Follow Your Heart Cafe Analysis

1. Follow Your Heart Cafe Analysis Maryann Boosalis, Seya Jing, Julie Ferrell, Yelena Tkachenko FCS 404, Foodservice System Management Fall 2012

2. Description & History Follow Your Heart was founded in 1970, by four vegetarian friends, Michael Besancon, Spencer Windbiel, Bob Goldberg, and Paul Lewin.When buying the market, they had a brilliant, yet controversial idea, that the whole market and café should be meatless. Many people were skeptical that a completely meat and fish-free market could be successful. The Follow Your Heart logo, which consists of a heart enveloped by a green plant with a green lotus blooming from the bottom of the heart, exhibits the true spirit of the company and it’s founders. The lotus flower itself, symbolizes rebirth, purity, spiritual awakening, love, and compassion. The color green and the plant represent the companies’ beliefs of ecological sustainability and vegetarian practices. The heart is symbolic of the market’s name and the business philosophy of the four founders to “remain true to their ideals” and to “Follow Your Heart.”

3. Market Analysis The uniqueness of the meatless market and café, along with its private label, has helped Follow Your Heart be untouchable to competition. Closest Competitors • The Vegan Joint -vegan salads and wraps • Whole Foods -full scale grocery store • Juicy Ladies -focus is on juices Follow Your Heart has combated this competition by selling their popular Vegenaise and Vegan Gourmet products within the Whole Foods stores. This marketing genius has helped expand their customer base and profits.

4. Managerial Interview with Amanda Mason How did you end up working at Follow Your Heart? Amanda was 17 and needed a job; she had connections to Follow Your Heart, which is how she landed a job at the café. At the time she was hired, Amanda was a vegetarian but not vegan. Which restaurants or markets that serve prepared foods do you consider to be your top competition? (If any?) In terms of grocery items, Whole Foods and Trader Joes are the biggest competition for Follow Your Heart because they sell similar items and can offer better prices since they have a larger customer base. Restaurant wise, it is harder to determine Follow Your Heart’s competition because they have a small niche. The other vegetarian restaurants nearby aren’t similar enough to be tough competition. For example, Veggie Grill serves similar foods, but isn’t in close proximity to Follow Your Heart. Hugos in Studio City serves is similar foods but more upscale.

5. Managerial Interview with Amanda Mason What percentage of your clientele are vegetarian? Not as many as you would think. There is probably about a 50-50 split. Non vegetarians tend to like the foods served at Follow Your Heart. However, Amanda said that sometimes people will come to FYH and then leave without even trying the food when they realize the café doesn’t serve meat. Amanda said that FYI doesn’t discriminate because they don’t want to be discriminated against. Customers can bring in meat products to eat if they would like, but they are asked not to use FYH’s silverware or plates. What is one thing that you would change about your restaurant or company? Amanda says, “We need a bigger kitchen! I would love to see us have a larger space. The lunch rush that you just saw was being made by 3 or 4 cooks tops. Having more space, and a larger facility, by a couple feet even would really make a big difference. We don’t have a large storage space right now”. Is everything 100% vegan? Organic? Everything sold in the café is 100% vegetarian, no meat or eggs are used. However, eggs are available for purchase in the store. Amanda says that FYH uses primarily all organic produce, but they don’t have as many organic products on the menu as she would like to see. All of the soy used is organic and non GMO, as FYH is very supportive of prop 37. The café’s GM, Ryan, goes through the ingredients and makes sure the sugar is natural sugar. They try to keep the refined sugar out, and try to use as much non-GMO ingredients as possible.

6. Managerial Interview with Amanda Mason What do you do with the extra food at the end of the day? Follow Your heart gives extra food away or sometimes homeless people will take it away. People get greedy and fight over it. Right now Follow Your Heart is hoping to be able to give their clippings to Canoga high school for use in their compost bins. They are working with one teacher who has been trying to get a compost bin going and hope to help with the setup of this compost bin soon so that they can produce less waste. Do you find that it is hard to keep the cost of the food down? Amanda replied, “Definitely because organic and non-GMO is such a hot topic right now, so suppliers think it’s ok to charge more than necessary. It’s also hard because we are a smaller restaurant and can’t get things in bulk like larger chain restaurants can”. What is unique about your restaurant compared to other vegetarian/vegan restaurants? Amanda says the fact that FYH is both a market and a restaurant makes them unique and puts them ahead of the game. FYH is also unique because it has been around for so long, the owners were pioneers when the café was first opened in the valley.

7. Menu Analysis Follow Your Heart Online Menu • Follow Your Heart’s café menu is extensive and at an affordable cost. • Ample breakfast, lunch, and dinner items are available, so even the pickiest of eaters should have no problem finding something to enjoy. • From soups and salads, to sandwiches, specialty entrees, desserts, and even fresh squeezed or press juice, it seems like there is not any item that has been left off of the menu. This makes sense because the café has been around for so long and has probably already made several revisions to their menu since they first opened. • The only thing that seems to be lacking is a special children’s menu. • The café is laid back and seems to be family friendly, so it doesn’t make sense that a children’s menu isn’t provided.

8. Nutrient Analysis Follow Your Heart Burger: Low-fat burger like patty, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, veganaise, and 1000 Island dressing on a toasted whole wheat bun. Per serving: 655 Kcal, 32.9 g fat, 57.3 g cholesterol, 1384.9 mg sodium, 653.7 g CHO, 11.7 g fiber, 25.8g protein, 7.26 g sugar

9. Nutrient Analysis Reuben Sandwich: Thinly sliced wheat meat, natural swiss cheese, sauerkraut, veganaise, mustard, dill pickle, and 1000 Island dressing on rye bread. Per serving: 586.8 Kcal, 23.85g fat, 7.5 g cholesterol, 2208.5 mg sodium, 49.73 g CHO, 2.45 g fiber, 43.05 g protein, 3.6 g sugar. Image from www.quarrygirl.com

10. Nutrient Analysis Tandoori Curri: Tandoori spiced vegetarian and savory tofu curry blend served with basmanti rice, vegetable samosa, and mango chutney. Per serving: 720 Kcal, 12.99 g fat, 0 g cholesterol, 1653.9 mg sodium, 139.3 g CHO, 15.4 g Fiber, 12.73 g PRO, 20.95 g sugar. Image from www.yelp.com

11. Facility Analysis • Cooking equipment (convention oven “Southbend 4601AA-2CR Ultimate Restaurant Range, Gas, 60”, exhaust hood and vent system, griddle, grill, fryer, steamer, microwave) • Food prep (cutting boards, thermometer, industrial size mixer, food processor “Robot Coupe”) • Dishwasher • Under-counter refrigerator and freezer (“True TUC-48 48" 2 Door Undercounter Refrigerator”) • Glassware • Kitchenware • Dinnerware, flatware • Tabletop & dining room • Storage • Cleaning supplies for sanitation and maintenance

12. Facility Analysis Conventional oven: Southbend 4601AA-2CR Ultimate Restaurant Range. Conventional ovens heat from the bottom, as the heat rises, it creates different temperature areas within the oven. The hottest area is at the top, the Center is moderate while the coolest part is at the bottom of the oven.

13. Facility Analysis Robot Coupe R602V: Prepares 2,000 plus servings in less than 3 hours. Vegetable prep attachment designed for quality continuous feed slicing, shredding, grating, french fry and julienne. Accommodates 34 different processing plates. Bowl attachment designed for vertical cutting and mixing: mix, chop, puree, blend and knead doughs.

14. Facility Analysis True TUC-48 48" 2 Door Undercounter Refrigerator | 12 Cu. Ft.: designed with two stainless steel doors featuring white aluminum liner to complement the cabinet interior. The extra large evaporator and higher horsepower compressor maintain cabinet temperatures for superior food preservation.

15. Labor Analysis: Organizational Chart

16. Labor Analysis: Job Descriptions Job Description of a Waitress: Summary Description: Take orders and serve food and beverages to patrons at tables in dining company “Follow Your Heart”. Job Description of a Chef: Summary Description: To prepare, cook and present all food required by the standard laid down by the company “Follow Your Heart”. Job Description of a Dishwasher: Summary Description: Clean dishes, kitchen, food preparation equipment, or utensils in the company “Follow Your Heart”.

17. Strategic and Marketing Plan SWOT Analysis Strengths • specialty restaurant - vegetarian • small business with low turnover Weaknesses • no childs menu • limited visibility from market Opportunities • extended crossover sales from market to restaurant • partnering with yoga classes and chef appearances for multiple sales Threats • competing vegetarian restaurants • changing health topics in the news

18. Strategic and Marketing Plan Goals • Improve restaurant visibility • Add childrens menu • Advertise restaurant through FYH market classes and events Marketing Strategy • Offer 20% discounts to participants of the FYH yoga class - continuing members receive a discount card

19. Budget and Financials Revenue • Income • Sale of meal • List of popular meal • The Follow Your Heart Burger & The Club Sandwich Image from www.quarrygirl.com

20. Budget and Financials Expenses • Labor (salary, benefit) • Ingredients • Others • direct cost (telephone bills) • indirect cost (rent, marketing) Net Profit • Revenue – cost • Incremental budget • Increase revenue • Control cost

21. Budget and Financials

22. Summary and Lessons Learned ~Follow Your Heart was one of the first vegetarian cafes to open in the valley. ~Follow Your Heart sells products such as Vegenaise and salad dressing all over the country, which has also helped the cafe to gain popularity. ~The cafe has an extensive menu and provides a wide variety of foods, however, it is recommended that a children's menu be developed.

23. Summary and Lessons Learned ~FYH is a small cafe, so it can be hard to keep the cost of menu items down compared to large chain restaurants. ~FYH is able to save money due to the fact that they produce a lot of the ingredients used for the cafe, such as sauces and faux meats. ~FYH is successful due to their brand name, extensive menu, the fact that the cafe has been open for so long, and due to the uniqueness of the cafe compared to others in close proximity.

24. Questions? Comments?