Matthew Corrin, the 31-year-old founder and chief executive of the 100-unit fast-casual Freshii chain, should have had no trouble passing for a culinary-school graduate working his first job when he appeared on “Undercover Boss Canada” earlier this month.
Although Corrin raised eyebrows when he encouraged cashiers to up-sell guests, employees were still surprised when he was revealed as the person who started the health-oriented brand in Toronto in 2005.
“I was incredibly inspired,” he said of the episode’s final scene. “They are 13-hour days, so your body’s exhausted, and I’d forgotten that part of it,” he said. “But my mind was so energized. I continued to feel proud of the company we’re building, the people we employ, the family-oriented nature of these stores.”
The excitement and attention to detail he showed while undercover will come in handy this year, as Chicago-based Freshii works through a pipeline of agreements for 300 more locations worldwide, including 100 units over the next decade in China. A new prototype for the so-called “health-casual” chain also debuted this year in Freshii’s first location in Stockholm.
What did you hope to get out of appearing on “Undercover Boss”?
It’s ultimately about the benefits of free PR and lead generation for franchisees, trial for customers, and then it’s about doing something for your staff that they can feel really proud of and get excited about. A lot of our employees are Generation Y, and that’s who the target viewer is.
You’re a young CEO, and Freshii is a young brand, so was there a lot for you to learn about your restaurant from doing this?
My “aha” moment for the show was, as I stepped away from day-to-day managing stores, I got focused on customers first, brand second and employees third. I think at some point that actually makes life harder for employees, and I think if we put employees first always, that takes care of the customer and the brand. Now, when we roll out a new menu item or process in the four walls, it’s got to start with the person executing it.
Did you rethink anything about Freshii’s growth plans after those 13-hour days at the unit level?
While this broad approach to growth in the early days is expensive and harder to execute, as we get our divide-and-conquer going on — in 30 cities in eight countries, all opening their second and third locations — then you get pretty explosive growth with a brand built with a global eye as opposed to local.
The biggest issues for people eating healthfully are convenience and affordability. We’ve tried really hard to build something that takes both of those things into account. But until you’re a global brand, you’re not convenient. … For us it’s about doing the right thing for the brand and then being opportunistic with partners that philosophically share the same values we do.
You’ve said before you want to pioneer a new “health-casual” segment of the industry. How do you stay differentiated?
The last 10 years were all about fast casual; I think the next 10 years are all about “health casual.” I haven’t been in the industry for 10 years, so I don’t know what that trajectory looks like or how it gets segmented. … I take comfort in the fact that, while the restaurant industry isn’t rocket science, it’s bloody hard work. There are a thousand little things that need to go right every day.
We play in this very broad product mix and broad customer perception of just being a place where you can come and get fresh food. We’re not a burrito place, a frozen yogurt place, a salad or snack place, and yet we have all those things on our menu. We’ve tried to be everything to a very focused customer who wants healthy and fresh food.
Contact Mark Brandau at [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter: @Mark_from_NRN.