Does this drive-thru chain have infinite runway ahead of it?

Take-Away with Sam Oches

Nation's Restaurant News

Business, Entrepreneurship

2.5 • 15 Ratings

🗓️ 7 December 2023

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with Rian McCartan, CEO of the drive-thru only soda fountain chain Swig. This Utah based concept has 59 locations in seven states and hundreds more in the pipeline, and it’s preparing to conquer the U.S. as essentially a category of one. Rian joined the podcast to talk about how the brand plans to capitalize on essentially infinite runway and how it manages to do the unthinkable: work with both of the soda titans, Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

In this conversation, you’ll find out why:

The first rule of expansion is to remember your roots
You can be highly technical and highly personable at the same time
Scarcity marketing can be a successful growth strategy
Beverage concepts will always find an audience, but they must be unique and relevant to survive
By tapping into customers’ emotional relationship to products, you build trust and show those customers that you’re listening to them

Have feedback or ideas for Take-Away? Email Sam at [email protected].

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey there, welcome to take away with Sam Okas, a podcast from Nation's Restaurant News. I am Sam
0:06.5	Okas editor-in-chief here at NRN, and this is the show where I give you an all-access pass to the
0:11.5	restaurant industry's most influential decision-makers. Today, I'm joining you from NRN headquarters
0:17.2	in New York City, where our team is busy planning for what is sure to be an
0:21.5	exciting 2024. On this episode, I'm talking with Ryan McCarton. He is the CEO of the
0:28.3	drive-through-only soda fountain brand Swig. This Utah-based concept has 59 locations in seven
0:35.8	states and hundreds more in the pipeline, and it is preparing to
0:39.6	conquer the U.S. as essentially a category of one. That's right, Swig is built around a core
0:45.7	product, sodas, blended with creams, purees, and other ingredients, plus water and energy beverages,
0:52.9	that is really in a league of its own at a multi-unit level.
0:56.7	Ryan joined the podcast to talk about how the brand plans to capitalize on essentially an
1:01.6	infinite runway and how it manages to do the unthinkable work with both of the soda tighties,
1:07.7	Coca-Cola, and Pepsi.
1:09.8	In this conversation, you will learn more about how you can be
1:12.6	highly technical and highly personable at the same time, why scarcity marketing can be a successful
1:18.1	growth strategy, and how by tapping into customers' emotional relationship to products,
1:23.2	you build trust and show those customers that you're listening to them.
1:31.6	Jumping now into my interview with Swig CEO, Ryan McCarton.
1:35.9	Also, don't forget to stick around after the interview as I will share my five takeaways from this discussion.
1:38.8	Actionable insights that you can take with you on the go.
1:44.1	Okay, I'm here with Ryan McCarton, the CEO of Swig.
1:45.2	Ryan, thanks for joining me today.
	...

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