QSR June 2023

BRAND RENEWAL

Krystal’s way of pushing the envelope will be through new and different culinary products. “I think we’re less focused on how do we shock as opposed to how do we now use all of this brand?” Terrell says. Ray Kees, director of culinary for Krystal, says the compa ny’s menu innovation is essentially the same as others—a stage gate funnel process that starts with 200 ideas for one particu lar item. They’re all filtered and flushed through various steps of testing. Then, depending on the product’s concept or mar keting, it may go through consumer location tests and focus groups. But everything doesn’t have to go through the rigors. Some of it is common sense. “Some items we develop here in the test kitchen,” Kees says. “We’re like, ‘You know what, it’s a milkshake.’ People love milk shakes. There’s certain parameters you want to hit based off season and your target audience, but we don’t necessarily have to put everything through the rigors of testing.” This is Kees’ second stint at Krystal after working for the brand from February 2016 to October 2018. He says new own ership is more focused on quality. One of the first projects he worked on was reengineering the Side Chik sandwich. Before he came on board, it was a chopped and formed product, which isn’t bad, Kees says. The item served its purpose, but Krystal knew customers wanted something different. So in the latest version, the build is the same, along with a crunchy, savory coating and “whole muscle” white meat breast. Krystal—known for its small sliders— also found an oppor

tunity to fill consumers’ needs with a more indulgent burger. As of press time, the chain was testing a larger iteration with quarter-ounce patties seared on a griddle, and a potato bun, cheese, sauce, and a pickle. It’s an example of the brand’s nothing-off-limits approach to culinary creations. “We’re willing to look at just about anything,” Kees says. “In the past, we haven’t been, which also held us back in innovation because if it didn’t fit on a small hot dog bun or fit on a little 2.5 inch slider bun, we would throw it out. We just wouldn’t look at it. If it didn’t go into the deep fryer, we would also throw it out. So we’re looking at ways to use our equipment a bit more. That opens it up a bit. We’re having a little bit more fun with the menu.” Terrell says none of these changes matter if customers don’t have a good experience at the restaurant and operations aren’t up to speed. To ensure this, Krystal hired industry veteran Jermaine Walker as its vice president of operations. He most recently served in the same role for Slutty Vegan. Also, he spent nearly 10 years with GPS Hospitality, a franchisee of Burger King, Popeyes, and Pizza Hut, and worked as director of oper ations for TGI Fridays. Walker is never in the office, and Terrell loves it. That means he’s visiting restaurants and upholding standards. “This brand was founded on Crystal Clean,” the market ing executive says. “That’s where the name came from. Clean as a crystal. That has not been the guest experience, and we need it to be. And so a huge part of our main focus is on oper

KRYSTAL’S NEW PROTOTYPE DEBUTED IN CENTER POINT, ALABAMA.

KRYSTAL

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JUNE 2023 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com