QSR May 2022

DEPARTMENT ONES TO WATCH

SouthernGrounds A fast casual pairing sustainably sourced food with a coffee bar hopes to reach 125 locations in the next decade. B Y B E N C O L E Y

Since, Southern Grounds expanded to four locations throughout Florida, including its first nontraditional unit in the Jackson ville International Airport in partnership with HMSHost. To kick off 2022, the brand announced the beginning of its franchise program, with the goal of reaching 125 stores in the next decade. “We wanted social consciousness to persist in our brand over low prices, poor quality, and the standard mix of f lavors you would get in traditional coffeehouses. So, increasing both food and coffee qual ity was important in this new paradigm for us,” Janasik says. “Those were the things we were chasing in this new model. New cof feehouse and community focus lead to new energy in the communities, gentrification of sorts, and we wanted food and coffee to be spoken equally in the same sentence when consumers came to experience us.” The restaurant features a sizable food menu featuring breakfast and brunch, hot items, tartines ( French open-faced sand wiches), cold sandwiches and wraps, salads and soups, and a kid’s menu. Some exam ples include Greek omelette, grilled goat cheese, salmon tacos, salmon toast, turkey club, and caprese salad. The beverage lineup comprises cold brew, drip cof fee, cappuccino, cafe con leche, chai latte, French press, and more. The typical menu mix is 55 percent food and 45 percent beverage. The sustainable and non-GMO menu feeds into a growing trend among restau rant consumers. Thirty-eight percent of adults said availability of locally sourced food would make themmore likely to choose one restaurant over the other, according to The National Restaurant Association’s 2022 State of the Industry. The sentiment is even higher among Gen Z (40 percent) and mil lennials (48 percent). At the biggest cof CONTINUED ON PAGE 102

studied big-time coffee brands and noticed a standardized experience that didn’t fol low through on the promise of building community, which is an integral part of the movement, Janasik says. Southern Grounds wanted to rebuild that gathering place and disrupt the way custom ers experienced their morning beverage. The best way to do so? Combine sustain ably sourced food with a coffee bar to carve out an elevated, differentiated category. The concept recruited local chefs to cre ate scratch-kitchen recipes, learned from coffee roasting company Intelligentsia on how to form equitable trading relation ships with farmers, and teamed with local artists and architects to deliver designs that ref lect the aesthetics, color, and artwork of the neighborhood.

FOUNDERS: Mark Janasik & Shiju Zacharia HEADQUARTERS: Jacksonville, Florida YEAR STARTED: 2016 ANNUAL SALES: $6.3M company-owned shops; $2.1M AUV TOTAL UNITS: 4 FRANCHISED UNITS: Licensing agreement with HMSHOST for two locations. One is currently open in the Jacksonville International Airport Terminal A, and a second location will open pre-security tentatively in Q4.

WHENMARK JANASIKANDHIS TEAMENVISIONED the opening of Southern Grounds seven years ago, they were advised against enter ing an already crowded coffee shop sector. But from their perspective, they had

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MAY 2022 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com