- 4 hours ago
Jeff Perera, co-founder of Jeff's Bagel Run, shares how a layoff and a homemade bagel turned into one of the restaurant industry's fastest-growing brands. He explains why building in public, sharing the journey and never sacrificing quality have fueled the company's growth.
Watch now to learn how storytelling, consistency and transparency helped turn a homemade bagel into one of the restaurant industry's fastest-growing brands.
Restaurant Influencers is sponsored by:
• Toast All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://entm.ag/ToastRI
• PepsiCo Foodservice: https://entm.ag/RIPepsico
Watch now to learn how storytelling, consistency and transparency helped turn a homemade bagel into one of the restaurant industry's fastest-growing brands.
Restaurant Influencers is sponsored by:
• Toast All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://entm.ag/ToastRI
• PepsiCo Foodservice: https://entm.ag/RIPepsico
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NewsTranscript
00:00Have you ever done a podcast and a YouTube video while baking on a banquet off-site?
00:07No, never.
00:09Check it off the bucket list.
00:11Check it off the bucket list.
00:12Honestly, it's so much fun.
00:13I might have to do this a little more properly.
00:16That's hot.
00:24Welcome to Restaurant Influencers presented by Entrepreneur.
00:26I'm your host, Sean Walcheff.
00:28This is a Cali BBQ Media production coming to you from the Restaurant Leadership Conference in Phoenix.
00:34We are in the JW Marriott.
00:35We're about to cook bagels.
00:37Bagels are having a moment, and I've got the man, maybe, I don't know, are you behind the moment?
00:42Yeah, definitely behind the moment.
00:43Definitely behind the moment.
00:45Jeff Perea, Jeff's bagel run.
00:47Congratulations, man.
00:48Thanks, man.
00:49I tried your bagel at James Petrakis' in Orlando at the Ravenous Pig.
00:54We were filming there.
00:55Incredible episode, but he brought your bagels and said, these are the best bagels, and I tried them.
01:00I was convinced.
01:01Now you're going to cook bagels for us on camera.
01:04We're going to bake them right here.
01:05We are off-site at the Restaurant Leadership Conference.
01:08The JW Marriott kitchen is, it's insane, bro.
01:11It's insane.
01:13So, yeah, we're going to see if we can figure this out.
01:15You know, baking off-premises is wild, but we're going to do it.
01:16It's going to be a good time.
01:17Okay, what are we doing?
01:17So, we're going to, so we rolled all this dough yesterday.
01:20It's about 300 bagels.
01:21We're going to boil and bake them today, and then we're going to serve them to about 650 guests for
01:26breakfast.
01:26Amazing.
01:27And we're going to learn the story about how this business got started.
01:31How it all started.
01:31Okay, let's go.
01:32Come on.
01:33Let's do it.
01:33All right, we're going this way.
01:36Thanks, Todd.
01:37That's good.
01:37You can, yeah, yeah.
01:38Slip that bad boy in my pocket.
01:42The best part about, like, a shared kitchen when we're working with, like, other cooks is they're making grits right
01:49next to us.
01:50It's a little bit different than your shop.
01:52It's a little different than my shop.
01:53How many shops do you guys have?
01:54We have 35 right now.
01:5535 right now.
01:56How many in development?
01:58180.
01:58180 in development.
01:59Come on.
02:00Yeah.
02:00That's exciting.
02:01It's pretty awesome.
02:01That's really, really cool.
02:02I think people want bagels.
02:05It's a great breakfast staple.
02:06Yeah.
02:07You know, and I think we differentiate ourselves because we're scratch made.
02:09Yes.
02:09So everything, like, this is a process for us to do off-site because we had to get flour coming
02:14in.
02:15We had to get ingredients shipped.
02:16We got a box of stuff that we brought from Florida with us.
02:19So it just becomes a little bit more of a challenge when we're off-premises.
02:22But in our stores, it's a machine.
02:25How did it?
02:25You made a bagel for your wife?
02:27Yes.
02:28So 2019.
02:29What?
02:292019, I lost my job.
02:31Sorry to hear that.
02:32But congratulations for losing your job.
02:34Thanks, yeah.
02:35I would have never quit, right?
02:36So, like, I think having been kind of forced into that situation, this came out of it.
02:40But, yeah, I lost my job.
02:41She went back to work.
02:42I became a stay-at-home dad.
02:43We were driving, like, 45 minutes for a decent bagel in town.
02:46And she's like, you know, you should just learn to make me one.
02:49No culinary background.
02:50Never made anything from scratch in my life.
02:52It's like, it's such a crazy story.
02:55Yeah.
02:55Because people, they think, like, oh, you could do something.
02:58Like, that's what an entrepreneur dream is, right?
03:00100%.
03:00You see something, you try it, but you never think that, like, it's actually going to work.
03:04Like, it might work for your friends and your family, but then someone paying for the bagel is a completely
03:09different thing.
03:09That was the thing that blew my mind is people were like, I would buy this from you.
03:12Yeah.
03:12It's like when we started feeding other people these bagels, they were like, I would buy this.
03:15I was like, you're nuts.
03:16I literally learned how to do this three months ago.
03:17Why would you buy them from me?
03:19Six years later.
03:20Six years later.
03:2135 stores, and we're at a restaurant leadership conference making bagels for 650 people.
03:26Well, let's do it.
03:27Let's bring us through the process.
03:28Let's go.
03:28Don't let me hold you down.
03:30We're going to sneak in this way.
03:31We're going to try to figure this out.
03:33I haven't done this yet.
03:33So, we got...
03:36So, part of the, like, the first step to a great bagel is it's got to be boiled.
03:39If it's not boiled, it's just a bagel.
03:43Max range.
03:44Max range?
03:49That's hot.
03:49Oh, there we go.
03:50Let's do it for the B-roll.
03:51I know.
03:52All right.
03:53So, we've got...
03:54You've got to boil a bagel to make it a bagel.
03:56If you're...
03:59If you're just...
03:59I mean, it's just, like, round bread.
04:02Yeah.
04:03So, if the crust on the outside starts to get, like, par-baked or that boiling creates a trap inside.
04:11And so, once it hits the oven and that, like, yeast really activates and that dough rises and you get
04:15that oven pop, the heat inside has nowhere to go.
04:18Think of, like, a baguette that's got the slits on top.
04:20Yep.
04:20You're letting all that gas out, that air, the fluffy crumb inside.
04:24Bagels are dense, chewy.
04:25That's because we trap everything in.
04:27Interesting.
04:27So, we're going to...
04:28This is the smallest, like...
04:30Hey, stick the bagel.
04:31Bagels.
04:32This is nonsense.
04:33Are we going to do every bagel like that?
04:34Oh, my gosh.
04:34This is one bagel.
04:35Let's go.
04:35One bagel at a time.
04:36Let's go.
04:37We're going to be here all day.
04:38That's the craft.
04:38The craft.
04:39It's a man of his craft.
04:40All right.
04:40So, we put barley malt syrup in the boil.
04:42Okay.
04:42I think there's a bit of a myth around the water.
04:45I don't think the water is really...
04:49Water is colorless, odorless, and tasteless.
04:51Okay.
04:52And so, if you think the water is the reason your food tastes good...
04:58It's not.
04:59It's not.
04:59It's not.
05:00I think it's just a...
05:01There's no special water in here.
05:02So, this is just literally water from the hotel.
05:04Yep.
05:05You know, we've got...
05:06We used water from the hotel yesterday to make the dough.
05:08Nothing like Phoenix water.
05:10Phoenix water.
05:10Let's go.
05:11So, we've got Phoenix water.
05:12Oh, that's a little better.
05:14Okay.
05:14Like, yeah, it's a much better.
05:16Todd, where's the box of gloves?
05:19Right here.
05:23It's good.
05:25You never know what you're going to see in a busy kitchen.
05:31A busy, professional kitchen.
05:32All right.
05:33So, we're going to boil and bake these.
05:36They boil for like two minutes on each side.
05:38I mean, on each side, two minutes total.
05:39Todd, we're going to bring all this this direction.
05:41So, we have a little bit more room.
05:50So, our bagels are going to just...
05:52Just go straight into the kettle.
05:53Okay.
05:53Straight into the kettle.
05:54Let's go.
05:55It's about a minute and a half on each side.
05:56You hold that tray for me, Sean.
05:57There you got it.
05:57Look at that.
05:58See, I'm making bagels today.
05:59You're in it, too.
05:59Look at that.
06:00All right.
06:00So, I'm thinking I'm going four dozen in here because we got...
06:03Four dozen.
06:03We're on the clock.
06:08Wow.
06:08They're going in there with the paper.
06:09Yeah.
06:10The paper just peels off.
06:11Okay.
06:12It's a little hack that I learned.
06:14Look at that.
06:15Secrets of the trade right here.
06:17A lot of times, bakers will use like a cornstarch along the bottom of a board.
06:24Yep.
06:25I don't like the texture of the cornstarch on the bottom of my bagel.
06:28It just never comes off.
06:30So...
06:30Are you a scientist?
06:32No.
06:33A bagel scientist?
06:34I'm just like an unmedicated kid with ADHD.
06:39Okay.
06:39Fair enough.
06:40Fair enough.
06:41You're like, we're going to figure this thing out.
06:42We're just going to make it happen.
06:43We're going to figure it out at scale.
06:45That's it.
06:46That's it.
06:46So, what happens as you scale?
06:48Like, what can you not sacrifice?
06:50I think quality is the first thing you can't sacrifice.
06:52And we've talked about this like long and hard in all of our team meetings and the things
06:56that we're trying to drive is like scratch made is our differentiator.
06:59It's the reason why the product is so good.
07:01How many times a day is it scratch made?
07:02So, we're making the bagels, all the bagels have to proof overnight.
07:05So, they get like an 18 hour or so overnight, like slow fermentation in the fridge.
07:10So, we pull these out of the fridge right before we started.
07:14And that's where the flavor development happens.
07:16Okay.
07:16So, that component is like the most important part.
07:18So, we'll do that the day before.
07:19So, we have to systematically plan how many bagels we're going to make for Saturday, for whatever
07:23the day of the week it is.
07:25Once we have the right plan in place, we just roll all that dough the day before and refrigerate
07:30it.
07:30The next morning, the team will come in.
07:31They'll start their day between 4 and 5, get the kettles hot, start boiling and baking
07:37bagels, serve our guests as they come all day through.
07:39So, we're baking them hot all morning long.
07:40All morning long.
07:41All morning long.
07:42Wow.
07:42That's incredible.
07:42Technology in the store is cool.
07:43It's like as you walk in the store, we've got our menu boards.
07:46Bagels that just fresh came out of the oven.
07:47I've got a little hot badge on them so customers know which ones are hot.
07:50Oh, wow.
07:51Really?
07:52Yeah.
07:52That's cool.
07:52They can pick what they're interested in.
07:55Sweet.
07:55Let me grab my scooper here.
07:58Oh, my God.
07:58This big one is...
07:59And what's the best way to sell bagels?
08:02I mean, by the dozen.
08:04By the dozen?
08:07A love of good by the dozen bagels.
08:09A good by the dozen.
08:10A good by the dozen.
08:10Um, I, you know, I think the best way is like a fresh baked bagel.
08:15I've never seen bagels getting made.
08:16It's pretty cool.
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09:31Let's keep that momentum going.
09:36I don't know if I think, I don't know if this is better or worse because it's pretty jacked.
09:41It's pretty jacked.
09:44It's got so, I'm going to take the little guy.
09:46Yeah, I might have to get fancy here.
09:49This is much, this is going to be a minute.
09:53All the things you learn about when you're cooking like outside of your normal place.
09:58All right, so we're working these.
09:59These guys are going to get another minute or so in the water and we're going to try to scoop
10:02them out.
10:03So tell me about building the prototype store for your franchisees.
10:07So when we first started, you know, Danielle and I, I get the privilege to be her husband.
10:12She's the best operator I know.
10:15Really?
10:15Oh man, she's a beast.
10:17So she, she can do all of this too.
10:20But when we, she was working and we were opening the store.
10:24We got, we got really lucky.
10:25We got a landlord who finally gave us a lease.
10:27We sold her house.
10:28We did everything to like make this thing happen.
10:29Sold your house?
10:30We sold her house.
10:31Really?
10:31In 2021.
10:32To chase this dream?
10:33Yeah.
10:33How many bagels had you sold once you sold your house?
10:36When we sold it from home, we'd probably sold, I don't have an exact number.
10:41I think like our accountant was like, hey, you guys have exceeded the limit of sales you're allowed to do
10:44under cottage food laws in the state of Florida.
10:47And I think we'd sold maybe like $85,000 worth of bagels from our house in that year from like
10:502020.
10:52And we're like, we got to find a spot.
10:53So we started looking for a space.
10:54We finally got a brick and mortar location.
10:56Yeah.
10:57And she had major FOMO.
10:58Like we're like building it and doing this thing.
11:00And like, she's a part of it.
11:01We did a Kickstarter campaign to raise money.
11:03Oh, cool.
11:03It was super awesome.
11:04Community really came out for us.
11:06And then she's, I'm like, just quit.
11:07Go full bagel.
11:08She's like, well, how do you do that?
11:08Go full bagel.
11:09Go full bagel.
11:10Let's go, baby.
11:11Go full bagel.
11:11Let's go.
11:12She's like, how do we get a 401k?
11:14What about my stock options?
11:15What about this?
11:16We'll figure it out.
11:16And I'm like, people do this all the time.
11:19Entrepreneurs just jump right in and go full bagel.
11:22All right.
11:22Since I don't have, we're going to have to.
11:24I'm going to grab this tray and we're going to do this.
11:28This is going to be, oh shit.
11:30Will you grab that for me?
11:32I can go right back on top.
11:33Todd, I'm going to need your assist.
11:36We've got to move four trays out of the way.
11:38Four trays out of the way?
11:39Well, no, you're going to bring me, because I have the little scooper.
11:43Because the big scooper was tearing the bagels.
11:46Well, we could, but then we'd have to put Sean to work.
11:49This isn't a time thing.
11:49It's a feel thing.
11:50This is a time thing.
11:51Oh, it is a time thing.
11:52I've been keeping track in my head.
11:53Yeah, I got you.
11:55Two minutes.
11:56That's pretty impressive.
11:57Two minutes.
11:57All right, here we go.
11:58Swap with me.
11:59All right, pay attention.
12:00It's two minutes.
12:01Honestly, if we could.
12:03Yeah, so this is, I'm probably a little long, because I'm also looking at the size of the
12:08bagel as they're growing here.
12:09Okay.
12:10We've got some fluffiness happening, so I know the boil's at the right temperature.
12:16I'm going to let you feel the bagel, too, Sean, because they get this firmness to the dough
12:22once they're in here.
12:23All right, I've got two more, guys.
12:24Okay.
12:26This is quite the operation.
12:29Eric, we can make these everything if you want to.
12:31So have you ever done a podcast and a YouTube video while baking on a banquet offsite?
12:39No, never.
12:41This is all for us.
12:42Check it off the bucket list.
12:42Check the bucket list.
12:43Check it off the bucket list.
12:44Honestly, it's so much fun.
12:45I might have to do this a little more people.
12:46We might have to do a second episode.
12:48Did you know that Toast powers over 140,000 restaurants across the United States, Canada,
12:55and UK?
12:56It's an incredible company.
12:58I am on the Toast Customer Advisory Board.
12:59They are proud sponsors of this show, Restaurant Influencers.
13:02We couldn't do it without their support.
13:04They power our barbecue restaurants in San Diego.
13:07If you have questions about Toast, if you're thinking about bringing Toast on to be your
13:12primary technology partner at your restaurants, please reach out to me.
13:16I'm happy to get a local Toast representative to take care of you.
13:19You can reach me at Sean P. Welchef on Instagram.
13:23Once again, thank you to Toast for believing in the power of technology, the power of storytelling,
13:28the power of hospitality.
13:30Back to the show.
13:31So tell us about the podcast.
13:33You started a podcast.
13:34We did.
13:34We believe that every business needs to have a podcast, needs to have a YouTube channel.
13:39Get your podcast started.
13:40It's called The Weekly Run.
13:41The Weekly Run.
13:42And it's an inside story of what's like all the ongoings at Jeff's Bagel Run.
13:48Amazing.
13:50It's your manager meeting?
13:51I mean, that would be really fun, but no.
13:54We talk shop.
13:55We talk about industry trends.
13:56We talk about things that are exciting.
13:58We find kind of what's hot at Jeff's Bagel Run.
14:02That's kind of like our intro.
14:04And so the things that we find exciting, the things that we think are important for our guests, for our
14:09business partners, we just talk about it in a really candid way.
14:13We already know how hard it is to run a business, how hard it is to be an entrepreneur.
14:16Or we already know that you need bandwidth to do a podcast, to do content.
14:23Everyone told you, don't do a podcast.
14:25We don't have the bandwidth.
14:26Why?
14:27What's the answer?
14:29I think it's important for us to share our story.
14:31Yeah.
14:31I mean, if you're not sharing the story, people don't know who you are.
14:35And honestly, I love, like, it's funny because my daughter is 11.
14:38I actually have four kids.
14:3922, 20, 11, and 8 by mine.
14:41Wow, really?
14:41Yeah.
14:43I hit the reset button.
14:44It was wild.
14:45That's amazing.
14:46So we, when we, when we started this journey, the little ones were, like, in it, deep with us, you
14:54know?
14:54And, like, they'd come to the shop and they're helping out.
14:56And so my 11-year-old is, like, just an entrepreneur.
15:00She's, like, doing lemonade stands.
15:02She's, like, I want to sell yarn dolls.
15:05Like, Dad, can I come to the shop on a Saturday during Christmas so I can sell my ornaments?
15:08Yes.
15:08And I'm, like, absolutely.
15:09100%.
15:10And I asked her, like, how many ornaments do you have?
15:11And she's, like, I've got 20.
15:12I was, like, you need 400.
15:13And she's, like, why?
15:14I was, like, because I'm going to have 400 guests.
15:16Because I'm going to tell everyone about your ornaments.
15:17And there are 400 people that are going to come through the line.
15:19And they're going to see this cute little girl selling ornaments for $4.
15:23And they're all in.
15:24And everyone's going to buy them.
15:25Everyone's going to buy them.
15:25And she's, like, I don't have enough yarn.
15:27I was, like, let's go to the store.
15:28This is inventory.
15:29Now we're learning all of the business.
15:31And then she's, like, well, how much do I charge for them?
15:32I'm, like, well, how much did your yarn cost?
15:34Danielle built her a spreadsheet.
15:35Yes.
15:35And then she, I mean, it's the whole thing.
15:37Dude, that is amazing.
15:38Yeah, so this is the, so now we're going to decorate.
15:40Is this it?
15:41Decoration time?
15:42We're going to do some decorating.
15:43Eric's going to help me because he, oh, you don't have to swim.
15:45We're going to touch them all.
15:46So you've got to dip them.
15:47We kind of give them a little roll.
15:49We don't do the bottoms.
15:49It's just not.
15:50So what are these?
15:51Some people do tops and bottoms.
15:52These are everything seasoning.
15:53Oh, everything.
15:54All everything.
15:54So it's sesame.
15:55So what is everything?
15:56It's a great question.
15:57No one knows what everything.
15:58It's a lot.
15:59It's everything.
15:59It's different things.
16:00But what's the actual seasoning?
16:01It's different things to different people.
16:02This, for me, it's a whole sesame.
16:08And salt.
16:09Okay.
16:09And so it just gives like a really.
16:12What's the wrong everything bagel?
16:14One without salt.
16:15One without salt?
16:16Why would they make one without salt?
16:18That's exactly what I said.
16:19Like, it's just like salt is what pulls the flavor forward in your, on your palate.
16:23And so, I don't know.
16:24I'm a big believer in, I mean, the salt bagel is my favorite bagel.
16:27I will eat a salted bagel every day.
16:29Just salt.
16:30Salted bagel.
16:30Just salt.
16:31Yeah.
16:31Okay.
16:31Do we have another speed rack?
16:33I wonder if we can borrow that one.
16:34We can ask him.
16:35It looks empty.
16:36We can stage them there before they go in the oven.
16:37It's all right.
16:38So we're going to get all these going.
16:39Then we got four more trays so we can do another four.
16:41So we're going to boil four more dozen.
16:45This is like the bagel, like, steam facial.
16:49You get such a.
16:52Bagel steam facial.
16:53It's like you're in here working on something that.
16:59So let's go back to the podcast.
17:01Why does everyone need a podcast?
17:03So.
17:04I mean, tell us the story.
17:05When you, when you, when you, uh, talk to your marketing manager and said, yeah, so
17:09we were, I was like, listen, I think I want to start a podcast.
17:11And she says, I don't have the bandwidth for that.
17:15I'm busy.
17:15I'm like, I get it.
17:16I'm like, she's like, if you want to do it, you can do it.
17:17Okay.
17:18And I didn't have the bandwidth either.
17:19Like we was, it's like probably like 20, 24, end of 24.
17:24So we did nothing with it through 25.
17:26And then I was like, you know, I think it's time again.
17:28And she's like, if you want to do it, do it, figure it out.
17:30She connected me with some guys who do a local podcast.
17:33Who've got a big, like, you know, they've got 20 plus years in media.
17:36They've been doing it.
17:37I sit down with them.
17:38I get all the information I need.
17:40Yep.
17:41And I said, I'm going to start.
17:42I get a co-host and I was like, let's go.
17:43So we just recorded an episode.
17:46How many episodes are you guys in?
17:47We're 15 in.
17:4715 in.
17:48Every week?
17:4815 episodes in.
17:49Every weekly episodes.
17:50Love it.
17:50Yeah.
17:50Weekly episodes.
17:51Weekly episodes.
17:52The only way to go.
17:52Tell them things that are happening at, at Jeff's.
17:55Sometimes they're funny.
17:56Sometimes they're, you know, entertaining.
18:00Sometimes they're not.
18:01So it's just part of the, I think it's all part of the journey.
18:04You know, this like storytelling experience, you know, I, from the beginning I was on social
18:10media at first, it was just my personal page documenting what I was working on.
18:14And then I built a business page and I think it's.
18:17Now do you have both pages?
18:18Do you still put content on both?
18:20Man, you know, I ran the social media while I ran the business side by side and people
18:25were like, how do you do it?
18:26I was like, I have two full-time jobs.
18:27Yeah.
18:27You know, Danielle runs the, she runs a shop.
18:30She does all the like ops admin stuff.
18:33I do the baking, rolling of the dough and content creation, marketing, right?
18:37Like, I mean, it's free marketing.
18:38It's the best, best, best marketing in the world.
18:40Um, and I was doing that every day.
18:44People would ask me, how did you get so many followers or how did you?
18:49And I was like, consistency.
18:51I would, I would post, I went 397 straight days posting a story that said, good morning
18:56from the bagel run.
18:57Today's bagel of the day is.
18:59Wow.
19:00And how many days?
19:01Like 397.
19:02I went back in my Instagram story archive and just like, I was like, this is crazy.
19:07Every single day.
19:08I did it every day.
19:09And, um, and then I, uh, the only day it stopped was the day when Danielle's dad passed.
19:15We, I wasn't in the shop and like, we were just kind of like off.
19:18That was the only day I missed in like 400 days.
19:21Wow.
19:21And so I think the consistency of posting, telling your story, sharing what people are, you
19:26know, that are excited about your product is so important.
19:29So important.
19:30So tell us about your wife going full bagel.
19:32Man, that was, um, that was great.
19:34Cause she was scary.
19:36She was terrified.
19:37Yeah.
19:37She was terrified.
19:38She, I mean, how long has she been on another job?
19:40She had just gone back.
19:41She'd probably been in there about two and a half years.
19:42She was a district manager for raw stress for less.
19:44So she made great money, benefits, security, security, all the stuff you get from a corporate
19:49job.
19:50And, um, she called me one day coming home from work.
19:53She's just like, I'm so done.
19:55And I was like, quit.
19:56She's like, I can't quit.
19:57She's bawling.
19:58So I'm the phone upset, like tough day at work, driving back from, we're in central Florida,
20:03Orlando.
20:03She's driving back to North Florida.
20:04She had stores.
20:05She was responsible for all along the I-75 corridor.
20:08She had like a two and a half hour drive home.
20:10She's like, I don't want to do this anymore.
20:11I was like, just quit.
20:12Just quit.
20:12She's like, I can't quit.
20:13I was like, babe.
20:14I was like, we are selling bagels three days a week, making like $1,500 from home.
20:18I was like, let's build a, she's like, I can build a budget.
20:21I'm like, yep, you can do all those things.
20:22I was like, we're going to be open five days, six days a week.
20:24Like, I don't care if we have to make bagels seven days a week.
20:26It's like, if we can make $500 a day, seven days a week, we'll have, you know, $14,000 a
20:32month.
20:32She's like, I don't know.
20:33Is that enough?
20:34And I was like, it'll cover everything.
20:36And then we opened the first door and like, we blew our budget out of the water the first
20:39day.
20:39Had so many more, so much more money.
20:41Like, you know, she budgeted us to do like $800 on the first day.
20:44Yeah.
20:44And we did like 16 and she was like, she's like, we're going to be fine.
20:48We're going to be fine.
20:49She's like, we're going to be fine.
20:50When did you guys sell the house?
20:51We sold the house in summer of 21, right before we, um, and that was because you didn't want
20:57any outside investors?
20:58We, well, we, um, we just didn't like, honestly, we just didn't know what we were doing.
21:03I mean, to be fair, we just didn't know.
21:04Yeah.
21:05Like we had, we were so naive.
21:06If any entrepreneur tells me they know what they're doing, I'm very skeptical.
21:09Like super, super skeptical.
21:11No one knows what they're doing.
21:12No, we didn't know what we were doing.
21:13So we, uh, when we started a media company, we had no idea.
21:15Yeah.
21:15I mean like you guys, look at what you got now.
21:17Let's go.
21:18So we had no idea what we're doing, but we knew we needed money.
21:21We knew we needed to have some capital to do the stuff that we needed to do for the restaurant
21:26as well as live our life.
21:28Right?
21:28Like we didn't know how fast cashflow would come.
21:30We didn't have any idea.
21:32So we sold the house.
21:33The market was insane in 21.
21:35So we made some, we made enough money to kind of hold us.
21:38And, and that really floated us until, um, you know, until we started franchising.
21:43How'd you explain it to the kids?
21:46They were, um, they were, uh, that's a great question.
21:51I don't know how we explained this to them.
21:52I think they were upset because when we sold, we obviously, we started, we rented something
21:55a little smaller.
21:56Yeah.
21:56We didn't have as much space.
21:58We had to get rid of a bunch of their stuff.
21:59Did they have to switch schools?
22:00No, no.
22:00They didn't switch schools, which was great.
22:01We found a spot.
22:02We were super lucky.
22:03Um, you know, so much of this stuff is like serendipitous.
22:07Right.
22:07So we were, um, we were considering this business and, uh, I saw a listing for a rental go up
22:15on Facebook marketplace.
22:16Yeah.
22:16And it was a lady I knew in the neighborhood who bought bagels from me.
22:19And she said, um, I called her.
22:21I was like, Hey, I just saw this listing.
22:23I know it's been up for like hours.
22:24I wonder if it's still available.
22:26And she's like, Oh, you know somebody.
22:27And I was like, well, it's for me.
22:28I was like, Danielle and I are considering selling the house.
22:30She's like, why?
22:31And I was like, well, we're going to open a bagel shop.
22:32She's like, Oh, congratulations.
22:33That's amazing.
22:34And, uh, she's like, I'll rent you the property.
22:37She's like, I've already got an application, but I'll rent you the property.
22:41I just want first dibs on the sale of your home.
22:43Like, I want to be able to get my clients in front of your house.
22:46And we're like, great.
22:47So she had a pocket listing for our house.
22:49Yep.
22:50And we had a rental and we sold the house in less than 24 hours.
22:55Less than 24 hours.
22:57Never even hit the market.
22:59And, um, you know,
23:02that's, is that Ford?
23:03Yeah.
23:04Rosemary salt.
23:06This is a great flavor.
23:07Todd, we'll take these, put them over there.
23:10So how are these, how are these looking?
23:12They're a little on the fluffy side.
23:14On the fluffy side?
23:15What's the proper fluff?
23:18So these are, so the rise is really good.
23:21I think what we're getting here is like,
23:22we were warm yesterday in this kitchen when we're making the dough.
23:25Yeah.
23:25And we were hand rolling,
23:26which is not something we do every day anymore.
23:29So we got a nice machine that spits the bagels out.
23:33Um, so.
23:33What kind of machine?
23:34It's cool.
23:35It's a, it's a, it's a bagel dough former.
23:37Okay.
23:38Um, and so it's like probably like eight feet long.
23:41Yep.
23:42It has a long tube at the bottom where the dough kind of cycles through the,
23:45cuts into chunks and then spits out.
23:47Oh wow.
23:48But this, you used to do it by hand.
23:49I mean, I did, I would do it all by hand.
23:51Until when?
23:52We did in summer of 20,
23:54we opened the shop in July of 21.
23:56A year later, um, we're like, okay,
23:59we need a machine to help us with this.
24:00Yeah.
24:00Cause I was, I mean, I would come into the shop,
24:03start baking bagels at like four, four 30.
24:05I would get all the bagels baked by like 10 AM.
24:08And then I would start rolling and go for the next day.
24:09What time does the store open?
24:10Six, 30.
24:11So which, how are those bagels ready?
24:13The ones that are open at six.
24:15Oh, I mean, we, with the ones of those sand bagels.
24:18Oh, they were like,
24:19they were the ones that rolled the night before.
24:20So we're like boiling and baking them.
24:21Yeah, yeah, yeah.
24:22And then, yeah.
24:23Do you know how much you're putting on there?
24:24All right.
24:24Is this a salt bagel?
24:25This, oh yeah.
24:26So this is the salt bagel.
24:28We're just going to go.
24:29Jeff's salt bagel.
24:30We'll do a dozen salt.
24:30This is what we're going to have for breakfast.
24:31We'll put these in the oven.
24:32This will be family meal.
24:33Let's go.
24:34We got enough.
24:35Let's go.
24:36Upside down.
24:39All right.
24:39So salt bagel.
24:40It's simple.
24:41Salt.
24:41I don't think I've ever had a salt bagel.
24:43Oh, dude, you're going to love it.
24:43It's great.
24:44You have me convinced.
24:45I'm a salt bagel.
24:46We can dip it.
24:47We're going to dip it right into some brown sugar cinnamon cream cheese.
24:50Okay.
24:50Solid.
24:51All right.
24:51So Eric, this is like what we're looking for for coverage.
24:54Got it.
24:55And then rosemary comes in behind it.
24:58Kind of a little heavy because I think it's going to pop off when we cut these.
25:01Yes, sir.
25:02Sweet.
25:04Okay.
25:04Todd, how much space do we have on that rack?
25:0620.
25:06And we got two trays.
25:08We'll get two more.
25:08All right.
25:08We got enough trays.
25:09We're going to boil another four dozen.
25:10So the crazy thing about this conference and what Jeff is doing is that all of these people
25:17run major restaurant brands.
25:19So no pressure.
25:22The best restaurants are here.
25:23The best restaurant brands.
25:25The biggest executives.
25:27Like the CEO of everything.
25:29Yeah.
25:29The CEO of everything is here at the Restaurant Leadership Conference.
25:32And I'm inviting them to have bagels.
25:34And Jeff is setting up shop.
25:36I don't even know what time it is.
25:37What time it is?
25:37We're seven o'clock.
25:38We're doing great.
25:39We're doing great.
25:40We're doing great.
25:42Man, this is a good time.
25:45So what have you learned about franchising?
25:47Okay.
25:48So that's a great.
25:49So franchising was never on the radar.
25:51Okay.
25:51You were going to do all corporate owned?
25:52So we were just going to do one store.
25:55Just going to do one store.
25:56To be honest, we were going to do one store.
25:57And then it was like, the interesting thing about once you get into food and you have a
26:02business or a product that people enjoy, they tell you.
26:07They like, the hospitality industry is like no other.
26:11Proof of concept is like right in front of you.
26:14Todd, we'll line those when you guys are done.
26:16A hungry heart, a hungry stomach.
26:18Yes.
26:19A hungry wallet.
26:19Yeah.
26:19But they, the people in the community in Orlando that I looked up to, guys like James.
26:25James.
26:25Amazing.
26:25People who.
26:26What an incredible entrepreneur, James.
26:28100%.
26:29Like he's like, he went straight to your shop and he's like, dude, you got to try this guy.
26:32Like you've got to try Jeff's bagels.
26:34Which is that type of.
26:36And like ravenous pig.
26:37And that's how I would feel about.
26:38I was blown away at how good that food was.
26:39And that's how I feel about like ravenous pig.
26:40Yeah.
26:41Like when ravenous pig.
26:42It's insane.
26:42People come to Orlando, I'm like, you've got to eat here.
26:44Yes.
26:44And so.
26:45When you go to Orlando, go straight to Jeff's bagels and then ravenous pig.
26:48That's it.
26:48That's your trip.
26:49Okay.
26:49100%.
26:50Done.
26:50Everything's done.
26:50Everything's done.
26:51Forget about it.
26:52And so.
26:53When you have these like industry giants, you know, that in your mind, people that like, how do they
26:59ever do it?
26:59And then you realize they're doing it just like you.
27:01They just figured it out as they go.
27:02They literally just figured it out.
27:03Just figured it out as they went.
27:05And so you kind of pull that like curtain back that mystique goes away and you end up
27:09with just like great real relationships.
27:11Yes.
27:11And you're able to talk to people and they help you.
27:13And when we opened our first shop, we met another baker.
27:18He ended up closing his store down and he called me.
27:21He's like, hey, I need to close it.
27:23I want to sell it to you.
27:25This is like probably February 22.
27:27We don't know about eight months.
27:28You already sold the house?
27:29We'd sold the house.
27:30We were eight months in operation.
27:30There was no budget to buy a store.
27:32There was no budget to buy a store.
27:33We were pretty like, we had great cash flow.
27:35We were relatively capital flush from like the six, eight months of business we'd been
27:40in.
27:40And we did the thing bootstrapped.
27:42So it was like down and dirty, you know?
27:44And I'm like, what do you want for it?
27:47And he's like, I can sell it to you for like $25,000.
27:49Like all the assets.
27:51It was like one double oven, a mixer.
27:53It was small.
27:54He was like in a little 700 square foot space.
27:55You're probably like less than like the tables were standing in here in this kitchen.
28:00And I look at Danielle and I'm like, I was like, we should do it.
28:03I'm like on mute.
28:04Like we should do it.
28:04And she's like, no.
28:06She's like, no.
28:07What are you crazy?
28:07Like, absolutely not.
28:09Is there a baddie?
28:10Do we have eight?
28:11There's eight on there.
28:13Todd, you want to flip these for me?
28:14And then we'll load the oven.
28:17All right, we're going to go over here.
28:18We'll load this oven up.
28:20And so he says, I say to him, I'm like, we'll do it.
28:23And Danielle and I were like, okay, I think this is going to be great.
28:28I hope.
28:28I've never done this.
28:29It's going to be great.
28:30New ovens.
28:31We're going to keep an eye on them.
28:33Rationale iCombi Pro.
28:34Let's go.
28:35You ever bake in one of these?
28:37No.
28:37You ever cook anything in one of these?
28:38No.
28:39I know.
28:40Look at the technology on this.
28:42I'm not the person that does the cooking.
28:43I'm the person with the iPhone behind the person that's doing the cooking.
28:46I love that.
28:47Yeah.
28:48People are like, oh, you're a chef.
28:49Walt Chef.
28:50I'm like, no, I'm not a chef.
28:51No, that's not how it works.
28:52It's not how it works.
28:53I'm behind the pit master that's doing the actual work.
28:57More of a BTS kind of guy.
28:59I like it.
28:59All right, we're going in.
29:00I think this will go in there.
29:03All right.
29:04Wish us luck, boys.
29:05Wish us luck.
29:07Does that have a timer?
29:11No?
29:12It's got to be a timer on an oven, right?
29:15No.
29:16I just pushed a button.
29:17I probably shouldn't have pushed.
29:18What time is it?
29:19Seven?
29:20Seven.
29:20Hey.
29:216.50.
29:22Todd or Eric, can you set a timer?
29:246.49.
29:246.49 for like eight minutes?
29:268.30.
29:26Eight minutes.
29:29So we go.
29:31Things cranking.
29:32Things are happening.
29:33You hear that thing?
29:33Holy shit.
29:34Yeah.
29:35All right.
29:35So bagels are in the oven.
29:35Things are happening.
29:36You can get over here and take a look.
29:37But we don't have time for that.
29:39We've got to come back over here.
29:39We don't have time for that.
29:40Let's go.
29:40We've got to get these bagels out of the water all day.
29:43And then we're going to need four more trays, I think.
29:46Let's go.
29:46Four more empties.
29:47Four more trays of bagels.
29:48Four more empties so we can put bagels on there.
29:51650 hungry attendees.
29:53Let's go.
29:53And we're on the clock.
29:54And we're on the clock.
29:55We got a little bit of a late start because the water wasn't boiled.
29:57Yes.
29:57Got to get these out.
29:59I think they're ready.
30:01Where were we?
30:02Oh, so we bought a second bakery.
30:03Yes.
30:03I guess that's where we were.
30:04We bought a second bakery.
30:05Danielle said no.
30:06Just for cooking?
30:07It didn't have a storefront?
30:08It was a storefront.
30:09Oh, it was a storefront.
30:10It was a very small storefront.
30:12So this became location two?
30:14Location number two.
30:15And when we bought that, it was really not a bagel bakery.
30:23And so we had to figure it out.
30:24We had our bagel roller.
30:26We would roll dough in our one store.
30:29We'd bring it to the other store.
30:30Yep.
30:31So it could store and like proof in that store overnight.
30:33And then we'd boil and bake it fresh the next morning.
30:35But man, opening a second location was so hard.
30:38Yeah.
30:39So hard.
30:39So hard.
30:40I mean, it took the collective effort that Danielle and I had to run one store was now split.
30:46And it tasked us.
30:48You think it was the hardest?
30:49Oh, man.
30:50It was the hardest thing we've ever done.
30:51Yeah.
30:51It tasked us like in business, it tasked us emotionally, it tasked us financially.
30:56And it was really, it was tough, but it gave us a chance to meet our business partner.
31:02So later that like year, 2023, I guess it was 2023.
31:06We opened in August of 22.
31:07And by, store was up and humming by like October.
31:12We were doing pretty good.
31:13Yeah.
31:14And how far from the other store?
31:16About eight miles.
31:18Eight miles.
31:18Okay.
31:20In a different part of town, kind of far away from where we lived.
31:24Thanks, Todd.
31:28We need plain bagels, guys.
31:29So we can do two, we can do four dozen plain if we want.
31:34What bagel sells the most?
31:36Plain.
31:36Plain?
31:37Number one selling bagel in the store.
31:38It's plain.
31:39Number two is everything.
31:41Okay.
31:41Number three is cinnamon sugar.
31:43Cinnamon sugar.
31:44I know.
31:45And as we move into this.
31:46Where's salt on the list?
31:47Like eighth.
31:49All right.
31:49We're going to, our job is to bring salt up the list.
31:51Up the list.
31:52Let's go.
31:52Rosemary salt ranks above it.
31:54So you can try rosemary salt as well.
31:55It's a good one.
31:56Um, but we, uh, so we'll just put these on that, on that Z-Rack and then we'll decorate something
32:03else.
32:03Because we got, sorry, I'm going to.
32:09All right.
32:09We're doing a test over here.
32:11These things are baking fast.
32:13They're baking fast.
32:14Eric, how much time is on the timer left?
32:19Five minutes.
32:21Five?
32:21These things are baking super fast.
32:23Super fast.
32:24I know.
32:24You can see like the bubbling too is getting.
32:26You can see it.
32:26It's a little inconsistent.
32:28Like these guys down here don't have quite the same browning.
32:31All right.
32:31So we might.
32:35Eric, Eric, do you remember where you got the rags from yesterday?
32:38The clean, the dry rags?
32:39Can you get me like four so we can use them as oven mitts?
32:43I think I need to spin these trays because I think they rotate.
32:45Like there's definitely a different fan rotation at the top.
32:49There's three fans in there.
32:50I just saw them on the side.
32:51So I want to make sure the other side gets a consistent, um, because this is a bake.
32:57This is kind of like in our stores, we have Blodgett XR8 mini rotating rack ovens.
33:02So we bake on sheet pans in our stores.
33:04Yes.
33:05Um, pretty traditional way to bake is on board.
33:07Okay.
33:07So you have these long boards that are covered in like wet, um, burlap or some kind of wet
33:12fabric.
33:13And then the, the bakers will slide those boards in about two minutes into the bake.
33:16They'll flip them over and they'll bake them right on the hearth.
33:18Okay.
33:18These huge carousel ovens.
33:20And we didn't have the budget, the space for any of that.
33:24And so when we got our first, we kind of baked in like a standard deck oven.
33:28I would spin the trays.
33:29I would rotate them.
33:30Yeah, let's go.
33:31Great.
33:31Great.
33:32And, um, and I'm going to pop this thing open.
33:37How'd you come up with the name?
33:39Just Bagel Run.
33:40Um, when we were at home, it was a, it was literally me delivering bagels to people's
33:47houses.
33:47And so I was running them bagels was kind of like the, the thought process.
33:51Yeah.
33:52And you know, people ask all the time, like, why don't you put, why isn't Danielle, why
33:55isn't your name on there?
33:56And she's like, she always tells everybody and she's accurate.
33:59She's like, I know how much this company I own.
34:01It's like, I don't need my name on it.
34:04And she's right.
34:04Sounds like my wife.
34:06She's right.
34:06She's like, I know what's, I know what's mine.
34:10I don't need my name on it.
34:11Eric, I'm going to leave that there for a second.
34:13See, I don't need my name on it to know what's mine.
34:15Yeah.
34:15And, um, we, uh, the top is baking a lot faster than the bottom.
34:21Yes.
34:22So I'm going to move these up here.
34:25It's a bagel dance.
34:26We're doing a little bagel dance.
34:32Those look so close.
34:35Not quite.
34:36Okay.
34:37I'll give them, like, another minute.
34:38Um, so they have, like, I wish the bottoms had a little bit more of, like, an undercarriage.
34:52I think those got to go back in.
34:53The tops look really good.
34:56What we're looking for is, like, a consistency that, for me, it's, like, a nice crispy outside.
35:02A nice, um...
35:04I trust that you, you know, I trust that you know exactly what you're looking for.
35:08Sorry, I don't...
35:09I've cooked enough.
35:10How many bagels have you cooked?
35:11We were talking about this yesterday when we were making the bagels.
35:14Um, our finance guy, or, like, our accountant...
35:17Yeah.
35:17He estimated that I did about 800,000 bagels from, like, my house and in the shop before
35:22we franchised.
35:24800,000?
35:25Like, that was what I had done in, like, two stores until, like, up to 2023.
35:31But now we've got, like, 35 stores.
35:32I mean, I've...
35:32I've probably personally baked over...
35:34A million bagels.
35:35A million bagels, for sure.
35:36Easily.
35:37A million and a half.
35:37A million and a half bagels.
35:39Let's go.
35:40It's kind of wild.
35:40I know.
35:41It's kind of a wild number to think about.
35:43Because when I was making them at home, it was, like, I was literally using, like...
35:46When you're in the bagel business, that's kind of a good...
35:47That's kind of what you're going for.
35:48I mean, the idea is sell bagels.
35:49Yeah, sell bagels.
35:50Boil and bake bagels, sell bagels.
35:51Sell bagels.
35:52What else does the store sell?
35:54Cream cheese.
35:56Coffee.
35:57That's it.
35:57What about...
35:58Tell us about the coffee program.
35:59Bagels, cream cheese, coffee.
35:59Oh, this is another great story.
36:01Oh, I love it.
36:02We're in the storytelling business.
36:03You're in the storytelling business.
36:04All right, so...
36:05I'm going to focus on this.
36:06I want to make sure these get right.
36:07Yes, let's go.
36:09I don't...
36:11This is...
36:11It's getting intense in there.
36:13This is blocking airflow.
36:16And they're not...
36:17See, these ones up top are good.
36:19Where is my...
36:20Let's roll this rack right here for me, Eric.
36:26These look great.
36:27That's a great looking big.
36:29There we go.
36:29Look at that.
36:30I mean...
36:32My hand-rolling skills are not nearly what they were when I was doing it every day.
36:38So they're a little...
36:40You're judging your hand-rolling skills.
36:41I'm like...
36:42Oh, you're good.
36:44You're good.
36:44I'm like...
36:44I'm looking at my bagels and I'm like, I'm disappointed.
36:47You're disappointed?
36:48It's okay.
36:48We have documented proofs.
36:52We'll live on the internet forever.
36:53I know.
36:54An entrepreneur nonetheless.
36:56I will give this another minute.
36:58We appreciate the access.
37:00So if you're an entrepreneur, if you're a business owner, everyone that I...
37:04The worst thing you can do is stealth mode.
37:06Stealth mode is the absolute worth where you're like,
37:08we're keeping all of the secrets.
37:09Jeff, seriously, this is really cool that you guys are bringing us into the process.
37:13I love it.
37:13I love doing this because I think...
37:15I love peeling back that curtain.
37:16So many people are like, don't come in the kitchen.
37:18This is where the secret's made.
37:20You're like, no.
37:21You're looking for people that love bagels as much as you do.
37:23100%.
37:24Right?
37:24I want...
37:25You need bagel obsession.
37:26Yes.
37:27If you're not bagel obsessed...
37:29You're not going to...
37:29I mean...
37:30We may not be friends.
37:31We may not...
37:32It might not be cool.
37:33We might not...
37:34We might have a relationship, you know.
37:36But you'll be obsessed.
37:37Okay.
37:37So where's this...
37:38All right.
37:39Can you slide me one of those right there, those parchments real quick?
37:41We're going to take a break.
37:42We got time...
37:42What time is it?
37:43Seven...
37:44That's not right, is it?
37:45No, that's wrong.
37:46It's seven o'clock.
37:47It's six o'clock.
37:47Great.
37:50All right.
37:50Salt bagel.
37:53Right out of the oven.
37:54No.
37:54Knife.
37:55Who needs a knife?
37:55Look at that.
37:55Oh, wow.
37:56God damn.
37:56It's hot.
37:57Steam coming out.
37:58First bite.
37:59First bite.
38:00Holy crap.
38:01That's hot.
38:02Wow.
38:02It's really hot.
38:04Don't burn your...
38:05Don't burn your mouth?
38:06Don't burn your mouth.
38:11Literally right out of the oven hot.
38:13I can't hear it.
38:17You know, huh?
38:18That's so good.
38:20That's perfect.
38:22Salt bagel.
38:23I'm in.
38:23I mean...
38:25I've always been in everything bagel.
38:27People say...
38:27I don't even know about salt.
38:28People say to me all the time, like, a salt bagel.
38:30Yes.
38:31I'm like, it's a breakfast pretzel.
38:32It's so good.
38:34It's a breakfast pretzel.
38:34Like, why wouldn't you want it?
38:35Oh, my God.
38:36My kids will love a breakfast pretzel.
38:38I'm bringing that back.
38:39Oh, yeah.
38:40It's good.
38:42Wow.
38:44Look at that.
38:44And they're like, what about me?
38:45Uh-huh.
38:49I love it.
38:50All right.
38:50That's steam coming off of there.
38:52It's so hot.
38:54Eric, did you see the pans that kind of have, like, the perforated slots on them?
38:58Yes.
38:59If we could get, like, two of them, I want to take these bagels off and kind of scallop stack
39:05them on the tray so they can start to cool a little bit.
39:08But that perforated, like, this perforated pan like that, you can even use that one up
39:11there.
39:12Oh, is that our cream cheese?
39:13Yes.
39:14Oh, good.
39:17All right.
39:17So, we made cream cheese yesterday, too.
39:20Oh, wow.
39:20You guys make your cream cheese?
39:21We make all of our cream cheese in-house.
39:22Come on.
39:23So, this is brown sugar cinnamon.
39:25Wow.
39:26Brown sugar cinnamon cream cheese.
39:28They can find a tool.
39:28What are you looking for?
39:29Oh, it's patchwork.
39:30Bring it over here.
39:30Oh, is there some up there?
39:31I got it.
39:37We're just going to make it up as we go.
39:38Okay.
39:40I mean, we're serving this to customers or to our guests.
39:43So, we'll just put it on here.
39:44We can dip in that.
39:45Brown sugar cinnamon cream cheese.
39:48We'll start with brown sugar.
39:51Brown cinnamon sugar cream cheese.
39:51I need to boil some.
39:52This is great.
39:52Salt and brown sugar cinnamon cream cheese.
39:54It's a great combination.
39:56You want to drop them in?
39:57Yeah, yeah.
39:57You know how to do it?
39:58You got them?
39:58Brown.
40:00What do you think?
40:02Wow.
40:03Okay.
40:04It's a salt and savory.
40:05It's like the sweet and savory combination is, like, one of my favorites to do.
40:09Wow.
40:09I love it.
40:10Okay.
40:11We're eating bagels off of parchment papers.
40:13This is wild.
40:14That's how we roll.
40:14This is it.
40:16Tell me about the coffee program.
40:18Coffee program.
40:19So, in 2009.
40:20How are these doing?
40:21Thanks for reminding me.
40:23Look at you.
40:24Oh, those actually look even better.
40:27They got a little crispy edge.
40:29There we go.
40:31Oh, look at that.
40:32Wow.
40:33That's a good-looking bagel.
40:35Look at that.
40:36Beautiful.
40:36They needed that extra time.
40:37See?
40:39This is why it's so good.
40:40Collaboratively work together.
40:41Collaboratively.
40:42We just figured it out.
40:43We just needed an extra two minutes of distraction of eating hot bagels.
40:49Coffee program started, actually, probably in, like, 2020 when I met my neighbor.
40:55His name is Glenn Turchin.
40:57He was a coffee hobbyist roasting coffee in his garage.
41:01Oh, okay.
41:01He had, like, a 1K roaster.
41:03He had started roasting coffee, like, six years before on, like, a popcorn popper.
41:07Okay.
41:07In his apartment.
41:11And he loved coffee so much.
41:13And we found, I didn't even know him.
41:16We found each other at, like, the playground one day.
41:17And he's like, yeah.
41:18He's like, I made coffee.
41:19I'm like, oh, no way.
41:19I made bagels.
41:20And so.
41:21Did we just become BFFs?
41:23We, like, became best friends.
41:24It's COVID, right?
41:25So, he's, like, in his garage.
41:28Like, I'm on the phone rolling dough.
41:29My kids are running around wild.
41:31He's got his kids.
41:31They're running around wild.
41:32I'm like, hey, I got this awesome idea for a bagel.
41:34I'm bringing it over.
41:35And he's like, what is it?
41:36I'm like, it's cacio e pepe.
41:36He's like, cacio e pepe, like, the pasta dish?
41:38I'm like, yeah, like, the pasta dish.
41:39He's like, what is it?
41:40I'm like, it's salt, pepper, Romano cheese.
41:42It's freaking awesome.
41:43I'm coming over.
41:44And I'd come over.
41:45His kids would come out.
41:46His wife would come out.
41:46We'd all eat bagels in his garage.
41:48And he'd serve us cold brew.
41:49And we just became, like, fast friends.
41:52Yeah.
41:52So, he loses his job.
41:53He decides he's going full coffee.
41:55Right around the same time that we're opening our store, he's building out a warehouse, a
41:58roastery, the whole thing.
42:00Come on.
42:01And I look at him.
42:02I'm like, Otis Coffee is the name of it.
42:03O-T-U-S.
42:05Okay.
42:05And I'm like, I'm going to be your biggest coffee partner.
42:07And keep in mind, he'd, like, been doing this now.
42:10He knew people in the coffee industry.
42:12He was selling coffee to other people, wholesale beans, things like that.
42:18And I was like, I'm going to be your biggest coffee partner.
42:20He's like, okay, sure.
42:23You know?
42:23And I'm like, how many bags do I need to buy a week?
42:26And he's like, a lot.
42:27And I'm like, well, what am I buying now?
42:29We only had drip coffee and cold brew in the store.
42:31That's all we had.
42:32We didn't have espresso program.
42:33And he's like, you're buying, like, 10 pounds a week.
42:35I've got coffee shops buying 50 pounds a week.
42:38So, you've got a long way to go.
42:39Okay, no big deal.
42:41Second store opens.
42:42I'm like, are we getting any closer?
42:43He's like, no.
42:44You're buying, like, 20 pounds a week now.
42:46He's like, get an espresso program.
42:48I'm like, I don't want to deal with espresso.
42:49It's a mess.
42:49I don't want the tamping, all the stuff that espresso.
42:51I'm like, can't do it.
42:53I'm like, machines are expensive, dude.
42:54I'm like, I'm trying to run a business here.
42:57And when we took our business partner, we understood the value in creating a coffee program.
43:06Customers want beverages as a part of their breakfast.
43:08We should have it.
43:09Espresso is a part of it.
43:12And we decided we were going to do that.
43:14So, in our first, like, prototype corporate store, we put an espresso program in.
43:18And Glenn and his wife, Jacqueline, helped us build the program.
43:20They were the coffee experts.
43:22They were our partners, our coffee partner.
43:25And, you know, we sat down and we're talking about it.
43:27I was like, you know, we're going to open, like, hundreds of these.
43:30Are you ready for it?
43:31He's like, I'm ready.
43:32Glenn's like, let's go.
43:33And then orders start rolling in.
43:35And we're like, you know, we're talking internally.
43:38Like, maybe we should just, like, buy Otis coffee.
43:40Like, we should vertically integrate coffee into Jeff's Bagel Run.
43:43And we're like, great, let's do it.
43:45So, we approach him.
43:46And he says, no, I can do this on my own.
43:48And we're like, okay.
43:48And then we open, like, six more stores.
43:50And then we're like, I'm worried about the coffee supply.
43:53Not because Glenn and Jacqueline couldn't do it.
43:55But, like, it takes money to buy green coffee.
43:57Like, you've got to have capital.
43:58You've got to do a lot of stuff.
43:59And so, we go back to him.
44:01We're like, do you want to be a part of this thing that we're doing?
44:04Because you say you one day want to own a coffee shop.
44:06I was like, what about 100 coffee shops?
44:08Yeah.
44:08I was like, now you talk to Glenn.
44:09He's like, I got 35 coffee shops.
44:11And I was like, dude, we're selling bagels.
44:13That's great.
44:14I was like, bagels are still, like, 60% of the business, my man.
44:18I'm like, we're not a coffee shop yet.
44:20But we vertically integrated coffee into the system.
44:23So, Jeff's Bagel Run owns and operates Otis Coffee,
44:27which is a coffee roastery where we source green coffee from farms.
44:32That's amazing.
44:33Directly into, yeah.
44:34So, we own it from farm to cup for our customer, which is really great.
44:37Do you distribute to other?
44:38We have a couple of white label things that we do.
44:42But basically, all the smaller wholesale accounts kind of dropped off
44:44because we got 35.
44:46We have too much.
44:46I mean, we went from, like, every week.
44:48Every week became a new record of coffee roasted for Glenn.
44:52And he went from a 1K roaster, which was, like, maybe, like, two pounds of coffee
44:56to a 10K roaster.
44:59And then we just purchased a, like, 100K roaster.
45:03Wow.
45:04It, like, the cooling tray, you and I could sit in it like a hot tub.
45:07I mean, it is so big.
45:08Wow.
45:08It's massive.
45:09And so, we're roasting coffee now.
45:11We have a 4,000-square-foot warehouse where we have coffee being roasted.
45:15We make these little ingredient packets.
45:16You guys own the warehouse?
45:17Leasing it.
45:17Leasing it.
45:18Okay.
45:18We make our secret ingredient packets for the bagels.
45:22So, the recipe is really simple.
45:23It's five ingredients.
45:24Flour, water, salt, malt, and yeast.
45:25Yep.
45:26And that's it.
45:26That's all that's in the bagels.
45:27But we send a packet of salt and malt to the stores.
45:32So, all they have to do is tear it open, put it in their flour.
45:33Got it.
45:34And so, they're making it scratch in the house every day.
45:37But they don't have them.
45:38How many states are you guys?
45:39Nine.
45:40Eric, how many states?
45:41Nine?
45:41Nine states.
45:43Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Las Vegas, Nevada.
45:50Chicago, Illinois.
45:52Where's the other one?
45:53What am I missing?
45:54That's it.
45:55Oh, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
45:56Sweet.
45:56That's where we're at.
45:57Amazing.
45:5835 stores.
45:59What's the, give us the store economics.
46:02They're pretty strong.
46:03I mean, like, top third are doing, like, 1.3 million AUV.
46:07Wow.
46:07Single day part.
46:08We're open from 630 till 2.
46:11They return about 18%.
46:12But, you know, I think that number is going to get better over time as we build.
46:17Infrastructure.
46:17As we build, like.
46:17Yeah, I mean, I think that, like, food costs will come down as we get bigger with, you know,
46:22purchasing power on flour and cream cheese, like, two biggest ingredients.
46:26And, you know, labor, I'm still in this market.
46:28Labor is the number one control.
46:30You know, how do you.
46:31But labor directly correlates in our business to the amount of sales you can do.
46:35I've not really seen lean businesses that drive sales up, up, up, and up.
46:39Because we believe in that human component of what we do.
46:43We have great technology in the store.
46:44We built our own tech stack.
46:45We have full POS, kitchen display, customer mobile app.
46:49We built all of it in-house.
46:50Wow.
46:50First three people we hired were software engineers.
46:52Okay.
46:53And we wanted that system to work for us to make the humans better at human stuff.
46:58Yep.
46:59That's amazing.
46:59That's the part of, like, you come into a place and you don't, you remember the food.
47:05You're like, oh, that tasted good.
47:07But you remember how the people made you feel.
47:09And if the people make you feel like you're seen and appreciated, they're going to come back.
47:14Yeah.
47:14And they're going to give you so much grace when you make a mistake.
47:17Because you're undoubtedly going to make a mistake.
47:18We're turning thousands of bagels a day out of these stores.
47:21You're going to put the wrong bagel in a bag.
47:23You're going to make a coffee the wrong way.
47:24And if you're kind to them and they feel like you appreciate them, they're like, it's cool.
47:29We'll get it next time, Sean.
47:30Yeah.
47:31You know, and they come back.
47:32So that's what we're trying to create.
47:33What, uh.
47:34Everything again.
47:36What have you, what have you learned about storytelling?
47:38We started this podcast, you know, back in 2022.
47:41I built a media company on top of our barbecue business.
47:44We interviewed the greatest storytellers, entrepreneurs.
47:46Toast has been such a great partner to us to give us the opportunity to do stuff like this.
47:50Like, I mean, how cool to be at the restaurant leadership conference.
47:53It's insane.
47:53Like, come inside the kitchen with you, hear your story about you, your wife, the coffee business.
47:59What have you learned about the power of storytelling?
48:02I think storytelling is a part of the DNA that we have as human beings.
48:07Yeah.
48:08We've been telling stories and we know this because we see pictures on walls of caves.
48:12You know, we have records and records of history where we tell stories about things that have happened.
48:17And so in today's digital media age where the attention is on a cell phone and you're scrolling through as
48:23quickly as you can, storytelling is even more important.
48:26Because there's so much noise around what you're doing that to capture someone's attention, you've got to have a great
48:32story.
48:32You've got to be talking about, you know, walking with your kids in the stroller of your, you know, your
48:38new buddy who's roasting coffee.
48:39Because if you can tell that story, people are going to be like, oh, I'll try their coffee.
48:43I will break my ritual to go to your place.
48:46100%.
48:46And the storytelling is the only thing that does that.
48:48Because otherwise, you know, I hope they're in the car listening to the podcast and you're like, man, that guy
48:55Glenn from Otis Coffee is pretty cool.
48:57I can't believe that's part of Jeff's Bagel Run.
48:58I'm going to go there this morning instead.
49:00Yeah.
49:00Because they're going to, and that sudden the ritual changes, the storytelling is what impacted that.
49:05It wasn't the bagel, it wasn't the coffee.
49:07And I think that's something that we miss.
49:08One of the coolest things is like, as humans, story is part of our DNA, it's part of our culture.
49:13But now because of digital tools and because of distribution, you just never know who's watching or who's listening.
49:20100%.
49:21Like everyone's focused on the hundreds of thousands of views and millions, like none of that matters.
49:25None of it matters.
49:25What matters is one person that's watching or listening right now that's like, holy shit, like this could be my
49:30next year.
49:30It could be their next business.
49:31Oh, absolutely.
49:32I mean, it could be their next business.
49:33It could be their next.
49:34Maybe, maybe you're inspiring them to go.
49:36Okay.
49:36You know, now is the time.
49:37I mean, this is on entrepreneur.
49:39Like entrepreneurs are waiting, they're waiting for the moment.
49:41People come to me all the time and they say, you inspired me.
49:45Yeah.
49:46And I was like, I'm glad you feel that way.
49:48I'm glad that I did that.
49:49I set out just to bake bagels for my wife.
49:52You know, I'm like, this is a love story.
49:53Have you made enough bagels for her yet?
49:55I mean, have we made enough?
49:57Yeah.
49:57Have you made enough for her?
49:58For her specifically?
49:59No, never.
49:59I have to make them until we leave this place.
50:02You know, we don't get out alive.
50:03So we're going to make bagels until the end for her.
50:07But yeah, I mean, I think you're right.
50:10You know, people want to feel a connection.
50:12They want to feel something that goes beyond.
50:15Why do you think bagels are having such a moment right now?
50:18I think there's a combination of things happening.
50:20One, like we're leaning into scratch product.
50:24I think people are looking for something that is created, curated, crafted where they live by people in their community.
50:31I think that makes such an impact.
50:33Like they want that.
50:34They don't want a big chain.
50:37They don't want a, they want to know their baker.
50:39They want to know the humans.
50:39They want to know their baker.
50:40And I think COVID sort of made that like, they put us in a position where we're like, systematically our
50:44brains change when we're like, I can't, what do you mean I can't go anywhere?
50:47What do you mean I'm not allowed to talk to my friends or see my people?
50:49And now we're like, that becomes so much more important.
50:52So if you know your baker and they're making bagels for you, it becomes really valuable.
50:56I think holistically, like here in America, the bagel boom is happening because we have so many transient people coming
51:05from major places.
51:06Like the Northeast is where bagels concentrated for so long.
51:08And now they live in Phoenix.
51:10And now they live here and they're everywhere all over the country.
51:13And they're looking for something and no one's filled that gap.
51:16And so now there's all sorts of, I mean, we are one of them.
51:18We're growing, there's other businesses that are growing in the bagel industry.
51:22A lot of them are mom and pops, you know, but they're fulfilling a need that somebody had from back
51:27home, you know, that taste of home.
51:29So I think that's why it's happening.
51:31Amazing.
51:31If you guys are watching, if you're listening, we do a live show every single Wednesday, every Friday.
51:35It's called Rising Tides Live.
51:36Go to betheshow.media slash risingtides for you to be on the podcast.
51:41We care about you, wherever your business is, wherever you are on earth.
51:44If you know a storyteller, if you know an operator that I should be talking to, please email us.
51:47It's podcast at CaliBBQ.media.
51:49How do people learn more about Jeff Spagels?
51:51Visit us at JeffBagelRun.com.
51:53Yes.
51:53We got all the information you need for anything from our bagel of the day to learn how to franchise
51:57one of these yourself.
51:58What's the name of the podcast?
51:59The Weekly Run.
52:00The Weekly Run.
52:01The Weekly Run.
52:02We'll put links into the show notes.
52:04Let's get ready.
52:05We're going to go serve.
52:06Yeah, we got to go upstairs and serve 650 people.
52:08Let's go serve 650 CEOs of major restaurant brands.
52:11Let's go, Jeff.
52:12Hey, man.
52:12Amazing, man.
52:14I appreciate you.
52:14Well done.
52:15As always, guys, stay curious.
52:17Get involved.
52:17Don't be afraid to ask for help.
52:19If you want to reach out to me, at Sean P. Welchef on Instagram is the fastest.
52:22We appreciate you.
52:24And seriously, if there's a Jeff Spagel Run wherever you live, go enjoy it right out of
52:30the oven and get the salt bagel.
52:32Definitely.
52:32Boom.
52:33Let's go.
52:38Thank you for listening.
52:39If you've made it this long, you are part of the community.
52:42You're part of the tribe.
52:43We can't do this alone.
52:44We started.
52:45No one was listening.
52:46Now we have a community of digital hospitality leaders all over the globe.
52:50Please check out our new series called Restaurant Technology Substack.
52:54It's a Substack newsletter.
52:55It's free.
52:56It's some of our deep work on the best technology for restaurants.
52:59Also, go to YouTube and subscribe to Cali BBQ Media.
53:04Cali BBQ Media on YouTube.
53:05We've been putting out a lot of new original content.
53:08Hopefully, you guys like that content.
53:10If you want to work with us, go to etheshow.media.
53:13We show up all over the United States, some international countries.
53:16We would love to work with you and your growing brand on digital storytelling.
53:20You can reach out to me anytime, at Sean P. Welchef on Instagram.
53:23I'm weirdly available.
53:25Stay curious.
53:26Get involved.
53:27Don't be afraid to ask for help.
53:28We'll catch you next episode.
53:29Bye.
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