A national casual dining chain with over 500 units was navigating increasingly competitive waters as consumer expectations shifted post-pandemic. With guests becoming more value-conscious and dining occasions changing, the brand was focused on re-energizing traffic and reconnecting with customers.
Following a timely cultural moment and a refreshed menu, momentum returned quickly. Guest traffic surged, sales exceeded projections, and demand continued to outpace expectations.
As volumes accelerated, the team was faced with a new challenge: scaling supply at speed without compromising quality or consistency. As a long-time partner, they knew exactly who to call to help steady the ship.
Nobody expects to become an overnight celebrity, but when the rare opportunity presents itself, you can’t pass it up. To maintain this newfound momentum and to keep business booming, our customer needed their suppliers to throw them a safety net because they had reached a boiling point. Two of our flavored compound butters were the main flavor drivers on this popular menu item and our customer was going through their butter supply faster than they initially forecasted. When they reached out to ask for support, there was no hesitation. Our teams mobilized immediately to ensure continuity, quality, and speed without compromise.
Our Commercial, Supply Chain, Pricing and R&D teams quickly assembled to come up with a plan that would get boatloads of our compound butters to their distribution centers in days – not weeks, not months. This was no shrimpy request. Just how much butter are we talking about here? What we typically supplied this customer over the course of an entire year was being delivered in a single month. That’s 12x the normal volume, executed without disruption to quality or consistency.
When the ask is big and the timeline is tight, this is where Rubix shows up. Our team found creative solutions to give our customer the best price in a volatile butter market, source raw materials at scale, and make those slim delivery windows work. This required close collaboration and daily communication between our cross-functional teams – something Rubix is uniquely built to do. Our customers don’t just get a rep, they get a full roster of experts aligned to execute.
The plan went swimmingly. This menu item was originally slated to be an LTO but has since become a core menu item with more flavor extensions including two more Rubix compound butters. Plus, we’re in talks with our customer’s culinary team to add a fifth compound butter to the lineup.
So, what was the formula for shared success? Unmatched flavor was the foundation, but velocity made the difference. At Rubix, velocity isn’t just about moving fast – it’s speed with discipline, enabling us to act quickly without sacrificing quality, consistency, or control.
That capability is built into our business model. As a full-service product development partner with an expansive and flexible plant network, we’re designed to move quickly and scale intelligently. With minimal bureaucracy and teams empowered to act, we’re able to adapt in real time – turning strong partnerships into real-world results, faster than most think possible.
Our compound butters were delivered to our customer’s distribution centers within days of their request.
What we normally supplied to this customer over the course of a full year, we were supplying in one month.
An opportunity that began with two compound butters has led to four compound butters finding a home on the core menu.
Good. We love problems! Tell us a little more about your food challenges and together, we’ll Rubix It!
