Young Ones To Watch: Chris Birkinshaw, CEO of Aloha Poke Co.

Chris Birkinshaw first fell in love with Aloha Poke as a customer. Now, he’s the CEO.

For Birkinshaw, the colorful, flavorful bowls sold him on the poke franchise. Today, he’s part of the brand’s mission to reimagine fast food and provide a healthier meal to fuel customers. And with his help, the franchise has grown to nineteen locations across the country. As the restaurant industry continues to operate with more emphasis on off-premise dining, Aloha’s small stores and simple, purposeful menu built of sustainable ingredients have positioned it well for growth.

1851 Franchise spoke with Birkinshaw as part of our Young Ones to Watch series to learn more about his story.

1851 Franchise: How did you get into franchising?

Chris Birkinshaw: I first got into franchising with Potbelly, and back then it was still predominantly company owned. In 2010 or 2011 Potbelly decided franchising would be a good thing. I got involved in its international and domestic franchise development opening stores in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait. Once those were up and running and operational, I continued new store development in the U.S.

I found franchising to be a fascinating business model and likewise found that working with owners and operators was equally interesting. They have local knowledge in their markets. That's what helps them be so successful. I fell in love with the industry, and the opportunity became available to come on board with Aloha. It was a no brainer that we were poised for franchising. We were able to take pains and not make similar mistakes. When growing our stores, we looked through the lens of the franchisee experience with the mindset of: if big is good, is bigger better? It’s informed the size of our stores and the purposefulness of our menu.

1851: What do you love about the industry?

Birkinshaw: I fell in love with the fast casual food and beverage industry early on — the energy of it. Everyone loves food, everyone eats food. Then speaking specifically to franchising, in my experience, working with franchisees is different than working with store managers. They’re business owners and come from backgrounds where they're typically highly successful and want to be in control of their own destiny. It’s clear that they have a desire to achieve their dreams through franchising. It’s really exciting and important. 

1851: What makes someone a good fit for the franchise industry? Are there traits that are shared by the most successful franchise professionals you know?

Birkinshaw: Owner drive — to me, that’s the most important thing. I’ve been lucky to work with highly driven, really smart owners. Some people go into franchising and think once they open the doors things will be automatically successful. People who represent the brand and have something they are proud of are the ones who do it best. They’re the ones going to sports games with their logo shirt on to be excited about being an owner. 

There are other elements that are important, but less so. They should be well capitalized, have a background in being able to own and operate a small business, and have the chops to take the call when a toilet clogs on a Friday night. It’s a lot of boxes to check, but they should be highly driven to build the business and uphold the brand the right way. 

1851: How do you feel about the industry's response to the coronavirus crisis so far? Are there challenges or opportunities that the industry still needs to address?

Birkinshaw: The pandemic has affected the restaurant industry in particular, but it’s been uneven. I’ve seen a pattern since mid-March — people were freaking out and stocking up on things like meat and toilet paper. Then thinking “Oh, I better actually cook all of this.” That made for dark weeks for restaurants. But, it took government orders for people to stop going to restaurants, so this is not permanent. 

Aloha was really positioned well for the pandemic before it started. The pandemic didn’t create a lot of new trends as much it accelerated them. Consumer convenience is the direction we were already headed in — third party, delivery, pick up. It went from 10 mph to 90. 

Additionally, the industry overall has begun to pare menus down and axe the not-so-strong sellers. We needed to streamline operations and supply chain disruption was another thing. For Aloha, we hadn’t ever gone crazy on adding to our menu, so we were spared most of the supply chain burden. We’re already able to operate on a small scale. We didn’t have to invent procedures for delivery, we just leaned in to what we were already doing. It’s been brutal for a lot of restaurants, but fast casual and QSR is obviously better positioned than full service restaurants. Terrible that it’s been so uneven, but we all still need help. There’s a lot of talk in Washington D.C. We're hopeful that something can come through.

The biggest unknown is, what does the return to normal look like? What will the return to working in an office pattern look like? The pandemic affected different real estate differently. We’re based in Chicago, and the Loop is empty. The suburbs and urban neighborhoods are where people are spending their time now, and they have better traffic than they have previously. If we’re looking at the crystal ball, do we think people will be back in the office five days a week or will it be staggered? I don’t think office work will be obsolete, but I don't think it will be the same as it was. We’re clearing the skies on the horizon, trying to hedge our bets on the restaurant franchise industry and sort of acknowledging the reality of this could take a second. 

1851: What advice do you have for other young up-and-comers in the space?

Birkinshaw: Something we focused on at Aloha was making sure our franchise was ready before we started franchising.  Otherwise, things are too tough and you lose credibility if you're putting together the plane 30,000 feet in the air. We worked on store design, real estate types and attributes and buttoned up the supply chain. We took a ton of time looking at the business through the lens of a franchisee so we’d be able to set them up for success. I can’t actively seek multi-unit and brand franchisees for a company that doesn't have a system. I want to find and attract the right franchisees, and I have to have the right system to do that. Think through what you want to replicate before you start to replicate it.