In this special episode, I am thrilled to be sharing an excerpt from my The Food Professor podcast with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. Our very special guest for this episode is Richard Scofield, Président et Chef de la direction at Groupe St-Hubert.
Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
In this special episode, I am thrilled to be sharing an excerpt from my The Food Professor podcast with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.
Our very special guest for this episode is Richard Scofield, Président et Chef de la direction at Groupe St-Hubert. We start by asking Richard to assess the health of the brand today versus his ambition for the business -is he at where he wants to be as a team and leadership and in the minds of consumers.
Next, Lots of chicken is found in restaurants, but St-Hubert stands above the rest. If we think of serving a good chicken as table stakes from a strategy point of view in a chicken restaurant, what differentiators does the business have /does he pursue that contribute to their success. Then we talk risks to the company, franchisee governance, and products coming to a grocery shelf near you!
Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail. If you haven’t already, be sure and click subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week, and check out my other retail industry media properties; the Remarkable Retail podcast, the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and the Food Professor podcast. Last but not least, if you are into BBQ, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbeque, with new episodes each and every week!
I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company & Maven Media, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co! Have a safe week everyone!
About Richard
In October 2015, Richard Scofield was appointed President of Les Rôtisseries St-Hubert and in charge of the entire restaurant division for St-Hubert Group. Since joining the company, Mr. Scofield has had a fantastic career progression. Knowing how to rally teams around a common vision, Mr. Scofield developed strong collaborative leadership over the years and implemented various strategies that helped the network to achieve enviable results on the market.
Richard Scofield joined Les Rôtisseries St-Hubert in April 2004 as General Manager. For more than five years, his mandate was, among other things, to ensure the solid and healthy evolution of the Express concept. Since 2004, Mr. Scofield has succeeded in various leadership roles at the Head Office, from Supervisor for all corporate rotisseries to Assistant Director for Express locations. Within this role, Richard was responsible for ensuring the sound operations of all franchises and corporate Express locations, development and new openings of this concept.
In January 2010, Mr. Scofield became a Director of Operations and was responsible for all franchised and corporate rotisseries, new openings and recruiting franchisees. In November 2011, he was promoted to become the new Vice-President of Operations.
The one who came from a family of restaurant owners and was himself owner of Pizzédelic restaurants in the early 2000s was also mandated by RECIPE in December 2017 to manage the Harvey’s banner in Quebec. He joined St-Hubert Foundation Board of Directors as an Administrator since its creation and involve himself in several causes, especially the ITHQ.
About Sylvain Charlebois
Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph’s Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.
He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.
Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre’s Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa.
About Michael
Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide. Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in 2022.
Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms. Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.
Michael LeBlanc 00:04
Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael Leblanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. In this special episode, I'm thrilled to be sharing another excerpt from my The Food Professor podcast with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. Our very special guest for this episode is Richard Scofield, President of Groupe St-Hubert.
Michael LeBlanc 00:23
We start by asking Rich to assess the health of his brand today versus that his ambition for the business. Next, awesome chicken is found in restaurants, but St-Hubert stands above the rest if we think of serving a good chicken is pretty much table stakes from a strategy point of view in chicken restaurant, what differentiated does the business have, does he pursue that contribute to his immense success?
Michael LeBlanc 00:45
We talk about risks to the company's franchise governance and products coming to grocery shelves across the country near you.
Michael LeBlanc 00:52
Let's jump in now starting off with my partner, Sylvain Charlebois.
Sylvain Charlebois 00:58
All right, we have a special guest joining us today, Richard Scofield, President of the St-Hubert Groupe, a franchise that is well known in eastern part of our country, less known in other parts, but really an institution, especially in Quebec. So, welcome, Richard to our podcast.
Richard Scofield 01:21
Well, thank you for having me. Nice to be here.
Sylvain Charlebois 01:23
To start things off, we would like to know more about you, your professional journey and, and your specific role at St-Hubert.
Richard Scofield 01:32
Sure. So, my journey to where I am today was not really a, a foreseen journey. I, I did grow up in a restaurant, family business. My father had several hotels and several restaurants. He actually was responsible for bringing ribs into Quebec, in the 80s. However, he, he passed away when I was quite young, my mother did keep on a certain family business for, for a couple of years, and so that got into, me into university. And my mother sort of said, ‘Don't go into the restaurant business. It's too tough, it's a difficult business, do something else’. So, I was going more in a business journey, of more of an accounting path. And when I, I, I when I left my bachelor’s degree in London, and I came back to Montreal to go to McGill for accounting.
Richard Scofield 02:21
I started working back in the restaurant business, my family business. And it sorts of drew me in and so I left the accounting career and went to more of a restaurant management career and found myself owning two franchises at the age of 24/25. Having my own catering company at 26. And probably was, you know, the ambitions I had prior to that got the best of me and I, I had to take a step back and maybe too young and I let go of these businesses and I, I completely left the restaurant business for three years, and I, I tried other things.
And then this little classified ad in the newspaper, called me into St-Hubert, and I became the, the manager for the smallest restaurant in the St-Hubert network at that time.
Sylvain Charlebois 03:12
And where, where was that restaurant?
Richard Scofield 03:15
It was an express restaurant on Sherbrooke, East. We call it Honore-Beaugrand near the Honore-Beaugrand Metro Station, on the island, -
Sylvain Charlesbois 03:17
Okay,
Richard Scofield 03:23
And, and that's how I got into the company. And I started managing at one restaurant and by the star-, that was in April/May and by summer's end, I was responsible for the four or five corporate restaurants, the Express restaurants. A year later, I jumped from the restaurant side into the office side and I became responsible for developing the Express concept, which was a, was a, was a very important acts of growth for St-Hubert in the years 2000s and we, we grew from about four or five Express up to 45 Express Restaurants today.
Richard Scofield
And at that point, my objective was to become a franchisee again. I actually had signed my contract and got my financing. I was supposed to open my own Express restaurant. And the President at that time said, ‘Wow, you'll do fine, but you're probably going to get bored and want to do more’. So, I, I, mean he was off-, he offered me the Director of Operations. So, it took me a while to decide. And I said, okay, well, he was very convincing and I, I jumped into that.
And I went from Director of Operations to a Vice President of Operations and, and at one point, when we know, we had no more President left, I, I asked Jean-Pierre Leger at that time, I said that, before you find somebody else from outside, you know, give me my chance. I was already in an off interim position for the President on the restaurant side. So, and he did. And so that's how I got where I am today. And the last change was, because we're a group since my last two divisions, I took over the Groupe President role, just a couple of months before COVID in January 2020, as the, the former President retired. So, that's my journey.
Sylvain Charlebois
So COVID, basically, is the bulk of your presidency.
Richard Scofield
Well, for the Groupe part, yes. For the restaurant part I've been, I was there for quite a while. But, -
Sylvain Charlebois
Yeah, that's right. Yeah.
Richard Scofield
And the Groupe part, yes. So, it was a, a quick learning path.
Sylvain Charlebois
So, I mean, since (inaudible) I mean, I've travelled all over the country, and people are aware of, of the existence of St-Hubert and, and it's known, but at, but it's an incredibly successful chain in Quebec and in eastern part of Canada. Can you explain to people who've never been to St-Hubert what's, what's unique, what's different, when you go to St-Hubert, when you actually buy products from St-Hubert?
Richard Scofield
Well, St-Hubert it's, you know, we are a part of the recipe family today was, you know, with our transaction was in 2016. But the company culture that was put in place from the Leger family, though the chain opened in 1951. And it became a, a part of a, a, a family tradition, to go to St-Hubert. And we were so close to the everyday life of, of people in Quebec. And the philosophy of the company was always to give back and always to be to innovate and, and do the right thing and really show or lead the path in the restaurant business in Quebec and show what can be done, how can good business can be done.
Richard Scofield
So, as we grew through the years, it became the roasted chicken became a very well-known meal or famous meal in Quebec. And we were not the first ones we there's some great concepts are still there today, the Chalet Bar-B-Q, Kosilek Barbecue, the real pioneers in the 30s, that were there, I can think of Laurier Barbecue, this type of product was very close to the, the desire of Quebecers.
Richard Scofield
So, as we grew the business, or as the business grew through the years, you know, the company managed to stay close and connected to its clients. And always try to, you know, show, show the way.
We're the first restaurant chain to do, to, to do delivery in Canada. And the story behind that was, you know, we opened in the, in the early 50s. And the television also came out in the early 50s. And all of a sudden, Saturday night the restaurant will be empty because people started watching hockey games at home. So, Rene Leger, the, the founder said, well, if they're not coming to the restaurants because they are watching hockey, we're going to deliver the food to them at home. So, that's where delivery started was St-Hubert (crossover talk) and the first TV ad we did was during the hockey game, so we were one of the first companies to announce on TV for a restaurant, first to deliver.
And, and the story goes, many innovations like that came through the years where we always stayed very connected to our clients. And we're always able to answer their needs. Whether today it's the restaurant, whether today it's at home or in, in grocery stores.
Sylvain Charlebois
And, and because of your focus on delivery, you were almost like COVID ready. Because you, you were hardwired to get to your money instead of just waiting for your customers to show up.
Richard Scofield
You know, for us, if at least I said oft-, I'd say no, we have many different sales sectors, we have the, you know, our bar area, we have our dining rooms, our express concept, but takeout, delivery and drive thru, it's probably what makes us a complicated business, but it's also what makes us a very stable business. And yeah, as COVID came in, it's not something we had to develop, it's something we just had to, to answer the, the, the extreme growth we had or demand, we had in those sectors.
Sylvain Charlebois
Yeah, and, and you've done extremely well throughout COVID as a, as a franchise as well. And, and of course, your owned now by Recipe Unlimited, and I, I assume that's going well, the relationship between St-Hubert and, and, and the and head office is going well?
Richard Scofield
It's been a very good relationship. And I was part of that process when, you know, when the when Jean-Pierre Leger had took in a decision that he wanted to move on and, and a guarantee for him it was important was to guarantee the, the (inaudible) of the, of the brand and make sure the brand will continue to represent the core values. And, and that's what, (inaudible) who is with me today, offered, it says. Well, you know, since you guys are, are experts in the Quebec market, you know, the Quebec market, so we want you to keep your business as is. And we today, we still have our two offices in Quebec. Our company is still managed with us, well, most of the same team, obviously, in five years natural changes, some people have left some people have come on, but the company, the core values of our company are still here and well anchored in, in Quebec, and Recipe is there to support us and, and help us grow a, and go further faster.
Sylvain Charlebois
Because I remember when, when St-Hubert was acquired, a lot of Quebecers were shocked. But that shock didn't last long. I mean, people just were moved on and, and saw that the company was just basically letting the brand itself on its own. And it, it didn't really change anything, really.
Richard Scofield
I mean, that was a, it was a huge news story for several weeks.
Sylvain Charlebois
I know. I know.
Michael LeBlanc
People were concerned, right? I mean, people were concerned the way, you know, the same way that when Empire bought Farm Boy out of Ottawa, right? They're like, ‘Oh, my goodness, are you going to mess it up?’ Basically, right.
Richard Scofield
That's, that's what we heard. And that's what people you know, we, we got the comment, you change your chicken, you change your sauce and then nothing changed. It's, you know, we evolve our menu, as we always did, but the, you know, the core products that are there and have always been the same. And, and when people realize that we're, you know, the same brand, the same people running it, that we continue to do the same things.
I mean, you look at our, our foundation that we have where we give back to people were very present in the community our, our everything is done here. And when people, and we do get the comments once in a while, but I think in general people, you know, have forgotten it, or will have let it go and realize that we're still a Quebec based company, and you know, our franchisees are Quebec entrepreneurs.
Sylvain Charlebois
Absolutely. So, how do you feel about the brand itself today? How do you feel about where your business is going so far, since you've been President?
Richard Scofield
On the restaurant side, and when I took over the presidency in the restaurant side, in 2015, we were coming off some difficult years. The restaurant business was evolving, now it's accelerated. But at that time, dining rooms were decreasing, you know, we started to see the, the increase in, in takeout and delivery sales.
And we needed as a brand to re-invent a bit, the company and it's you know, and our we celebrated our 70 year, 70th anniversary this year, and in 70 years, you know, you get these cycles, and the biggest cycle at St-Hubert was at the end of the 80s when we did our massive expansion, in Ontario that did not work for several good and bad reasons. And the company was on the brink of bankruptcy back then.
Richard Scofield
And we had to or th-, they, at that time, had to re-invent the menu, stream down the menu and really concentrate on giving back a value to the client. And that's what we evolved and added our restaurant bar areas into our restaurants. And St-Hubert has always been known for constantly renovating its restaurants. And when we got into the 2010-2011, 2011 years, we started feeling this decline again, as you know, for years, I think we were doing well, people got too comfortable, too complacent. And we sort of had to go back and you know, re-question, what's that value offering we were giving clients?
Richard Scofield
So, we, wer-, we re-launched a huge renovation program, with some really nice restaurants today that are at a, a very high level of, of ambience and feel. We, we worked a lot on our menu. We brought back a, a personal touch into our restaurants, where we wanted our franchisees to be able to have a say, in what they were offering. So, we have a, a flexible portion of the menu where the franchisees, on pre-defined menu items, but they can choose certain items that they offer in their restaurants each week, which we don't decide. They have a choice on certain microbreweries that they can offer. They have a choice on sort of, a part of the wine list. So, I wanted them or as a team, we wanted them to get close to the client and connect again and offer a more personal experience and take away the big brand out of St-Hubert, where we would become a very back attached locally to the community.
Richard Scofield
So, as, as we get into 2015, you know, we come with that brand really grew strong, and the restaurant position we had was much, was solidified. And we continued a strong growth over the five years before COVID hit. On the other side, our, our re-, retail division, which is you know, a, a huge portion of what St-Hubert is today, took a, a big growth through the years 2011 up to 2015, where we purchased our second manufacturing plant and we really launched into the rib market and we ended up producing our, our, our pies. We produce over about 15 million pies a year and about, -
Sylvain Charlebois
15 million. Wow!
Richard Scofield
15, 15, 15 million, -
Sylvain Charlebois
That's incredible.
Richard Scofield
And about sw-, were about, about 6 million units of ribs per year that we produce. We do, you know, we either manufacture, or have manufactured, or represent over 300 skews in grocery stores. And Recipe when they came along, they gave us additional brands to work with. So, we were able to, to commercialize you know, Swiss Chalet products, Montana's products a-, across Canada we over COVID we built, or we expanded, our sales team to cover coast-to-coast, the Canadian market. And we're going into a strong growth period. Obviously, we have these challenges today as everybody on increasing food costs and labor issues and, and finding products sometimes and there's some skews that we would launch we just can't get production done right now because there's no capacity left.
Michael LeBlanc
Listen, wha-, what a story. A couple of quick questions. How many units do you have? How many, how many restaurants do you have? Just to anchor that for that for the, for the folks out there.
Richard Scofield
So, we're 125 restaurants, we're 113 in Quebec we have eight in Ontario, but Ontario it's really the, you know, the extended Quebec region so very close to the border. (crossover talk), and we have four in New Brunswick. Yeah.
Michael LeBlanc
And four in New Brunswick. Okay I didn't know about those. I mean, I'm from Ottawa and, and you talked about family traditions. My, one of my earliest memories of going to restaurants is going with my parents to Montreal from Ottawa on a, on a semi-annual kind of trip that my dad would take and it would always culminate in a trip to St-Hubert. So, I think very fondly of the brand I was very, you know, excited to, to talk to you about it because I think well of it. And from Ottawa of course I go to the East End and enjoy the restaurant as well.
So, let's, let's talk about some strategy questions. Now, first of all, my most important strategy question; when you go out to the restaurant to enjoy a meal and you order up a chicken. Do you dunk your chicken in the gravy or do you pour the gravy on top?
Richard Scofield
No, you have to dunk it.
Michael LeBlanc
Ya-, you are a dunker heh?
Richard Scofield
Yes.
Michael LeBlanc
Yeah, in my family I'm the only pourer. Sylvain what about you, do you pour, or do you dunk?
Sylvain Charlebois
I'm like Richard, I'm a dunker. (crossover talk). But the real question at St-Hubert is a, are you for, a do you go for the traditional salad or the creamy salad?
Michael LeBlanc
The choices, the choices are endless. Well, you know, listen, you know, as I think about your business at a strategic level, you know, serving up a good chicken is probably let's call that table stakes. You know, as you would think. As you think about the business, I mean, it's so many moving parts both the retail and the wholesale business what is, what are the differentiators? And they probably change over time but as you see it today, you know, serving up a great chicken that's probably, you got to be doing that. What else though, and you've talked about the connection with the franchisee, you've talked about all these kinds of flexible options what, at when you set it all apart, what do you see as the key differentiator that, that makes you sustainably successful?
Richard Scofield
I, I think you're, you're right and that's why I tell my franchisees to these days you know, good food is not enough to make a difference. I mean, everybody's doing you know, a good product is, it's non-negotiable, you have to do it. What I, what I think where we, we continue to, to develop or to keep our place is that, you know, we try to always give back a bit more and make sure that what we offer, we offer the more, most consistent way.
So, often you know, when people are traveling, they see our sign, they know, they know what they're going to get, they know how they're going to be received, they know that we're going to take care of them and that they're going to have a good experience. Let me tell you we know we're not we're not perfect, you know, we do over 28 million meals a year, we have a very strong franchise network as it switches are one of our biggest strengths. They follow, you know, the company line they participate in, where we're going, we work closely with them. So, they have that buy in, and they make sure that when we, you know, we decide to launch things, this works. So, yes, we have our, our core products, our chicken and our ribs. And these are products that we have evolved over the last five, six years. We don't, we increased the size of our chicken, our ribs at one point, we had sourcing problems in early 2010. And we had gone to a European rib this, this was against our, our company values. So, we had brought it back to Quebec as soon as we could find the proper sourcing. (crossover talk), -
Michael LeBlanc
What about the fries when I, I know there's a, I remember who was it, Harvey's, had this big dust up a couple of maybe a decade ago, and they switched fries and McDonald's and all these, how, how do you is that like even just the components of the single meal have the tradition versus keeping up with modern tastes? How do you balance those two?
Richard Scofield
Very carefully. So, we, we, you know, we will increase the size of our chicken we'll, but we won't change it, we won't change the flavor, the spicing. We do the fries, we've tried. Because we, you know, our challenge with fries are you know, it works well in dining rooms. But you know, the, the perfect fry that delivers in a box or in a bag is very tough. -
Michael LeBlanc
Very tough.
Richard Scofield
So, we've tried different things. And we get told very quickly that, don't touch our fries, don't change. So, there's things we're not allowed to do. So, (crossover talk)
Michael LeBlanc
And I see you're offering fish, fish and chips. Now this is, this could be heresy to some people, fish and chips at St-Hubert. That's, that's wild, right?
Richard Scofield
This is a, this is a great product that we had prepared before COVID. And we launched it during COVID, because it was a product that worked well in the plate and in the box. But what we did that was probably, you know, over the last few years that really set us apart is when we started offering lobster promotions. And we started you know, we had a, a beef rib with a Joe beef sauce. And we started playing in, in territories where normally we would-, wouldn't be before. And so, we had people coming in for this value or for this sure bet and discovering that, you know, all of a sudden, they can have this different experience with, with these products.
Richard Scofield
And that's what helped us keep our, our market our lobster promotion, I tell this story often and is in when we develop the product, I told my chef, you know, don't, don't come back with a $12 product because it's impossible with the cost of lobster. So, we came back with a product, a lobster roll, which was very, it was an excellent product.
My half of my staff didn't believe in the product. They say, say it's American, sell lobster, and our franchisees hardly believe, believed in it. So, after three days, we ran out of, of product across the network. And, and today I buy for over $2 million of lobster for that promotion. And Sylvain I was listening to your, to your report on (inaudible) the other day of the price of lobster. So, it's going to be a big challenge for us this year. But we're, we're not shy to go in play in areas that were not necessarily there before. As long as we don't touch the core products that we have.
Michael LeBlanc
Let's, let's talk about what keeps you up at night. I mean, when I think of your business, I wonder about growth, for example. I mean, as you said in earlier in the company history tried to expand outside of the Quebec market while you still are, is that, is growth a challenge for you? And how far can you stretch the brand? Does that, does that keep you up at night? In other words, I, where I go to my grocery store and find your brand does it, without your physical store presence, how far can you stretch that brand? And how many products can you, can you go? Are these some of the things that, that you know, you think hmmm, before you turn the light out at night?
Richard Scofield
We have all we think about a lot of things these days. It's ever increasingly challenging to you know, you, you, you position one item and the next day already challenged with something else. Growth for us on the restaurant side, we are part of a big family and in that big family, we do have Swiss Chalet. So, we're more, -
Michael LeBlanc
OLIO strategy for Recipe, right? I mean, -
Richard Scofield
Well exactly, and you know, it's also you know, franchisees buy into a brand because you, they expect the franchisors can protect the brand so, I wouldn't be happy to have Swiss Chalets opening beside a St-Hubert. I could expect the same from the others. So, we work in our Quebec market or extended Quebec market of there you know, a specific region where there's no say a francophone region or where there's no Swiss Chalet. Maybe that's something we would consider. But over COVID, (crossover talk), -
Michael LeBlanc
Winnipeg, would you, would you consider Winni-, Winnipeg's got a nice francophone community? Would you, would you put a St-Hubert in places like that? I mean, I guess the problem is it stretches your supply chain, -
Richard Scofield
Eh-, eh-, exactly and it, to do one restaurant that far away.
Michael LeBlanc
Yeah.
Richard Scofield
For us to support it, to do it properly, it's probably too much effort. And it's, wouldn't be worth it. If you can't open a critical number of restaurants. I think you're better off to stay where we are and concentrate on what we have. And we do have opportunities as we, (crossover talk), -
Sylvain Charlebois
Well Richard, I mean, all roads lead to Winnipeg. Seriously, -
Richard Scofield
I'll have to go then. I'll have to go and figure that one out.
Michael LeBlanc
Listen all you, all you got to do is, is sponsor a bonspiel and you're there, right? (Crossover talk).
Hey, listen, I want to compliment you know, your food products in grocery I discovered the St-Hubert mozzarella cheese sticks. And, oh my goodness, we have an air-, we just bought an air fryer. Anyway, I'm waxing on about your product, but the cheese sticks are just like, as if you know, you're sitting in the restaurant. So, congratulations on your team's development of the product. It's really,
Last question from my perspective. You, you've talked about franchisees, I want to talk about governance a little bit, and not to dig into the, the governance specifically, but how, how do you work with you-, I mean, you've had franchisees that have been with you for, for decades, 30 years. So, is there a, a committee, an advisory committee and you, you likely don't always agree on everything? How do you resolve those things? Talk on, just for a minute or two, talk about that.
Richard Scofield
Our, our philosophy of franchising, you know, it starts with recruiting. We don't go after people who have money. We go after people who have passion. People who love the business, and we have a lot of franchisees that, you know, that they started in the kitchens at, at 14 years old who were dishwashers, and they own their restaurant today. Our, our biggest franchisee is into their third generation, and they were our original franchisee in the 60s, the Quebec City franchisee. Today, we know we have these franchisees that have been there for, for 20, 30, 40 years, with some newer franchisees that are bringing in either the new generations or, or people that have just come on into the brand, that mix it up nicely and give us you know, this drive to, to, to do the surpass ourselves. Our success is that we work very closely with our franchisees. I mean, I know them all personally, we have meetings, events a couple times a year.
Richard Scofield
And we do work on a Franchisee Advisory Board, which is, you know, piloted by the head office. But each, we don't, we have about eight franchisees that represent territories across the province. And their job is to get feedback from the restaurants. And when we sit down, when we go through whatever issues are troubling them, we go through what issues are troubling the franchisor.
Richard Scofield
And then we go through where we're investing our marketing dollars and where we're going as a brand. And no, we don't always agree. And I, I, I hope we don't always agree. Because if we always agree it means, we're not pushing it far enough. And what I tell my team is, you know, around the table, these 8 franchisees represent maybe 30 to 40% of the number of restaurants because we have a lot of multi-unit franchisees and if we present the concept, and they say it doesn't work, or it's not going to work, maybe there's something behind that we need to listen because they're on the field.
Michael LeBlanc
Yeah.
Richard Scofield
So, sometimes we go back to the table we work around, we'll see, okay, what's bothering them. And when we come back, when we get a buy in, you know, not everyone agrees, but everyone will support it and go forward. And, you know, 9 times out of 10 it will work, sometimes we have to say, well, you know what, that was a mistake when we pull back. And, and that transparency we have with them, they, they believe in us, and you know, they, they know that we have we've, we've got their back, if we can say, and that we have this great relationship, and that helps us keep going forward.
Sylvain Charlebois
So, Richard, what's next for the for the chain? What's next for, for franchisees?
Richard Scofield
Well, we're, we have a, we have a new mini concept that's coming out that will allow us to open in some smaller regions we were not before. We just launched an off premise kitchen called MALGAM, which is a kitchen that has a St-Hubert, a Harvey's and New York Fries and plays for about three other banners in the same kitchen for delivery. So, we're looking at expanding that, -
Sylvain Charlebois
In Quebec only or elsewhere?
Sylvain Charlebois
In Quebec only. This is our, the Quebec version of Ultimate Kitchens, that Recipe has launched in Ontario. I believe there at three versions of that kitchen right now. So, we're working as a new concept. We're working around that. So, there are opportunities in Quebec and we're going to continue, you know, renovating our stores and really focusing on that dining room experience and get and making sure that we, we respect that value equation that we're offering to our clients, which is, you know, increasingly challenged with, with labor shortages and food price increases. We just got to make sure that we get over that these next 12 to 18 months. And I hope, you know, the markets will stabilize and we, we just have to get through that where the franchises are healthy and the clients, you know, get for their money ou-, out of that experience.
Sylvain Charlebois
Listen, Richard, we're, we've unfortunately run out of time. But we want to thank you very much for joining us on The Food Professor podcast. It's, it's, it's a great story. And just so you know, my, my wife's first job was at a St-Hubert, many years ago, many years ago. But she did, she did start her professional career at St-Hubert and learned a great deal about, about having a job, having a boss, and serving customers and, and so every time we go back to Quebec, our first stop with the kids, it's at St-Hubert. So, there you go.
Richard Scofield
Oh, great to know. Thank you so much.
Sylvain Charlebois
Well, Listen Richard, thank you very much. And take care.
Richard Scofield
Well, thank you very much for having me. And it's been a pleasure. Thank you.
Michael LeBlanc
Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail. If you haven't already, be sure and clicking subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically, twice a week.
Michael LeBlanc
And check out my other retail industry media properties, the Remarkable Retail podcast, Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and The Food Professor podcast with Dr. Silva Charlebois. Last but not least, if you're into barbecue, check out my all-new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbecue, with new episodes each and every week.
Michael LeBlanc
I'm your host, Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company and Maven Media. And if you're looking for more content or want to chat, follow me on LinkedIn or visit my website at meleblanc.co.
Michael LeBlanc
Have a safe week everyone.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
franchisees, restaurant, quebec, products, brand, work, people, business, company, richard, fries, franchises, years, dining rooms, buy, podcast, chicken, president, recipe, barbecue