Waleed Shamsid-Deen With Supreme Foods Worldwide

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Lee Kantor: [00:00:32] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Franchise Marketing Radio, and this is going to be a fun one today on the show, we have Waleed Shamsid-Deen with Supreme Foods worldwide. Welcome.

Waleed Shamsid-Deen: [00:00:44] We are excited to be here, brother, thank you very much for this opportunity.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:48] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about Supreme Foods. How are you serving, folks?

Waleed Shamsid-Deen: [00:00:54] Well, we have two unique brands. One is called Supreme Burger. It’s a gourmet burger concept. You know, we focus on veggie, vegan, lamb, turkey, shrimp and of course, the Supreme Burger. And then we have a second, which most people don’t land on familiar with Supreme Fish Delight. And we’ve been in the market for over 40 years. We have 11 locations around the city, and that’s more of a southern fried fish concept that has your whiting and tilapia catfish shrimp. And of course, the famous hush puppies

Lee Kantor: [00:01:26] Now talk a little bit about your back story. Did you start this to be a franchise all along, or did it start just kind of as a one one shop and then just organically grew?

Waleed Shamsid-Deen: [00:01:39] Leigh, my dad started the company in nineteen eighty one location on Sweet Auburn Avenue, right down the street from where Martin Luther King was born. And we just grew slowly but surely as a mom and pop family owned business, opening one location every year, every 18 months. And before long, we had 10 12 locations in the city and then we just started. We decided to do some franchising. It was early nineties and my dad was one of the first black owned franchises in America and in 90 to early two thousands. We grew to about twenty five locations in the city of Atlanta and was excited to partner with the Olympics in 96 and most recently, the Super Bowl in twenty nineteen. You know, for the tailgating experience, we did about 5000 burgers and was there for that exciting time with the Super Bowl. So just a very slow organic mom and pop turned corporate term franchisor.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:40] So what was it like as a business to make that transition into, you know, from running a store to now running a franchise network where, you know, now you’re kind of a training and development business rather than a sell one more burger or fish sandwich business?

Waleed Shamsid-Deen: [00:02:58] Great question. I think every challenge you could name we’ve had from technology to systems to point a sale to supply chain, you know, really exploring what it’s like to sell businesses as opposed to just selling fish and burgers. And over the years, we kind of just learned organically. We joined different franchise trade organizations toward different franchise shows, and we brought on members and teams of people who have been there and done that, i.e. legal, accounting, business development and marketing to help us grow and get to where we are today. And despite all the challenges with the turn in the marketplace, the recession and most recently, COVID, we’re still here and we’re still positioned to grow.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:44] Now has COVID. I know it forced your hand, probably in some areas, as you know, the government said, you know, you’re allowed to open, not allowed to open, dine in or no dine in. Did it kind of force your hand in doing more delivery or curbside? Or had you always been doing things like that?

Waleed Shamsid-Deen: [00:04:03] Well, we had a unique experience, one because of government mandates and the CDC. Of course, we had to do, you know, light renovations, adding plexiglass and PPE and shifting to online and curbside. But the unique advantage we’ve always promoted small footprints, you know, twelve hundred square feet. Fourteen hundred square feet. So we didn’t have large dining capacity. 70 80 percent of our business was carry out. And believe it or not, this has been a great year, the last two years in terms of sales for a number of our locations. Because of that, we focused on online ordering. Curbside delivery really pushed DoorDash, Grubhub, Uber, and we have some unique pivots to go after emergency meals for frontline workers, senior citizens and youth, which put us in a space of really generating revenue through government contracting and working closely with schools and nonprofits. So because we’re we’re very lean as a franchisor, we was able to pivot and not just survive, but keep all of our employees, keep our franchises open and continue to serve the communities that that we’re currently in.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:16] Now talking about talk a little bit about how community impact is so important to your brand and for the franchisees.

Waleed Shamsid-Deen: [00:05:25] Well, one thing that we promote is that we think every customer for being a part of the family because we’re mom and pop, you know, we believe not only are the employees and extension of our family, but the vendors, the suppliers, the customers and the community. So we take that approach. We reach out to schools. We reach out to religious organizations, nonprofits, you know, your local boys and girls clubs and YMCA. We sponsor as much as we can afford within the budget, more so for the food and donations so that we can build that, that community be the go to spot for your burger or your fried fish and really get engaged in the football programs, the school programs, the band programs. So they see us as a part of an education or an extension of that community, and that model has been successful for us to the tune. You know, you have the coaches come by and you let the officials come by and they feel good about supporting a business that supports the community. So as part of our philosophy, as we build our franchise to encourage our franchisees to be supporters of the community that they serve.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:32] Now have your franchisees profile changed as we’re hopefully entering a post-pandemic period? Or is it the same type of person is buying the franchise now as they were, you know, when you started doing it?

Waleed Shamsid-Deen: [00:06:46] I think the model is shifting a bit because we’re getting more requests for some joint venture opportunities. You know, we expand it into Mexico just outside of Cancun, in a in a municipality called Playa del Carmen. And we’re looking to do maybe two in Cancun to imply a two and saloon. And that’s under a joint venture. And we’ve gotten calls from some business people in Canada. Again, looking for job opportunities. And most recently, we licensed a couple of franchisees in Charleston, South Carolina, and we’re looking at Charlotte. But despite the existing model of, you know, maybe a single unit of multi-unit opportunity, we’re getting calls now that are looking for us to share in some of the risk right during COVID and look at considering a joint venture model or a multi unit model where corporate is deeply engaged in the process. So I would say yes, the model is shifting post-COVID.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:47] Now, are you getting any franchisees who I like to call our professional franchisees, ones that own multiple brands and are just trying to add like a brand like yours to their portfolio?

Waleed Shamsid-Deen: [00:07:59] Believe it or not, just before COVID hit, you know, we got licensed and certified as ACB, which allows us to go into airports. You know, ACB stands for airport concessions, this disadvantaged business enterprise, and we also certified with the SBA so that potential franchisees could get government back financing. And by doing that, those tools looked very attractive for multi-unit professional franchise systems, and we were getting calls to partner as a minority in airports to partner and bring our brand into different concession opportunities. Really excited about that. And then all of a sudden COVID hit. So it kind of shocked the market and we’re still waiting to see what these opportunities are going to look like as airports start opening back up and start coming back out for unique opportunities throughout the U.S..

Lee Kantor: [00:08:58] Now, a lot of folks are struggling with supply chain issues. Is that something that’s impacted you guys?

Waleed Shamsid-Deen: [00:09:05] Absolutely. We went from a prepackaged beer battered onion ring to a homemade onion rings. We’re cutting our own onions and battery battering our own product supply chain has been an issue. The cost of goods, poultry is up, beef is up, lamb is up. The fact that we have unique branded burgers, we’re doing all halal. The price of halal is up, and in some instances we have to remove items and make them featured, depending on the supply chain, and we’re forced to look further up. How can we control our supply? I’m looking at farms now. I’m looking at commissary opportunities where we can produce stuff in house for our system so that we mitigate the risk of supply chain shortages in the future, but definitely an impact, and we’re looking to successfully address that for our franchisees going forward.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:59] So now we touch briefly on what an ideal franchisee looks like, but do you have kind of specifics in terms of like? How savvy they are in business, their background, do they have to have restaurant background? Do they have to? How immersed in the community must they be like? Some of them are nice to have some of them or must haves? What’s that ideal kind of franchisee profile look like for you?

Waleed Shamsid-Deen: [00:10:26] So for us, insane, ridiculous work ethic with the belief that failure is not an option to be coachable, have some resources, you know, be able to put the money necessary to get the location open and do some marketing. And outside of that, you know, we’re not rocket scientists, we’re not taking trips to the mall, you know, we’re flipping burgers and dropping fish, everything else we can teach in health. We have a pretty detailed curriculum in the classroom where we go through financials and food cost analysis and inventory control, and then we put them in a store for a week to teach them, you know, our systems in terms of cooking and prepping. And then when they open up, we spend a week in that store. So all end. It’s about three weeks, maybe to a month in training. And we think, you know, with our support, they’ll have the tools necessary to be successful.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:17] So now, as a franchisee, there’s a variety of revenue streams. Can you share a little bit about some of those revenue streams that are franchisees can take advantage of?

Waleed Shamsid-Deen: [00:11:29] Well, of course, the in-store sales, then the delivery platforms have interesting models now that look to start reducing from that. Twenty five and 30 percent down to 15. That’s been successful. We do a lot of corporate catering. You know, we’ve partnered with food and food. Again, that’s a revenue share, but they put us in over hundred locations. Metro, what we’re catering for everyone from the CDC to Dallas or to Georgia Power to a number of corporations and and food is nationwide. So we encourage our franchisees to look at partnering food and food. Then you have government contracting, and that’s like more on the catering side, feeding your local board of education or your county commissioners, or working closely with the school systems to feed for pregame meals, your football players, your basketball players, your marching bands, your cheerleaders. So we help show them all the revenue stream that you can have within your location inside the four walls, plus the additional revenue streams that take place through delivery or contracting outside of those four walls so that you can have, you know, seven to eight revenue streams per location.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:37] Now, what has been the most rewarding part of the journey for you, this is has been must have been quite an adventure.

Waleed Shamsid-Deen: [00:12:45] We, you know, we’re excited that we’ve been in business over 40 years now to to say that we’ve employed the grandparent, the parent, the kid. You know, we partnered with transition centers and we’ve given second chances. There’s a tremendous amount of pride in giving back to the community by providing emergency meals for kids and doing senior meals and delivering those into the homes of senior citizens. We’re excited that we’ve been able to grow and expand outside of the country, that we survived the recession and that we’re navigating through COVID. But most exciting is when we get a note from a school and a kid says, Hey, thank you so much that burger was delicious or thank you so much from a senior that we appreciate your support during COVID. That’s the feel good that makes all this worthwhile. And believe me, believe it or not, we get a lot of those letters and notes, especially from those who had second chances who couldn’t get employed. Otherwise, we’ve been able to employ them promoting to assistant managers, managers, and in some instances we’re looking to get them in food trucks and get them in their own business because you’ll be surprised, you know, when you have a business online or you have a brick and mortar. People don’t come in and say, Hey, there’s only have a felony. You don’t have to check a box to see if they’re able to be employed or you just go in, you swipe that card, you buy that food and you thank them for the good service and the good quality food. So buy our our model of giving back and supporting and being active in the community. It gives us more reward than just making a profit. We’re making a profit and we’re making a difference. And that’s what it’s about, making a profit and making a difference for our franchisees and building a legacy for our franchisees and our community.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:36] Well, if somebody wants to learn more about the opportunity as their website

Waleed Shamsid-Deen: [00:14:41] I would, I would send them directly to Supreme Foods worldwide. And from there, they can see our impact, see our multiple brands and see ways to become part of our family. Supreme Foods Worldwide.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:55] Well, thank you so much for sharing your story. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Waleed Shamsid-Deen: [00:14:59] Lee, thank you for the opportunity. Really appreciate the platform, and I look forward to being on your show again in the near future.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:06] All right, this is Lee Kantor. We will sail next time on Franchise Marketing Radio.