Why Fuku decided to go all in on sports arenas

Take-Away with Sam Oches

Nation's Restaurant News

Business, Entrepreneurship

2.5 • 15 Ratings

🗓️ 19 October 2023

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with Claudia Lezcano, CEO of Fuku, the chicken-sandwich fast casual founded by chef David Chang that is now expanding primarily through sporting venues. Fuku about 30 stadium and arena locations across the country, including at Madison Square Garden in New York, Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, and T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Claudia, whose past experience includes marketing roles with Burger King and Church’s Chicken, as well as with the Miami Dolphins and Marlins, joined Fuku about a year ago and she joined the podcast to talk about why Fuku is all in on this nontraditional growth strategy and how the company is improving its operations, branding, and service to maximize its stadium potential.

In this conversation, you’ll find out why:

There is an opportunity to change the narrative around bad stadium food
Forecasts are critical to capitalizing on your potential in a stadium or arena
Unleashing the power of your brand begins with consistency
The key to thriving in a sports venue is excellent operations
Your brand should be the icing on the cake of the guest’s stadium experience

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

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey there, welcome to Takeaway with Sam Ocus, a podcast from Nation's Restaurant News.
0:07.8	I am Sam Ocas editor-in-chief here at NRN, and this is the show where I give you an all-access pass to the restaurant industry's most influential decision-makers.
0:16.7	This week I'm talking with Claudia Lascano.
0:19.5	She is the CEO of Fuku, the chicken sandwich fast casual, founded by chef David Chang,
0:26.4	that's now primarily expanding through sporting venues.
0:30.2	Fuku first opened in 2015 in New York's Lower East Side,
0:34.9	selling the spicy chicken sandwich that had been a secret menu item at Chang's
0:39.3	renowned restaurant, Momofuku. Over the past eight years, Fuku has expanded to what is now
0:45.0	three brick and mortars in New York, but about 30 stadium and arena locations across the country,
0:53.1	including at Madison Square Garden in New York,
0:56.2	Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, and T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
1:01.3	Claudia, whose past experience included marketing roles with Burger King and Church's Chicken,
1:06.5	as well as with the Miami Dolphins and Marlins, joined Fuku about a year ago, and she joined the
1:13.2	podcast to talk about why Fuku is all in on this non-traditional growth strategy and how the
1:20.0	company is improving its operation, its branding, and its service to maximize its stadium potential.
1:28.6	In this conversation, you will learn more about how there is an opportunity to change the
1:33.0	narrative around bad stadium food, why unleashing the power of your brand begins with
1:39.1	consistency, and why the key to thriving in a sports venue is excellent operations.
1:45.3	Jumping now into my interview with Fuku CEO, Claudia Lesgano.
1:50.4	Also, don't forget to stick around after the interview,
1:52.7	as I will share my five takeaways from this discussion,
1:55.9	actionable insights that you can take with you on the go.
	...

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