DEVIN FINCH

I was leading Heinz Ketchup when Dip N Squeeze came out. It was a massive upgrade from ketchup packets. Consumers LOVED it. Problem was we couldn’t get any of the big fast-food players on board. Dip N Squeeze was 3-5x (I forget the exact numbers) more expensive than packets, and they were free for customers. The key question was “does having Dip N Squeeze drive more volume?”, thus justifying the incremental cost. It was nearly impossible to prove. Every penny matters to these operators, so every sales meeting was the same. “We love it, but no.” Chick Fil A was the only yes. They didn’t need “proof”. They operated under the assumption simply giving their customers a better experience would pay off in the long run. Incremental cost be damned. Their conviction was impressive. They viewed every decision thru the lens of their customer. A much different approach from the other big players. I assume they treated countless other decisions the same way. This was ~15 years ago. CFA has been on quite the run since. (separate but related, I believe being a private co is a massive competitive advantage for CFA)