The End Of Bland
I have been following the recent trend with the two largest pizza franchises in the US for the last few weeks. Domino’s and Papa John’s have taken to slugging it out over what ingredients are actually going into their pizza, with each claiming that their ingredients are fresher, better, and make for tastier pizza. Of course, Papa John’s has had the slogan “Better Ingredients, Better Pizza” for a few years now, so I guess Domino’s must be thinking that that campaign is actually working because they have joined in. However, if you have had either pizza, you know that they are really only good for mass consumption at large events. The pizza is lousy, and it leaves you feeling even worse.
Last night I ate dinner with my kids at Chick-Fil-A. As I was chomping down my chicken sandwich, I started to think about what I was eating, not in the “is it good for me” sense but “am I really enjoying this” sense. If you are a lover of great food, the vast array of chain restaurants that we live on is an assault on good taste. You get the same food, prepared the same way, by the same kind of people. It is factory food. It’s cheap, it’s ( for the most part ) bad for you, and it requires very little effort to find.
Think about what it takes to sell you a chicken sandwich, french fries, and drink for $5. It’s the same mentality and process that feeds our desire to buy cheap and discard the waste in other parts of our lives. Chickens have to be grown remarkably fast and remarkably cheaply, same for the potatoes. The same for that cheap toy that you buy your kids that they never play with again and ends up in the landfill.
I contrast that with a local Ecuadorian bakery here in Raleigh called Espiga. We have gotten to know the owners of the bakery through our kid’s activities, and as a result we started buying things from their store. They make the most amazing cakes we have ever had. They make sandwiches that will make you want to smack your mama, and a host of other delicacies of Ecuadorian delight. Yes, it’s more expensive ( but not remarkably so ). And no, there are not 150 locations in Raleigh. There is only one. But I can tell you that each time I eat there I feel really good about it. I savor the experience. I eat slower. I enjoy it. Why? Because I am enjoying someone’s craftsmanship, not their ability to make something the same way a million times a day.
This is the model for business as I see it over the next few years. It is what I am focused on in all my work at Rocket Hangar. Just as more people are learning about how their food is made, are repulsed, and are making changes, so it will be with other businesses. Instead of dining on the bland diet of sameness, our experiences will become more personal BECAUSE OF, not IN SPITE OF, technology.
What are your thoughts?
