FSR May 2022

On the Rise

When the pandemic hit and Tupelo Honey was forced to close dining rooms, it saw an opportunity to take its No. 1 selling item, biscuits, and pay it for ward. Pre-virus, the brand gave them away with every meal. It started selling Biscuits for a Cause in 2020 and adding profits into a fund. In turn, it’s helped about 300 employees with more than $350,000 for everything from financial hardship to medical issues. The program funded Tupelo Honey’s Project ASPIRE as well, which is a diver sity and inclusion project formed in fall 2020 to elevate BIPOC and female mem bers of the chain’s management team. Members participate in panel discus sions and receive 30-plus hours of addi tional training throughout the year. With inflation and lingering pan demic hurdles, Skinner says value as experience will remain a core strategy at Tupelo Honey. If customers understand what goes into everything that comes out of the kitchen, they’ll embrace the cost. And that starts internally. “We know we can’t carry out that com mitment without the quality of employ ees,” she says. “So for us, we’re going to put it all on the line and say we want great people, and we’re going to invest to have those great people, because great people execute great food.” As in-person dining returns, Tupelo Honey is becoming more selective with some of its pivots. It’s pulling back on QR codes and getting more selective with third-party partners. It’s keeping curbside and transitioning its table man agement system so it can better under stand what customers actually want. In other words, it’s doubling down on data to deliver better experiences instead of replacing humans with technology. “If we know someone is coming in and they have a social media engage ment presence, we can introduce them to things like our selfie wall. If we know someone really cares about sourcing, we can give them more educational points on our purveyors,” Skinner says. “It all comes back to that element of individ ualized self-expression and creating unique experiences for everyone.”

TUPELO HONEY OPENED ITS MILWAUKEE LOCATION LAST YEAR.

“As we’ve expanded, we’ve wanted to hold true to that food integrity, brand integrity, and also the spirit of individuality that’s unique to Asheville.”

lar. It’s not going to open in Charleston, South Carolina, in other terms. Still, the brand wants to weave itself into the com munity, Skinner says. For example, in early 2022, Tupelo Honey opened in Station Square— a former Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Rail road freight holding building. The brand designed a wall mural of a train that pays homage to the city’s historic Little Giant, as the railroad was called. “We’re not going to do a cookie-cut ter box,” Skinner says. “We’re going to be part of the community. We’re going to design a restaurant space that’s a part of this community that honors the peo ple and really appreciates the history.” Skinner, who started as a senior direc tor of human resources, joined Tupelo Honey as it was building its first out of-market location, leaving the famil iar confines of Asheville for Knoxville, Tennessee. As it did so, the company wanted to answer a question, she says: Amid expansion, how could it hold as true to its commitment to workers as it

did when it had just one store? The chain has what it calls, Honey Pot benefits, which have been around for years but expanded in 2021. The brand increased wellness reimbursement by $100 (up to $350) and tuition reimburse ment up to $1,000. It offers transpor tation reimbursement—also to $100— and recently broadened paid parental leave to cover both parents and adop tive parents at 50 percent of an employ ee’s wages for up to six weeks. Employ ees can even opt in for pet insurance and sign up for a 401K. To combat turnover, Tupelo Honey increased PTO allotments, starting with 10 hours for each full-time worker when they pass 90 days. In 2022, the chain will up the accrual rate for all employees. Full-timers will accrue 40 hours in the first year, 80 in the third and thereafter. Amid staffing shortages, Tupelo Honey added an executive sous chef sal aried manager to each location to assist staff and also prevent burnout—a move that cost the company $650,000.

TUPELO HONEY SOUTHERN KITCHEN & BAR

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FSRMAGAZINE.COM

MAY 2022