Article

Pei Wei Test Kitchen stirs up 'priceless' ROI

Pei Wei has opened an official test kitchen that also serves as a fully functioning restaurant.

October 24, 2016 by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

While most restaurants rely on focus groups or menu experts to develop and test new menu offerings, Pei Wei boasts its own test kitchen, which doubles as a fully functioning restaurant in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The Pei Wei Test Kitchen is part of the concept's rebranding strategy and offers signature items as well as more than 30 forward-thinking menu options, including Bahn Mi-style street tacos, kimchi fried rice, cucumber avocado buddha rolls and pork belly ramen, said Clay Dover, CMO.

"A new class of funky ingredients is popping up across America — sriracha, kimchi and togarashi can be found in pantries and restaurants today," he said. "The fast casual consumer palate has been primed for new textures and high flavor, and this menu has items that deliver."

Dover, who has spent the past 12 months working with his team to broaden Pei Wei's "relevance" and increase visits among existing and future guests, said the test kitchen is the chain's opportunity to not only offer guests a menu that has more variety but also allows chefs to experiment with new flavors and forms, while gathering customer feedback almost immediately.

"Since our test kitchen is an integral part of our national rebrand strategy, we want to get more authentic feedback from actual customers, so we decided to get out there with them in an open-to-the-public restaurant," Dover said. "Most test kitchens are inside corporate offices with focus groups offering feedback, and we don't think that you get the same quality of feedback in that setting. Our open concept kitchen offers guests a glimpse into the brand's future with more than 30 new and refined dishes being tested."

Some of those dishes include Pan-Asian flavors, such as kimchee (fermented/pickled cabbage) and gochujang (hot pepper paste), which Dover predicts will gain popularity over the next year.

"(They) are very trendy right now," he said.

Finding flavor with a purpose

Dover described Pei Wei's 2016 focus as "flavor with purpose," meaning the team has been searching for bold flavors and selects ingredients based on their nutritional benefits, which is part of the new brand message, "Eating well is well-being."

This year, for example, Pei Wei became the first fast casual to offer quinoa as a substitute for rice, lettuce or noodles in bowls, Dover said.

"It's a healthier option that we think people are looking for, and even though we introduced it as an LTO, we've added to the regular menu because it has been so popular," he said. "We also look for dining trends that we can interpret for our guests, such as Asian street tacos or bibimbap, which we're trying out in the test kitchen."

The rest of the rebranding strategy includes a new design that features a more modern atmosphere with the brand's take on traditional Asian-inspired architectural details, plus higher quality finishes, clean contemporary lines and pops of bright color rooted in Asian tradition and philosophies, Dover said.

"We've also changed the way we're communicating to our guests, by showing them the thoughtful preparation and ingredients that goes into the handcrafted food we serve," he said. "Our menu innovations highlight our flavor with purpose mission, which is all about offering bold, Pan-Asian flavors and made-to-order dishes using traditional Asian cooking methods and ingredients that are mindfully selected for their nutritional benefits.

"It's a modern approach to fast casual that we think connects with guests on a deeper level—it's about their well-being and fitting in with their active and health-focused lifestyles."

What about the ROI?

Obviously, building a test kitchen isn't something any brand can do on a whim. Without getting into specific numbers, Dover said the build-out cost was similar to the chain's rebranded locations in Dallas and Tulsa and that the benefits are immense.

"We want to find new ways to connect with our guests, and the test kitchen location gives us the opportunity to try new things and get instant feedback from actual guests, tapping into our My Wei Rewards program to survey guests after they have tried a new menu item from the test kitchen," he said. "To me, as a brand person, that touchpoint and data is priceless."

About Cherryh Cansler

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Cherryh Cansler is VP of Events for Networld Media Group and publisher of FastCasual.com. She has been covering the restaurant industry since 2012. Her byline has appeared in Forbes, The Kansas City Star and American Fitness magazine, among many others.

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