Success Story

Mediterranean Sandwich Co. Improves Consistency & Lowers Food Cost - Learn How You Can Too!

Mediterranean Sandwich Co. began as a small restaurant in Downtown Mobile, AL. As company lore has it, "The spark that launched the company came from a trip overseas. In the earlier part of 2009, the founder, Vlad Moldoveanu, reunited with his good friend from college, Alexandru Petrovici.

They were trying to get a late-night gyro in Bucharest, Romania. It was dark, raining and the line of people wrapped around the building. Vlad couldn't help but wonder, "What makes all those people wait in the rain? Is the food really that good?" Alex then replied: "It is the best Mediterranean food in town, and the only place open at this hour!"

Today, Mediterranean Sandwich is a company on the rise thanks to forward-looking management and some help from RestaurantOwner.com.

In Moldoveanu's estimation, the most effective new business practice that he and his team put in place last year focused on portion control of both meats and cheeses, which involved developing a checklist for each station. The move was a response to increasing food cost "without a direct benefit to the customer or to our business."

Until that point, he adds, the job was being done "incomplete." Observing staff members working at their stations proved to be the key. "We were watching staff building sandwiches and comparing product portioning and usage versus previous years." Checking the opening and closing duties was another part of the program, he adds, and both led to operational improvements.

Moldoveanu says he used resources on RestaurantOwner.com "to implement procedures of my own, and I used several templates to create an operations manual as well as checklists for each station. I learned that proper structure and procedures produce much better results."

The operation has yet to realize all of the benefits that these changes will eventually yield, he says. The reason, he believes, is that such fundamental changes "are harder to implement at once in an already operating restaurant. People don't like change, so it has to be done gently but consistently."

Implementing this series of changes, according to Moldoveanu, has given him and the restaurant's staff "the tools to do our job better. If, before, everyone was coming in doing what they think was best, now the 'before and after shift checklists' are making sure everything is getting done as it should."

Last year, Moldoveanu grew his business from three to four locations, used a commissary operation and offered delivery. "We no longer prep sauces, soups, etc. in each store, but we deliver them from a central location twice a week."

Doing so has increased the restaurants' consistency, but as he acknowledges, "there is a cost associated with it. However, the operation is stronger, and allows me as an owner to spend more time with family because we only assemble the product in each store now." Staffing is still a struggle, he adds, "but not as big as before because less skilled staff is needed to assemble than to do advance prep/cooking."

Moldoveanu believes, correctly, that staff training and education are vital for success. "The illiterate of the 21st century will not be the ones that can't write or read, but the ones that can't learn, un-learn and re-learn." He shrewdly looks at the restaurant business and says it is "changing -- and changing very fast. I see the delivery services acquiring marketshare." In addition, "People have become more health conscious and want healthy options. The vegetarian-vegan market continues to grow. Foods and labor costs continue to grow."

Moldoveanu says he is looking to grow sales by a minimum of 5% this year behind a strong marketing program. "A 5%-to-8% price increase is inevitable (since) we have not raised our prices in three years." He has also initiated a franchise operation, and is looking to add another one or two franchised units. "We plan to be very selective of the first five franchisees entering the system."