What's the most important meal of the day in your business? For Danielle Best, it depends which of her three brands needs her that day. Mexi Bean is chaos, Kalm is calm, and Charlie's thrives the minute it gets a bit more attention. Just like the three kids they line up with.

Danielle is the founder and CEO of Mexi Bean, Kalm and Charlie's. She's spent six years building them in Yorkshire, and some days that's still meant doing a delivery to the far end of Holmfirth herself because the customer is her customer. Now she's ready to hand the day to day to someone else, focus on brand building and franchising, and take the businesses to London.

In this episode, Daisy and Danielle talk about:

• A day in the life of a multi-brand founder, and the delivery that almost ended in Barnsley
• How she'd explain Mexi Bean, Kalm and Charlie's at a dinner party
• Why her businesses are mirroring her children
• Swallowing the pill that she's not the person to grow the businesses anymore, and bringing in a CEO
• Transport hubs, airports, service stations and a Charlie's World play centre
• Mexi Bean as a six-year SAS training ground: levelling up, dropping back down and refusing to give up
• Closing the restaurant and why Mexi Bean Express works better on the go
• Making a burrito work next to Costa and Greggs at Wakefield Westgate
• Becoming a master of treading water, and how faith taught her patience
• Pulling Kalm back from reformer and into healthy food for people on the move
• Why you don't need to be first, you need to be the best
• What the first franchise taught her: due diligence, and taking your time
• Overnight success takes twenty years
• Pedestrianisation and what it means for delivery-led food businesses
• Robot hands, AI and the future of fast food
• What she'd tell a founder three months in who wants to quit
• And, of course, her breakfast order

Chapters

01:25 Welcome to The Egg Index 02:11 The delivery to the far edge of Holmfirth 04:35 Mexi Bean, Kalm and Charlie's at a dinner party 07:59 Replacing herself as boss 10:00 Outgrowing Yorkshire: transport hubs and airports 13:24 Which idea gets her time 15:12 Mexi Bean: six years of SAS training 17:33 Growing too fast 20:19 Closing the restaurant, backing the express model 21:18 Taking on Greggs at Wakefield Westgate 22:34 A master of treading water 23:45 How faith taught her patience 26:58 Kalm: from reformer to healthy food on the road 29:58 Being first vs being the best 31:11 TikTok trends and Yorkshire tastes 32:42 What's stopping London? 33:54 Lessons from the first franchise 36:02 Overnight success takes twenty years 37:14 The perfect franchise site, and knowing when to close 40:23 The trouble with pedestrianisation 42:08 Robots, AI and the future of fast food 46:58 Advice for a founder three months in 49:49 Breakfast order

Links

• Get The Egg Index report when it launches: theeggindex.com
• Mexi Bean Express
• Kalm
• Charlie's Desserts
• Danielle Best on LinkedIn
• Hosted by Daisy Whitehouse, Down at the Social:

The Egg Index is made by Down at the Social.

www.httpstheeggindex.co.uk/

What's the most important meal of the day in your business? At Honi Poke, it's a bowl you can build any way you like, and the job is making that simple enough for a team to deliver on a packed lunchtime.

Hilary Brett moved from casual dining into QSR because that's where the exciting brands were. She joined White Rabbit Projects to run Island Poké, and six months in, found out overnight that Island Poké was joining Honi Poke. The next day she was sat across the table from the competitor she'd spent months trying to second-guess. She's now CEO of the combined business.

In this episode, Daisy and Hilary talk about:

• Why kiosks look like a win from the outside, and how to use the time they free up for more hospitality, not less
• Meeting your competitors as colleagues with 36 hours' notice
• Two businesses that looked identical on paper and disagreed on almost everything
• Keeping two poke brands alive: Honi Poke as the lunch-led master brand, Island Poké as the more premium testing ground for delivery and evenings
• Why clean data is like kitchen prep: nobody sees it, but everything falls apart without it
• Rebuilding CRM and loyalty with Talkbox and Vita Mojo to get the right message to the right regulars
• Making winter fun: ramen, hot dishes and giving people permission to think about poke in January, not just July
• The brown bread of the business: whole foods, prepared simply
• Smaller bowls, girl dinner, the power of the gyoza and sub-£10 entry points
• £1 bowl opening days, and the old-fashioned follow-up that turns a queue into regulars and catering clients
• Franchising, regional growth and why simplicity is her North Star
• Learning to park your ego, the "thinking traveller" exercise, and saying no to good ideas
• And, of course, her breakfast order

Chapters

00:00 Welcome to The Egg Index 00:39 From casual dining to QSR 03:06 The kiosk problem 06:59 36 hours to meet the competition 09:22 Two brands that disagreed on everything 11:41 Why Island Poké still has a reason to exist 14:17 Marketing for evenings and delivery 15:44 The unglamorous bit: data 17:39 Talking to guests one by one 21:20 Poke in winter 23:55 The brown bread of Honi Poke 25:25 Simplicity as the North Star 27:49 Franchising and regional growth 30:58 Smaller bowls and what guests want now 34:11 Discounting, £1 bowls and bringing people back 37:21 What she'd tell herself walking into that first meeting 39:40 Leading with honesty, and saying no to good ideas 42:02 Breakfast order

Links

• Get The Egg Index report when it launches: theeggindex.com
• Honi Poke: https://www.honipoke.com/
• Island Poké: https://www.islandpoke.com/
• Hilary Brett on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hilary-brett-7b614286/
• Brunswick East, Hilary's breakfast pick: https://www.brunswickeast.london/
• Hosted by Daisy Whitehouse, Down at the Social

The Egg Index is made by Down at the Social.

www.httpstheeggindex.co.uk/

What's the most important meal of the day in your business? At Chopstix, Elio Elia says there isn't one. Whether it's spicy, sweet or something no one's tried before, the rule is the same: go hard or go home.

Elio studied Spanish and Mandarin, came home with no plan and got roped into helping at the family business. That meant running the social media page, running to the cash and carry for stock, and anything else that needed doing. He went on to run supply chain, procurement and food quality as commercial director, and now leads marketing as Chopstix's marketing director.

In this episode, Daisy and Elio talk about:

• Why the first question for any new product is "does this get you excited, and would you tell your mum about it?"
• Bringing back K-Pop BBQ chicken after fans asked for it again and again
• The experiments that went too far, from Pepsi Max chicken to Cherry Kiss
• The retail journey: from a sauce range that didn't take off to ready meals in Iceland and The Food Warehouse, plus a Chopstix noodle pot
• "Freedom in a framework" and "with clarity comes purpose": how to keep the entrepreneurial spirit as you add structure
• Getting the rest of the business on board when everyone's a marketer, a chef and a buyer
• Why the North Star in a tough market is the fundamentals, not reacting to everything
• Life after the acquisition by QSRP, and taking Chopstix into France and Europe
• Owning the Asian QSR space next to McDonald's, KFC and Subway
• And, of course, his breakfast order

Links

• Get The Egg Index report when it launches: theeggindex.com
• Chopstix Noodle Bars
• Elio Elia on LinkedIn.
• Hosted by Daisy Whitehouse, Down at the Social.

The Egg Index is made by Down at the Social.

www.httpstheeggindex.co.uk/