote products differently than the way restaurant owners or grocery store food brands do it. Krispy Krunchy Foods sells its fried chicken in convenience stores and does virtually no advertising. CEO Dan Shapiro says the business model they use is to put Krispy Krunchy Chicken in a location where people are already coming in for a different reason, brand it up to make it look exceptional, and it will sell itself. The main focus they use to grow is getting into more convenience stores and finding operators interested in the Krispy Krunchy Chicken brand. Its fried chicken has become very popular, expanding to 2,700 stores in 48 states.

On this episode of From Persona to Personal, Roger Hurni welcomes Dan Shapiro, CEO of Krispy Krunchy Foods, for a lively conversation about managing a brand with a unique business model. Dan explains the strategy the company uses since its Krispy Krunchy Chicken is mainly sold out of convenience stores, how its marketing approach differs from standard restaurant locations, and how the company is growing its brand without advertising.