Grown founder Shannon Allen on the franchise model that could scale healthy food

Take-Away with Sam Oches

Nation's Restaurant News

Business, Entrepreneurship

2.5 • 15 Ratings

🗓️ 29 April 2025

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with Shannon Allen and Zach Cohen, the founder and CFO of the Miami-based fast-casual concept Grown. Shannon opened this concept with her husband, NBA Hall of Famer Ray Allen, in 2016, driven by the fact that their son Walker was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was a toddler and Shannon struggled to find healthy foods served fast that she could feed him. Grown aims to disrupt the restaurant industry by serving fresh, nutrient-dense foods using organic ingredients in a counter-service setting that includes a drive-thru window. Shannon’s big dreams for Grown hit a wall with Covid, but now she’s brought Zach on board and they’ve developed a franchise model leveraging shipping containers that they think can help them quickly scale while keeping costs low. The two joined the podcast to talk about the evolution of healthy eating and why Grown can succeed as a health-forward concept where so many others have failed.

In this conversation, you’ll find out why:

Healthy food is more than just a trend for millions of customers
There is a shift in how Americans are perceiving processed foods
Your growth plan today may not be the growth plan your brand needs
It might be easier to find 100 people who believe in you than to raise $100 million
If you want to go far, go with someone beside you
A turn-key franchise solution offers opportunity for people who previously faced barriers to business ownership
Your “why” can steer your business through the opportunities that come your way

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

Transcript

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0:00.0	Nation's Restaurant News is launching the 2025 Menu Masters collaboration video series,
0:05.0	and this season is our most exciting yet.
0:08.0	Join us behind the scenes as the 2025 Menu Master's award-winning chefs from Chili's Grill and Bar,
0:14.0	Wendy's True Food Kitchen, Fuzzies Taco Shop, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant,
0:19.0	and Digital Innovator Alexandra Lourdes,
0:21.6	team up with top students from Johnson and Wales University for a live culinary collaboration.
0:27.6	Their goal is to create a unique menu to be served only at the Menu Master's celebration,
0:32.6	sponsored by Ventura Foods on May 17th in Chicago.
0:36.6	Make sure you subscribe now to the Menu Masters
0:38.9	YouTube channel and don't miss an episode. For more info on the Menu Masters celebration,
0:44.2	visit menumasters.com. Hey there, welcome to Takeaway with Sam Okas, a podcast from Nation's Restaurant
0:50.0	News. I'm Sam Okas, editor-in-chief here at NRN, and this is the show where I give you an all-access
0:56.3	pass to the restaurant industry's most influential decision-makers. This week, I'm talking
1:01.5	with Shannon Allen and Zach Cohen, the founder and CFO of the Miami-based Fast Casual
1:08.0	Concept Grown. Shannon opened this concept with her husband, MBA Hall of Famer Ray Allen, in 2016,
1:16.3	driven by the fact that their son Walker was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was just a
1:21.6	toddler, and Shannon struggled to find healthy foods served fast that she could feed him.
1:28.0	Grown aims to disrupt the restaurant industry by serving fresh, nutrient-dense foods
1:33.6	using organic ingredients in a counter-service setting that includes a drive-thru window.
1:38.9	As the tagline states, it's real food cooked slow for fast people.
1:46.6	Shannon's big dreams for Grown hit a wall with COVID, but now she's brought Zach on board, and they've developed a franchise model leveraging
1:51.6	shipping containers that they think can help them quickly scale while keeping costs low.
	...

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