Buzzworthy Brands is a weekly Restaurant Business feature highlighting revolutionary increase manufacturers that operators ought to preserve an eye fixed on. A fresh Buzzworthy Brands profile may be published each Thursday.
Buzzworthy Brands
The idea: Dos Toros Taqueria
The details: A 21-unit fast-casual burrito-and-bowl idea that began in 2012, centered in New York City. The chain additionally has stores in Chicago, with units ranging from 1,000 to a few,500 square feet.
The backstory: The chain prides itself on making really the whole lot in-house (inclusive of hot sauces, that are also available via the bottle). It sources obviously raised and antibiotic- and hormone-unfastened meats and GMO-loose tortillas, and composts food waste.
Why it’s really worth watching: Dos Toros’ sales grew 39.Nine% year over yr in 2018, consistent with Technomic records. The logo has an attractive social media presence. Its meme-crammed Pinto the Burrito Instagram account has extra than a hundred,000 fans. In current years, Dos Toros has been constructing out its catering software, developing from $one hundred twenty,000 in catering sales a yr (delivered with the aid of one custom tricycle) in 2012 to $five million in annual catering sales today—10% of the concept’s general sales, according to agency figures. It has engineered the catering application to be extraordinarily simple: Type in what number of human beings are being fed and whilst the meals are needed, and Dos Toros delivers a 20-ingredient burrito bar that mimics the in-eating place enjoy. The operation is garnering lots of repeat enterprise from this version. Currently, 70% of the chain’s catering orders come from previous customers.
Here are 5 growth-minded and catering-focused questions with Dana Vandagriff, Dos Toros’ catering director, and Marcus Byrd, the concept’s advertising director:
How did the catering program start?
Byrd: Catering passed off due to the fact we had an eating place and people might call us and say, “Can I get a whole lot of meals?” We have been like, “Oh, yeah, we are able to make that work.” We had a tricycle that could hold meals for 15 human beings. The owner would ride the tricycle. Now, we do events for three,000 humans. The most we ought to suit at the tricycle is the minimal we take now.
Vandagriff: When they hired me (in 2016), the entire factor of hiring me became to build out this system. At that point, we were nonetheless quite reactive. We wanted to get to an area in which we have been proactive. We expanded enterprise 50% that first 12 months. Logistics is my jam.
So, what had been some of the early steps you took to streamline the catering program?
Vandagriff: You need to take out as many X factors as possible. When I started, there have been quite a few X factors. There turned into loads that could go wrong. We have been declining customers each day. … We gave each employee get entry to to an Uber account (to make deliveries).
Byrd: We’re a challenger emblem and that’s thrilling for us. But you need to decide what’s worth your funding. In 2012, we notion we wished a catering truck. We’re in New York City, and that’s sincerely honestly terrible funding. Uber lets in us to no longer have a physical vehicle.
