From noodles to NASCAR: Fueling local growth

Justin Ulrich
You’re welcome. Well, yeah. Thanks for giving us the first shot at having you on a podcast. That’s awesome.

Yeah, I can’t you know, having talked to you a little bit before jumping on, I am surprised that this is your first one, especially since I’ve been seeing, like, tons of, yes, you are all over on LinkedIn. I’m like, what is going on? Yeah, tell me about that. 

Cai Palmiter 
Well, I think it’s just perfect timing. So if a friend recommended it or if a friend introduced me to you know, something that they’re it’s near and dear to their heart, that’s when I, you know, say yes I try and kind of be like cordial In the industry, but a lot of the times I would go to our PR firm and say, it’s like, I don’t know if this is something that I would want to do.

No, you can do it. You can do it. I don’t know if I can do it. So, you know today probably I’ve had only four speaking gigs and then this is the first podcast. 

Justin Ulrich
Very cool. And, and what is with, what’s behind the buzz? Because I see you were just on the cover of, what was it, FSR Magazine? 

Cai Palmiter 
Yes, correct. We are actually 2023 Breakout Brand of the Year. JINYA was chosen by FSR. This is their kind of fourth year choosing full service restaurant as a breakout brand of the year. I don’t know if you’ve seen any of our marketing stunts and campaigns last year. We really launched JINYA to a new level. It’s been in the business for 13 years. It started in Japan.

And we, you know, just said, you know, it’s time for everyone to know JINYA. And a lot of people think that JINYA’s market is the Asian community. No, I’m Asian. We know already where to go, what to, you know, what to eat. It, it’s like, you don’t have to market to us. We come to the places typically. But with JINYA, our market is the Western palette.

What better way to introduce our brand than to partner with the great American race. So that’s why we partner with NASCAR. And there’s like a whole backstory with that. We actually when we were choosing what sporting events we are going to partner with. This is one of those that everyone looks at me like, what?

NASCAR? Ramen and racing? I mean, it makes sense. And then I will tell you why it makes sense. Our peak season is from starting fall, once it gets cold, September until February. NASCAR runs from February to November. It is the longest running sport year round. It has 36 races. Also on their stats it is one of those sporting events that has 78 percent loyalty to sponsors from their, yes, from the NASCAR enthusiasts, yes higher than NHL, MLB, NFL, NBA.

So we really knew, this is. You know, the path that we wanted to take introduced it to the great American race. And we are just fortunate enough that they have the very first American Asian driver of Japanese descent. It’s actually Kyle Larson. So we partner with Kyle Larson. We are his official restaurant partner together with him.

Yes. And he is the number two most sellable merchandise. Number two most popular driver, and probably historically the best driver right now. Because that, that guy can drive anything you give him. It’s, it’s true. Dirt track, racetrack truck, cup, sprint. Right now, he’s training for the Indy 500. So there’s a couple more reasons why we can partner with them.

NASCAR celebrated 75 years last year. Very perfect. And we are their first kind of of Asian concept that joined, you know, their pool of sponsors. And then this year is the 40th anniversary of Hendrick Motorsports. So we piggyback on all of those things. We really strategically partner with them for a lot of different reasons.

And then Kyle is going to attempt to drive 1100 miles in one day, 500 in the morning Memorial day weekend. And then 600 in the evening in Charlotte. So he’ll be flying from Indiana to Charlotte in one day. 

Justin Ulrich
That’s crazy. That’s crazy. That, you know, that type of marketing works. I did a couple years ago, I led the, the RZR marketing brand team over at Polaris.

And part of that was I managed the off-road race team. And we, like, I 100 percent understand. You know, the value in, in leveraging racers for your marketing. Now granted we weren’t the size of NASCAR but it is it’s a really fun, exciting thing to be able to tie your brand to, and if you could tie your brand to that at excitement, then people, you know, automatically associate you with the good high energy, good feelings, you know.

Cai Palmiter 
Yes, it’s just you know, one of those things that sell into places and we really didn’t miss a beat when it comes to capitalizing all this, you know major milestones or events that’s happening and right now it is now a trend or a culture or a movement – ramen and racing. So if you’d like you’ll never hear that anywhere now. It’s ramen and racing. It’s like? 

Justin Ulrich
Yeah, seriously, that’s pretty awesome. Oh, you don’t want to race to your ramen too fast, you might burn your mouth.

Cai Palmiter 
That’s a good one. Yeah. 

Justin Ulrich
So with all this rapid growth that your team’s been seeing, is there any specific thing other than this race piece? Is there anything like on a local level that you guys have been doing that you think has been working really well?

Cai Palmiter 
Yes, so last year between the main goal is increased brand awareness and sustain the market and how do we do that? We’ve standardized a lot of things we partner with different providers to really kind of enhance the experience from a customer level so we made sure that our online presence is actually standardized.

It’s like you can see us everywhere and part of a growing brand as you know, it’s hard to update the let’s say an hour like hours of operation during the holidays. I mean, you won’t, you won’t do that painstakingly. Right. I mean, yeah, if there’s 75 listing sites, you have 60 locations. Tell me how you’re going to do that just for one day on let’s say Thanksgiving or Christmas day.

So we have platform called YEXT, that does you know update for that on online listings, review sites as well. We make sure that every single platform that’s out there, we’re there. Even if, you know, it didn’t make sense when threads came out. Look at it now, I don’t know if anyone is actually using.

Sometimes it’s funny when you go there actually. You’ll catch a lot of funny things from brands and it’s pretty hilarious, but you know, really can’t track, you know, anything from that. So, but make sure that this year, last year, actually we started last year, standardized everything from streamlining the processes to making sure we’re available in all listing sites and then all social media is updated.

If we have, we roll out LTOs every quarter. We know about that from the email, social media digital ads that we place it keeps running. We will have video, we will be you know, partnering with local community, trying to promote that as well. So that’s something that we really think is very critical for us being, you know, again, an Asian concept, you have to touch on the local community and, you know, let them know that you exist or your business exists and there, and that if anything, they can reach out to you.

And I think one of the things that we really encourage our partners, you know, some of the franchise owners is that this is your walking advertising. If you do something good to the community without even publicizing it, it will come back twice fold. One of the things that we did in Overland Park, Kansas, was I think one of the best that we’ve ever done.

The owner there is very good with community involvement. So he did a Make-A-Wish gala three days prior to his grand opening. And you won’t believe the amount of support that he had. He didn’t publicize it. It’s just his way of giving back to the community and that’s something that really is near and dear to our heart is making sure that every location actually, you know, does the outreach in the community may be at a school you do those students of the month and then you give them, you know, gift cards.

Those kids love those things. Yes, you know, they work so hard during the, you know, the whole month and they’re going to be students of the month and you give them, you partner with the school and then give it as, you know, their kind of recognition rewards. 

Justin Ulrich
Yeah, that’s very cool. Yeah, it’s, it’s one of those things where when I think of ramen, it’s, it’s not as mainstream in areas that aren’t like metropolitan areas.

So when you, when you do get into the community and you access that, access folks in places like elementary schools and stuff like that, it’s giving them the free, you know, taste of, hey, this is really cool, I’m sure. The kids love it, cause my kids love ramen, it’s something, it’s just like noodles, like everyone, for the most part, loves noodles, right?

So, getting them, getting them, like, in, in the, in the store is what’s important, and they’ll keep coming back once they get a taste for, for how good the food and experience actually is. 

Cai Palmiter 
And we have the probably the best, and I’m not being biased, kids meal out there. It is a jam packed kids meal and it’s all homemade. That’s one thing. You have an option of And it’s in one pack as low as $10, depending on, you know, location. You have your ramen, you have your rice bowl, you have your salad. And because kids love the fries, you have the fries too. And then you get a treat at the end, and then you have a scoop of ice cream.

I mean, who gets $10 for a kid’s meal like that? And most of the, we just recently opened our 60th location in Topanga. Believe it or not, it was mostly kids who dragged their parents. On the grand opening and said, I want to go. Yes, so it’s really, you know, critical for us to touch on that. And then a lot of people still don’t know it and we’re still, you know, trying to make sure that people are aware, you know, you can have a quality meal, homemade at our restaurant. We have that offering.

Justin Ulrich
No, that’s, that’s very nice. Yeah. The next thing, you know, when you’re talking about all this marketing with the kiddos, you know, I feel like I’m going to see a cartoon with like Kyle Larson as a superhero. And so I’ll leverage Virginia. 

Cai Palmiter 
If you haven’t seen it yet. So one of the big things that happened last year we, you know, we had a licensing agreement with New Era, Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports, JINYA and we came out with a shirt and a hat. So if you go to a junior right now if you look at our menu, the front one is a truck with girls slurping on noodles. It’s like a NASCAR truck. 

But his shirt that we launched through New Era is actually on the back. It’s a caricature of him eating ramen on top of his car. And it says, we’re crazy about ramen. So it’s, it’s been really a movement. Yes, yes. 

Justin Ulrich
That’s awesome. So, if you had some suggestions for folks, local operators who are really trying to, you know, kick their marketing in gear, and maybe something they could do today or sometime this week, what would you suggest that they do?

Cai Palmiter 
Don’t be afraid to be online. A lot of, you know, one-off owners, they’re so scared because they’re scared of one, you know, bad negative review that came out versus all the 99 that are good. So sometimes I ran into owners like that. Or, you know, entrepreneurs that they’re so scared to be online in this digital age, you have to be competitive, you have to make sure that you are available in Apple Maps, Google Maps, you know, when they do searches you’re always at the top of everyone’s mind.

So if there is a specific restaurant that you think of when it comes to wings. I’m not going to name some because I don’t want to sound biased. And then there’s a specific burger chain. When you think of burger, that’s how we want it to be. When you think of ramen, you only think of JINYA. And that’s, you know, our main goal for, for people to understand when they have that craving.

Because right now, what we’re doing is creating cravability on, you know, certain ramen aspects and not just at the small plates. So we would any best selling you take it out and just put it on LTO and people like hate it. Bring back this bring back that so that’s something that I you know that we’ve been doing and I know it drives everyone crazy But it’s something that you know that they think of you.

So I want to you know, kind of tell, you know, other marketing people out there or owners, don’t be afraid. Just make sure that you are available within reach with everyone. And make sure that if you put a phone number, the phone number works. 

Justin Ulrich
Yeah, that’s an important one. Especially on those days when you have the changed hours.

Cai Palmiter 
I’m gonna tell you it’s, it’s one of my pet peeves is like, there’s like big brands or even, you know, really fine dining restaurant and they have a phone number and the phone number doesn’t work. I mean, did someone go through to this? Did you know that you’re losing money over this? So it’s, it’s things like that.

And then social media. And I know it’s not for everyone, but it, it also creates that buzz. In, in our industry, maybe quick service or full service no matter what industry you are. It, you know, people try to see what’s an update with your brand what’s new right now. Is there a happy hour change? Is there a promotion?

I know it’s their anniversary in July. What are they offering? So it’s things like that. People really look forward to right now. And of course, when you do that, you have to refresh all your creative assets, enticing photos, but not deceiving. Let me straighten that out. There are photos out there for your menu that some of them are deceiving.

They’ll give, they’ll show you like this big sack of burger for $5 and you see it. It’s like this. Yeah, so we want to make sure that you what you show is, you know, not something that people will be upset about. And lastly, community, community involvement, community engagement local events, festivals, charities, whatever it is in your community.

It does make a difference in your community when you show that, Hey, you know, I’m part of this mall strip and they’re doing this. You know, I want to be part of that. Or I’m part of this mall and they have this, you know, brand activation. And so and so they want to do this. I want to be part of that. It just shows that, you know, you’re not an entity in that community.

You’re part of that community and you want them to actually embrace it as well. You want them to come to your restaurant? Open your doors. 

Justin Ulrich
Yeah, for sure. And engage with them. You know, don’t, don’t just be a a brand in an ivory tower. Get out, engage with your customers, talk to them, find out what they like, what they don’t like.

And then you’re listening to your customers will help you to create content and changes and stuff like that. That’ll resonate with your audience and you’ll continue to get traction. 

Cai Palmiter 
That’s how we actually revamped in less than eight months the loyalty that we launched in February. In February, I was just new to the company I was like five months in and they were working something before I joined and it was surprise and delight and that’s where people are saying I just don’t want you know coming here and I come here often and then all I have to do is you know, purchase a ramen and then get a free small plate.

I can do that. That’s easy. Give me something that I’ll look forward to. So that’s how we revamped our loyalty program and then created a mobile app in four months. I know it’s crazy. Yeah. I know.

Justin Ulrich
If you’re listening out there, if you want to make a change today or this week, make a mobile app. 

Cai Palmiter 
Well, we tied it in with the loyalty program and then, you know, the gift card providers. So we work with Patronix on that one. So. Yeah, we told them, you know, what we were looking for, and what our, you know, audience, our customers are looking for, and then we, you know, created a point system loyalty where, you know, for every dollar spent, you get a point, and then you get your birthday anniversary, your birthday reward, and then your JINYA-versary, on the day that you sign up, you’ll get a JINYA-versary.

Justin Ulrich
Oh, cool. That is cool. That’s unique. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that anywhere actually. 

Cai Palmiter 
Yes, yes. So we celebrate your anniversary. Yes.

Justin Ulrich
Very cool. So who are some other folks that you think are out there doing local marketing really well? Some other brands that you want to give a shout out to? 

Cai Palmiter 
I am really a fan of Wendy’s. A lot of QSR actually. Wendy’s, Jack in the Box is a little funny. White Castle, they have a lot of cost marketing effort that they’re doing supporting autism. That organization, they, they do really well on that. Crumbl, they, Crumbl is taking off like, I don’t know, it’s like they’re sprouting everywhere, like mushrooms, it’s like everywhere. A little rain and they’re like, Oh, we have another Crumbl. Right? 

Justin Ulrich
Yeah, they have a brand that’s like, that’s like you mentioned you mentioned to me earlier that you’re from the Outer Banks. We talked a little bit about Duck Donuts and yeah, they have a good, it’s just like Crumbl, how their social presence, they just, their product lends itself so well to be, like, photographed.

Cai Palmiter 
Yes, and, and making sure that all of their partners are actually really well knowledged. So when they start, you know, when, how they started, and then acknowledging their partners, where, you know, how it took them to being this big brand, you can tell the kind of culture that they have. I mean, Duck Donuts is a, you know, this small town donut shop, like I said, vividly remember.

And I told them Betsy this randomly when I saw her at the let me see, was it RLC or, yeah, I think it was RLC. And I reached out to her and I said, Listen, it’s like, this is the memory of my kids growing up. Yeah. It’s like, as soon as their spring break, first thing that they think of, I want to go to the corner street, which is actually two blocks away from us. They walk, go there, lined up, you can smell it. Yes. 

Justin Ulrich
Yeah, very cool. Yeah, they, they are very they’re very gracious. And like you said, they, they promote their partners. We had, we don’t even partner with them. And my son made some video with his Legos that, cause Betsy was on our podcast and he made a little video about what she was talking about and they sent him a package, like a swag box with all this, like, thank you stuff. And it was super cool. He was super excited. And it just made him love the brand even more. 

Cai Palmiter 
Yes. It’s like, it’s a personal touch. 

Justin Ulrich
Yeah, for sure. Yeah, they’re a really, really good brand. Well, awesome. Well, you know, you talked a little bit about racing and how you’re such a fan. Is there a story behind why you love NASCAR so much?

Cai Palmiter 
Yeah. Actually being from Outer Banks, it’s funny and it’s true, but my driver before this was back in 2008, 2009, I believe is Juan Pablo Montoya. Juan Pablo Montoya came from F1, went to NASCAR. I love underdogs. I don’t care what everyone says. Because he’s really good in road course. Watkins Glen is his favorite track. He always smokes that track. Anyways, he used to drive number 42 in NASCAR. And he left NASCAR and who took over his own car?

Kyle Larson. I have loved Kyle Larson since the beginning, before. And I don’t want this as a, you know, like an excuse from everyone. Like saying, oh, is that why you picked him? No, it just happened. You know, that he’s adopted.

Justin Ulrich
When your loves align, you know, it is magic for sure. So I thought, I thought it would be really cool since you have such an affinity for NASCAR to maybe give an opportunity for you to see yourself as part of the winning team.

Cai Palmiter 
That is so cool. Can I have that? 

Justin Ulrich
No, you can’t. Of course you can have it. Yeah, I’m going to send it to you.

Cai Palmiter 
That is so cool. 

Justin Ulrich
I’ve never turned anyone down who’s asked for their image. So that was a, that was a fun experience for me.

I’ll get this over to you for sure. I wanted to make sure I got the colors is as close as I could to Hendrick Motorsports colors, but got pretty close there. This is, yeah, AI, incredible. 

Cai Palmiter 
Yeah, I know. It’s, it’s pretty amazing. And it’s actually. It’s kind of big right now because it’s Daytona 500 next week. So it’s one of those big races for the NASCAR community. Also for, you know, all the partners, the brands. This is when we, you know, support Kyle to the fullest and Hendrick Motorsports. 

And one of the cool things that we’re doing this year is that every time he wins on a Sunday, the following day, you get $5 off your his favorite combo. So we call it Fast Lane. Yes. 

Justin Ulrich
That’s awesome. So now you can ask him what type of promo there’s going to be for when you win. Because now we see that you do. 

Cai Palmiter 
Oh, I appreciate it. I love what I do. I mean, I think every day, you know, I, talk to different colleagues or peers in the industry from different concept and you know I’m open to ideas all the time open to collaborating. That’s something that I’m really really passionate about because I think sometimes people limit the power of knowledge. And to me, it’s like the more you share to others and you collaborate, I think the more you’re, you know, you really enhance the creative juices in your head. And then it’s just, it comes out naturally. It’s so inspiring for me to hear what others are doing. 

Justin Ulrich
Like, yeah, I feel the same way. That’s why we do this podcast because a lot, we know like within the industry, like. I want to help as many people as possible and this is a cross industry podcast.

There’s just lots of local operators that just need help kind of moving in the right direction and they don’t have the backing of corporate or maybe the support of corporate in many instances. So whenever we can give insights from folks like you, it’s a huge win for those operators. 

Cai Palmiter 
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, there are some that are one off. And some are multi unit, and you know, sometimes it surprises me the multi unit things that, oh, we’re already established. And, you know, in the industry, we don’t need that, but they don’t know what they’re missing, you know, the chunk of market share that you’re missing. If you disregard local store marketing. So to me, it’s like very, very crucial for any businesses.

Justin Ulrich
Yeah, exactly. One thing that reminded me of earlier you mentioned social and how folks just need to get started on social. It’s one of those things, the one specific thing that you mentioned that resonated was you said some folks just think it’s not for me, it’s just not for me. But in reality like it’s for everyone.

It’s super cheap if not free in many instances and it’s the fastest way to organically get your word out there. So if you feel like it’s not for you, just start somewhere. Create a piece of content, put it out there, and just get comfortable with posting. And it could be video, it could be images, it could be written paragraphs.

Just some sort of content, so that you can start to build some momentum, some confidence in yourself. Social media is like, that’s where a lot of local growth happens, and awareness happens, starting with social. 

Cai Palmiter 
I agree, and it’s, to some, they think, oh, that’s marketing, social media is marketing, it’s not. It’s just a chunk of it, but you have to make sure that you’re also part of it at least. Because, that’s a way of, you know, reaching out to your market. Let’s say your market, you didn’t know, you know, increased from 13 years old to or actually it scaled down and you think that your market is just 28 to 44, but a lot of kids like 13 to like 28, what do they do?

They’re always on phone, on social media. So, you would want to at least, you know, have that chunk of awareness and exposure. And then, you don’t have to overdo it, but at least be there to update them. You have a happy hour? Tell them you have a happy hour. It’s daily, 2 to 5, it never change. You have a new, you know, LTO? You let them know. You have a Valentine’s promotion, it’s a great way to promote it. 

Justin Ulrich
Yeah, and build in public. Like, show your processes. Highlight, highlight how you’re mixing things up in the kitchen. Highlight some of your employees. Highlight some of your customers. Eventually, your customers will start generating content for you, once you get enough awareness out there.

And then, then it’s just a, a rolling stone, like Indiana Jones. Watch out, Virginia, next thing you know. Well, hey, I appreciate it. That’s right, that’s right. Well, hey, it was awesome having you on, Cai. How, how can we let folks know how to follow you? 

Cai Palmiter 
Me? They can, you know, they can search for me, Cai Palmiter. I have a website, caipalmiter.com. You can see all my, you know, social media handles there. But, I’m pretty big more on the LinkedIn. More than actually the social media because the social media. It’s like personal. I don’t really update that as much as I used to when I was younger. But yeah, I mean, I’m more on the LinkedIn side.

Even, you know, any milestones or update or news about our company. I actually post it there. So that’s, that’s something that I always do. So if they can, you know, find me there or like I said, caipalmiter.com, you can find everything, even my photos. 

Justin Ulrich
Yeah, the photos are actually incredible. I was blown away. I couldn’t make any, I was going to make a funny AI version of you and like a stock photo, like a corporate sterile stock photo, but I looked at your photos. I was like, wow, these are incredible. But how about, how about, can they follow JINYA? Where, where can they find JINYA on social? 

Cai Palmiter 
So JINYA Ramen Bar on Instagram and TikTok actually. Also on X. I don’t know if anyone uses X, but we’re also there. But it’s on X. It’s actually JINYA Ramen Bar TM, trademark. So and then also Facebook JINYA Ramen Bar. I know some, some folks still goes there and actually message us sometimes. 

Justin Ulrich
Yeah. Yeah. There’s a certain demographic, maybe on a little older end, that like Facebook is still a core social platform. So it makes total sense. Well, awesome. 

Cai Palmiter 
Our mother’s company is on LinkedIn, JINYA Holdings, so that’s our main company because we have five brands within the company so they can find us under JINYA Holdings. 

Justin Ulrich
Very cool. Very cool. Well, awesome. Well, like I said, Cai, it was a ton of fun having you in the lab. I thank you so much for joining us. You had a lot of awesome insight for our listeners. 

Cai Palmiter 
Thank you so much, Justin. I really, really appreciate it, and I hope I didn’t talk too much about NASCAR. I was trying not to, and then also…right? I’m glad I didn’t. I hope. 

Justin Ulrich
You did, but that’s okay. We can edit it. No, it’s totally fine. Alright, have a good one. 

Cai Palmiter 
Thank you. You too. Take care. 

Justin Ulrich
Yep, bye bye.

If you learned something from today’s episode, don’t forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook @Evocalize. That’s Evocalize and on X at Evocalize. 

And remember, keep innovating and testing new things. You’ll never know what connects with your customers best unless you try. Until next time. Thanks for listening.