Interview with PizzaHQ co-founder Jay Udrija about changes in the pizza Industry, new restaurant tech, and food service robotics.
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00:00 Welcome to Restaurant Influencers presented by Entrepreneur.
00:04 My name is Sean Walchef,
00:05 founder of Cali BBQ and Cali BBQ Media.
00:08 In life, in the restaurant business,
00:11 and in the new creator economy,
00:13 we learn through lessons and stories.
00:14 I want to give a special shout out to Toast,
00:16 our primary technology partner at our barbecue restaurants.
00:20 They power so many of the restaurants that we have on this show.
00:22 Thank you for believing in hospitality,
00:25 and thank you for giving us the opportunity to have
00:27 badass guests like we have today.
00:30 Today's guest is Jason Udrea.
00:33 You can find him @JUdrea_.
00:37 You can find his world's sickest pizza joint,
00:41 Pizza HQ_ on Instagram as well.
00:45 Jason, what's up, man? Welcome to the show.
00:47 What's up, Sean? Awesome to be here, man. Appreciate it.
00:51 Favorite random question, where in the world is
00:54 your favorite stadium, stage, or venue?
00:58 I'm an East Coast guy.
01:01 Candidly, I'm not a huge sports fan.
01:03 I'm going to go with MSG here.
01:06 MSG is MSG, right?
01:07 I've been to a few concerts there growing up and whatnot,
01:11 and you can't go wrong with that answer.
01:14 Okay. We're going to MSG.
01:16 We're going to pack it. I'm going to talk to Entrepreneur, talk to Toast.
01:19 We're going to fill it with people that listen to this show,
01:22 people from all over the earth that care about hospitality,
01:25 care about hospitality storytelling, people that are creators,
01:29 not just entrepreneurs, but online storytellers.
01:32 I'm going to give you the mic on center court,
01:34 and I'm going to say, pitch us your crazy idea
01:37 of building the world's sickest pizza joint. What is it?
01:41 Yeah, absolutely. Pizza HQ,
01:44 the idea that came from,
01:46 my partner and I, we're in the traditional pizza business.
01:49 My background is food manufacturing.
01:51 I joined the restaurant industry.
01:54 We had a traditional pizzeria.
01:56 We built it up, high-volume establishment.
01:59 We're looking at scaling it to location two,
02:01 location three, so forth and so on.
02:03 With that was eliminating the bottlenecks,
02:07 putting systems behind it,
02:09 really creating a very lean process,
02:13 and something that has scalability behind it.
02:16 Some of the pain points that we had was very skilled labor.
02:21 Especially with the pizza makers,
02:23 it comes at a high price point, that labor,
02:26 but also more so it's just very hard to find.
02:29 Huge menu we had at the time.
02:32 We're looking, how do we eliminate some of these things?
02:36 We tested a bunch of different equipment for automation,
02:40 bringing it into the back of house.
02:42 We slimmed down the menu to just pizza.
02:44 That's what we do here. We're all about perfecting pizza.
02:47 What we did is we brought this same product
02:50 that was loved by the neighborhood.
02:52 Again, a very high-volume establishment.
02:54 We brought it at almost half the price point,
02:57 much quicker speed,
03:00 and with a much easier back of house infrastructure
03:04 and a lot of scalability behind it.
03:07 At PCHQ, we rely heavily on technology,
03:09 heavily on back of house automation
03:12 and the newest trends in tech
03:15 to bring the most efficient, quickest, low-cost pizza product
03:20 that's still not compromising the quality.
03:23 - Were you not pizza robots?
03:27 - Pizza robots, baby.
03:28 Yeah.
03:29 I want to say we're probably,
03:33 you see it popping up a little bit now
03:34 in the restaurant industry.
03:36 I mean, a lot of this stuff on the food manufacturing side
03:38 has been around in terms of the automation, right?
03:40 But the restaurant industry, I think it just hit so recently.
03:43 I mean, we started here last May, so that's May 2022.
03:49 And at the time, I think we were the only,
03:53 or it's not like one of the very first people
03:55 bringing this side of technology
03:57 on the restaurant side to pizza.
04:00 So it started with, again, the skills side of pizza
04:05 is stretching the dough, right?
04:06 That's the hardest part.
04:09 There's guys that worked for us that,
04:12 yeah, I couldn't sit there and fill their spot
04:13 on a Friday night. It just is what it is, right?
04:15 So it's a acquired skill.
04:16 It takes years of experience,
04:18 and it's not something we could train very easily.
04:20 And it's been a problem for us, right?
04:22 It's very hard to find those guys.
04:24 And if you lose them, you're in a bad spot.
04:27 So that's the one thing we wanted to eliminate,
04:30 and not to eliminate the job behind that,
04:32 but to be able to bring anyone into that role
04:34 and train them on it, right,
04:35 and be able to do that successfully.
04:36 So we tried a lot of different dough presses, right?
04:40 What we didn't want to do was sacrifice quality,
04:43 as I mentioned before.
04:44 You know, there's a lot of presses that you press it down,
04:47 and, you know, it comes as like a frozen pizza
04:49 or, you know, that type of setting.
04:50 We really wanted to keep the authenticity
04:52 of New York-style pizza
04:54 and really mimic the same product that we had at the time.
04:57 We were very successful with it.
04:58 You know, we wanted to keep that going.
04:59 We didn't want to streamline this
05:01 into more of a commodity-type product.
05:04 So we tried many different dough presses.
05:09 We went with a Capone pizza press.
05:11 It has a beveled edge.
05:12 You know, you have the crust, you know,
05:14 the plates are heated,
05:15 and, you know, we were able to bring that into the process.
05:17 And I mean, again,
05:20 it fills in one of the hardest roles to secure.
05:23 And then, you know, followed by that, the pizza,
05:25 you know, you can see on our website or Instagram
05:28 some of the renderings we had,
05:29 but the pizza, you know, goes out of conveyor.
05:32 You know, sauce, cheese is applied,
05:34 toppings, pepperoni, sliced fresh goes on the pie.
05:36 The user's inputting what type of pizza it is.
05:39 And then from there, it goes into a conveyor oven.
05:42 You know, in the conveyor oven,
05:43 like, you know, traditional pizza, you have deck ovens.
05:45 There's hot spots.
05:46 On a Friday night when a door keeps opening,
05:48 the temperatures fluctuate, it takes longer to cook.
05:52 And, you know, we partnered with Hot Rocks.
05:53 We actually just installed our sixth oven here
05:56 at our Woodland Park facility.
05:58 And we have another two on order at a new facility
06:01 that we're opening up shortly.
06:03 And, you know, it's,
06:05 what do you think of conveyor ovens, right?
06:06 What do you think of, you know,
06:08 some of the chains that use it where, you know,
06:10 inside it's like a mesh
06:12 and it's like kind of like a convection cooked pizza.
06:14 But Hot Rocks has a pretty unique product in the marketplace
06:17 where once it gets onto the stone,
06:19 it's actually cooking on black granite.
06:21 And, you know, that stone follows it through it
06:23 and it creates a New York style crust, right?
06:26 A crust that's authentic to our market here,
06:29 which consumers expect.
06:31 You know, one thing that, you know,
06:33 we said from the beginning, right,
06:34 we're not gonna be in business if the pizza's not good.
06:36 Yeah, that just is what it is, right?
06:38 There's a very, you know,
06:40 high expectation of quality and authenticity here.
06:44 There's many different options, right?
06:45 It's not like, you know, pizza's hard to come by.
06:47 There's a, you know, pizzeria on every corner.
06:50 So, you know, we knew we had to put out
06:52 a good quality product.
06:53 It took a good amount of time
06:56 and a lot of playing around with, you know,
06:57 different equipment vendors
06:58 to build that back of house infrastructure.
07:01 But yeah, I mean, you know,
07:02 jumping back to your original point, pizza robots.
07:04 I mean, you know, that's the idea behind it.
07:06 We really wanted, you know,
07:08 tech-driven but very efficient back of house.
07:12 You know, and the idea that, like I said,
07:15 one of our pillars is price.
07:17 You know, we're able to achieve a very low price.
07:20 When our cheese pizza is 10.99 for a large buy
07:22 in the market here, you know,
07:25 on a low end, maybe starts at 15, goes up to 19.
07:28 So it's, you know, it's priced very aggressively.
07:31 And, you know, we're able to achieve that
07:32 with, you know, really just, again,
07:34 creating very efficient product
07:35 and just focusing solely on pizza.
07:37 - So currently you have one shop up and operating
07:40 and another shop that is soon to be open?
07:42 - Yeah, we have this facility here in Willam Park.
07:46 This is our first facility.
07:48 Again, we started, I guess, a little over a year ago,
07:51 almost a year and a half.
07:52 We have a second facility down in Roselle, New Jersey,
07:56 which is, you know, hopefully,
07:58 yeah, deadlines are always a pushback,
08:00 but yeah, we're hoping like middle of October
08:02 to really be up running there,
08:04 starting with, you know, two ovens and then we'll ramp up.
08:07 So that facility is a little larger.
08:09 It's about five or 6,000 square feet.
08:11 You know, it was an old Dunkin' Donuts commissary.
08:14 So it's like, it's pretty interesting.
08:16 You know, it's like a kind of production facility feel,
08:19 built out, food grade.
08:20 So, you know, it worked for us.
08:21 And, you know, again, the idea is to shift
08:23 some of the volume down there
08:24 and, you know, just keep doing what we do.
08:27 - Well, I think, you know, when you and I first connected,
08:29 we jumped on a call.
08:30 I don't remember how we found each other,
08:32 some mutual friend, some connection,
08:35 but I remember talking to you
08:38 and knowing that you were thinking about things differently.
08:40 I mean, you're not even calling them restaurants,
08:42 they're facilities.
08:43 And, you know, I was telling you about the barbecue business
08:45 that we were building and we were removing seats
08:47 in our restaurant and adding more smokers.
08:50 And you were telling me about the automation
08:51 and trying to, you know, really get more quality pizza
08:54 at a better price to more people in the local area.
08:58 And we both connected on that.
08:59 I'd love for you to talk a little bit
09:01 about the economics behind why you're building this way
09:05 and how someone that's listening to this show
09:07 can possibly start to think a little bit differently
09:10 about their business.
09:11 - Yeah.
09:13 The original spot that I was mentioning that, you know,
09:17 where the idea here started has a dining room.
09:21 Yeah, and majority of the business is delivery,
09:23 pickup and delivery.
09:24 - What's the percentage, 80%, 90%?
09:27 - Yeah, probably about a great,
09:29 a little over 80% is pickup and delivery.
09:32 Honestly, it might even be a little higher than that.
09:34 Once COVID hit, we installed new pizza ovens there
09:37 and, you know, kind of took a little bit away
09:39 from the dining room.
09:40 So that number might've dropped a little bit
09:41 on the dining side.
09:42 But, you know, with dining,
09:45 one of the, like I said,
09:46 my background is food manufacturing.
09:47 One of the things I really liked
09:48 about coming to the restaurant business
09:49 was being able to interact with the guests, you know?
09:51 So I do enjoy it.
09:54 I enjoy the dining aspect of it, you know,
09:55 being able to talk to people and sit down at their table
09:57 and, you know, really having that one-on-one interaction.
10:00 But just, you know,
10:02 going back to the economic side of it, right,
10:03 you can only turn over a table within, you know,
10:06 so much time, right?
10:06 And, you know, each ticket, your ticket price.
10:10 Whereas delivery and pickup, I mean, you know,
10:11 it's as much as your kitchen can handle,
10:13 you can push out there.
10:14 And, you know, what we saw is, like I said,
10:15 we added more pizza ovens there.
10:17 You know, we enhanced the, you know,
10:19 back house infrastructure as much as we can
10:20 to accommodate more volume.
10:24 You know, and there became a point where we got tapped out
10:27 on a Friday night, we had four pizza guys,
10:29 and I mean, cranking, you know, it's very hard, you know,
10:32 to keep adding to it, you know,
10:34 you start to run into mistakes and bottlenecks.
10:36 But, you know, we built this over here.
10:39 We don't offer any dining, it's just pickup and delivery.
10:42 You know, and it's a little bit of a different model
10:44 and a little different, like, you know,
10:45 avatar for a customer, but, you know,
10:48 what we want is a portable pizza, right?
10:50 We bring pizza down to the price, you know,
10:52 we feel it should be.
10:54 You know, pizza's probably, I'd say,
10:56 one of the highest margin items on, like, you know,
10:58 traditional pizzeria menu.
11:01 But, you know, we built this, our back of house here
11:06 to, like, really not have those peak pain,
11:08 the pain points on those peak hours.
11:11 Our back of house here with the six ovens,
11:15 I mean, we could run close to 660.
11:18 I missed our forecast, right?
11:19 We'll see next week when we really start pushing it out.
11:21 We could run about 660 pies an hour.
11:24 We do, you know, we do have business also with, like,
11:28 you know, some, we have corporate accounts
11:30 and, you know, some other customers that, you know,
11:32 really enable us to push that kind of throughput out.
11:34 But on a Friday night, you know,
11:37 there's never a two hour wait
11:38 or an hour and a half wait for delivery.
11:40 You know, it's half an hour, we're out at your door.
11:43 Pickup is always 15 minutes and it doesn't matter, right?
11:45 Ticket comes in, bill gets pressed, goes through,
11:47 and we, you know, within that amount of time,
11:50 it's at the end of the oven
11:51 and our customer's ready to pick it up.
11:52 So, you know, that was something that was very,
11:56 you know, we relied on heavily when building this model,
11:58 is, you know, being able to, again, on a Friday night,
12:01 have a pizza in half an hour over here.
12:03 It's hard to get, let alone being able to have five pizzas
12:06 or eight pizzas, you know, within that time
12:08 and, you know, being able to accommodate
12:12 the customer like that.
12:13 But yeah, you know, back to the economics,
12:17 you know, we still, like I said,
12:18 we took dining out of the equation.
12:20 We would just offer pickup and delivery.
12:22 And, you know, with being able to just have this kind of
12:25 back of house infrastructure,
12:26 it, you know, it enables better economics, right?
12:30 We, you know, labor is reduced.
12:33 There's less, you know, less bottlenecks in the process.
12:37 You know, and we're able to, again,
12:38 just do what we do best, which is make pizza
12:40 and make it as efficient and cost-effective as possible.
12:44 >> How do you get corporate accounts?
12:45 >> So my partner handles that side of the business, sales.
12:50 He's a beast, but yeah, up until now,
12:54 it's been a lot of just cold calling and, you know,
12:57 being able to fulfill a need that seemed to be there
13:00 in a marketplace.
13:01 We have a few different types of corporate accounts.
13:05 One of them is probably the most dominant one is schools.
13:10 We're able to accommodate, like I said,
13:12 just from our throughput standpoint, you know,
13:14 schools during lunch here in New Jersey,
13:15 schools do pizza once a week.
13:17 You know, it's pretty standard.
13:19 Some schools do offer it every day.
13:21 And, you know, all those pies are going in
13:25 within a period of, you know, two hours or whatever it may be
13:28 like between the different lunchtimes.
13:31 So the market was very segmented when we came in.
13:34 We saw a big opportunity there.
13:36 That's actually one of the points that like segue-ed us
13:41 into like, all right, how do we like really produce
13:43 a lot of volume, like within a certain amount of time,
13:45 right, and really build out these ovens and whatnot.
13:48 But, you know, right now, you know,
13:50 they'll go to different pizzerias.
13:51 There's towns that we, there's this one town
13:53 we just picked up a contract with,
13:56 but they ordered from Domino's
13:58 'cause Domino's is the only one that could
13:59 to fill that many pizzas.
14:00 And the Domino's that could do it was a few towns over,
14:03 like in different territories, and they couldn't deliver
14:05 because the franchising, you know, borders and whatnot.
14:08 And, you know, the school would actually go
14:10 and pick up the pizza.
14:11 So, you know, what we saw with the market's very segmented,
14:14 schools are really struggling with pizzerias
14:15 being able to do it on time, right?
14:17 That's a critical component to pizza lunch
14:19 has to be there on time, slices cut evenly.
14:22 You know, so we started seeing some of these opportunities
14:26 and tackling that market.
14:28 And between word of mouth, you know,
14:31 that part of the business has really grown very quickly.
14:34 And then corporate accounts, right,
14:37 like trampoline parks, birthday party venues,
14:39 car dealerships that order regularly.
14:42 You know, these are our target customers
14:43 all weekend long, we're going to these places
14:45 and bringing pizza.
14:47 So yeah, that part of the business is, like I said,
14:50 grown up, it's been very nice for us.
14:53 You know, and then the other side
14:54 is the retail customer, right?
14:55 And now that comes from marketing and social media.
14:57 I mean, yeah, you know well yourself,
15:00 you know, the different channels
15:02 to bring that type of guest in.
15:03 - Tell me about social media.
15:06 - Social media.
15:08 So when we first started this,
15:12 and I'm going to say started a business,
15:14 when we were putting together the business plan, right,
15:16 like we had, you know, these three revenue streams.
15:18 We had the schools, we had the B2B,
15:19 we know we sold the wholesale accounts.
15:21 And then, you know, we had the direct to consumer, right?
15:25 And we, you know, had this picture of like,
15:26 okay, they're all going to grow in unison,
15:28 equally and whatnot.
15:30 When we started, we really saw like just from,
15:32 again, the opportunity I said with the schools,
15:34 like that market has grown so quick
15:36 and we kind of really had to put our attention there.
15:38 And like, you know, we started last May with 200 pies.
15:43 You know, week over week on all our business.
15:46 And, you know, we're projecting like next week,
15:49 it should be somewhere around 7,000.
15:51 So like the business has grown dramatically.
15:53 - From 200 pies to 7,000?
15:57 - 7,000, yeah.
15:58 - 7,000 pies a week?
16:00 - 7,000 pies a week, yeah.
16:02 - Come on.
16:03 You have enough robots for that?
16:06 No wonder you're opening up more facilities.
16:08 - Yeah, we just purchased a lot more equipment
16:13 you know, within the past few months,
16:15 stacking different machines together for, you know,
16:17 we have some stuff for like higher throughput,
16:20 sauce, cheesers and all that.
16:22 But yeah, it's a pretty cool operation.
16:25 We'll see if we have enough, you know,
16:26 we're just keep adding on to it.
16:29 But yeah, so we'll be doing 7,000.
16:33 And I forgot actually what the original,
16:36 where we were going with this.
16:37 - Tell me about the 7,000,
16:38 these are all Hot Rocks pizza ovens
16:40 or is it a combination of other pieces of equipment?
16:43 'Cause like that's a huge contract with a brand.
16:47 I mean, that's a lot of trust.
16:48 We use all Hickory pits for our barbecue
16:50 and we went from one pit to two pits
16:52 and now we have four pits.
16:53 I wish we were doing 7,000 racks of ribs a week.
16:57 - Yeah, we're pretty close to the Hot Rocks team.
17:02 I mean, they've been good to us.
17:04 We've started with our first oven in May.
17:06 And like I said, we just got a four, five and six installed.
17:10 It was just last week.
17:10 So, so far so good, you know, we like them.
17:14 We plan on growing with them.
17:16 But yeah, and to jump back to your original question,
17:20 I remember with social media.
17:21 So the wholesale side of the business grew very fast
17:23 and we didn't get a lot of time to, you know,
17:26 really spend on the retail consumer.
17:28 So just now with summer slowing down
17:30 some of the school business
17:31 and you'll have a little more time on our hands.
17:32 We've partnered with Targetable.
17:35 We use them for, you know, our social,
17:37 our organic social, as well as paid ads.
17:40 And, you know, we've just been starting
17:42 to ramp up that past few months.
17:43 So yeah, it's going well.
17:45 - Do they do creative for also?
17:48 - Yeah, they do creative.
17:50 It's funny, all these things,
17:51 I'm a very hands-on person, right?
17:53 I like doing stuff myself.
17:55 I have Photoshop, I have all these apps.
17:56 I'm not like an expert in any of them, but I enjoy it.
17:59 And, you know, I always just get caught up in it.
18:01 I'm like, all right, this, you know,
18:02 what I'm taking two hours for,
18:03 you guys can do in 10 minutes.
18:04 So we all afford it.
18:06 Yeah, they do all our creative or most of it, you know,
18:09 we have photographers come in, you know,
18:10 at least just give them some of the content to work with.
18:13 But they do our creative, they do our posting.
18:16 It's been going well, you know,
18:18 that's the part of the business, you know,
18:19 we've started like a few times,
18:22 like we'll go hard with like, all right,
18:23 you know, let's get good on Instagram,
18:25 let's do reels once a week, right?
18:26 It's cool, like, you know, they start trending,
18:27 you watch how many viewers you have,
18:29 but it's something you really just have to
18:31 stay consistent with.
18:31 And, you know, there's so many moving parts.
18:33 So it's tough.
18:34 So it's working well, you know,
18:37 I like just having them, you know,
18:39 consistent three times a week, they're posting,
18:41 you know, we don't have to worry about it.
18:42 And then, you know, if there's something cool
18:44 in the middle of it, you know, we'll post ourselves.
18:46 But, you know, at least we have a consistent, you know,
18:50 voice on our organic channels.
18:51 - Huge news, Toast, our primary technology partner
18:54 at our barbecue restaurants in San Diego,
18:57 and the primary technology partner of so many of the guests
19:00 that we have on this show have announced
19:02 they are expanding their business offerings with Google.
19:07 So now if you search on Google Maps
19:10 and you sign up for Toast Tables or Toast Waitlist,
19:14 you will have the opportunity to improve
19:16 the digital hospitality experience of the guest,
19:19 allow them to book through the maps
19:22 into the Toast reservation system.
19:24 One of the biggest difficulties that restaurant guests have
19:28 is when they search for your restaurant
19:30 and they want a table,
19:31 they do not have an easy solution to book a table
19:35 or to get on a wait list.
19:36 This is huge news for the restaurant industry,
19:39 huge news for guests,
19:40 and huge news for you, the restaurant owner.
19:43 Check out Toast Tables today
19:44 and find out the new integrated solution that they have.
19:48 This is something that we've wanted for a long time.
19:50 How do you integrate reservations,
19:53 wait lists into your point of sale?
19:55 Toast has done it, check it out.
19:57 Have you gotten any pushback
20:01 from the other pizza shop owners?
20:03 - So pizza shop owners, not too much.
20:08 I can think of maybe one or two very small examples,
20:11 but pushback, we've got a lot from the consumers.
20:14 So when we first opened up,
20:16 our thing was automation, right?
20:19 I mean, I think it's like the coolest thing in the world.
20:21 My partners think so as well.
20:24 And when we first opened up,
20:26 we put on our windows this big vinyl rendering
20:28 of what we're gonna have
20:30 and they always bring robots and everything.
20:32 We got a lot of interest from the press.
20:35 We're on all the mainstream media channels,
20:38 northjersey.com, a bunch of newspapers
20:40 and online presence.
20:41 And initially there was just huge pushback.
20:45 We were taken back.
20:46 People just hated it.
20:48 I think we failed to do a little bit in the beginning,
20:54 a little bit of a learning lesson.
20:55 I don't think we pushed out really the authenticity
20:58 and the quality, right?
20:59 We just went out on this like automation.
21:01 I mean, you remember when E-ZPass first came out,
21:03 like nobody wanted those toll lanes, right?
21:05 Everyone boycotted it, they didn't want it.
21:07 And now you can't live without it.
21:09 - Are you talking about the toll booth operator?
21:12 - The toll booth, yeah, yeah.
21:14 - People want it.
21:15 - I don't know if they're called E-ZPass nationally,
21:17 but yeah, nobody wanted to go through the lanes
21:20 with the tag, right?
21:20 Everyone wanted, boycotted it.
21:22 So, same thing like Amazon, right?
21:25 There's a lot of pushback on Amazon.
21:26 There still is, came about.
21:29 People will adopt it, it'll take time.
21:31 But we were always just like very strong
21:33 foot forward on automation.
21:35 And what we saw, especially just being
21:36 in the New Jersey, New York market,
21:39 people didn't see like the authenticity behind it, right?
21:44 They didn't, they weren't aligned with it.
21:48 So we've, a lot of like comments, like,
21:50 "No, thank you, get this out of here.
21:52 They're gonna fail."
21:53 I have so many of them saved, I just print that.
21:55 I just can't wait one day to like,
21:56 make a cool post about it in like five years.
21:58 Like, those stories when you first start up
22:01 and all the pushback.
22:02 - That's why we document everything.
22:04 - Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, it's cool.
22:06 It's motivation for sure.
22:07 But what we failed to do, obviously,
22:10 as a brand was really push out there.
22:12 Like, "Hey, this is a quality product
22:13 at a lower price point."
22:14 And it's made differently,
22:16 but it's made with the consumer in mind, right?
22:18 Like, the automation that we have is,
22:21 of course, listen, there's business advantages to it, right?
22:24 We bring it out for that,
22:25 but there's also consumer advantage, right?
22:27 You get a consistent product every time, right?
22:28 It's not gonna be extra cheese one time
22:30 and light cheese another time.
22:32 It's gonna be the same amount of cheese, right?
22:33 'Cause the machines are much more consistent
22:36 than a hand person, sorry, a hand operator.
22:39 And we're able to deliver a better product.
22:43 We're able to deliver way faster.
22:44 We're able to deliver at a lower price point.
22:45 And it's still that quality product.
22:48 I always give this example, right?
22:49 I have a cousin in Canada.
22:51 And the first time he came down,
22:53 I talked to him all the time
22:54 and we talked about the business
22:56 and one dot, but the first time he came down,
22:58 he tried it like, wow, this is actually really good.
23:00 Which like, it just shows like the initial perception
23:02 is it may not be, right?
23:03 You know, it's just gonna be like a manufactured product.
23:06 So that was like an obstacle that we had to overcome.
23:08 And like, when I tell you like pushback,
23:09 like, man, you got some of these,
23:11 you can still look at it.
23:11 Some of the initial press releases,
23:14 you know, the comments are like terrible.
23:16 But, you know, we've really changed
23:18 the brand voice a little bit.
23:20 You know, we worked with Targetable on that.
23:21 Like, all right, let's hold back.
23:22 I'm not saying to hide behind the automation.
23:24 You know, that's what we do, right?
23:25 - Oh, you worked with Targetable on that?
23:26 - Yeah.
23:27 - Yeah, but let's really push quality, right?
23:29 Let's really push some of the other pillars of our brand
23:31 that are important that we want the consumers to see.
23:33 And, you know, the automation is just how we do it, right?
23:36 That's not who we are.
23:36 We aren't, you know, just this automated brand.
23:38 And at the end of the day, like,
23:40 the consumers don't care as much about that
23:42 as they care about getting delicious pizza.
23:44 But yeah, you know, fast forward like a year and a half,
23:46 like, you know, we're at a mouse spreads.
23:47 Like people come here, they love it.
23:48 They, you know, we get good reviews online
23:50 and, you know, people in like the Facebook groups
23:52 and, you know, we do tons of events with the community.
23:55 You know, I'm sure you know too, like how important that is.
23:57 And, you know, we're about to get that.
23:58 And, you know, they see, we're not just these like robots
24:01 that are like running this company, right?
24:02 We're like very involved with the community.
24:04 We got families, we got kids, like, you know,
24:06 we love our customers and, you know,
24:07 we just took a different approach to doing things.
24:10 So yeah, a lot of pushback.
24:12 It was, it was interesting.
24:13 You know, there was definitely the first few times
24:15 where like, oof, you know, a little, okay,
24:18 are we sure we want to do this?
24:18 You know, this is like a little crazy.
24:20 You know, it feels like everyone's opposing you,
24:21 but it's cool to have like, you know,
24:24 gotten through that and, or at least like getting
24:25 through that, you know, and being able to,
24:27 there's a lot of people that like stick up for us.
24:29 Like, no, you guys got to try it.
24:30 That was really good.
24:31 Like the owners are super friendly, you know,
24:34 and we got that image out there.
24:36 - So one of the coolest things about, for me,
24:40 for doing this show is it allows me to connect
24:42 with people like you, people all over the globe
24:45 that are running these incredible hospitality businesses.
24:48 It also allows us to connect
24:49 with hospitality technology companies
24:52 that help restaurant operators like yourself and myself.
24:56 You shared a story with me that I was hoping
24:57 you could share with the audience,
24:59 but anything that you've implemented recently
25:02 that's been game-changing that doesn't have to do
25:05 with pizza, but has to do with the business of pizza?
25:08 - Yeah, so, you know, we talked about the back
25:11 of house tech and automation, but you know,
25:14 there's the Bov store, there's the, you know,
25:16 the front of house technology, and you know,
25:19 we are committed to being a tech forward brand, right?
25:21 We believe that helps us and enables us to, you know,
25:24 do what we're doing, and you know,
25:25 our slogan is like the future of pizza, right?
25:28 And, you know, I think that fits appropriately.
25:31 Yeah, you know, the story you're mentioning,
25:33 I've seen, you know, you post a few times about Davo.
25:36 Am I pronouncing that right, Davo?
25:37 - Yeah, it's Davo, yeah.
25:39 - So Davo, I remember the first time you posted it,
25:41 you know, I was like, it's interesting, like, you know,
25:43 with the point that, right?
25:44 - Sales tax automation, what is that?
25:47 - Just to give a background for the listeners
25:49 that haven't heard of it, you know,
25:50 Davo is exactly like you said, sales tax automation,
25:52 right, files it for you, and yeah, whatever,
25:55 I didn't think much of it, but yeah, funny story,
25:59 we, you know, I mentioned we started last May,
26:03 we actually just got some financing
26:05 from like a New Jersey nonprofit organization,
26:07 and you know, we needed sales tax clearance,
26:09 so I'm going through it, I'm like, oh, shoot,
26:11 like, you know, we haven't filed
26:11 for like last three quarters, our sales tax,
26:14 and like I said, you know, a lot of our businesses,
26:17 tax exempt and stuff like that, so, you know, whatever,
26:19 I figured, you know, you file it for, you know,
26:21 the tax season and it's fine,
26:23 but I realized there's some fees and interest
26:26 that come along with that, and I mean,
26:28 I was like, wow, this is terrible, you know,
26:29 just going through the numbers
26:30 and trying to figure out where everything is,
26:32 so I remember, you know, you mentioned, I looked into it,
26:35 I was like, I couldn't really figure out how it would work,
26:37 'cause like, yeah, how are they gonna file it for me?
26:38 And you know, like, 'cause you have to put
26:41 in your taxable income, non-taxable income,
26:42 but I mean, lo and behold, we signed up,
26:45 it was super, super simple process,
26:47 it took like five minutes, and like, so quick,
26:49 that I was a little skeptical, like,
26:50 am I on-boarded already, or is there, you know,
26:52 is there more to this?
26:54 Man, every day, they take out a little bit of money
26:56 out of our bank for the sales tax,
26:57 like, that's the one thing I look at the bank every morning,
26:59 and I like, smile, that's the only debit
27:02 that comes out of there, I'm like, this is great,
27:03 that's one less thing to worry about, I mean--
27:04 - One less thing, they're doing their job.
27:07 - Yeah, it's so cool, yeah, no, they're,
27:10 kudos to them, man, such a great idea.
27:12 I mean, for, I think it's like 50 bucks a month,
27:15 I mean, it's, you can't go wrong there.
27:18 But yeah, you know, I mean, just on the other side, right,
27:20 I know we're both mutual users of Ovation,
27:23 you know, Zach and the team there, they're awesome,
27:25 I love Ovation, you know, while we're on the subject
27:29 of tech, right, you know, they released their call to tech,
27:32 I believe that's the term for it, but, you know,
27:35 for those listening, like, someone calls in, right,
27:37 the store, right now, you know,
27:38 things are going through the shoes,
27:39 Jay, I'm gonna help you, you know,
27:41 where Ovation has this feature now,
27:42 where you call in, like, to place an order,
27:44 you press one, you press one, and you get a text message
27:46 with the online ordering link.
27:48 I've, probably for like the past four weeks,
27:50 I talked to Derek like a month ago,
27:52 and I've just been back and forth,
27:53 and I, you know, Rev, I talked to him about it,
27:55 I've been picking everyone's brain, I'm like, is this,
27:57 can we do this, like, I don't want to disappoint the consumer
28:00 I feel like pizza is a little bit of a different industry
28:03 than, you know, like a Chipotle, right,
28:04 everyone knows you have to order online Chipotle,
28:05 or you go there and it's ready in like five minutes,
28:07 we're a little bit longer of a ticket time,
28:09 you know, we're about 10 to 12 minutes,
28:10 so I, and people are accustomed to calling in there,
28:13 you know, Friday night dinner at the pizzeria.
28:16 Finally, I just, you know, I pushed over the edge,
28:18 like the last few days, just talking to people,
28:19 and so we're onboarding that, but like,
28:21 you know, things like that, right, it's important to,
28:25 at the end of the day, look,
28:26 we're in a hospitality industry,
28:27 and it's important to make sure that, you know,
28:29 while all this new tech is coming out and evolving,
28:31 that, you know, we do think of the consumers first, right,
28:33 and how they, you know, the consumer experience, right,
28:35 and that's the most important part, you know,
28:37 before like the efficiency and, you know,
28:39 how it helps the operation, but, you know,
28:41 there's a lot of cool new software,
28:44 there's a lot of cool new platforms coming along,
28:46 I mean, Ovation's an awesome one,
28:47 just with guest, you know, guest reviews,
28:50 and, you know, being able to hear the voice of the customer,
28:52 right, I mean, there's customers that leave a four-star,
28:55 that, you know, just say, hey, maybe something was wrong,
28:57 and maybe it happened like three or four times,
28:59 you know, they give us like a four-star,
29:01 but like, you know, they would never go and review it online,
29:03 it's just not important enough,
29:03 but that helps us know, hey,
29:05 there's a kink in our process,
29:06 we've been forgetting something,
29:07 you know, we're able to hear that voice of the customer,
29:10 and, you know, it's more and more important,
29:11 especially as you go more digital,
29:12 and you have online ordering,
29:14 and, you know, there's less interaction with the guest,
29:15 to be able to, you know, really get a feel for their pulse,
29:18 and, you know, their level of satisfaction with you,
29:20 your brand, and whatnot.
29:22 - Can you share some advice with any new dads or new moms
29:27 that are in the hospitality business,
29:29 on how to balance our crazy lives with our family life?
29:34 - Let's put it this way,
29:38 if your spouse isn't supportive, just don't do it,
29:41 no, I'm super, super fortunate, my wife is awesome,
29:45 she gets it, you know, she's a hustler herself,
29:47 she's in sales, but look, there's a lot of hours,
29:50 there's a lot of demand, right?
29:52 You know, the thing about the hospitality business is,
29:54 you know, your peak points are Friday nights and weekends,
29:56 and, you know, times where everyone else is off,
29:57 and spending time with families.
29:59 Advice I can give, and, you know,
30:01 I've played both sides of the spectrum here,
30:04 and realized that one's way better than the others,
30:06 you just have to create that balance, right?
30:07 You have to time block, you have to create that balance,
30:10 it is so easy, and inevitable if you don't control it,
30:13 for your whole day to get taken, and just, you know,
30:16 I can sit here and spend 15 hours for the next 20 days,
30:19 I just won't catch up on everything, right?
30:21 You know, it's about prioritizing,
30:23 you know, just keeping a calendar,
30:24 and just blocking that time out for family,
30:26 blocking the personal time out, you know,
30:29 hiring help as needed, right?
30:31 You know, you fill in the positions, right,
30:34 you save on your margin, obviously,
30:36 but, you know, it's just not worth it,
30:38 you know, if you don't have that work-life balance,
30:39 it's, you know, what are you doing for it, right?
30:42 - What are the, what's the big goal for Pizza HQ?
30:45 If we look back on this interview five years from now,
30:47 what will you guys have built?
30:50 - Take over the world, baby, nah.
30:52 We plan on keep growing, we're at a rapid rate right now,
30:56 tons of pivots, you know,
30:57 even just looking over the last year of the direction,
31:01 but we are, you know, really just trying to be the pioneers
31:04 in the future of pizza.
31:05 We're constantly testing out new equipment vendors,
31:08 new, you know, back of house technologies,
31:10 new front of house technologies.
31:12 You know, one thing that's like unison with my partner's eyes
31:15 is like, we're down to try anything, right?
31:17 You know, when you're a pioneer in the industry,
31:19 there's gonna be like a lot of trouble with it, right?
31:21 There's, you know, things break, right?
31:23 When you're first to use it,
31:24 you gotta deal with those kinds of things,
31:25 but if you're down with that,
31:28 and you know, you have that tolerance level,
31:29 and you know, there's a great upside, right?
31:31 Being like the first to market
31:33 with a lot of these cool new technologies.
31:34 So yeah, five-year plan, you know,
31:36 we're continuing our growth trajectory.
31:38 We really wanna take over on, you know,
31:41 the local market with, you know,
31:44 a cost-effective, authentic New York style pizza.
31:47 You know, we're not trying to be the next Domino's.
31:50 You know, we're not like a local mom and pop pizzeria, right?
31:52 We're right in the middle of the road.
31:53 We want the authentic product that the customers want,
31:56 and create it with like all the corporate appeals
31:57 of speed, efficiency, and low cost.
32:01 But yeah, over the next five years,
32:02 maybe we also just take over like the market
32:04 in Northern Hatch, New Jersey at least.
32:07 - Well, I have a challenge for you.
32:09 Is it possible for you and your partners
32:11 to start documenting this testing that you're doing
32:14 with these vendor partnerships?
32:16 I know it's not B2C content,
32:18 but the B2B content is a huge opportunity,
32:21 especially when you're a disruptor in the space.
32:23 - Yeah, definitely.
32:27 Yeah, we had a consultant early on,
32:29 Ryan Graufen, a great guy.
32:31 He told us like, you know, before we even started,
32:34 document everything, take pictures.
32:35 Like, you know, you're gonna look back
32:36 and like, it's, yeah, it's cool to have that journey.
32:40 Yeah, we did a few times that we lose track of it,
32:42 but no, I do think it's super important.
32:44 I accept the challenge.
32:45 - You accept the challenge.
32:46 Well, anybody that's listening to this show,
32:49 the reason we put on this show is to meet with people
32:52 like you that are playing the game within the game.
32:54 You're disrupting the pizza space.
32:56 You're teaching restaurant owners, food manufacturers
32:59 that we're all playing the same game.
33:01 You know, we're all trying to build sustainable,
33:03 profitable businesses that allow us to spend time.
33:06 I know you have girls.
33:07 I wanna spend time with my kids.
33:09 I wanna do things like this.
33:10 It's Labor Day for me,
33:12 but there's nothing I'd rather do than sit here
33:13 and have a conversation like this,
33:16 where you and I, we get to, you know,
33:18 hopefully help one restaurateur out there that, you know,
33:21 starts to look at their business a little bit differently.
33:24 Can you tell me a little bit about
33:25 the delivery side of the business?
33:27 You have your own pizza drivers,
33:28 or you're using third-party deliveries.
33:30 How do you guys manage that?
33:31 - A little bit of both.
33:34 We do have our own delivery drivers.
33:37 You know, we flirted with the idea
33:38 of really outsourcing everything to third-party deliveries,
33:41 but the thing is, we do utilize that labor also
33:43 while they're inside to make boxes
33:45 and, you know, help with other stuff.
33:46 So we have a pretty lean team on the delivery side.
33:49 We do use some contract drivers,
33:51 or a lot of contract drivers, I guess,
33:52 to fulfill like, you know, some of the schoolers
33:54 or just like single runs.
33:56 But, you know, I've been, the past month or two,
34:00 been seeking out and, you know,
34:01 talking to some other players that are, you know,
34:03 in a third-party delivery spaces, you know,
34:05 develop a partnership.
34:06 I think as we grow, that becomes a bigger
34:09 and bigger challenge is, you know,
34:11 being able to source delivery drivers,
34:12 especially within like a small, you know,
34:14 you only need them for a few hours a day,
34:15 or, you know, you're not offering like a full-time position.
34:18 So it'd be nice to, you know,
34:19 be able to leverage someone else's platform that,
34:21 you know, has other volume that, you know,
34:24 then we can kind of fill in gaps, you know,
34:26 with drivers for them.
34:27 So, you know, we do, when we run short on drivers,
34:32 we, you know, we use Shipday for our delivery platform.
34:36 And, you know, right through there,
34:37 it's pretty seamless.
34:38 You call UberEats, call DoorDashDriver,
34:39 you can see how long 'til they come,
34:40 the exact cost of the service.
34:43 Very, very simple.
34:45 So we do that sometimes during peak times,
34:47 we run out of drivers and then, yeah,
34:49 as of right now, we have our own small fleet as well.
34:52 - That's awesome.
34:53 So every single week on Wednesday and Friday
34:56 on the social audio app Clubhouse,
34:58 you the listener, you can join us 10 a.m. Pacific time,
35:01 1 p.m. Eastern time, that's Wednesday, Friday.
35:03 It's a chance for you to be on a live show,
35:05 us to hear your story about your restaurant.
35:08 If you're a food creator,
35:09 if you're in sales, marketing, technology,
35:11 we have digital hospitality leaders from all over the globe,
35:14 but we also do a social shout out.
35:17 This week, social shout out.
35:18 Usually I pick someone, but I'm not gonna pick anyone
35:21 because I hope it's you, the listener.
35:22 If you have a toast story, if you just onboarded toast,
35:26 if you use toast in your restaurant,
35:28 then send me a message on Instagram @SeanPWalchef,
35:31 S-H-A-W-N-P-W-A-L-C-H-E-F.
35:35 I wanna hear some toast stories, some toast unboxings,
35:38 and you could possibly make it onto this show
35:41 or our other show, "Digital Hospitality."
35:43 We'd love to hear from you, the listener.
35:45 Jason, can you give me a social shout out,
35:47 one person on your team
35:49 that you wanna give some love on entrepreneur?
35:52 - On my team?
35:55 - One person.
35:57 - Oh, yeah, I'm gonna give a shout out over here
36:01 to our first employee.
36:03 And he's our right hand in the back of the house.
36:07 His name is Gabe.
36:08 He came in day one.
36:10 We underestimated completely what it was gonna be like.
36:14 We didn't have the right equipment.
36:15 At the end of the production run,
36:18 there was pieces on the floor.
36:19 We didn't have a docker.
36:20 There's bubbles coming out of them.
36:22 He came in the first day and he was looking for a job
36:24 and started there and helped us
36:26 start with cleaning out the kitchen.
36:27 But he's been here from the beginning
36:29 and he's a team hustler.
36:31 So definitely give him a shout out.
36:33 - I love it.
36:34 So we believe in smartphone storytelling.
36:36 This is a chance for us to get a little bit deeper
36:39 inside of Jason's smartphone usage.
36:42 I wanna know, are you an iPhone or an Android user?
36:45 - iPhone.
36:47 - iPhone, what version?
36:48 - iPhone 10.
36:52 - iPhone 10.
36:53 Do you prefer texts or emails or phone calls?
36:58 - Text.
36:58 - Text.
37:00 How many emails do you get a day?
37:01 - 50.
37:05 - 50, how many do you enjoy?
37:06 - I have two inboxes.
37:08 There's a primary inbox,
37:09 and I'm not the junk one, about 50.
37:11 How many do I enjoy reading?
37:12 About like four.
37:13 - What's your favorite social media app?
37:17 - Instagram.
37:20 - Instagram.
37:22 Are you a cord cutter or do you still watch DirecTV?
37:25 - Not much of a TV guy,
37:29 but when I do it through the apps.
37:32 - It's through the apps, got it.
37:34 What's your least favorite app?
37:35 - Least favorite app.
37:38 Oh, that's a good one.
37:41 That's the ones that just keep giving notifications.
37:45 - Which ones annoy you the most?
37:51 - I'm going to go with mail.
37:52 So I have two inboxes.
37:52 I have Gmail and mail.
37:53 Mail is like the--
37:55 - The catch-all?
37:56 - The junk and the sign-up.
37:57 So yeah, that one's terrible.
37:59 - What's your favorite app for your store?
38:03 - PTHQ app.
38:07 - Yeah, who builds the PTHQ app?
38:09 - It's through Incentivio.
38:12 - Perfect.
38:13 - They have our app, our loyalty.
38:16 Good.
38:17 - Why do you like them?
38:19 - So we originally chose them
38:21 because of some of the functionalities behind it,
38:23 the seamless integration with Toast.
38:25 And they have a pretty cool,
38:28 robust loyalty program for early stage.
38:32 There's bigger companies that come at a higher price
38:34 when they have a lot more bells and whistles.
38:37 But yeah, I think you download our app and look at it.
38:40 It looks professional.
38:42 There's a lot of creativity
38:45 that we can still put to play on our side.
38:48 And it works, right?
38:49 It's simple to use, works well,
38:50 integrates right into Toast.
38:52 Yeah, I love it.
38:53 - Why did you guys pick Toast?
38:55 - So at the other location I was mentioning earlier,
39:00 we did not have Toast.
39:02 We used Hungry Rush, great system for,
39:04 it used to be Revengeant,
39:05 great system for pizza,
39:07 great delivery platform on there, but very closed.
39:11 So you had to use their app.
39:13 It wasn't the best app, it worked.
39:15 You got a lot of customer complaints, actually,
39:16 with it's difficult to use or things of that nature,
39:20 et cetera, et cetera.
39:23 Pick Toast, when we were looking over here,
39:25 we were vetting a few different ones.
39:26 Pick Toast, just because of the open functionalities with it.
39:30 One, it's best in class, it's called what it is, right?
39:33 Between the menu and the back end, it's super simple to use.
39:39 But the most appealing thing about Toast was,
39:42 if you don't like the delivery,
39:42 that's fine, bring in your own.
39:43 We use Shift A for delivery.
39:45 I prefer it over the Toast delivery platform.
39:47 And it's literally a click of a button and entering a code
39:50 and it integrates with Toast, no problem.
39:51 So now, you can't expect one service
39:54 to be the best at everything.
39:55 So the little pieces, like for instance,
39:57 Toast online ordering is awesome,
39:59 Toast takeout, whatnot, but we do use Incentive UI.
40:02 I think it's, those guys just focus on the app.
40:04 They just focus on loyalty, right?
40:08 Whereas Toast is the central brain,
40:09 but we chose Toast because of the ability
40:11 to connect all these different tech partners,
40:14 super easy and super effectively.
40:18 - If someone's listening to this
40:19 and they're dreaming about getting into the pizza business,
40:22 what is your advice for them?
40:23 - Do it now.
40:26 - Just do it.
40:28 - It's fun, it's fun.
40:29 - Go raise a bunch of money and go open up a shop.
40:31 - Yeah, don't do it with automation.
40:35 Stay out of Jersey.
40:36 No, it's super fun, super rewarding.
40:40 So my background's food manufacturing.
40:42 I've been in so many different industries
40:43 from meat and poultry to candy to bread.
40:47 The thing about pizza that's just fascinating to me
40:51 is like, it's an art, right?
40:53 That's part of our mission statement.
40:55 We're obsessed with the art of making pizza.
40:58 The dough, the complexity with the dough
40:59 from your hydration levels to your fermentation period
41:02 to the 30 different types of flours,
41:05 probably way more,
41:06 different types of flours you can put in it.
41:08 There's so many, so many variables that,
41:11 it's an art, right?
41:12 And you get obsessed with it
41:13 and you wanna just tweak it more and more every day.
41:15 So it's fun, it's super rewarding.
41:19 There's no two people out here that have the same pizza.
41:21 There's something different.
41:22 But listen, it takes dedication.
41:24 Like we talked about the weekend, the nights,
41:28 as anyone else in the hospitality business deals with.
41:32 - That's awesome, man.
41:34 - Chase your dreams.
41:35 If you're into it, chase your dreams.
41:36 - Chase the dream.
41:37 If you guys wanna follow him,
41:39 where's the best place for people to follow along
41:41 the journey, support you guys?
41:42 - Definitely Instagram or go on our website.
41:46 It's pizza-hq.com and do our email signup.
41:50 We post at least once a week.
41:52 It's just an email blast for people to follow.
41:54 But yeah, Instagram and over there.
41:57 - And when are you guys getting on TikTok?
41:59 See, I keep giving you homework assignments.
42:03 You like that?
42:04 You like coming on this show?
42:07 - Yeah, another talent.
42:09 - No, we have a TikTok.
42:10 - He keeps giving me homework assignments.
42:12 - We signed up for it when we started
42:14 and we're trying to break in and find the password.
42:17 We might just have to get a new channel.
42:19 We have one post on there.
42:20 Between me and my partner,
42:21 we can't find out who actually signed up.
42:23 We're trying to have an email to reset the password.
42:25 - That's fantastic.
42:26 - It'll be on TikTok.
42:29 - That's hilarious.
42:30 - I'm gonna prioritize that one too.
42:31 - No, you're all good, man.
42:32 We appreciate it.
42:33 If you guys wanna connect with me,
42:34 it's @SeanPWalchef, S-H-A-W-N-P-W-A-L-C-H-E-F.
42:39 Easiest way is on Instagram.
42:42 Send me a message.
42:43 Ask us any question you'd like answered on the show
42:46 or just connect with us.
42:47 Come up on Clubhouse every Wednesday, every Friday.
42:50 It's a chance for you to tell your story.
42:52 No one's coming to tell your story.
42:54 Use that smartphone in your pocket.
42:55 And if you're in Jersey, or even if you're not,
42:58 no matter where you are,
42:59 check out Pizza HQ and support these guys.
43:02 They're building something special
43:04 and we're excited that we had you on
43:06 so early on in the journey.
43:08 Can't wait to see what you guys build next.
43:10 - Yeah, I appreciate it, Sean.
43:12 Pleasure to come out.
43:13 You had some pretty impressive guests, so.
43:16 (Sean laughs)
43:17 It's a pleasure to sit here with you.
43:19 - Yeah, you got it, man.
43:20 Appreciate you.
43:21 The best way that you can help us with the show
43:24 is to subscribe and write a review.
43:26 We love the opportunity to connect with you
43:29 no matter where you are on the globe,
43:31 no matter what restaurant you are running.
43:33 Please send us a DM on social @SeanPWalcheff.
43:38 If you are interested in toast,
43:39 if you wanna improve your digital hospitality,
43:42 please send me a DM.
43:43 I will get you in touch with a local toast representative.
43:47 We appreciate you listening to this show.
43:49 The best way that you can help the show
43:50 is share it with a friend,
43:52 and we will catch you all next week,
43:54 or we will see you on one of the digital playgrounds
43:57 that we call social media.