Welcome to the Arena from ICR – Conversations with Today's Innovators & Business Leaders Andy Wiederhorn, CEO of FAT Brands – The Best Ingredients: Building a strong portfolio of restaurants
Success in the restaurant industry can be tricky, but today's guest has really nurtured the built-in growth opportunities in his business, with remarkable results.
On this episode we're sitting down with Andy Wiederhorn, President and CEO of FAT Brands. FAT Brands is a global franchising company that acquires, markets and develops a range of casual and quick-service dining restaurant concepts.
Andy made his first restaurant acquisition in 2003 with Fatburger, and went on to acquire Buffalo's Cafe in 2011, and Ponderosa and Bonanza Steakhouses in 2017. That same year, Andy took FAT Brands public. He continued FAT Brand's aggressive acquisition strategy over the next few years, striking deals with legacy brands including Johnny Rockets, Round Table Pizza, Marble Slab Creamery, and Great American Cookies, to name a few. He also struck deals with Twin Peaks, Fazoli's, and Native Grill & Wings. The FAT Brand portfolio now features 17 restaurant concepts with more than 2300 locations worldwide.
Andy's been incredibly busy for the past 20 years, but he was able to join us to talk about the company's history, growth and their strategy for the next few years.
Highlights:
- Andy's background in finance and his first acquisition with Fatburger (3:03)
- Andy's must-haves when looking at new acquisitions (5:17)
- The portfolio's categories and how they work together (6:13)
- Andy discusses how the portfolio will look 5 years from now (7:29)
- How different concepts are doing in the current economic environment (8:15)
- Andy's perspective on supporting his franchisees (9:26)
- Co-branding with FAT Brands (10:26)
- Opportunities for new acquisitions in this market environment (11:51)
- The benefit of Andy's finance background (13:39)
- Fat Brands' manufacturing opportunities (14:35)
- The team's approach to setting up FAT Brands (15:47)
- Andy's business philosophy during COVID and how the brands handled it (17:12)
- How the chains are navigating inflation (19:24)
- What we can expect for FAT Brands in 2023 (20:37)
- Andy talks about his team (21:37)
- What investors might miss about FAT Brands (22:34)
Links:
Andrew Wiederhorn bio FAT Brands
Feedback:
If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, marion@lowerstreet.co.