← Supply Chain Now
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- [00:04]
Scott Lewton
Welcome to Supply Chain now, the voice of global supply chain. Supply Chain now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience. The people, the technologies, the best practices and today's critical issues, the challenges and opportunities. Stay tuned to hear from those making global business happen right here on Supply Chain now. Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening wherever you may be. Scott Lewton here with you on Supply Chain Now. Welcome to today's Live stream. Hey, on today's show, as most of you all know, it's the Supply Chain Buzz, which comes at you every Monday at 12 noon Eastern Time. That's by, by my calculation, I believe at 6pm Central European Time. But y' all know, my math, my conversion skills are, are missing here. But a big thanks behind the scenes, Catherine and Amanda, thanks for helping to make production happen here and welcome, everybody. We've got a ton of folks already here. We're going to say hello to each of y' all in just a few minutes today for the on the Buzz. As y' all have come to expect, we're going to be discussing a variety of news developments, really across global business. And we've got a special guest here today. And trust me, when y' all when I tell you that you're really going to get a kick out of our guest, I promise you. We just had a very engaging pre show with Leila Taha Ripit, senior vice president of Supply chain with First Watch, which as y' all may know, very popular daytime dining restaurant, almost 500 locations in 29 states here in the U.S. so stay tuned as we'll be gaining her insights. Now, some of y' all may know this about me, but I'm really particularly very interested because as, as Layla and Catherine, a few others in the pre show pointed out, you know, we, we've covered global supply chain, a number of different sectors, but really, Layla is one of our first, what I'll call executive practitioners, joining us from the restaurant or the daytime dining industry, I should probably put it. And for me, having worked in the food industry throughout college and then some and then for a couple of years after I graduated, I'm really looking forward to learning from Layla and her expertise and her experience. So, but hey, we also want to hear from you. Give us your take in the comments throughout the show. Let us know what you're thinking. And for those of you that may be listening to the podcast Replay, you ought to consider joining us live on LinkedIn or YouTube or some other social media channel of your choosing as we go live every Monday at 12 noon Eastern Time. We'd love to hear from you. Now, some of y' all may notice I'm by myself today. Watch out. Usually I'm joined by the one and only Greg White, but he's traveling today, and we'll be back in the saddle with us next week. Okay, we're going to get into a few resources. We're going to get into a few stories. We're going to walk through here today. And. But before. Before I do, before I get some shout outs, really important as we want to send our thoughts, our love, and our prayers all those impacted by Tropical Storm Hillary. As reports have come in, more and more on the damage in Mexico and California. So please stay safe, and we wish a very speedy recovery. All right, so let's say, man, we got a packed house. What is it with August 21st? And they are chomping at the bit. Let's see here. We have got Muhammad tuned in via LinkedIn. Let us know where you're tuned in from. Shabir. Josh back with us from gorgeous and smoky Seattle. He says 60 degrees up in Seattle. Great to see you here, Josh, Derek from Dallas, y' all, trademark that tuned in from Dallas. It's gonna be around 106 degrees. I think you're gonna get the prize, Derek. Goodness gracious. Let's see. I think Josh is saying boom goes at the temperature gauge there. Retnech is back with us via LinkedIn. Retina. Let us know where you're tuned in from. Rodrigue via LinkedIn as well. Audrey, Arthur from Morgantown, Pennsylvania. Love your show, Arthur. I really appreciate that. We all appreciate that. We love getting feedback from our audience wherever they may be. So really appreciate that. Angela is back with us from North Carolina via LinkedIn. Uh, and of course, we couldn't do a buzz without JP John Peterson tuned in from Marietta, Georgia. Great to see you, John. And we're gonna hit everybody else here in just a moment, but I want to do this. I want to start with some resources. Right? It's really important, as y' all know, the commitment from the supply chain. Now, team, hey, we've got your back. As you're fighting through the trenches to make things happen for your customers, you know, and. And for your teams. We want to share some. Some resources that may help you in that endeavor. And. And I'm going to start with. With that said over the weekend, who in. Who in the world is that? Who let that guy up on a stage talking about chocolate Kit Kats from Cape Town? Yes. So y' all check out so every weekend we release our. With that said, and it's really meant to be a. A newsletter that's not just a. A replay of all the other content and podcasts, live streams, really try to offer up a unique take. And what we talked about this past weekend was our experience that Amanda and I had when we spent some time at the Safe Picks conference in Cape Town. And we were. Our kids had asked for a bunch of different treats. Right. Well, as we were at the Woolworths filling up a bag of treats which would. Later, we'd have a fun time getting through customs in with. But this Kit Kat stood out. And I noticed on this KitKat there in Cape Town that Nestle was promoting that it was a hundred percent. It was made with a hundred percent sustainable cocoa and that there's a whole rest of the story there. But check out. You have to read with that said, but really it's cool to see Nestle commit that by 2025, just less than two years away, all of their global supply of cocoa that they use is going to be 100% sustainably sourced. So how cool is that? Check out the link. I think we've got that here. So you're one click away from checking that out. And make sure you subscribe so you don't miss our. With that said, each and every weekend. All right, so from KitKat to Music man, lots of our favorite things this morning here. Catherine and Amanda. We've got a live stream coming up. This. Let's see. This is. This would be Wednesday, August 23rd, my birthday. Hey, I love talking supply chain on my birthday. Hey, we're gonna be. We're gonna be featuring Matt Spooner with Kinaxis. And check out this title quote. Music to our ears. The power of supply chain orchestration. I love that. Right. Well, we're gonna be talking about what that means and how that definition has continued to evolve and some of the cool things Matt's been up to on one hand, as he just got back from a European cycling race. I can't remember the name of that race. Catherine, let's drop that in the link maybe. And some of the cool things that Kinaxis is up to that will all benefit from learning. So y' all check that out. I gotta catch up on a couple comments here. Yes, Arthur, give me a break. Give me a break. I'm not sure if Anyone remembers that KitKat commercial from the 90s, but that was. That was certainly imprinted in between my ears. Greg, join us again. And from Wisconsin, great to see you Here, Greg. Simon, hello, Supply chain enthusiasts. I think that's a great title. Great looking at it, Simon. Hello to wherever you are dialed in from. Let us know. Rightness. Just tuned in from India. That's right. I remember that. T squared says bring on those dog days of summer nourishment. It's going to be 93 degrees where T squared is. And I want to say he's up in the Maryland area, correct me, T squared, but he says it feels like 107. It just feels hot, really hot. And big show. Bob Bova is with us. He says a little wet and windblown, but that's okay. Up in the mountains and high desert got the worst of it as well. An earthquake on top of things is crazy. And that's right, Bob, you're out in California, so hope you and your family and all your colleagues are doing okay. All right. We have got one more resource before we hit our first news story that I want to share and that would be this. We're having this conversation, y' all. Check out this graphic. We were having this conversation with our friends, Dan Reeve. Never not Reeves as in the hall of Fame coach and football player Dan Reeve from Esker. Right. We had Dan join us and he brought along once again, Dr. Morgan Swink from Texas Christian University. Now, they have collaborated on some interesting research focused on managing working capital. And we're going to drop a link so y' all can check out that, get your own copy in the comments. But one item that stood out to me that was included was, check this out. This global supply chain pressure index. I bet this resonates with a bunch of y' all. Right. I really think it's interesting to see this pressure mapped out on a chart. It's just the latest reminder and we've had millions of them of our workforce and how they're under. We're all under a ton of pressure and strain to perform. And as one of the constant mantras that we really, we don't just preach, but we act on around here at supply chain now is we got to make it as easy as we can to help them succeed. Right? So y' all check that out. Also check out this report I mentioned the managing working capital returning to a strategic, strategic end to end approach. Really some interesting factoids from industry driven by the data that you'll want to check out in that research piece. Okay, let's see here. I want to make sure we've got, we've got links. I mentioned that live stream. We're one click away. If you want to check that out. That way you can sign up for that session this coming week. T Squared Baltimore. That's right. So I'm assuming T squared with Lamar Jackson that he successfully negotiated his contract extension. Maybe he's got a he's going to teach the rest of us how to do stuff like that. I bet the Ravens are in for a big NFL season coming up. Salmon tuned in from Dubai, man, big things happening in Dubai. Salmon, our great friend Kim, Kim Winner is usually tuned in from Dubai. It's amazing what's going on there. All right, so with all of that said, I want to get into our first story here today, and we're going to be talking about the Panama Canal. Now, some of y' all may be familiar with what's going on down in the Panama Canal. This comes to us via our friends over at the Wall Street Journal. Got a traffic jam building up on both sides of the Panama Canal. Now all of our listeners probably remember how for a long stretch there, we were tracking backed up port traffic across the US on both coasts. If y' all remember Greg, who spends a good chunk of his time on the island or Hilton Head as he'll call it, he was even calculating his own index as he watched ships sitting and waiting back then down near Savannah. I want to say we got up into the dozens of ships there. Savannah backed up and waiting. Not nearly like the traffic on the West Coast. Well, all that traffic congestion has shifted south. Now get this. According to the Wall street journal, more than 200 ships are waiting on either side of the Panama Canal to transit. The primary culprit, you ask? Well, it's an extraordinary drought condition impacting really the whole region. Now did you know, as shared by this article, the Panama Canal uses three times as much water as New York City every single day. Now that adds a little helpful context. And when the rainfall is low, well, the first thing to be cut are the number of transits that the canal allows. So if you do elect to try to get your ship through there and transit during these times, well, you're going to be paying a very hefty fee. Now, for the most part, container ships aren't nearly as packed in as impacted as as others because they're booked far in advance. Right. But more short notice shippers like gas carriers, where they're running into all sorts of problems and expenses. The Panama Canal Authority, interestingly enough, has hired the US Army Corps of Engineers. Yes, the same group that built the canal back in the early 1900s. Well, they've, they've brought the corps of engineers in to look at possibly diverting four more rivers into the canal, which already currently taps only three rivers. All right, so that's just the first of. Let's see. I think we're knock out three stories here today. So check that out. We're going to keep our finger on the pulse of what's going on there in the Panama Canal. And our second story, from Panama to restaurant tables and home cabinets across the country, right from our friends over at cnbc, we're talking about a highly popular garlicky hot sauce that Americans just can't get enough of. That's right, Hoy Fong Foods. Sriracha hot sauce. I bet many of y' all love this stuff on your pasta, on your pho, on your sandwiches. You name it, many of you probably use it comes in that big iconic plastic bottle with the rooster and the green plastic cap, right? But for years, for three or four years now, it's been harder and harder to find. In fact, I saw bottles selling on Amazon for about 22 bucks this morning. Now, CNBC said it found the same going for as much as 52 bucks. So here I was scrounging and I've got got product here and bidding will begin at about $40. So as we'll see if we can even take us up. But yeah, Catherine, I know you love Sriracha. I know Amanda loves Sriracha. I love Sriracha on just about everything. But let's dive into what's going on here. So it's the problem mainly, there's two main reasons here. Number one, Huy Fong Foods evidently got into a dispute with its longtime supplier of jalapeno peppers, which is the primary ingredient. Right. For 28 years, Underwood Ranches supplied Hoi Fong Foods with peppers until a dispute hit around 2017, causing that relationship to cease. Now, that longtime supplier was cut out of the operation. And that's where the second problem comes into play. Replacing that steady stream of hot, delicious peppers. Well, that hasn't been as easy as Hoi Fong Foods must have thought. Since moving on from underwater ranches, the hot sauce maker has reportedly tried sourcing jalapenos from farms in California, New Mexico and Mexico. But drought and poor weather conditions has impacted these areas and its crops. Now we'll see how this story continues to develop. As Greg points out, the tropical storm Hillary. Well, that's not, that's going to have a big impact perhaps on these, these farm regions that we were just talk about. But on a personal note, anytime I see a bottle of this sriracha sauce. I think about where I first tasted it in a Vietnamese pho restaurant in Wichita, Kansas, of all places. I was in the Air Force at the time, and my buddies Highland Wong and Troy Boozer took me to this far place and I instantly fell in love with it. I mean, how couldn't you, as Catherine pointed out. So it was delicious then, it's still delicious now, and it goes with just about everything. So we're hoping that the supply rebounds. We'll see. Um, all right, share a couple of comments here. T squared. Can you smell the greed flation new term in this supply and demand, uncertainty notwithstanding? That's an interesting comment. You know, I haven't noticed if these bottles have gotten any smaller. I know. You know, we, we got some ice cream over the weekend for my kids and y' all know what's going on there. With shrink inflation, you're getting less than what you used to get. But greedflation new term, Josh says can't tell you how much ramen with some sriracha he's had. Essential for college diets everywhere. Excellent point. Excellent point. Going back to the Panama Canal, Will says the canal was turning away bigger ships due to lower water. That's a good point, Will. And additionally with the bigger container ships, what it's been having to do for years is take containers off of them and onto secondary ships so they can get the whole craft through the canal. Good point there, Will. And by the way, Will must be a big Chicago Bears fan. He says. Good things in store for my Chicago Bears this year, I bet. Will, I cannot remember the name of the quarterback that the Bears drafted that he played at Georgia and then he went on to play with the Buckeyes. But I think he is poised for a big year. All right, so we are going to. I got a couple other resources right. As we continue getting a little bit further in today's supply chain buzz. Stay tuned. We've got an excellent guest coming into the show in about three, 10 minutes or so, so stay tuned for that. But a couple things we invite you now. We talk about webinars and live streams and and so much more. Right. We don't want y' all to miss anything, so it's really easy to become a member of the NOW community. There's just a couple pieces of information that we ask you all to give us, and that way you'll be on the docket to get announcements and other opportunities to check out. We invite you to join us and become a part an engaged member of the NOW community. Speaking of resources, who raise your hand if you're struggling with the last mile. I think everybody is right. Well, check out this upcoming webinar. Speaking of resources, September 21, about a month away, where Freight and our friends from Estes and Bart from Everstream analytics, well, there we're, we're going to be talking about unlock, unlocking the power of diversification in last mile delivery. So join us for that live session on the 21st. And get this, we're about to touch on a story from our friends at Walmart which we've really enjoyed interviewing executives through the years. We're partnering with Supply Pike. So if you do business with Walmart, y' all know how tricky that can be at times, right? Well, these folks have been there and done it and they're offering that expertise on three proven strategies to level up your business with Walmart. And I would just argue, putting things maybe too simply, that if you can be really successful in your business with Walmart, there's tons of transferable best practices to apply to all of your relationships with other organizations. So join us there. Dino and I host Stacy and Eric with Supply pike on September 26th at 12 noon. All right, one more story. This is an interesting, interesting story here now, folks. It's next to impossible to even have a conversation these days without mentioning AI, right? I mean, it's, it's, it's crazy from what I can tell. I really, I've really enjoyed the conversations where we're talking about real artificial intelligence, not the fake stuff that our friends in marketing may apply to whatever product they're pushing, but real artificial intelligence that's being applied to really going back to that pressure in our workforce, make it easier for them to be successful and allowing humans to do the extraordinary human things. So check out this story from our friends at CIO Dive. Walmart has targeted three primary areas with its artificial intelligence strategy. They are personalization for customers so that mass customers are mass personalization trend continues. Associate operations. I love that they're going to help their team and their associates make their days easier. And supply chain optimization. Walmart CEO Doug McMillion says that the retailer is already using AI to help estimating demand and in its planning to meet that demand. For example, they're using AI to run simulations on what customers do on Black Friday. And he says that AI further represents an opportunity for the company to be even more anticipatory. Say that word seven times fast. Anticipatory in its planning and identifying and predicting problems. Before they arise. Now, one issue that the Walmart team has identified and has been working on for years, clean and structured data. McMillan said, quote, We've been working for a few years now to try and get our data in better shape so that we can really put it to work, end quote. Now, can you imagine we're talking about this pre show. Can you imagine the sheer tidal waves of data that Walmart is working through? Man, if they have opportunities with data, what does that mean for, for all the rest of us out there? Outstanding, outstanding opportunities. And it sounds like a, to me, to my ears, at least a very practical approach for the successful and meaningful application of AI at Walmart. Okay folks, we are. You're in store. Oh, thank you, Justin Fields. Thank you Amanda and Catherine for pointing that out. That's my first error. So Justin Fields, going back to Will, you're a big Bears fan. We'll see what Justin does this year. I bet it's, I bet he's gonna have a big year. And also the other thing I couldn't think of, the Transcontinental race. Thank you, Katherine. Our friend Matt Spooner from Kanaxis has just finished completed this transcontinental race. Annual self supported ultra distant cycling race across Europe. The route distance varies for each edition between 3204 200km. Goodness gracious. I'd be doing something if I could just get out and do a 10 kilometer bike ride, right? All right, so stay tuned for that on August 23rd. All right folks, I have really enjoyed, you know, we get to spend a little bit of time pre show before each of these live sessions with our guests and really our team, co host, you name it, we, we had a ton of fun with our guest here today. And I am delighted to welcome in very special guests here on the supply chain. Buzz. Layla Taha Ripit is the senior vice president of supply chain with First Watch, a popular daytime dining restaurant with almost 500 locations in 29 states here in the U.S. so let's welcome in Layla.
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Layla Taha Ripit
Hey Scott, how are you?
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Scott Lewton
How are you doing?
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Layla Taha Ripit
I'm great. Thank you for having us. This is awesome.
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Scott Lewton
Well, you know, right, right. When we connected this earlier today, the whole excitement factor, I mean we need to tap in, we need to connect you to the local power grid and we power the 50 states, you know, from start to finish. So great to have you here with us today, Laila. Now, little fun, warm up question.
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Layla Taha Ripit
Yeah.
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Scott Lewton
Right now we're both food lovers and we're kindred spirits. A number of different levels but yesterday, August 20 was national bacon Lovers Day. Now, I want to ask you, I've got a couple of guesses on my end, but what is one of your favorite dishes with bacon, Layla?
- [21:46]
Layla Taha Ripit
So I am in love with our million dollar bacon. So imagine it, it's got cayenne pepper in it and it has maple syrup on it and it is cooked to perfection and you want to have it. So if you haven't tried it, come in. It is, it is so good.
- [22:05]
Scott Lewton
Oh, I love what you know. I stole a picture from your site early. This is the, this is a Monterey Club and of course bacon's on it. Delicious turkey, but you got me at the sourdough bread and I'm sure those tomatoes are, are fresh and ready to go. So I'm gonna have to join my local First Watch and take in this Monterey Club, huh?
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Layla Taha Ripit
That's awesome. Please do. We'd love to have you come in and try it.
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Scott Lewton
All right, so folks, as we continue on with Layla, we'd love to get your favorite bacon dishes, whether it's a popular one or maybe something that's one off and especially to you and your family. All right, so Layla, for our audience here, they don't have the benefit of, of of our pre show and, and our homework we did on you and your background for perspective and context. Share a little bit information about your background, Leila.
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Layla Taha Ripit
Sure. So I'm first generation American, Lebanese from Detroit. And I started out, my family had grocery stores and bars, so I didn't veer too far away from food service. It is an area that I love and have a strong passion for. So my career has taken me from working in operations to working in supply chain. And about seven years ago I had the privilege and I was really excited for this offer to come through to join First Watch. So we're doing things non traditional here for supply chain. Love to share that with you as well, but First Watch is my love. I'm here and we're having a lot of fun.
- [23:37]
Scott Lewton
I believe it. We can tell it, we see it. Before my quick follow up question, Josh says bacon wrapped Dutch oven chicken with chives and cream cheese.
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Layla Taha Ripit
Man, I could get into that. Josh.
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Scott Lewton
I could too. All right, so really quick question before we move on. So you grew up in Detroit, but now you're in Sarasota, right? So any sports allegiances that you might can share with us, Layla?
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Layla Taha Ripit
Oh, you won't believe this, but every now and then I'm still watching Detroit Tigers. You know, you have to, you're here. What I do. So that's my allegiance.
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Scott Lewton
Love it. And I think. I think Miguel Cabrera is wrapping up a Hall of Fame career this year, if I'm not mistaken, with the Tigers. As an Atlanta Braves fan, we watched him kill us in the early days of his career with the Florida Marlins. All right. See, we say bacon. Will's like bacon with literally anything. Will, me and you are probably cousins. Second cousins, maybe. I'll agree with you. All right. So, Layla, as we discovered in the pre show, which I figured, we are big believers and really lovers of the people that make up the restaurant industry. You've been, as you mentioned, in the industry for quite some time. What is one thing that folks don't know or maybe they underestimate about supply chain management in the restaurant industry?
- [24:56]
Layla Taha Ripit
I think that for us, it's having a lens on operations and how important that is, but that you have collaboration across every single department, whether it's it or marketing or anything that's happening, even with construction, on how buildings are built and all of these pieces that come together. So for me, if I could send one message out to my peers, it's the importance of collaboration, how you move your business faster by doing that.
- [25:26]
Scott Lewton
Absolutely.
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Layla Taha Ripit
Yeah.
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Scott Lewton
And, you know, I would submit to you that I think collaboration has. Has really meant and been cliche for a long time. And then the pandemic hits, and then we're reevaluating how important these relationships are, especially those outside the four walls, so to speak, and that the term collaboration all of a sudden was reinvented with a lot, I think, a lot more practicality. Would you subscribe to that, too, Layla?
- [25:52]
Layla Taha Ripit
I would. Although it's kind of unique here. I want to tell you a little story, if you wouldn't mind, Scott, just so I can share with you how we work a little different here, and that's that culinary and supply chain are tied together. We do no sourcing for culinary. Culinary does all the sourcing. Now, that doesn't mean that Chef Shane and I don't talk every single day to talk about who are the right suppliers. We should be aligned with who has the right product, all of those things. But by working so collectively, we're able to get to market faster. Think of all that in between, of getting samples in and sending them out and trying to record it and what works and what doesn't, and asking about equipment, all that detail when you have the right person who's going to move the ball forward, and then you support them by coming in to know it's the right Supplier and take care of the logistics and the pricing behind the scenes. Getting the five hours right, you're able just to move the business real fast.
- [26:54]
Scott Lewton
All right, so I'm going to have. I'm. I got a follow up question on when it comes to successful sourcing with a lot of ingredients. But before that you said the five Rs. Can I ask you, your five Rs may be different than my five Rs. What are they for you?
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Layla Taha Ripit
Right product, right quality, right place, right time, right price.
- [27:13]
Scott Lewton
Love it. Okay, man. And you mentioned a chef too. What was that chef's name you talk to every day?
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Layla Taha Ripit
Chef Shane.
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Scott Lewton
Chef Shane.
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Layla Taha Ripit
Please go on our white or on our website and look him up and check out his blog and you'll get a better understanding. It is, it is so cool to work collectively and be able to look at all kinds of dishes and just progress.
- [27:36]
Scott Lewton
First watch forward, Layla. Absolutely. And Greg makes it points out a really important thing, breaking down the silos. We talked about that a lot here. And really, you were just talking about that as you were talking culinary and supply chains, y' all work together each and every day, right? Yeah.
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Layla Taha Ripit
And as well as with all other departments. I mean, it is a. That is one of the unique things here and why I was so excited to join first watch is really comes from the top. Right. So our CEO is like that. Right. He really wants us to work collectively, work things together. So whether we're working with marketing, qa, culinary operations, all of our departments are working collectively together and that is key to our success.
- [28:22]
Scott Lewton
I'm with you.
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Layla Taha Ripit
It's also part of our culture. Right. When we think of our culture, our culture is built on you first. And so in order to do that, it's that respect with one another and how we, how we continue to grow the business.
- [28:37]
Scott Lewton
All right, you got three more hours later. We're going to need three more hours a day. So let me back up for a second. We're going to talk about sourcing in just a second. You shared something there that really. Oh, going back to my KitKat story, I was talking on the front end. Now, it's interesting as you were describing, all this collaboration with, with the Nestle story, their supply chain team's successes and real outcomes as they made progress on finding 100 sustainably sourced cocoa in certain parts of the region. Well, that's a win in and of itself. But what makes it even better, as your point, kind of alluding to Layla, is it gives the sales and marketing team outstanding fodder to Bake into how they position the product. Right. And just become such a nice symbiotic relationship that everyone wins.
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Layla Taha Ripit
I think we spoke about it when in the pre meeting, when I said that as a customer, you are really only as good as the supply chain of your suppliers. Knowing then you've got a players who are out there really moving forward, really thinking about ESG or other areas of how they can innovate and take their business forward really helps us, and we need to be able to do that. So we're looking. When we're evaluating a supplier, understanding their supply chain team is part of the cocktail of determining if you're going to work with someone or not.
- [30:03]
Scott Lewton
Layla, I love that. All right, so getting back to the gauntlet, I bet that Chef Shane, probably the rest of your team has thrown down that's sourcing fresh, delicious products. Critical priority for first watch. Not going to compromise.
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Layla Taha Ripit
Right.
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Scott Lewton
If you could share what's a couple of best practices, especially as it relates to the ingredients that your team has developed when it comes to successful sourcing.
- [30:28]
Layla Taha Ripit
Right. So for us, watching and having fresh produce in our restaurants is everything. We're juicing all day long. So we're bringing in, you know, fresh beets and fresh English cucumbers, fresh kale. Everything that we bring in, we're sending through the juicer, and that's really important. So today we're watching what's going on with the weather in California, Hurricane Hillary. To understand how that's going to impact us all. That leads to our mantra of what we do called follow the sun. So if you go on our website or you talk to any of our folks in our restaurant, you will hear us. Or if you came and saw us here, we would talk about following the sun, using the freshest, best quality. When mother nature tells us it's ready, man.
- [31:19]
Scott Lewton
Okay. Following the sun. And it's not, as we like to talk around here, Layla, we don't know lip service, leadership allowed deeds, not words. All in the action. And it sounds like to me, Layla, what I'm gathering from my due diligence and in our conversations, that you mean what you say and you do what you say, huh?
- [31:38]
Layla Taha Ripit
We do. We really do. And we try and do that on everything and be really thoughtful about it. It's so important that we tell a story and we serve good quality, Right? Quality and culture go together. For me, when I think about that, you know, serving quality and your culture together, those are the winning ingredients.
- [32:00]
Scott Lewton
Yes, absolutely. And I see that as I share with you. Pre show, I'VE been in several First Watch restaurants around Atlanta. But as much as I see it there, I see it in other other retail and food environments. You can tell when the team is bought in to what they're doing there. It just makes all the food taste better. So I love what you're describing there. And Victor loves those five R's and follow the sun. Now. I'm with you, Victor.
- [32:26]
Layla Taha Ripit
Thank you.
- [32:27]
Scott Lewton
All right, so let's go broader a little bit here. Right. We're kind of talking about in a tactical ingredient level when it comes to sourcing. But generally speaking, I would argue, as been illustrated once again in recent years, if not a million times in recent years, building strong, mutually beneficial relationships with your suppliers. Extremely important in global supply chain. You need them on the good days, you need them on the bad days, and all points in between as you survey that and what you're leading and contributing to. Now with First Watch, what's a couple of core elements that are really critical to your approach when it comes to building those relationship with suppliers?
- [33:06]
Layla Taha Ripit
So for us, it's being transparent with a supplier. I don't know if your audience knows this, but I want to share that. We run five limited time offers a year, so every 10 weeks, our menu is changing. So imagine sitting down with a supplier saying, do you want to work with us for 10 weeks? We're probably never going to talk to each other again. That's kind of a hard sell at a hard buy. But that's what we do. So that's important. Right, because it helps us to set something new for our consumer. And we. What we do that I think is unique is that we set a proving ground in Tampa, where a year in advance at the same time of the year that LTO is running. Today happens to be the start for our national fall lto. But if you were in Tampa, you would see what we're going to run in fall next year.
- [34:00]
Scott Lewton
Okay.
- [34:01]
Layla Taha Ripit
That allows us think about your automotive speakers who have come in and that audience and how they have proving ground. We do that as well. And it is an unusual thing and a unique thing to first watch restaurants.
- [34:16]
Scott Lewton
Man, I love that. So down in Tampa, you've got the Skunk Works, the proving grounds. Proving grounds as you have these conversations and vet these suppliers and really get to know their supply chain chops, as you put it earlier.
- [34:31]
Layla Taha Ripit
Yeah.
- [34:32]
Scott Lewton
You're like, come on in and prove it.
- [34:34]
Layla Taha Ripit
Yeah.
- [34:34]
Scott Lewton
And they come down to Tampa and if they make it, they'll be worked into the schedule about this time next year. Is that about right, Layla?
- [34:41]
Layla Taha Ripit
That's exactly right. We are running to see how does it work? Do we have the supply? Does it work on the equipment? How easy is it for operations? Can we get it through our last mile, all the way to the back door? All of those tactical points are worked through, including as we're building more restaurants. How much more do we need? Because we follow the sun, because everything's fresh. We have to know supply and demand matters here at First Wash so we can get in front of it. I mean, there's only one season to go, you know, fishing for salmon as an example.
- [35:18]
Scott Lewton
All right, so, Layla, one. One initiative I in particular I wanted to ask you about is this Project Sunrise, sourcing coffee beans down in Colombia, South America. Tell us more about that.
- [35:31]
Layla Taha Ripit
Okay, so that was pretty exciting. About seven years ago now, we started working with the women growers in Colombia, specifically in the Wheeler region of Colombia. And now over 50% of our coffee, if not more, is coming from women growers. 100% of the coffee is all coming from that region. But every year, as the women can take on more, we give them more, and we continue to mushroom that out. It's. It's important to us, it's important to them. And this gets back to some of the pillars that we believe in in supply chain and building long standing relationships. We want to go there, we want to see them, we want to see their children, we want to see their children progress as future generations. Education, all these things that matter. It's who we are. And it leads back to you. First, again, the culture. So we, you know, we pay a premium to the communities, to the women communities there for them to grow the best coffee. And, you know, most people would look at that and say, wow, you know, usually a supply chain, it's all about cutting the pennies. I never want my team to think in that fashion. I want us to think about growing the business, growing quality, growing sales, all of those things. So, you know, I'm really quite pleased and thankful that our leadership team as well is engaged in this program.
- [37:03]
Scott Lewton
Layla, I'm with you. And, and you know, so much comes to my mind as you shared that one of the things is, I think traditionally, like old fashioned folks look at supply chain where they can save a buck. But what you're describing is truly forward looking. Hey, here's how we do supply chain. Here's how we lead supply chains now and then secondly, man, y' all are changing lives down in Columbia. What we need to do, Layla, is next time you join us, let's bring one of those coffee bean entrepreneurs and farmers and let's, let's, let's share their story with our audience. How about that?
- [37:37]
Layla Taha Ripit
We would love that. We would love that very much. And there are a lot of growers, farmers here in the US that we use and how we're getting our maple syrup out of Vermont from a small little company. We don't even have any restaurants in Vermont. But Vermont's important.
- [37:52]
Scott Lewton
Not yet, right?
- [37:53]
Layla Taha Ripit
Not yet.
- [37:54]
Scott Lewton
Not yet.
- [37:54]
Layla Taha Ripit
That's right. That's right.
- [37:56]
Scott Lewton
Hey, really quick as I continue on with Layla, Taha rip it with First Watch, Michelle tuned in from Chicago. Let's I bet you're a fellow Bears fan, maybe. Michelle, great to see you. Gino from North Alabama, Great to see you, Gino. And Layla, one of my favorite guests each and every week. My mom Lilute joins us from Aiken, South Carolina. Hello to you. Love you, Mom. Hello. That's the best. All right, so I'm going to ask you a couple quick final things before we wrap, but one of the things I want to specifically touch on and you kind of alluded to it there as we discovered in the pre show, I think I was sharing with you that I was in the restaurant industry throughout college. I started by bus and tables at a place called Lavecchia's in Columbia, South Carolina, earning my way into being able to wait tables. I never was the best server. I could handle maybe two tables at one time. But but I love the people. And that's really where I want to ask you about Layla because whether I was busing tables, bartending, waiting tables, the people that make up the restaurant industry, front of the house, back of the house, suppliers, you name it, they're just some of the best people I ever rubbed elbows with. And really you talk about how we like to celebrate the human factor. Yeah, man. It's still to this day if you don't tip somebody, well, I got to put you on my bad list. I just can't, you know, I got to But Layla, speak if you would before we start wrapping here, your view on the on the people that make up the restaurant industry.
- [39:24]
Layla Taha Ripit
So I'm so glad that you asked about that because I think that we are a unique group of individuals. One of the things we do is we do a coach, teach, train session here called Farm, which is First Watch Academy of Restaurant Managers. We bring people in for a full week and we they are emerged in our culture and what we do. One of the things that I say to these new managers when they're here is that there is an army of people behind you wanting to make you successful in everything you do. And I think as supply chain professionals, we forget about the army of our, our, our suppliers and the logistics folks and the selectors and pickers and everybody, whether it's customer service, the, you know, accounting teams of others, every single person is working towards the same goal. I truly believe that nobody comes to work to do a bad job. Right. And if you think positive about that and how you can help people, but that our teams walk away knowing that there is an army of suppliers who are here happy to be part of First Watch and happy to help us grow. So that's how I think about it.
- [40:39]
Scott Lewton
I love it. The whole ecosystem, the whole village, the whole community, and we can't leave any of them behind. Right. One of the things I'm kind of picking up is, is you as you. Your personal approach may be part of the, the First Watch approach as well, is, is business has got to be good for everybody. Right?
- [40:58]
Layla Taha Ripit
Yeah. These are also the people who you want them. They're delivering at your back door. But how about on Sunday them coming in and eating in your restaurants? Coming in the front door. Right?
- [41:08]
Scott Lewton
Yeah, that's excellent point. All right, so Layla, as much as I hate to do, we gotta start winding things down, but I want to ask you a couple quick questions and I bet this next question, I bet we could fill it up for a couple hours. But any. If you had to think of one more thing in a nutshell of what folks should know about First Watch that may be expanding somewhere near their homes and communities, what would that one thing be?
- [41:31]
Layla Taha Ripit
That we care and that we are excited to be in the communities and the communities matter to us and come out and see us, meet us and see that we have people from your community working in our restaurants.
- [41:44]
Scott Lewton
Love that. And I'll tell you, you're the same person in front of the camera, so to speak, as you are behind that. And when you, when you talk about transparency and trust and that consistency that's so important, that really comes my mind. So I want to. You just mentioned how you're. You and the First Watch team, big believers and, and very active in communities. And now you. You lead by example here, Leila. So you and your husband Brian, big supporters of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
- [42:11]
Layla Taha Ripit
That's right.
- [42:12]
Scott Lewton
Why is that important to you? And, and if, if you were to share a way that maybe our listeners can help, what would you share there?
- [42:19]
Layla Taha Ripit
So there are three family members, including my husband who has multiple sclerosis. And we work every day and he's on the board and I support everything we can do to further research for this disease, early diagnosis and someday a cure. So as you were talking about bicycle riders in the earlier segment, there is an Ms. National bike ride in almost every community. Come on out. Come on out and ride your bike. It's not a race, it's a tour. It's no race, it's a tour. And yeah, yeah, you know, come on out. And every penny that you work towards and help to bring goes to research. And not many organizations can say that. So I thank you so much for giving me this moment to share that. That's just so thoughtful of you. So thank you, Scott.
- [43:15]
Scott Lewton
Hey Layla. We try being really active and doing good is really important to our culture and DNA. It's in our bones here. And I really appreciate your steadfast you and Brian's steadfast commitment to leading by example and making an impact. So folks, check out the bike race in your community. I love what Layla said there. It's not a race. It's what you say. It's not a race. There are some life transferable elements to that perspective. I really love that. All right, so I bet we have created a bunch of new Layla Taha RIP it fans out there across our audience. And if folks, how would you invite them to learn more about you or first watch two ways.
- [43:59]
Layla Taha Ripit
One, hook up with me on LinkedIn. I welcome everyone. I'm a big believer in supply chain. You are all puzzle makers and it is important to connect and I love that. And the second way it's supply chain@first watch.com. don't be shy. Reach out to us supply chain first watch dot com.
- [44:20]
Scott Lewton
Okay, wonderful. So folks, if you want to take a tour on that proven ground down at Tampa, I think Leila's showing the way so and daring you to be a part. Love what you are building. I tell you Layla, I wish I had had this chat before I went and enjoyed my my meals at first watch. It would have changed everything. So I'm going to really be looking and absorbing it all on my next visit. Huh?
- [44:44]
Layla Taha Ripit
Good. Enjoy it. We, we, we send hearts out to everyone and thank you so much for including us.
- [44:50]
Scott Lewton
You bet, you bet. All right, so Layla, don't go anywhere. We are going to wrap with you here folks. Hopefully enjoy it. I tell you I promise you a great guest one that that brings it both content, perspective, expertise but that personality, the five Rs the the you I really love that. That's a great T shirtism, folks loved Josh and Catherine and many others. That's a great T shirtism. It's not a race, it's a tour. Right, Josh? I'm with you. I am with you. But folks want a big, big thanks to all of y' all, of course, for being here. Big thanks to man and Catherine behind the scenes for helping to make production happen. Big thanks to our guest, Layla Taha, Rip it. Senior vice president for Supply chain at First Watch. Layla, thank you so much for joining us here today.
- [45:32]
Layla Taha Ripit
Thank you, Scott. Thank you, everyone.
- [45:34]
Scott Lewton
And most importantly, folks, hey, Scott, on behalf of our entire team here, Scott Luden challenging you. Hey, be like Layla. Do good, give forward. Most importantly, be the change that's needed. And we'll see you next time right back here at Supply Chain Now. Thanks, everybody. Thanks for being a part of our Supply Chain now community. Check out all of our programming@supplychainnow.com and make sure you subscribe to supply chain Chain now anywhere you listen to podcasts and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. See you next time on supply chain Now.