Give the People What They Crave! Gregg Majewski Adds Brand to Portfolio

Gregg Majewski was one of the highlight speakers at Street Fight LIVE 2024.  This week, he made the news with Craveworthy Brands’ acquisition of  Fresh Brothers Pizza, a MULO (multi-location) company with 22 locations.

Craveworthy is currently the parent company of:

• BD’s Mongolian Grill
• Dirty Dough
• Flat Top Grill
• Genghis Grill
• Krafted Burger Bar + Tap
• Lucky Cat Poke Co.
• Pastizza Pizza & Pasta
• Scramblin’ Ed’s
• Sigri Indian BBQ
• Soom Soom Mediterranean
• The Budlong Southern Chicken
• Wing It On!
• Taim Mediterranean Kitchen
• Hot Chicken Takeover.

Adding the Fresh Brothers Pizza brand to the list “fills the plate.”

Paul Mangiamele, who also spoke at Street Fight LIVE, expressed concern about private equity firms entering the MULO ecosystem. Mangiamele is the CEO of Bennigan’s and recently resurrected the Steak & Ale brand.

However, his concerns do not apply to Majewski’s ventures because Gregg has broad and deep restaurant experience. Majewski began his executive management career at Jimmy John’s as CEO, CFO, and COO. Although he is (like any investor) concerned about ROI, Gregg also has extensive experience in the industry itself and doesn’t view restaurant acquisitions as simply a business move. He is deeply passionate about the industry, the products it offers, and the people it employs and serves.

Both models can peacefully exist in today’s MULO food world. A broad network of brands helps operators apply best practices across their companies and control costs through economies of scale. Many franchisees now purchase multiple locations to diversify and play a broader role in their local markets.

But “nostalgia” food options are also alive and well, as evidenced by the massive success of Mangiamele’s Steak & Ale reboot. Fans have taken to social media to discuss what they love about the brands.

Whether a company owns 15 brands or just one or two, basic principles apply:

• Pay close attention to consumer trends and feedback
• Create the right balance of company control and local autonomy. (As we covered here, many MULO brands are losing out in search to smaller brands, due to their focus on hyper-local SEO and review management.)
• Choose locations carefully (another topic we discussed at Street Fight LIVE)
• Service and food quality is essential. One bad experience with a meal or bad buzz at a corporate level can cost a business traffic and loyalty

We are grateful to Majewski for his insights at Street Fight LIVE. We wish Craveworthy all the best in securing another piece of the (MULO restaurant) pie with his Fresh Brothers expansion into the pizza world (an industry representing nearly $50M in revenue).