The customer data platform built exclusively for multi-unit restaurants.
Robeks—the California based brand with over two decades of experience in the health-forward, fast-casual space—has always strived to keep franchisee profitability and customer experience at the forefront of their strategy.
The importance of striking this balance became more apparent than ever with the passage of AB 1228, which increased the minimum wage in California to $20 per hour. To prepare for the impact of this change, Robeks created a Franchisee Profitability Taskforce to determine what modifications they should make to their operations and menu to ensure the balance of guest experience and franchisee profitability would persist in this new operating environment.
They leveraged customer data as they doubled down on operational simplicity, considered their value equation, and looked for ways to optimize their menu. Here are the top five takeaways from our conversation with David Rawnsley detailing how Robeks has continued to find success in today’s challenging operating environment.
Robeks’ key philosophy has always been to ensure that everything they do—whether it’s introducing a new menu item, updating technology, or launching a marketing campaign—positively contributes to franchisee profitability. In today’s challenging labor environment, they’ve become even more laser-focused on this principle.
Menu Streamlining:
One of the first opportunities that Robeks identified to streamline their menu was in the preparation of their acai bowls, one of their most popular offerings. They realized they could simplify the base preparation, making it faster and easier for staff to train on, thereby reducing labor costs and making staff more efficient. They also eliminated certain low-calorie smoothies that were not only difficult to make but required extra ingredients.
Tech Enhancements:
In addition to simplifying the menu, Robeks implemented kiosks across their locations. Kiosks allowed them to reallocate staff from managing the cash register to preparing orders. This made it easier to manage orders during busy times, giving staff more bandwidth to focus on hospitality and customer engagement.
“The kiosk is like a relief valve during rushes... allowing us to redeploy staff in more efficient ways without losing customer service quality.”
Operational simplicity and tech go hand-in-hand with improving profitability—whether through menu innovation or smarter staffing.
Efficiency is critical, but not at the expense of customer satisfaction. Robeks carefully uses data to ensure any operational or menu changes don’t compromise the customer experience. By leveraging insights from Bikky, they were able to test their assumptions and adjust accordingly.
For instance, when they removed the low-calorie smoothie category, they wanted to ensure that customers would seamlessly migrate to other similar menu items, rather than taking their business elsewhere.
“We assumed guests would switch from low-calorie smoothies to superfood smoothies... and Bikky helped us legitimize that decision by giving us detailed insights into customer behavior.”
They also ensured kiosks, while improving efficiency, didn’t sacrifice the guest interaction that builds loyalty. The handoff process is where Robeks ensures a personal touch—confirming orders and engaging with customers to deliver a warm experience.
In a world where costs are rising and customers are tightening their wallets, it’s easy to think price hikes might scare away business. However, Robeks has managed to raise prices by 15-20% since the pandemic without losing their competitive edge in the fast-casual market.
How? By maintaining a strong value proposition.
Robeks has always positioned their products as a nutritious meal replacement—and at half the price of a typical fast-casual lunch, it’s a clear win for both health-conscious customers and value-seekers. In a market where a burger and fries costs more, a smoothie from Robeks delivers health and satisfaction for a lower price point.
Rather than simply comparing themselves to direct competitors in the “better for you” space, they have looked for opportunities to encourage customers to trade from increasingly pricey fast casual alternatives for a Robeks smoothie and a toast.
Once your pricing is aligned, optimizing the menu is the next step. At Robeks, smoothies serve as a meal replacement for many of their customers, but the addition of toasts—like avocado and nut butter toasts—has taken things to the next level.
When initially adding toasts to their menu, the Robeks team wanted to legitimize their assumption that the item would expand average check size. Ideally customers that typically ordered smoothies would attach them with toasts when they were looking for a more satiating option. They strategically priced their toasts such that they increased their AOV, but still remained competitive with fast-casual alternatives on value. This bundling offered a win-win: more filling meals for customers and higher profitability for the brand, while staying true to their value equation.
Adding attachable items to your core offerings can elevate customer satisfaction and boost your bottom line. By closely monitoring guest behavior after they launched toasts, Robeks could clearly see the item was consistently attached to smoothies rather than cannibalizing sales– demonstrating that they were truly incremental. They were able to validate the success of toasts using Bikky and will now be expanding their toast line further in 2025.
Robeks relies on Bikky, their Customer Data Platform, to understand how every operational or menu change they implement is impacting metrics like guest retention, frequency, and AOV, not just basic sales figures. From monitoring how customers responded to new menu items to analyzing the impact of operational changes, data is at the core of how Robeks steers its business.
For example, when traffic was softening in a particular region, Robeks dug into the data to see if it was a new guest acquisition, retention, or frequency issue. Their findings allowed them to focus on external marketing efforts rather than operational tweaks.
“The data showed that guest frequency hadn’t changed, but new customer traffic had decreased, so we knew we needed to focus on driving new guests through external marketing.”
By using data to validate hypotheses and make strategic decisions, Robeks stays agile and responsive to both market trends and customer behavior.
Launching new menu items or making operational changes isn’t just about keeping up with trends. For Robeks, it’s about thinking strategically, focusing on profitability, and ensuring every decision drives value for both customers and franchisees. Whether it’s streamlining the menu for operational simplicity, finding the sweet spot in pricing, or leveraging data to drive growth, these principles ensure Robeks stays resilient in an ever-changing market.
The customer data platform built exclusively for multi-unit restaurants.