FSR March 2023

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and they don’t need to pay anything out of pocket initially, which differen tiates Everytable from other diversity incentive programs. Once a candidate becomes a franchise owner, they then have an extended payback period. “The only thing you have to come to the table with is commitment, your ability, and your perseverance,” says Fluellen, a master chef who joined Everytable after operating a full-ser vice catering company in Los Angeles. Fluellen has been fighting for food jus tice and social equity for more than 20 years, and has helped implement stra tegic programs at Starbucks, Magic Johnson Enterprises, and the Ameri can Heart Association. Based in Southern California with about 50 locations open, Everytable trains candidates on everything from labor complexities and customer inter actions to local store marketing, plus provides one-on-one weekly mentor ing sessions. “We’re providing a career pathway for individuals. How do you get from dishwasher to director of operations? Is it visible? Are there steps in place? What do I need to accomplish as an individual to get there?” Fluellen says. Still, lack of education and aware ness of opportunities remain one of the biggest obstacles to becoming a fran chise owner. “I think sometimes that can still be somewhat of a secret, particularly for frontline workers. You see an individ ual in a certain executive leadership position, and it seems so out of reach for people who are living day-to-day on the ground in the kitchen, in the front of house or back of house. We’re making some investments there,” Fluellen says. Fluellen also throws in a word of caution to restaurant leaders and fran chisors: Don’t make a lofty statement or commit to a diversity initiative if you don’t have a plan on how to make it happen. “You have to put in the work; what is this going to take to really be sus tainable? It takes a real conversation,

because what you don’t want to do is talk about impacting peoples’ lives, get people excited about opportunities, then not be able to follow through on it,” Fluellen says. Assessing an organization’s current diversity, equity, and inclusion base line is a crucial first step to developing any sort of equity program, says Ken dal Tyre, who co-leads law firmNixon Peabody’s franchising and distribution team as well as the firm’s DEI Strate gic Services offering. Restaurant leaders should find a way to analyze the issues stakeholders are calling attention to, gather best prac tices from around the industry to come up with solutions, then implement a way to monitor progress, Tyre says. “That’s what we’re seeing has worked.” The International Franchise Associa tion, for example, launchedMinorityFran to help IFA member brands recruit more minority franchisees into their systems, plus undertook implement ing a franchise census to collect more statistics on diversity within its sys tem. IFA also launched the Black Franchise Leadership Council, which pulls a number of franchisors and their executive team leaders into training seminars that address issues in financ ing structures and how to increase Black franchise ownership in their systems. “Diversity issues as we identify them today are different than 10 years ago. What’s most important is to create an institution that has a DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] framework that can adjust with the times, and provide the feedback and change in practices to accommodate the changes in the mar ketplace,” Tyre says. “People are really looking for a sil ver bullet to address DEI issues, and the silver bullet really doesn’t exist, because DEI issues will always be a part of the conversation,” he adds. 

for 75 percent of Starbucks’ beverage sales in that same period. For Bad Ass, Snyder wants to find the balance quick-serves today are looking for. Dining rooms are getting smaller and the brand is opening more drive-thrus. Yet, again, it’s not forget ting about what happens inside. “Is the [café ] going to be in all of our stores? Nope. But we still think that’s an important element. Especially in store locations that serve as the hub of that community,” Snyder says. And it brings up a broader goal of making sure experiential brands f lood every opportunity with their core equities. Whether somebody is rolling through the drive-thru or grabbing to go, they’re greeted with the same “aloha” that’s critical to the Bad Ass mantra. “From our standpoint, we’ve never thought that the café was dead,” Sny der says. “I think that has a lot to do with what type of brand we have. Are we adapting? Of course we’ve adapted. We designed models for pure conve nience and for throughput, and for drive-thru. Or for walk-up windows. But our core business is still about our heritage, Ohana, family.” Bad Ass has a double-drive model and a modular version it’s working on that would combine the drive-thru as well as dedicated parking spots out front for curbside. Some will f lex the abil ity to have outside or even rooftop café seating. Models, Snyder says, built to meet the needs of guests and also the needs of the location. Yet that brand purpose will translate throughout and along the same lines repeated by operators in this story. The restaurant customer has not been shy about what they expect barreling into a fresh era of quick service. “It comes down to, do people have a choice?” Snyder said. 

DANNY KLEIN IS THE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR OF QSR AND FSR. HE CAN BE REACHED AT DKLEIN@ WTWHMEDIA.COM.

CALLIE EVERGREEN IS THE EDITOR OF FSR. SHE CAN BE REACHED AT CEVERGREEN@ WTWHMEDIA.COM.

INDUSTRY-WIDE ISSUE 117

MARCH 2023