Riding the Tide of Changing Customer Behavior WIth Leo Chris Kasuya, Director of Strategy & New Ventures at Irresistible Foods Group
Leo Chris Kasuya is the Director of Strategy and New Ventures at Irresistible Foods Group (IFG). IFG is a family of authentic food and beverage brands, and Leo’s role is to develop and execute strategic initiatives focused on the enterprise and operating its long-term growth and success. Leo leads acquisition and investment opportunities, international expansion efforts, and develops strategic initiatives for King’s Hawaiian, Grillo’s Pickles, and Shaka Tea.
Having held several senior-level positions at various companies, Leo is also the Co-founder of Unique Impressions Group, a digital media company. He attended the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business, graduating magna cum laude in international business and marketing with a minor in Japanese.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
Leo Chris Kasuya provides the background of Irresistible Foods Group (IFG)
Why IFG holds tightly to its core values
How IFG values who you are versus what you do to hire the best people that align with its mission
How IFG has adapted to changing and evolving customer behavior
The way IFG positioned its brands by doubling down to understand and personalize the customer experience
IFG’s strategy for adjusting to online ordering, pickup, and delivery demands and leveraging the digital environment
Taking the problems and challenges in the world today and figuring out how to turn them into opportunities
Leo and Roger Hurni’s thoughts on good versus bad advice
What you’ll learn in this episode:
The dynamics of the food and food service landscape have forever changed. How did businesses successfully navigate the evolution of consumer behavior? What should you focus on to help your restaurant or food brand thrive through the myriad of challenges we’ve experienced and new ones that are sure to arise?
Irresistible Foods Group (IFG) was in a better position than most when the world began to change in 2020. In 2018, IFG reexamined its understanding of the consumer and how to reach, target, and communicate with them. IFG doubled down on its efforts and accelerated its sales in brick-and-mortar stores and online, which gave them an edge when the pandemic hit. Additionally, its core values and IFG’s plan to stay ahead of the world’s problems turned those problems into opportunities. Having a long-term strategic plan when the unexpected arises can help you pivot and focus on surviving unexpected market challenges. Another critical component is using your company’s core values as a guide for hiring the right people who dedicate themselves to your mission.
On this episode of From Persona to Personal, Roger Hurni welcomes Leo Chris Kasuya, Director of Strategy and New Ventures at Irresistible Foods Group (IFG), to talk about creating a long-term plan to equip your company to be a step ahead when challenges surface. Leo talks about having a team that aligns with your company’s core values, the power of adapting to evolving customer behavior, and having a strategy that turns challenges into opportunities when facing unforeseen circumstances.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
This episode’s sponsor:
Today’s episode is brought to you by Off Madison Ave. At Off Madison Ave, we create meaningful moments of brand trust and influence how people interact and engage with brands.
There is a science behind tapping into your audiences’ desires and motivation. After all, if you’re not changing your audiences’ behaviors, you can’t truly unlock all of your brand’s potential.
The proven models and methods of Behavior Design is the strategic foundation for your brands’ success.
Episode Transcript
Intro:
This is From Persona to Personal podcast. Today's episode is brought to you by Off Madison Ave. Off Madison Ave creates meaningful moments of brand trust and influences how people interact and engage with brands. The science behind their approach taps into your audience's motivations and desires. After all, if you're not changing your audience's behaviors, you can't truly unlock all of your brand's potential. Now, let's get started with the show.
Roger Hurni 0:00
Hello everyone. I am Roger Hurni, the host of From Persona to Personal, where I get to speak with top leaders in the food and beverage space. If you enjoy the show, please check out my other ones with Kara Goldin, the founder of Hint Water. Also Mike Evans, the founder of Grubhub. Today I have a very special guest. Before I get to that, today's episode is brought to you by Off Madison Ave. Off Madison Ave, we use behavioral science to create meaningful moments of brand trust, which influences how people interact and engage with companies. Our behavioral approach taps into your audience's motivation and prompts them to shift behavior. After all, if you're not changing your audience's behaviors, you can't truly unlock all of your brand's potential. These proven behavioral models and methods are the strategic foundation for your brand success. Visit OffMadisonAve.com. That's ave.com. to learn more. Now, today, I have with me, Leo Chris Kasuya, caution I always butcher his last name. He's going to correct it for me. He's the Director of Strategy and new ventures for Irresistable Foods Group. His role is to develop and execute strategic initiatives within King's Hawaiian Grillo’s Pickles and Shaka Tea brands, which lead to their long term growth and success. Prior to that, on a personal note, Leo quit his job doing strategy consulting in to travel around the world for more than a year. Moreover, he convinced three of his friends to quit his jobs and travel with them. Personally, I wish I was one of his friends at that time, because it would have been something I would have loved to do. Leo is also an adventure seeker. He's done skydiving, he scuba dives with white sharks. And he's done some bungee jumping. Now, Leo, welcome to the show. I feel like you are my brother from another mother.
Leo Chris Kasuya 2:24
Well, thanks for having me, Roger. And, you know, I guess it's never too late for us to do a world tour and the upcoming years or months or whatever it might be. So something I would love to do with you after hearing some of your travels as well.
Roger Hurni 2:38
This could be the start of a beautiful friendship.
Leo Chris Kasuya 2:41
It really could.
Roger Hurni 2:44
I for all the listeners, I just got back from Japan. I just got back from Singapore. And prior to this show, we were we were were giving each other grief about time differences and having jet lag but you know what? First of all problem we really enjoy it. Let's get started because I don't want to waste everybody's time. Leo let's start with a little bit more about Irresistible Foods Group and the brands that represent can the study give all the listeners some context there on, on the group and the brands?
Leo Chris Kasuya 3:15
Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, just to first talk about Irresistible Foods Group, we established it in September of 2021. And we are the parent company to King's Hawaiian, Grillo’s Pickles, Shaka Tea, as, as you shared, Roger and IFG is 100% family owned and the family that owns it is committed to really authentically stewarding these Irresistible brands into the future just as they have with Kings Hawaiian for the last 70 years. So, you know, kind of the backdrop context is we and myself included are kind of legacy King's Hawaiian. King’s, Hawaiian, you know, was founded in 1950. In a small town called Hilo, Hawaii. The success of the branches continued as they moved from Hilo, Hawaii to Honolulu, Hawaii, and then decided, you know, what this is going to be international brands moved to the mainland of the US, came to the US, and kind of just started seeing the growth of expanding across the entire US. And over the years, essentially, you know, with the family and our leadership team, we decided that we've really developed a fair amount of capital and we define capital as cash and capabilities, and how do we really deploy that beyond just the realm of King's Hawaiian? And that's really where we started looking at investment opportunities. And through that first acquisition of Grillo’s Pickles, we then have created Irresistible Foods Group. So you know, to a lot of the listeners, if you've come across IFG, I think it's often kind of associated as maybe like a VC or private equity firm, but we really see ourselves not as that more of an owner-friendly investor or choir that's really focused on creating value for these Irresistible brands with no intent to ever sell. So if we invest in you, and eventually acquire, our intent is not to turn that company around for a larger profit, our hope is to continue to, you know, share that Irresistible products across borders for perpetuity. And really, our role within the IFG space is threefold. One is capital allocation like I mentioned, that's both cash and capabilities, to strategic governance, or guidance, rather, so really thinking through how to help these companies establish a strategic plan. And we look at strategic plans, 50 years, 100 years, very, very long term. And then the last piece is operational governance. So how do we kind of support you and you know, pour the gasoline on these brands that are, you know, still growing, like a hockey stick, and trying to just help them grow faster and better, to just have consumers experience that eras product in their mouth.
Roger Hurni 6:09
You know, it's, it's, it's interesting how you how you describe it, as, hey, this isn't a flip opportunity, this is an opportunity for us to help grow those brands in perpetuity. It leans into your values, which a lot of people pay lip service to the core values that run the company, there are a few companies that really live and die by that, I'd like to say that my company does, you know, we have five core values we hire on them, we fire on them. But you're the first company I've come across that explicitly expresses those values on their LinkedIn page. Why is those? Why are those values so important to Irresistible Foods Group that you would list them and really put them out there like that?
Leo Chris Kasuya 6:58
No, absolutely. I'm happy to call that out. Because, you know, we really believe in irresistibility, not just in our products, I think you hear it was visible food script that's immediate things, oh, just Irresistible products, right. But we really see it beyond just products into our values into our ohana, which is the Hawaiian word for family, and in our roots. So you know, when we look at irresistibility, it's those four pillars. And really what we think to the quarter is the stability is our values. And the reason why we say that is you know, values really drive behaviors, behaviors, create cultures, and we want to have this Irresistible cultures, but it starts with the values. So you know, one of the things that we look for, for any company that we bring into our ecosystem of IFG is shared values, right? So we really feel that Irresistible values is is a critical component. And you know, each company we have has their values expressed differently based on the company's personality, its own heritage, etc. But when you really get down to it, the ethos of the values is alike across the board. And then the two other things we kind of look for, for for companies to join IFG is obviously Irresistible products. And when you put it in your mouth, your first reaction is man, that's a good X, bread, pickles, tea and then the last is sold in the perimeter. So just figure to share that context. But at the end, you know, truly, values are just super critical for us because we we want to work with people that we enjoy working with. And we feel that when you have that foundation, you can build a much more fruitful future since you know you're aligned at a very core level.
Roger Hurni 8:44
Wonderful man. I think a lot of companies can learn a great lesson from from really leveraging their values that way and it's nice to see a company do that. On to some nitty gritty now let's get into the meat of the of the conversation. I know a lot of companies had difficulties navigating the pandemic, if you misunderstand this correctly, please correct me. Irresistible started basically, in the middle of the pandemic, you converted over and started buying in 2021. How, how difficult was it to deal with the dynamics of what seemed to be a daily changing landscape in terms of consumer behaviors during that process?
Leo Chris Kasuya 9:32
Absolutely. So I mean, look, just as it was for you and myself and everybody else, right. individuals and companies included. I think it was a difficult time. I think, particularly the pandemic was difficult for my bosses, as well as you know, the entire leadership team across the, the ecosystem I think at the beginning particularly being food and beverage you had this challenge of you know, “Do we send workers and to continue to produce product to keep food on the shelves, at the risk of catching this, you know, this virus that we didn't have any clarity on”, or what is the right moves? Right. So there's big questions at the beginning that were tremendously typical, I think our leadership team really thought through what were the best options, establish the right safe safety protocols. And, you know, shout out to all of our manufacturing workers that went in and continue to produce products so that we were able to feed Americans since you know, there's a bull rush at the beginning, right? And since then, I think we've continued to navigate through some of the challenges, both with the pandemic and other, you know, worldly events that have happened. And I think, while it has been difficult, we have been positioned to kind of achieve and get past those challenges and problems, just because we truly have incredible leaders, starting with our CEO, and our chairman, Mark Tyra, kind of, you know, having the trust of the organization. And I think that we all feel that our leadership is making the right decisions for their people, the employees, as well as making sure that we're doing the best to, to keep food on shelves of America.
Roger Hurni 11:36
So when it comes to navigating like that, and you talked about the values, driving behaviors, there are a lot of new customer behaviors that were happening. Your restaurants might be better set up than others, given the types of restaurants they are, what, what did that navigation look like in terms of online ordering, delivery pickup, or even in this isn't a lot to unpack in this question. But even branded mobile apps simply because that has become like the new experience. How did you, how did you go through that kind of consumer behavior change? And what were some of the things that you did to adapt?
Leo Chris Kasuya 12:20
Absolutely. So you know, I think, first, I guess, addressing the restaurant side, I have not as much involvement with the King's Hawaiian restaurants to that we have in LA, I know, the team really focused on how do we continue to be kind of a staple, and a place where the community to come to for affordable, high-quality foods, which, you know, was transitioning to a new POS system to make pickup and delivery much more feasible. You know, taking a kind of step back and looking at the bigger picture, I think consumer behaviors, and that's one thing I wanted to delineate is for us, we really look at customers as the kind of retailers, the club stores, the convenience stores, people we sell our products to, and then the consumers, as the as Roger has meet the people that actually eat the products, right. So when I think about just that changing consumer behavior, we were, we were fortunate in the sense that in 2018, ou,r our marketing team kind of got together and said, hey, you know, what, what is our charter? And what are the capabilities that we, we really want to crush so that we continue to help support the growth of, of Kings Hawaiian? And through that exercise, one of the new capabilities that we really want to lean into is to better understand our consumers and how to reach them, and how do we target communication to, you know, continue to drive that frequency and uses occasion up? Because, you know, King's Hawaiian, historically, not very much today, but historically, we were a twice-a-year product, Thanksgiving, Christmas, right? So a large effort is how do we get the brand in front of consumers in different occasions for grilling during the summer, July 4, Labor Day, whatever it might be right for Easter Sunday, and kind of driving that user education up. So where that really started in 2018 was, let's double down on our understanding of the consumer. That's really where it started and tried to answer the questions of who are consumers? Where do our consumers shop? How do our consumers shop and really intimately understanding our consumers taking those learnings and then applying that not just in in-store, but online as well? And I think the pandemic what it did was really accelerated the online purchasing of, of groceries items, right so. We did said, look, we've done an incredible job of last 10 years building this dominant prominence in store, when you walk into a grocery store, you'll see King's Hawaiian painting the store orange, incredible displays, how do we replicate that online? Right? And how do we start incorporating banners or digital assets to copy to have that, you know, prominent, Irresistible experience that you'd get in a store? And I think that you know, the team really thought through? How do we leverage this digital environment to really share more of the brand story that we can't do in person? How do we incorporate recipes and really kind of give that holistic experience beyond just the purchasing of our products? So I'm not sure if I answered your question there, Roger. But you know, that's how you how we approached it.
Roger Hurni 15:56
You absolutely did answer it, that what people don't understand is some of the subtexts that's there inside the question I come across this often in, in my behavior work, that, really, when companies like yours do that kind of consumer research, they're building a behavioral data platform, so that you can understand the implicit as well as the explicit behaviors of consumers. And at that point, you can lead to a level of personalization, where they can recognize the opportunity for a certain kind of recipe, or a certain kind of occasion beyond the typical, where they can really use your products and services. And that to that is true personalization. For me to be for, for a company like yours to personalize that digital environment. You don't have to use somebody's name, you don't need to know their birthday. Personalization is when they can understand when a brand understands who I am, and my need sets and can offer me products and services that align with those behaviors. That's when people recognize personalization. And if I'm in a moment where it's not Christmas, and New Year's, and it's an opportunity in a special occasion, and you've done that kind of work, a consumer will see that and, and you're describing that environment. And that's really, to me the lesson for other brands is focusing on that. Because now you'll find unique ways of messaging and creating products that serve those behaviors, and not just provide information. No one changes behavior based on information, proven scientific fact. So I, I really appreciate that answer. I kind of went on a little bit through how it might relate a little bit I'm a pretty good translator. But I think it's brilliant, honestly, that you're. you're looking at consumer behavior. From that perspective.
Leo Chris Kasuya 18:03
Well, you know, the All credit goes to our Omni screen and marketing teams that spend day and night. You know, trying to your point, create these Irresistible moments, right, we like to say, we want to make every occasion special and every special occasion unforgettable. So how do we really deliver on that promise and continue to make that, that delightful experience moment, whatever you want to call it with all of our products, King's Hawaiian, Grillo’s, and Shaka.
Roger Hurni 18:34
So what's not Irresistible? Now? Basically, what I'm asking is, what kind of a challenge are you facing that you need to make Irresistible?
Leo Chris Kasuya 18:45
Well you know, I think what's not Irresistible is that the uncertainty of the world, you know what I mean? I think over the last, last few years, I mean, heck, we've seen a pandemic, we've seen supply chain challenges coming out of that we've seen a war in Ukraine that has had implications around the world. So I think the challenge is, how do we continue to be a step forward and take these problems or challenges that come and take turn them into opportunities? And I think it's the through line that my catch all that you're going to call me out on but I think it all starts with having the right plan, you know, call it strategy, which each of our companies go through a strategic planning process, again, that long term thinking so that we don't get distracted. As events come along the line. We kind of know what that endgame there is for us, and all actions we do have to align to that strategic plan and getting us to that, you know, milestone we want to get to, and then the second piece which is all around just having the right people to help us get, get us there, right and the people we look for is all around that who, you know, their values the way they you know, see the world, problem solve. And obviously, there's a component of the what, what, what they actually do you know whether it's a functional expertise, etc. But we really tried to lean in on the WHO YOU ARE versus what you do so that we bring in the right people that's down to, you know, go on this journey to build this incredible, Irresistible environment for us.
Roger Hurni 20:29
Very smart, very smart. Well, look, you and I are sort of becoming fast friends, at least I think, in my mind, we are. So it's just the two of us. There's really nobody listening. There's definitely nobody listening at the moment this is recording. What's the big announcement you want to share? That you won't tell anybody else?
Leo Chris Kasuya 20:48
Well, I think when I share that I'd be doing this with my boss to, to get cleared for it. He, I gave him a kind of preview of some of the things you might, might hit on. And I shared this one with him. And he literally said, If you share anything, I'll have to kill you. So that I don't know what I'll really share. But look at the end of the day, Roger, there's a lot to be excited about, you know, IFG itself is in its infancy, we've, you know, been in business call it 14 months, 18 months. So we're still, still early. And there's just a lot to be excited about what we're building here, just this very differentiated environment of not just being money-driven, but truly what we like to call high, high performing heads and high performing hearts, creating a place where you're going to be intellectually stimulated, but also work with people that are just good, good people's and incredible hearts. And I'm just really proud to see where, where we've gotten to this far and really pumped to see the growth of King's Hawaiian, Grillo’s, Shaka Tea, and hopefully more brands to join our, our ohana. And, you know, one of the things that I guess could be exciting is this million-dollar showdown that we're doing right now with King's Hawaiian that's really tapping into you know some of the new teams that we've created from the learnings of the pandemic. And really making Slider Sunday's a thing right? You hear about Taco Tuesdays? Well, we're making slider Sunday's a thing with King's Hawaiian, you know, and really kind of tapping in our learnings over the last few years with our Omni team and making sure that people are getting it all kinds of stages of the shopper journey. Whether you see the ads with Guy Fieri, Eli Manning on TV or getting hit with some of the influencers we're working with regionally and then obviously, either in-store on screen, getting hit with our displays and banners that are recognizing that we're, we're really excited about just seeing how we can make Slider Sundays a thing.
Roger Hurni 23:08
And I'd like it. I'm a sucker for a good hashtag. So #SliderSunday sounds that sounds great. alliteration. I love it. Last question, and then I'll let you go. You've been very gracious with your time. There's a lot of great advice in the answers that you've given. There's a lot of learnings there. So we're going to pivot to what's the worst advice you have ever gotten?
Leo Chris Kasuya 23:34
The worst advice I have ever gotten. Oof, that's a, that's a tough one. I have to sit on it for a minute. You know, I'm gonna be honest with you. It's a cop-out. I don't know if I'm necessarily had bad advice. I think all advice is good in some ways and bad and others, right? But man, it's a tough one, I guess. Worse advice is maybe to outwork people because I've taken that to heart and I think I'm not the smartest guy in that room ever. But there's one thing that I do notice I have some endurance and that also can kill you and kind of lose balance on a work-life balance perspective. So maybe it's you can win by out working someone, but I'm not satisfied with the answer, but I'll use that for the sake of not having your listeners sit here, hear me ponder for 30 minutes.
Roger Hurni 24:34
My apologies for the curveball.
Leo Chris Kasuya 24:36
I like it.
Roger Hurni 24:38
Yeah, everyone always talks about, you know, all the best advice I've ever gotten is this or someone told me this one thing that was amazing, but I've always found that there is a lot of you said this and there's a lot of, there's a lot of truth in how much you can learn from bad situations. I once worked for a company and, and if anyone LinkedIn stalks me, it's not on my LinkedIn, I've only been putting it on there. You know, it's under the, under the, the hole that is freelance and my career at one point. But it was a terrible experience. But it taught me everything not to do. Like not how to treat people how to not deal with clients. Like, while it was a terrible experience, it was still one of the best things I've ever learned. And every time the CEO, the owner of this company said something to me, it was always the worst advice, or the worst advice was changing on a daily basis. But why were the reasons why like ask that question.
Leo Chris Kasuya 25:37
Oh, I like it. And then is that is that the worst advice that you've ever received?
Roger Hurni 25:43
The worst advice I think I've ever gotten is I would probably say that the CEO once said that you just make everybody do what you want them to do. Basically, she would set the world on fire just to put it out and say, See, you need me. And I just don't think that's a very good way of of running a business. Hence, going back to Irresistible’s core values. And you know, how you look at a business. It's just, it's just a different. I'm not saying you can't work as a business. It's just generally not the, just only not scalable. If you're trying to make all the decisions in a company you can work for small companies, but you can't grow. Yeah, you got to trust your people and you got to move on.
Leo Chris Kasuya 26:29
I always hear that from our leadership team is to get the right people set the strategy and get out of their way. And I think that's a very true statement.
Roger Hurni 26:38
Yeah. And we ended up with good advice when I tried to end with bad advice. So there we go. We'll just keep it that way. I had been speaking with Leo Chris Kasuya, trying to not butcher the last name and I apologize. He's the Director of Strategy and new ventures at Irresistible Foods Group. Leo, where can people learn more about you and Irresistible Foods Group?
Leo Chris Kasuya 27:00
Absolutely. So we are in the process of revamping our website. You know, we just had a landing page for a while and wanted to make sure that the website itself also came across Irresistible. So you know, I think at the end of November we're targeting to kind of publish our revamped fully loaded website. So that's it www.irresistiblefoods.com You can also find us on LinkedIn and then you can find me on LinkedIn at Leo Chris Kasuya.
Roger Hurni 27:31
Thank you very much, Mr. Kasuya. I really appreciate it. It really only took me like nine tries to try to get your name right. Thank you very much for being on the show. And everyone if you love this, please subscribe and we will see you next time on From Persona to Personal.
Outro:
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