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Welcome back to a new episode of the All Things Croatia podcast.
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I'm your host, Stanko Zovak.
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Born and raised in Los Angeles, I'm now living in Zagreb and studying the Croatian language.
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Before we start, just do me a favor and follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're
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listening, as well as the Facebook and Instagram page.
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In this series, I'll be talking with people both in the homeland and around the globe who
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have connections to Croatia.
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We'll hear from startups, returning to Aspora, musicians and athletes, and the biggest Croatian
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celebrities at what returned my calls.
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But enough about me.
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I'm Idem Odaulje and let's get started.
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Hi, welcome back to the podcast everyone.
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Today we'll be hearing from the COO of Submarine Burger, Luka Juresko.
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Submarine is a Croatian burger joint known for using natural, organic, local, and homemade
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ingredients.
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They were recently listed in the Financial Times as one of the 1,000 fastest growing
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companies in Europe and included in Big7Travel.com's list of 50 best burgers in the world.
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They have 13 locations across Croatia and just opened their first submarine abroad with
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more plans to expand.
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Luka, thanks for coming on the podcast.
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Hello to all the listeners and thank you for a very, very, very nice welcome.
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Well, you know, some of this stuff that I had written was from maybe two months ago.
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So I'm sure by now all these numbers are all wrong and I mean, you guys are expanding
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so fast.
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Yeah, we are.
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We are, you know, well, let me just give you like a short little story from the beginning.
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I think it might be the easier because a lot of people actually think that submarine is
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not a Croatian brand and they think that like it's from US or somewhere.
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And so like, actually, there's two founders of submarine, Alex and Dragolyub.
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Alexander actually had an idea and he came to Dragolyub and said, you know what, I have
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a great idea.
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I'm going to go to a burger place and he's like, burger place and he's like, yeah, well,
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on the beginning, they both lived in Croatia, of course.
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And then Alex started traveling a bit because of his other businesses.
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It's very interesting that none of us right now actually in submarine or not in hospitality
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at the beginning.
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And while he was traveling, he came, he started living in Europe for a couple of months and
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one of his partners said, yeah, let's have a meeting and he said, yeah, great, where
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do you want to meet and he said, well, in a burger place, he was like, a meeting in
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a burger place.
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Like, what do you mean?
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You know, at that time, burger place wasn't something that you would go to for like a
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meeting.
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People forget, but burgers at that time, especially in Europe were something totally different,
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small places.
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They wanted that, let's say, cool.
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There wasn't such a foliage of whole burger tradition like there was for pizza, for example.
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And then he said that and he said, this is great.
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I love it.
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I want to try this in Croatia.
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And then they traveled quite a bit.
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I think they tested more burgers than anyone else in the world.
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And they decided that one, even though they're from Rijeka, which is a town, you know, coast
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of Croatia, they said, okay, let's do it in Zagreb because it's a capital city.
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And they opened the first place in 2014.
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And they actually had to learn everything from the beginning because just to open a
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restaurant, there's so many things you need to do, which you don't even think about, you
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know, biocracy.
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You need to get all these permits and all these licenses.
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So it was a fun thing to do.
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But from the beginning, everything was set to, if it succeeded, which it did, to have
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an option to grow from, you know, the design, from the storytelling, from the values of
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submarine.
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And then the brand was created before it actually started.
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And this is what gave the option to grow.
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And then, you know, just in short, 2014, we had one restaurant, 15, we already had three,
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16, we opened one more.
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And then in 18, 19, 20, till now, we have 13 restaurants in Croatia.
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We have one restaurant in Romania now.
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And we're opening two more.
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And in Romania, we're opening four more in Croatia, and we're looking to open another
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market as well in Europe.
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So it's been very interesting and dynamic.
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Me personally, I came to submarine five years ago, but I knew Dragojub and Alexander from
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the beginning.
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So I was very connected to the whole story.
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And I was very happy that, you know, Zagreb at that time got a place like submarine burger,
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even though at that time, it already had a great variety, let's say, of burgers.
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But submarine was the one that, you know, grew the fastest and then kept its customers
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happy, which is the most important thing.
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Well, yeah, let me, let me, let me start by saying I'm a big fan.
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You know, I went with my girlfriend for the first time, I don't know, before a few months,
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maybe five months ago, six months ago, you know, I'm living in Zagreb now.
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And since then, I've been, well, maybe at least once a month.
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I think the burgers are really tasty.
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The fries are very good.
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And the atmosphere is, you know, it's just a nice atmosphere.
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Yeah.
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The whole experience, this is the whole, the whole point of a submarine was the experience,
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you know, that when you come, you feel good and you get, you know, positive energy, which
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we're all about.
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And the people that work in submarine, they're great.
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They're awesome people.
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And without them, you wouldn't get this energy that you're talking about as well.
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Yeah.
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And that's interesting how that stemmed from wanting to have a meeting in a burger place
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and realizing that there's not really, you know, places like that.
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Well, you know, at that, because, you know, people forget, but, you know, before, especially
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in Croatia, the burger, the burger scene wasn't that strong.
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If you look at it at that time, even the, you know, the Kraft burger scene, I mean,
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the beer scene, sorry, was growing slowly as well.
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So last couple of years in Croatia have been very, very interesting regarding this Kraft
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places that started, you know, growing and people reacting to them in a way.
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Yeah, I want to try this.
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I want to try something different, you know, I want to experience something different.
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So it's definitely very interesting time.
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Mm-hmm.
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What sort of market research, I mean, can you do when there is really nothing to compare
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it to at the time?
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You know, are you just kind of hoping that the burgers are going to hit it off in Croatia?
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Well, you know, if you look at the trends in the world that it all copies, you know,
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it comes, you know, if you're going to follow, let's say, for example, New York or London,
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it all comes to other cities as well.
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It's just a matter of time when someone's going to say, you know, this is a really cool
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concept and I want to try it.
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But Alexander and Dragulio were really, really, they believed in it.
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You know, at that time, their friends, they weren't very like, you know, let's say, positive
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about it.
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They were like, really burger place.
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I don't know if that's something you want to do, especially because Alexander has other
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businesses which are totally on the tech side.
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Yeah, they have nothing to do with hospitality and Dragulio was in business that had nothing
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to do with hospitality.
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But it was something that they liked.
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Let's say they fell in love with it, the scene and they said, okay, let's try and do it and
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let's try and bring this to Croatia.
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And I think this energy that they had and the focus and the determination brought it
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to be a company that it is today.
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Well, yeah, I imagine that it's tough.
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I mean, in the world here of what Chevapi, Burek, Sarma, you know, fish, all that kind
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of stuff to try and make the burger stand out.
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Croatia's loved their food.
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This has never been a mystery.
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It's a well-known fact.
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But on the other hand, you know, people want to have something new and they want to try
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something new.
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And if you're very honest with them and one of the values of submarine really has from
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the beginning to be transparent and honest with our work and how we do it.
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And I think people react to that positively and they come back because one of the things
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we do is open new restaurants, which is important.
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That's you have to grow.
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But what we do even more is we work on the retention of the customers and let's say the
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fans we have now and to do the best we can to keep the product the way it was in the
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beginning and nothing has changed.
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I can guarantee this.
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All of the suppliers are still the same.
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We're very lucky with this.
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We have the, you know, we had, because when you work with small suppliers, you know, they're
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not like, you know, industrial, you know, huge places for, anyway, small farmers.
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Yeah.
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You know, because very important thing for us from the beginning was support the local
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community when you support the local community.
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When I mean that is when you take local.
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So all of our products that we use are local.
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Unless there is no non-increation, then we have to get it, you know, wherever you can
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get it from.
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We're mainly a focus in creation and to be organic, to be local.
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Yeah.
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This is something we drive to do.
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And while when you do that, then of course your carbon footprint is much smaller, of
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course, because there is no, there isn't that much transport, of course, because everything
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comes locally.
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So from the beginning, that was the main focus for submarine to be local.
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And I think people reacted really well to that, you know, they reacted really well to
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that.
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And of course, you know, the huge, we had a lot of, a lot of really big chefs working
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with us in the beginning to do our sauces, you know, we make our own sauces, which is
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really important for the whole burger experience.
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And then Amiti is from Zumbedak from Croatia, of course, from this small place that, you
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know, every year we have to tell him next year, we want to do this, this amount of burgers,
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can you do it?
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And he's like, okay, I have to prepare for you guys.
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So it's, there's a whole process, you know, our fries, their potatoes are from Lika, Likki
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Krumpir.
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So he as well, you know, as we're growing every year we have to ask him, can you follow
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us because, you know, we're growing really, really fast.
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And he's like, okay, okay, I can do it.
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I can do it.
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So we're really happy to hear that because without our partners, we wouldn't exist.
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It would be really difficult, you know, really, really difficult.
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Yeah.
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Well, I think that's part of the appeal aside from, you know, the taste of the food is that
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when you go there, you know, you're supporting, you know, the local economy and local growers
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and farmers.
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And it's all sort of, you know, Croatian owned and grown for the most part.
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I think that's as well as, you know, the food, that's something that you go there knowing.
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And even if you don't know that before, I mean, you guys have like, not signs, like
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drawings and, you know, pictures all over the wall.
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We try to have a communication in a restaurant, you know, to, to one year there.
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So you can in short experience the brand and the values and just to understand what you
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are eating and where you came in, what our values are.
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So we try, we try, but you always have to remind people because, you know, everyone
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forgets.
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Yeah.
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I mean, to me, your story sounds a lot like one of my favorite burger joints back in the
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U.S. is in and out.
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I don't know if you've heard of that.
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Oh, of course I have.
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Yeah.
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That's my favorite.
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And it sounds like it's a very similar, you know, locally sourced and, you know, sort
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of building that community from, you know, the ground up and being local.
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I mean, there's a huge everyone on the West Coast in the U.S. loves in and out and it's
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almost like a rivalry.
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You know, some of the East Coast chains have, I don't know, some other water burger.
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I don't even know, White Castle, but everyone where there's in and outs, you know, they,
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that's their favorite burger place.
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And that's what you guys sort of remind me of.
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Yeah.
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And we, we try that, you know, when you have some values from the beginning, for example,
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you know, kids eat free Sunday.
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So each Sunday when you come with your children to submarine, they eat for free.
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Oh, really?
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I didn't know that.
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Yeah.
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So those kind of values, you know, that someone would maybe do it like PR stunt on the beginning
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and then stop it.
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And we're still doing it, you know, now with 13 restaurants, it's still the same.
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So like the donations have been a big part of submarine.
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For a while, we didn't know what to do.
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And it was really difficult because it's not easy to donate.
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You know, there's a lot of people and there's, they all have really, you know, good, let's
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say reasons and it's difficult to say who should you, who should we give to what.
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And then we actually, the red noses, the doctors, I don't know if you heard of them.
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Yeah, it's actually a global organization of they go to children's hospitals and they
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just try and make them feel better, which is, you know, extremely difficult job to do.
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And so we've been following them for like, I think four or five years now, actually.
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And so each year that we have one of the on the menu, one of the articles is part of the
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sales goes to the donation.
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And then each year we give it to them.
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So it hasn't changed even during COVID, even during COVID, we gave it to them.
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So it's, it's those values.
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And you know, when you have the founders that started this place from, you know, from scratch
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and are still in the company and are still, you know, in involved in almost not every
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day, but, you know, Drago Ljubis, a CEO and Alexander is, let's say he, he, he steers,
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he tells us in what rich direction to go, but they're both in the company still and they're
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both very involved and, you know, care about everything.
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And when you have this from beginning to the end, you know, it has to be right because
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the energy is here and the focus and there will to grow for submarine actually to grow,
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you know, in Croatia, but now in Europe as well.
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Well, you just sit on a big point that I wanted to point out, you know, the social responsibility
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and working with, you know, these organizations and these charities and how important that
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is as a value to your company.
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So I think that's another thing that pulls in people or keeps them, you know, once they
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find out about that.
246
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Yeah.
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Well, we don't do it for the people to come because of that.
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I can't say I really don't, but it definitely is something.
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I mean, I feel when I hear someone is helping the community, I feel great and I, you know,
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it makes me feel better about the brand that I'm buying from.
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So it definitely is something that is in our DNA and we're very proud of it.
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And I mean, the red noses are one thing.
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Then we have a lot of other, let's say smaller donations that we do during the years that
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people don't even know of, which is not actually that important, but we try to work locally
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in where, you know, our restaurants are and then you have neighborhoods.
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Whether there is an option that we can help or do something we actually try and do it.
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These last couple of years have not been easy because of COVID, of course, for everyone
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else.
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So we just have to slowly now reboot and start living again because it hasn't been easy
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for anyone.
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Did you guys slow down a little during COVID or what was that like for you guys?
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00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:03,080
Well, you know what?
263
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Very interesting.
264
00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:12,480
COVID for us was, I remember we actually, we started delivery just like a dark kitchen.
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When I say dark kitchen, I mean a restaurant that is just for delivery.
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So there is no waiters, there is no tables to sit.
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It's just a delivery, which in US is like a normal thing for ages now.
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In Croatia, it hasn't been that popular.
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So we were like, yeah, let's try and do it and extremely lucky we did that because we
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learned how to do delivery.
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Well, we thought we did.
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We had like a short education, quick and sweet before COVID started because what happened
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with COVID.
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00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:52,120
So at that time we had like, I think, can you remind me when was COVID first lockdown in
275
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Croatia?
276
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Was that 2020?
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Jeez, even now I'm forgetting.
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2019.
279
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March?
280
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No, 19 March.
281
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I forgot as well.
282
00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:08,840
I think it was March because I know we opened Trešnivka, a new restaurant and then it was
283
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locked down.
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00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:10,840
Right away.
285
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Yeah.
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So and then, you know, you have to, at that point we had around 160 people working and
287
00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:22,600
you know, all of our restaurants overnight zero revenue.
288
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And this is extremely difficult because in hospitality, the, let's say the cost of running
289
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a business is very expensive.
290
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And if you're not working, the cost doesn't, you know, it doesn't fall that much.
291
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It stays, you know, the rent, the people, there's all these things.
292
00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:42,600
And it was really difficult what to do.
293
00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:47,960
And then we had a really, before actually the COVID started, we said something's going
294
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to happen.
295
00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:53,880
We were really worried about all of our, everything that we needed just so we can like survive
296
00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:56,680
for a couple of months, all the supplies.
297
00:16:56,680 --> 00:17:00,080
And we decided all the restaurants are staying and all the people are staying.
298
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There's no, no one's going to get fired.
299
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And we actually, you know, overnight became a digital company.
300
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Because we started just doing online.
301
00:17:09,200 --> 00:17:12,280
All of the restaurants became dark kitchens.
302
00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:17,640
And the people and the motivation from them and everything like the whole team actually
303
00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:22,480
came together because at that time it was really difficult, you know, emotionally and,
304
00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:25,520
and, and, and of course, I mean, everyone had other problems at that time.
305
00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:27,360
This was something very new for us.
306
00:17:27,360 --> 00:17:32,880
So to start that, to start doing only delivering the restaurants that were just yesterday being
307
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full of people, you know, the energy of the people having fun, laughing.
308
00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:39,400
And then suddenly there's no one in the restaurants.
309
00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:42,640
There's just orders going out and you don't see anyone.
310
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It's quite difficult, you know, it's not easy, you know, serving food and not seeing people
311
00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:46,960
enjoying it.
312
00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:52,040
So, but we actually, we, we, we managed to do it really, really well.
313
00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:55,040
I mean, the whole team, I mean, the whole staff, it was amazing.
314
00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:58,280
You know, everyone came together and said, yep, let's do it.
315
00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:04,000
And the, the, the point that there wasn't any, no one got fired.
316
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That got really well.
317
00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:08,960
And we just did it together as a team.
318
00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:14,800
And we went through it in a way that we actually opened your restaurant just a couple of days
319
00:18:14,800 --> 00:18:17,920
before the second lockdown, which was on Rudes.
320
00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:18,920
Yeah.
321
00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:21,240
So that was another interesting point for us.
322
00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:27,720
So it wasn't easy, but it definitely showed us that we had actually a growth of 20%.
323
00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:28,720
Okay.
324
00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:32,080
This was because of the new restaurants as well, but it showed us that we can overcome
325
00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:33,080
anything.
326
00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:37,280
I mean, when I say anything, I hope there won't be any more challenges like this, but this
327
00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:39,640
was a huge test for a company.
328
00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:44,320
And it showed, I mean, we always say we are submarine, people are submarine and actually
329
00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:48,240
we show it because the people were the ones that actually, you know, went through all
330
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of this and, and on the end helped the company get over this COVID situation that we had
331
00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:56,400
in Croatia.
332
00:18:56,400 --> 00:19:01,480
And now finally, after all these years having sunshine outside and people sitting in the,
333
00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:04,000
on the terraces is a great, great thing to see.
334
00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:05,000
Great thing to see.
335
00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:06,000
Oh, definitely.
336
00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:07,000
Yeah.
337
00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:09,760
But I mean, that's a huge, huge decision for you guys, because that's not something that
338
00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:11,120
you knew was going to work.
339
00:19:11,120 --> 00:19:13,880
You know, that's something that you said we're going to do and we're going to try it.
340
00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:17,680
But you know, you didn't know if the dark kitchens, not well, if the delivery only was
341
00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:19,160
going to be a business model.
342
00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:26,240
You know what, nobody knew because we didn't go into the delivery system like an added revenue
343
00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:27,240
stream.
344
00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:30,560
And then we're going to say, okay, let's try and do this and see how it's going.
345
00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:37,040
But it just, we won't, we had to do it, you know, and to change your business plan from
346
00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:39,600
a restaurant to delivery only.
347
00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:47,280
It seems easy, but actually delivery is extremely complex and different model of hospitality.
348
00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:48,880
And there's so many things to learn.
349
00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:52,480
And we, you know, you had to learn quickly, adapt, overcome.
350
00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:56,320
There wasn't any time to actually, you know, how should I say this?
351
00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:59,080
Okay, let's try this and see how it's going to go.
352
00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:02,000
And then slow, we will decide if we want to do it or not.
353
00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:04,840
We had to, you know, react really quickly.
354
00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:10,800
And the decisions were made at the moment because COVID was a situation where you had
355
00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:15,640
to make a decision right away and not a great decision maybe two days later, because two
356
00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:17,280
days later, you don't know what it's going to be.
357
00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:22,240
So we just made really quick decisions and we try to be as flexible as possible.
358
00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:27,080
And again, the people were the ones that pulled it off in the restaurants with work.
359
00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:31,280
And then let's not forget after all this COVID, we had an earthquake, which was another very
360
00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:33,480
devastating thing, especially for Zagreb.
361
00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:37,600
So at that time, and then we had to go through all of that again.
362
00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:42,240
So it was a very challenging time behind us, but we're all hoping this is all behind us
363
00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:45,640
now and we can go forward and enjoy doing the work we like.
364
00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:48,720
And this is burgers, burgers, fries and salads.
365
00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:50,880
Yeah, definitely.
366
00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:54,600
And now it seems, I mean, things are getting better, the restrictions are for the most
367
00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:56,480
part gone.
368
00:20:56,480 --> 00:21:02,320
And now looking ahead, I mean, you guys just opened up, I believe in Romania, your first
369
00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:04,360
broad location, right?
370
00:21:04,360 --> 00:21:14,640
Yeah, so we decided that we want to be, let's say, a premium burger place leader in Central
371
00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:16,760
Eastern Europe.
372
00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:20,880
This is something that we feel comfortable with because it was really difficult when
373
00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:24,760
you go on a go internationally, where do you want to go?
374
00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:26,320
When you look at it like this, it's simple.
375
00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:29,640
It's just Europe, but Europe is actually very big.
376
00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:32,000
All the countries have different regulations.
377
00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:34,720
So it's not easy.
378
00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:38,720
All the restaurants we have our own, we don't have any franchises.
379
00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:40,400
So this is very important to state.
380
00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:43,320
A lot of people think that we have franchise, we don't.
381
00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:48,040
All the restaurants are owned by submarine, as is Romania.
382
00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:52,720
We tried Romania, the test was to go just with the dark kitchen.
383
00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:55,320
And we're actually very happy with it.
384
00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:56,320
It's going great.
385
00:21:56,320 --> 00:22:00,640
We opened just before Christmas, somewhere around there, so it wasn't the best time to
386
00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:01,640
open.
387
00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:02,640
But you know what?
388
00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:03,640
We had to do it.
389
00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:07,720
We opened, we decided to go, and now a couple of months later, we're seeing great numbers.
390
00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:09,440
And we're actually opening right now.
391
00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:17,120
We're finishing agreements for two more restaurants, but not dark kitchens, but like flagship restaurants,
392
00:22:17,120 --> 00:22:18,480
so in Bucharest.
393
00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:20,880
So we're looking forward to that.
394
00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:22,400
Romania is a great place.
395
00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:25,760
Bucharest is a huge city, I think, two million people.
396
00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:32,200
So we will now test to the limits submarine.
397
00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:34,440
But right now, we're very optimistic.
398
00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:36,280
People have reacted really well to our restaurants.
399
00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:40,680
The orders are going really, really well, and we only have dark kitchen.
400
00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:47,720
The thing about the delivery system is that it's much more difficult to, let's say, tell
401
00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:51,480
the story of the brand and to give the experience of submarine.
402
00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:55,200
Because when you come to a restaurant, you can feel what submarine is much easier than
403
00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:58,200
you can when it comes home just as a delivery.
404
00:22:58,200 --> 00:22:59,200
That's a good point.
405
00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:02,800
Yeah, so this is why we decided that we're not going to go only with dark kitchens or
406
00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:07,240
with just delivery and only restaurants, but we're going to go with restaurants the way
407
00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:08,640
we have in Croatia.
408
00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:16,440
So I'm hoping just end of August, we will be having our first restaurant open in Bucharest.
409
00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:21,240
And is that going to be in the same location as the dark kitchen and now just open full?
410
00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:22,240
No, no, no.
411
00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:26,440
We're looking at premium locations across Bucharest.
412
00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:29,160
So this is going to be another, so it's going to be two restaurants.
413
00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:33,240
And then actually, we're looking at two, three locations, but it's not easy.
414
00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:36,560
You know, always when you look at new locations, it's quite difficult.
415
00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:41,280
When you get to the signing, there's always things you have to look out for.
416
00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:46,640
So we are hoping to open two restaurants in 2022 in Bucharest.
417
00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:49,040
So there will be three all together.
418
00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:53,680
Now you talked about expanding into Central and Eastern Europe, what criteria do you have
419
00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:54,680
for choosing that country?
420
00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:55,960
I mean, why Romania?
421
00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:59,840
Why not Bosnia, Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovenia?
422
00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:03,840
Yeah, you look at some things that, first of all, you look at that you want to have the
423
00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:07,360
country to be big enough so you can scale, so you can grow.
424
00:24:07,360 --> 00:24:14,240
Because when we open one restaurant, the cost of the team and the infrastructure won't grow
425
00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:16,120
much for a few more restaurants.
426
00:24:16,120 --> 00:24:20,280
So you want to be able to open 10 restaurants, minimum, let's say 5 to 10 restaurants, like
427
00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:22,520
we have in Croatia, for example.
428
00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:25,520
So we're looking for places that we can grow.
429
00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:29,240
And then we're looking for places that have similar costs like we have in Croatia, so
430
00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:33,680
we can compare our P&L we have in Croatia to those countries.
431
00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:37,760
So this is, let's say, some of the things that are very interesting to us.
432
00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:41,600
And then again, we look at what is the culture over there like?
433
00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:45,840
What position is the burger seen in?
434
00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:48,320
Is there a huge competition or is it small?
435
00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:51,280
Do people want to order burgers or they don't?
436
00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:57,980
This is, of course, in cooperation at this moment with Glova, because they have a lot
437
00:24:57,980 --> 00:25:02,280
of data what people want to order or what they're interested in.
438
00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:09,000
So with that, we are coming to a country with, let's say, quite a good knowledge.
439
00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:13,760
But having said all that, until you open, you never really know, because people have
440
00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:20,640
to accept you and you really don't know how they will react to it when you do open.
441
00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:24,760
At the moment, we're getting really good critics and reviews.
442
00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:28,760
That our burgers are great, our fries and salads, and people really do like them.
443
00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:35,840
So I think Bookerist won't be a problem and I think it will be a great relationship between
444
00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:37,560
us and Bookerist.
445
00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:42,840
So we'll see, because we are planning next year to open another country.
446
00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:48,080
We do not know which country it will be yet, but some testing is being done at the moment
447
00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:50,320
regarding which will be the best for us.
448
00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:52,360
So we're looking forward to it.
449
00:25:52,360 --> 00:25:54,120
It's something new for us.
450
00:25:54,120 --> 00:25:58,120
And there isn't any burger place where you can go and just like ask and say, hey, can
451
00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:01,120
you please tell me what you think is the best for us?
452
00:26:01,120 --> 00:26:04,860
So actually, it's doing something for the first time.
453
00:26:04,860 --> 00:26:05,860
So we're learning.
454
00:26:05,860 --> 00:26:06,860
We're learning.
455
00:26:06,860 --> 00:26:09,080
It's easy, but we're enjoying it.
456
00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:10,080
We're enjoying it.
457
00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:14,960
And at the moment, the international is growing, but Croatia is growing as well, which is really
458
00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:18,640
important to say that Croatia hasn't been affected by it.
459
00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:21,400
On the contrary, we're opening Croatia.
460
00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:26,800
So at the moment, like last month, we opened in Radnicka, your restaurant, which is much
461
00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:30,400
bigger and has a beautiful terrace in green gold.
462
00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:34,280
And then our partner is a garden brewery.
463
00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:35,280
They moved from...
464
00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:40,840
On Zhitnik, they moved from their location to a new location, which is now beautiful.
465
00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:44,240
It has a huge garden outside and it's amazing.
466
00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:46,920
So we opened a new restaurant over there.
467
00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:51,400
And now we're actually finishing our second restaurant in Split.
468
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:57,800
And then we're opening next month in Zagreb, city center East.
469
00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:04,800
And then we're opening, I think, July in Dubrovaj, in Zagreb as well.
470
00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:05,800
Wow.
471
00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:08,360
That's like what, four or five?
472
00:27:08,360 --> 00:27:11,280
Yeah, so every month, every month, one restaurant.
473
00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:12,280
Jeez.
474
00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:14,800
Yeah, so it's quite a challenge.
475
00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:19,040
But you know, what is important to say that submarine, as I said from the beginning, for
476
00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:21,680
example, we worked with Javi.
477
00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:25,760
Javi Logistics is our partner that actually...
478
00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:27,800
So let me explain this to you.
479
00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:31,840
When you have a small supplier and you tell him, for example, for pancetta and then you
480
00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:40,080
tell him, can you please deliver 50 kilograms to, let's say, Split, the cost of trip itself
481
00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:42,840
from Zagreb to Split would be too expensive for him.
482
00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:49,160
So from the beginning, we knew there were challenges we had to accept and find a solution
483
00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:53,880
for them so we can grow without any problems down the road.
484
00:27:53,880 --> 00:28:00,560
And Javi gave us that solution because Javi can pick up from our partners their goods.
485
00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:05,720
It keeps it on a central, what do you call it?
486
00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:08,240
It's clouded on a central place.
487
00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:09,240
Yeah, storage.
488
00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:17,400
Yeah, central storage, which is in the temperature that is being decided on the beginning.
489
00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:23,880
And then Javi brings everything, whatever we need to our restaurants.
490
00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:29,120
And this gave the possibility to the smaller farmers we work with because they don't have
491
00:28:29,120 --> 00:28:30,680
to have a distribution.
492
00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:31,680
You understand?
493
00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:36,720
Yeah, I was going to ask too, with all this expansion you're doing, how can you do that
494
00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:38,880
without losing quality or oversight?
495
00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:44,160
But it sounds like from the beginning you had already implemented expansion into your
496
00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:45,160
systems.
497
00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:47,880
Yes, this is what I said.
498
00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:52,800
From the beginning, submarine was made as a brand to grow.
499
00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:59,040
And not only design and storytelling and the brand values, but on the other side, it
500
00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:00,560
was made as a brand to grow.
501
00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:04,560
And then you have the side, when you look on the functioning side of the optimization
502
00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:06,560
of the business, there was a lot of things that did.
503
00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:12,400
And Javi was actually the main because with Javi we can now open anywhere in Croatia and
504
00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:19,280
he will deliver to us in perfect condition all of the goods that we ordered.
505
00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:20,800
And this is really important.
506
00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:25,760
So one central place where all of our farmers bring their place, because this is not a problem.
507
00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:30,040
They can always deliver to one place, but the problem is if they had to deliver on 13
508
00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:35,240
places, this would be, you could not ask that from a small producer.
509
00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:38,640
They just don't have the infrastructure, which is normal.
510
00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:41,760
So this gave us the possibility to grow without a problem.
511
00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:47,880
And we have a huge team in the office, which is the back office and gives the support to
512
00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:49,560
all the manager of the restaurant.
513
00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:52,320
So yeah, we try.
514
00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:53,320
We're learning every day.
515
00:29:53,320 --> 00:30:00,320
I mean, the hospitality is not an easy business, but you just react really quickly and we learn
516
00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:03,480
every day and we just don't want to be surprised anymore.
517
00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:09,440
This is extremely important for us because in this way we can do under attention of our
518
00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:14,240
customers that we have at the moment and to do what you said at the beginning, to have
519
00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:20,000
the same quality we had in the beginning, which at the moment, nothing can impact us.
520
00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:24,560
I think that says a lot about the fate that you guys had in the company when you first
521
00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:30,200
started to set this all up with expansion in mind and to be able to have the same quality.
522
00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:34,600
Because I'm sure you could have went cheaper thinking, okay, let's just open one restaurant
523
00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:36,760
and keep costs as low as possible.
524
00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:40,920
I'm sure you could have done things with less costs just to open one restaurant.
525
00:30:40,920 --> 00:30:47,400
Yeah, well, it's difficult when you start up, let's say any brand.
526
00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:53,760
If you, on the beginning, if you don't accept that you have to do things a certain way,
527
00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:58,680
which you will have to do after you start growing, then it's very difficult if you start
528
00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:05,280
on one way and then decide, okay, now we will start working like an organization.
529
00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:08,040
It's very difficult to say when does this change.
530
00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:12,920
So we were lucky that Alex said already had a couple of businesses behind him and he had
531
00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:19,360
this knowledge how to put things, everything was put in place.
532
00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:21,160
And at that time, we still had to learn a lot.
533
00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:23,840
Don't get me wrong, there's always challenges.
534
00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:26,240
There's always, every day there's challenges.
535
00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:33,000
But all the pieces were put in place so we can grow and that we have the infrastructure
536
00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:38,160
and the people behind that can help to overcome any problems that we might have so we can
537
00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:41,920
continue to grow without that problem becoming even bigger problem.
538
00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:45,120
But on the contrary, just to get rid of it.
539
00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:49,360
So this was done from the beginning and I think this was the main reason why submarines
540
00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:50,960
succeed with the people.
541
00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:53,920
The people again are all people are submarines, it's very simple.
542
00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:58,360
Yeah, I think that's important to have those values and stick to it, not just change when
543
00:31:58,360 --> 00:31:59,920
it's convenient or easy.
544
00:31:59,920 --> 00:32:01,720
Yeah, it's not easy.
545
00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:08,240
I mean, at the times it wasn't easy because all of those things take time and money of
546
00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:13,800
course and resources but if you don't stick to your values, it's a short thing.
547
00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:14,800
It's a short time.
548
00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:17,520
It won't last, it won't last.
549
00:32:17,520 --> 00:32:21,200
Now I want to ask something about your menu because my girlfriend would kill me if I forgot
550
00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:22,200
to ask this.
551
00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:28,040
Because she's actually from Peru but she has Croatian roots, she's living out here now.
552
00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:32,360
And when we go, we always get the Salchipapas which she tells me is a Peruvian dish and
553
00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:36,960
she always wonders how did that come to a Croatian burger restaurant?
554
00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:45,920
Yeah, so this is because all of the traveling that was done by Alex and Dragoliub, it was
555
00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:53,120
done and tested from all the burgers places, let's say, extremely, extremely, let's say,
556
00:32:53,120 --> 00:32:58,440
unique places and on the other side they travel quite a lot and the cuisine, let's say the
557
00:32:58,440 --> 00:33:01,760
gastro and the cuisine was very important to them their whole life.
558
00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:06,640
So all of the things that you see on the menu are actually, let's say, some of the things
559
00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:14,720
that they liked and they just wanted, they tried to, they loved the food to, how should
560
00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:19,640
I say this, to put into the menu even though some things people thought wouldn't go together.
561
00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:22,120
But for example that went together really well.
562
00:33:22,120 --> 00:33:29,600
It's one of, I mean, that without truffle fries is one of us most loved menu article
563
00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:30,600
on the menu.
564
00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:31,600
So yeah, it's great.
565
00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:36,040
Yeah, those are, my favorite is the smokehouse burger with the Salchipapas, all that's with
566
00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:40,240
the fries, the sauce and the kobasitsa or the sausage on top.
567
00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:44,320
Yeah, we love our sauces and we're very proud of them, I must say.
568
00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:48,800
I mean, this is, I mean, their secret is kept with us.
569
00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:52,320
Well, yeah, that's because I was going to say a lot of burger places have like a secret
570
00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:57,360
sauce or, you know, something, some special menu item and that's your guys' right?
571
00:33:57,360 --> 00:33:58,360
You have a homemade sauce.
572
00:33:58,360 --> 00:33:59,720
Yeah, we have a homemade sauce.
573
00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:05,760
These are our sauces and we had them from day one and we're like, people like them,
574
00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:08,360
we like them and we wouldn't change them from nothing.
575
00:34:08,360 --> 00:34:09,880
And we actually haven't added any.
576
00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:12,120
We have the same sauce from day one.
577
00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:13,120
Huh, pretty cool.
578
00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:15,080
Yeah, I think they're really good.
579
00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:20,120
And speaking of the menu continuing on that route, do you guys change at all?
580
00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:23,680
Are you planning on changing the menu at all when you're going into same Romania or the
581
00:34:23,680 --> 00:34:27,360
next country or are you going to keep it standard throughout the whole company?
582
00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:30,920
So we kept it, for the moment, we kept it standard.
583
00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:35,840
There were a few challenges because, you know, in a different country, you don't have the
584
00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:41,400
same, you know, food that you have in Croatia, for example.
585
00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:46,680
So you know, Salce Papas, it's difficult to find to have that same taste.
586
00:34:46,680 --> 00:34:49,080
But we have, you know, two things.
587
00:34:49,080 --> 00:34:50,960
It's either local or organic.
588
00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:52,760
We try to go in that direction.
589
00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:59,560
So it was a challenge, but we, for Romania, we found all the ingredients that were needed.
590
00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:02,200
So actually, without a problem, we could have a creation menu.
591
00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:05,720
I mean, when I say creation menu, our original menu over there.
592
00:35:05,720 --> 00:35:09,960
And before, we used to change, you know, for summer and winter menu.
593
00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:18,720
But now having all the situations in Europe, unfortunately, with the war, the supply chain
594
00:35:18,720 --> 00:35:23,360
is very under stress, let's say.
595
00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:27,180
I mean, it's not easy and we're all feeling it.
596
00:35:27,180 --> 00:35:29,160
So we aren't going to change the menu at the moment.
597
00:35:29,160 --> 00:35:37,320
We're going to keep it the same just to have, let's say, a better knowledge of the ingredients
598
00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:39,240
that where they are and how to get them.
599
00:35:39,240 --> 00:35:41,360
Because now to change something, it's very difficult.
600
00:35:41,360 --> 00:35:43,840
Yeah, that makes sense.
601
00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:48,200
One thing I wanted to point out is that at least in the US, people love wearing, you
602
00:35:48,200 --> 00:35:50,880
know, like t-shirts of their favorite fast food places.
603
00:35:50,880 --> 00:35:54,160
I've got like five in and out shirts, as far as my work.
604
00:35:54,160 --> 00:35:57,080
I think people think I'm just wearing the same shirt every day, but I've got like five
605
00:35:57,080 --> 00:35:59,440
of the same ones.
606
00:35:59,440 --> 00:36:04,240
I don't think those, you know, the graphic t-shirts are as popular here in Croatia, but
607
00:36:04,240 --> 00:36:06,040
do you guys have any plans with that?
608
00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:08,320
Do you sell any merchandise?
609
00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:12,960
So actually, there was a whole merchandise shop was in plan before COVID.
610
00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:19,880
And then COVID actually stopped all of the, let's say, creative new ideas that we had.
611
00:36:19,880 --> 00:36:23,040
And now slowly, I'm hoping everything will come to normal.
612
00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:26,680
And then all the projects we had, we'll start off again.
613
00:36:26,680 --> 00:36:30,600
The only project we had was like, we have our own internet radio, which is done with
614
00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:31,840
Yamat.
615
00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:35,280
And they have, you know, it's called Summary in Live.
616
00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:38,040
And they make, let's say, a playlist for us.
617
00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:42,280
And this is the direction we want to go in and, you know, challenge ourselves all the
618
00:36:42,280 --> 00:36:48,000
time to do something more creative and to give extra content to all of our customers.
619
00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:51,480
But merchandise is definitely something we're looking forward to.
620
00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:54,840
But we just, yeah, we just didn't finish it.
621
00:36:54,840 --> 00:37:00,560
But I'm hoping next time we talk, I will call you to the opening of our merchandise shop.
622
00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:04,200
Yeah, let me, I'll be the first person to buy a t-shirt.
623
00:37:04,200 --> 00:37:05,200
Let me know.
624
00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:06,880
It's, it's a deal.
625
00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:07,880
It's a deal.
626
00:37:07,880 --> 00:37:08,880
Okay.
627
00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:09,880
This is official now.
628
00:37:09,880 --> 00:37:14,000
So when we open the shop, we will call you to make the first purchase.
629
00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:15,000
Absolutely.
630
00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:16,000
Yes.
631
00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:17,120
I would love that.
632
00:37:17,120 --> 00:37:20,520
You mentioned the Submarine Live, the radio program you guys had.
633
00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:25,720
I wanted to ask a little about that and the Burger Beer, which is like a special beer
634
00:37:25,720 --> 00:37:29,360
you guys have to make it parable with the burger that you order.
635
00:37:29,360 --> 00:37:33,080
And I want to ask just sort of if you can go into a little more detail about those two
636
00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:37,280
things and how that atmosphere is important, you know, those two things.
637
00:37:37,280 --> 00:37:38,280
Yeah.
638
00:37:38,280 --> 00:37:44,360
So, I mean, the music, they say actually that the music is 70% of the atmosphere in a restaurant,
639
00:37:44,360 --> 00:37:47,400
believe it or not, this is, this is something I've read.
640
00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:50,400
And for us, music is very important for a brand, you know.
641
00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:53,920
And then it was real difficult because in all the restaurants, people are listening to
642
00:37:53,920 --> 00:37:59,760
radio or to the CD, which is actually great because some people have, you know, we all
643
00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:02,040
have different tastes of music, let's say this way.
644
00:38:02,040 --> 00:38:08,120
And then we came to an idea with, to have our own, let's say radio, I mean, online,
645
00:38:08,120 --> 00:38:11,840
yeah, not real radio station.
646
00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:17,400
And I was talking to at that time, Alan Ballin, who had Yamat.
647
00:38:17,400 --> 00:38:18,400
He was the founder of Yamat.
648
00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:19,400
And I told him the idea.
649
00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:20,400
And he said, this is great.
650
00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:21,400
I'll do it with Yamat.
651
00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:22,680
And I said, this is awesome.
652
00:38:22,680 --> 00:38:26,440
And he said, I'll make your jingles and I will make your playlist after I know what
653
00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:27,440
submarine is.
654
00:38:27,440 --> 00:38:28,440
I love your brand.
655
00:38:28,440 --> 00:38:29,440
I know your values.
656
00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:35,200
And this started and since then, I think they started in 2017, we have our own radio
657
00:38:35,200 --> 00:38:40,760
in all of our restaurants, which really helps because, you know, it helps you to bring out
658
00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:46,120
the atmosphere and to communicate the brand with the songs and, you know, the music.
659
00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:48,280
I mean, music is extremely important for all of us.
660
00:38:48,280 --> 00:38:53,400
But especially, I think when you're enjoying, you know, when you're relaxing in a restaurant,
661
00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:55,200
you want to have some good music as well.
662
00:38:55,200 --> 00:38:57,360
So for us, this was a great, great thing.
663
00:38:57,360 --> 00:38:58,360
Great thing.
664
00:38:58,360 --> 00:39:02,320
And we're really looking forward to actually developing that even more because summer in
665
00:39:02,320 --> 00:39:04,280
live was supposed to be a step further.
666
00:39:04,280 --> 00:39:11,440
And this is when we go somewhere, for example, on a beer fest or burger fest, then we come
667
00:39:11,440 --> 00:39:15,120
there, we have our music, you know, maybe a DJ and, you know, chairs.
668
00:39:15,120 --> 00:39:17,840
So we have our own like little corner place.
669
00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:22,920
And I read somewhere, it might have been on your website that the radio, the genre changes
670
00:39:22,920 --> 00:39:25,200
throughout the day based on like the time.
671
00:39:25,200 --> 00:39:26,360
Yes, yes.
672
00:39:26,360 --> 00:39:32,640
We were the one person is dedicated from us from Yamaha for the for the playlist and they
673
00:39:32,640 --> 00:39:34,080
do it just for us.
674
00:39:34,080 --> 00:39:38,480
And we're in constant communication with them, you know, regarding the seasons and, you know,
675
00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:41,920
of course, in Christmas, there's one song, you know, in summer and spring.
676
00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:46,400
So and of course, morning, afternoon and night.
677
00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:52,040
So yeah, we try to do it as much as possible just just to give this extra extra touch to
678
00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:53,480
the experience in the restaurant.
679
00:39:53,480 --> 00:39:54,680
Yeah, that's very interesting.
680
00:39:54,680 --> 00:39:57,400
I've never heard of that changing the music throughout the day.
681
00:39:57,400 --> 00:39:58,400
I like that.
682
00:39:58,400 --> 00:40:00,600
And then what about this burger beer?
683
00:40:00,600 --> 00:40:01,600
You know, what is that?
684
00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:03,400
How did you guys get that going?
685
00:40:03,400 --> 00:40:12,000
So the burger, well, our partners from Garden Brewery, which is a Croatian craft brewery,
686
00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:14,920
for a while we've been talking to them that we would like to have our own beer.
687
00:40:14,920 --> 00:40:17,360
And then finally, we decided, yep, let's do it.
688
00:40:17,360 --> 00:40:21,200
And there was a lot of testing done, you know, what kind of beer do we have something complex
689
00:40:21,200 --> 00:40:25,120
that we have something simple that we have, you know, do you want an IPA or do you want
690
00:40:25,120 --> 00:40:27,280
some kind of a lager?
691
00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:31,160
And then on the end, we just decided to go with this hoppy lager, just something that
692
00:40:31,160 --> 00:40:33,960
gives you a little just so it's not too plain.
693
00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:38,960
But then again, you can drink it really easy, you know, it goes down easy with some flavor
694
00:40:38,960 --> 00:40:40,560
and taste.
695
00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:47,360
And we, I think before COVID, so 2018, I think we started with this.
696
00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:49,040
And it's actually been great.
697
00:40:49,040 --> 00:40:52,000
People responded really well to it, really, really well.
698
00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:55,240
And it's a very nice extension of our brand.
699
00:40:55,240 --> 00:41:00,640
And of course, as you said to the merchant shop, there was a plan so you can come there
700
00:41:00,640 --> 00:41:02,520
and get a six pack for home.
701
00:41:02,520 --> 00:41:06,080
That was a whole plan, but then COVID had its own plans for us.
702
00:41:06,080 --> 00:41:10,720
So we're hoping that soon you will have an option to take a six pack for home.
703
00:41:10,720 --> 00:41:11,960
Wow, that's very cool.
704
00:41:11,960 --> 00:41:15,360
Yeah, that allows you guys to branch off and do a lot of cool things.
705
00:41:15,360 --> 00:41:19,120
Yeah, all there's not only that, our plan is to have our sauces.
706
00:41:19,120 --> 00:41:29,640
I mean, for the, we had a joke at the, for first of April, we said that we had our sauces
707
00:41:29,640 --> 00:41:32,280
that you can buy them for home.
708
00:41:32,280 --> 00:41:35,640
And we put it on social media and actually forgot about it.
709
00:41:35,640 --> 00:41:39,520
And then the managers from the restaurant just started calling us and said, people are
710
00:41:39,520 --> 00:41:42,920
waiting in front of the restaurants and they want the sauces.
711
00:41:42,920 --> 00:41:43,920
What sauces?
712
00:41:43,920 --> 00:41:44,920
We didn't get any sauces.
713
00:41:44,920 --> 00:41:45,920
What's happening?
714
00:41:45,920 --> 00:41:46,920
Why didn't we get the sauces?
715
00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:51,640
So there was this whole, whole situation that came people calling me and said, this was
716
00:41:51,640 --> 00:41:52,880
not cool.
717
00:41:52,880 --> 00:41:54,360
This joke was not cool.
718
00:41:54,360 --> 00:41:56,200
Just so you know, just so you know, I came early.
719
00:41:56,200 --> 00:42:00,320
I know you open at 11, I came 10 to 11 so I can get mine.
720
00:42:00,320 --> 00:42:01,800
Why did you do that?
721
00:42:01,800 --> 00:42:06,320
And we just found out how much people love our sauces and it was actually a really, I
722
00:42:06,320 --> 00:42:10,520
mean, sorry for all those people that came, but it was a joke that people reacted really
723
00:42:10,520 --> 00:42:11,520
well to.
724
00:42:11,520 --> 00:42:14,600
And on the end, it motivated us to go into that direction.
725
00:42:14,600 --> 00:42:21,120
We actually just, let's say five months ago, we got a new production line, which is really
726
00:42:21,120 --> 00:42:26,080
big and does potentially give us the option to sell sauces.
727
00:42:26,080 --> 00:42:31,760
So yeah, there is a lot of things we're doing as a brand and thinking of, but it's not easy.
728
00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:32,760
It's not easy.
729
00:42:32,760 --> 00:42:38,520
You have to, it's very easy to lose focus and our main focus is to give you great breakers
730
00:42:38,520 --> 00:42:41,080
when you come to our restaurant.
731
00:42:41,080 --> 00:42:45,200
Sort of as we're winding down to the end here, I just want to ask one more question.
732
00:42:45,200 --> 00:42:49,840
I guess just in general about if you have any advice for others doing business, not
733
00:42:49,840 --> 00:42:55,000
food related, but just, you know, doing business in Croatia or anywhere really.
734
00:42:55,000 --> 00:43:00,280
I mean, is there any advice you can give anything you've learned, any important lessons?
735
00:43:00,280 --> 00:43:06,400
Well, I mean, there are so many people giving advice that it's very hard for me to give
736
00:43:06,400 --> 00:43:15,160
any advice, but I think it's one of the advices that I got from people that are really in
737
00:43:15,160 --> 00:43:16,960
respect, I would say.
738
00:43:16,960 --> 00:43:20,080
The preparation is extremely important.
739
00:43:20,080 --> 00:43:21,360
Prepare.
740
00:43:21,360 --> 00:43:27,160
But then again, when you start doing something, don't wait for, you know, don't wait with
741
00:43:27,160 --> 00:43:29,800
the decisions for a long time.
742
00:43:29,800 --> 00:43:34,720
Make the decision at the moment and then, and let it keep rolling.
743
00:43:34,720 --> 00:43:37,960
Because if you're going to wait for the perfect decision, if you're going to wait for the
744
00:43:37,960 --> 00:43:46,200
perfect timing, it's very possible that it will not happen or it will have a different,
745
00:43:46,200 --> 00:43:47,280
it will stop you.
746
00:43:47,280 --> 00:43:48,280
It will stop you.
747
00:43:48,280 --> 00:43:52,080
Just, you know, you have to be bold a little bit and because during COVID, for example,
748
00:43:52,080 --> 00:43:56,160
we opened two restaurants.
749
00:43:56,160 --> 00:43:58,640
Other people maybe say that was not smart at the moment.
750
00:43:58,640 --> 00:44:01,360
They were telling us, you shouldn't open anything, you shouldn't grow at the moment.
751
00:44:01,360 --> 00:44:03,080
You don't know what's going to happen.
752
00:44:03,080 --> 00:44:04,320
The market is changing.
753
00:44:04,320 --> 00:44:05,680
The economy is changing.
754
00:44:05,680 --> 00:44:06,880
Don't go forward.
755
00:44:06,880 --> 00:44:11,760
We decided to go forward at the moment that this gave us this huge push that we got, you
756
00:44:11,760 --> 00:44:20,440
know, because if you look at it, in 2020 and 2021, we opened six restaurants, which is
757
00:44:20,440 --> 00:44:21,440
huge.
758
00:44:21,440 --> 00:44:25,320
It's almost doubled the amount we had and we opened another country during the, you
759
00:44:25,320 --> 00:44:27,360
know, world pandemic.
760
00:44:27,360 --> 00:44:33,560
And, you know, you have a strong team, believe in your people.
761
00:44:33,560 --> 00:44:39,280
Believe, I mean, I think it's extremely important to believe and have a strong team around you
762
00:44:39,280 --> 00:44:44,160
and together find solution for everything is in front of you and just decision and have
763
00:44:44,160 --> 00:44:45,640
quick decisions and go forward.
764
00:44:45,640 --> 00:44:46,640
Don't lose the momentum.
765
00:44:46,640 --> 00:44:48,240
I think that is the most important thing.
766
00:44:48,240 --> 00:44:52,440
Yeah, those are definitely things that it sounds like you guys have done as a company,
767
00:44:52,440 --> 00:44:54,000
you know, believing in your team.
768
00:44:54,000 --> 00:44:58,640
You kept everyone on during COVID, going forward, opening new restaurants during COVID and, you
769
00:44:58,640 --> 00:45:01,280
know, just believing in the product and in the company.
770
00:45:01,280 --> 00:45:04,520
Well, yeah, you know, we all believe in the company.
771
00:45:04,520 --> 00:45:11,000
We're all very connected and privately and on business side.
772
00:45:11,000 --> 00:45:15,560
So we do believe, I mean, I wouldn't be having this interview with you if I didn't believe
773
00:45:15,560 --> 00:45:19,920
in company and then believe everything that I was saying, you know, my kid is in submarine.
774
00:45:19,920 --> 00:45:23,720
So everything that I am communicating to you.
775
00:45:23,720 --> 00:45:24,720
I believe as well.
776
00:45:24,720 --> 00:45:25,720
And it is like that.
777
00:45:25,720 --> 00:45:31,040
And I think it's very important to be a part of something that you believe in.
778
00:45:31,040 --> 00:45:39,640
And then if you believe in something, then I think it's much easier to get difficult
779
00:45:39,640 --> 00:45:47,240
choices or decisions made because you know that you have a quality product behind you
780
00:45:47,240 --> 00:45:48,560
and a good team with you.
781
00:45:48,560 --> 00:45:51,160
I think that's very important to believe in.
782
00:45:51,160 --> 00:45:53,840
Yeah, I agree 100%.
783
00:45:53,840 --> 00:45:57,520
Luca, you know, I really appreciate you taking time out of your schedule.
784
00:45:57,520 --> 00:46:02,360
I know you guys are super busy, but to come on this podcast and you were a great guest.
785
00:46:02,360 --> 00:46:06,240
I learned a lot about submarine, about the company, you know, you guys have big plans
786
00:46:06,240 --> 00:46:08,800
in the future and I wish you guys the best.
787
00:46:08,800 --> 00:46:11,400
And you know, of course, I'll be following you and I just want to say, you know, thank
788
00:46:11,400 --> 00:46:13,680
you again for taking the time to come on the podcast.
789
00:46:13,680 --> 00:46:15,480
And it was my pleasure.
790
00:46:15,480 --> 00:46:18,160
It took us a while to get organized, but I'm really glad.
791
00:46:18,160 --> 00:46:23,040
I'm really glad that you give us this option and an opportunity to be a part of your great,
792
00:46:23,040 --> 00:46:24,040
great podcast.
793
00:46:24,040 --> 00:46:25,760
We're actually listening to it all the time.
794
00:46:25,760 --> 00:46:28,360
So great fan.
795
00:46:28,360 --> 00:46:33,200
Keep up the good work and I hope to all the listeners that we weren't too boring and
796
00:46:33,200 --> 00:46:38,160
thank you all the people that were listening.
797
00:46:38,160 --> 00:46:41,600
That's it for today's episode of the All Things Croatia podcast.
798
00:46:41,600 --> 00:46:44,000
Thanks for tuning in and I hope you all enjoyed it.
799
00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:48,080
You can subscribe to the Patreon and check out the All Things Croatia Instagram page
800
00:46:48,080 --> 00:46:49,600
to stay updated.
801
00:46:49,600 --> 00:46:54,120
Feel free to reach out to me with any questions, tips or ideas and make sure to tune back into
802
00:46:54,120 --> 00:46:55,620
the next episode.
803
00:46:55,620 --> 00:47:14,640
Thanks again and vide mosten.