Ep 51: Daniel Gonzalez / Co-owner of Simply Salad & Chicken Sandwich War Veteran

Simply Salad includes five locations in Los Angeles and was founded on the idea that everyone should have access to healthy, fresh, flavorful, affordable food in a way that is fast and convenient.

Daniel was formerly the head of finance and development at Popeyes, where he was part of the team that led Popeyes’ entry into the famous chicken sandwich wars.

Simply Salad has grown by making salads convenient and accessible and by adding locations to communities not typically associated with salad restaurants and other better-for-you restaurants.

Quotes

“Everybody thinks their quality is great, but you (at Popeyes) had a rockstar supply chain team that can actually source that product and you had an operations team that just aced training. […] For a challenger brand to not just challenge, but overcome the leader (Chick-fil-A) is pretty intense.” (Joseph)

“It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy in that when you have a big launch and you’re moving volume and the product is hot and the product is fresh, it’s easier to be able to deliver consistency (in quality).” (Daniel)

“After the Popeyes launch when everyone saw how successful the (chicken sandwich) launch was, everyone said ‘I need a new (sandwich) on the menu in three months.” And if that’s your approach to product development, you’re not going to deliver what you need.” (Daniel)

“Simply salad has found something intriguing and unique and it’s where it went and where these locations happen to be. It’s not the rich suburbs of America where people have a lot of money. Instead, you’ve found traction in places like Compton. Places that people would mark as underserved or a health food desert.” (Joseph)

“Our secret is, we don’t focus on health. Everybody knows that salads are healthy. We focus on taste. When that salad can deliver against the same craving as a Big Mac and fries, that’s when we’re winning.” (Daniel)

Transcript

00:00.00vigorbrandingHey everyone this morning I’m joined by my friend Daniel Gonzalez who is co-owner of simply salad a brand that’s up and coming in the l a market and growing ah before we hoper on that Daniel say hello give a little bit of backstory.

00:00.00Daniel GonzalezI.

00:11.80Daniel GonzalezEverybody how are you? my name is Daniel I’m one of the owners of simply salad I’ve been involved in this business for about a year prior to that. It’s been about a decade in leadership positions with restaurant brands international. So. Ah popeyes and the chicken sandwich burger king over in Europe burger king here in the states. Um, and yeah, originally from California and I’m super pumped to be able to be bring in healthy food to California.

00:40.25vigorbrandingThat’s awesome. So yeah, some name drops. Ah which are are big ones some are leading the charge actually both I would say are leading the charge in their own right? Um, and and suffice to say you’ve had a lustroious career like you didn’t just dive into the top like you you have worked your way up. You’ve worn many hats. Um. And and going from a macro brand the size of burger king the size of Popeyes to a smaller brand um in simply salad which I believe we’re about to be at None units right? or twi ten. Yeah.

01:07.97Daniel GonzalezYeah, we’ll finish it about 8 this year mean hopefully nine Vegas says None ah so I don’t know if you want to take the over on that. But you know about 8

01:15.14vigorbrandingAwesome! So how how have you applied your learnings while maintaining that like agility necessary in startup because this is still startup. You