Company Blog

Who’s your Rock Star?

by Adam Zack — January 18, 2017

Many chefs are fickle?

Our rock stars have traditionally been, well, real rock stars. Musical idols that turn the girls knees to Jell-O and guys chartreuse with envy. Sports heroes who leave you slack jawed at their sight. Tiny actors that are bigger than life onscreen. Just this past weekend I was in San Francisco for a show by the rock star Rhett Miller*. So I’m coming out of the men’s room, open the door and standing there ready to come in (and cut the line, which you can do if you’re a rock star) is non other than Rhett Miller. I blurt out “Rhett!” like some kind of dummie, and he says “Hey, how you doing?” Great, now that I have got to hold the bathroom door for a rock star, thinking how jealous Linda is going to be when I tell her. Which she was.

In our grocery business we have the opportunity to create rock stars within our organization. It’s an especially ripe opportunity with our chefs and butchers, and to a lesser extent with produce managers, wine and specialty food buyers. The Food Network turned a whole batch of chefs and home cooks into rock stars just by branding them. Bobby Flay, Wolfgang Puck, Ina Garten, Gordon Ramsey, Guy Fieri? All food rock stars that have done an incredible job of branding themselves to home cooks. We hang on their words and make their recipes and buy the products they direct us to cook. There’s our opportunity – to turn that personality in your store into your expert, telling your customer what your rock star recommends and what he’s cooked. It starts with a photo of them (maybe a life size cut out) and a simple sign – “Chef Matt recommends…” or “Chef Frank’s special of the week…” It’s all part of story telling – turning that personality into something you can sell and customers learn to trust. The caveat is that the rock star definitely has to have a personality. They have to love people and be gregarious and enthusiastic. Closet geniuses and Lois Lane librarian types cannot apply. The other caveat is that many chefs are a fickle, unstable breed prone to streaks of a-holeishness and often scatter like a cat around water. It takes some thought and planning, but choose wisely grasshopper and you can be the rock star promoter who gets to make the dough.

*Rhett Miller is the leader of great alt- country band Old ‘97s, and while most of you have never heard of him or them, he definitely fits the Jell-O and chartreuse mode. Check him out. https://www.rhettmiller.com