Bonus 6 - Limited Time Offers Drive Dairy: Freddy’s and Midwest Dairy Three-Year Partnership

Listen as Erin Walter, Vice President of Brand Marketing for Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, shares how Midwest Dairy’s local partnership helps drive new dairy product innovations through Limited Time Offers (LTOs). With over 500 restaurants and growing, Freddy’s loves using LTOs to grab customers’ attention and get them into their expanding regional chain. This three-year partnership has produced several successful items including the Grilled Cheese Steakburger and the pumpkin pie and caramel apple pie concretes.

Tune in to find out!

Host & Guest:

• Host: Stephanie Onken, Midwest Dairy Corporate Communications Manager
• Guest: Erin Walter, Vice President of Brand Marketing, Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers
• Beth Bruck-Upton, Vice President of Business Unit Operations-West, Midwest Dairy

Please ignore the typos (AI-generated)

Stephanie Onken   0:00  

Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of your Dairy Checkoff Podcast. I'm Stephanie unkin, Midwest Dairy Corporate Communications Manager. Midwest Dairy is a local checkoff organization serving 10 states and over 4000 dairy farm families. I'll be your host for today's conversation, discussing the checkoffs partnership with Freddie's frozen custard and steak burgers, a quick serve restaurant headquartered out of Wichita, Kansas, with over 500 locations nationwide. Today, we will be talking with Freddy's frozen custard and steak burgers, Vice President of brand marketing, Erin Walter, as well as Midwest dairies, Vice President of Business Unit Operations West Beth brookupton, Erin, let's start with you. Could you please give us a brief history of yourself and your time with Freddy's?

Erin Walters   0:46  

Yeah, absolutely. Well, first of all, thank you so much. I'm so happy to be on the podcast and talk a little bit about Freddy's and the partnership, but a little bit about me. Personally, I have three insane sons, so I am very busy, and we love dairy and so I've been in the franchise business for about 20 years, all in the restaurant side of the business, and really range from pizza, which is actually where I was introduced to dairy farmers. We've I've done QSR, fast casual and snack brands, and have just come on board with Freddy's about three years ago. So it's been really an awesome experience. We are really focused on growth and just kind of opening up all over in the United States. We're in 38 states, and have over 500 locations, as you said, and so I just feel super lucky that I'm with this brand and excited to talk about this partnership. Specifically,

Stephanie Onken   1:48  

Beth, what excited Midwest Dairy about the opportunity to partner with Freddy's frozen custard and steak burgers?

Beth Bruck-Upton   1:55  

Yeah. Well, thanks again, Stephanie for inviting me on the podcast today as well. And you know, I think one of our goals at Midwest Dairy, if we look at all of our strategic priorities, is to increase dairy sales, and so to achieve that, we really want to work with and through partners who have a great footprint across the Midwest region and also who have a menu, you know, that really aligns well with dairy. It has a number of dairy offerings, and that's what really attracted us to Freddie's. They, as Erin shared, they have a great footprint across the nation, and very friendly as it relates to dairy on their menu. So great opportunity to reach out to them to discuss opportunities to work together and see how we can increase dairy sales and have really a beneficial, win, win relationship.

Stephanie Onken   2:39  

What value did Freddie see in partnering with the Dairy Checkoff? For me, it's

Erin Walters   2:43  

that's really simple. One of our core values at Freddy's is quality. And so when you think about what quality can I bring to our guest partnering with organizations like yours just makes sense, right? The quality messaging is there. We know that it's so important for consumers today to know more about their food and the quality, and so these type of partnerships just really make sense. Personally, for me, it's something that I love to do. But, you know, for Freddy's, it was really just a no brainer. I mean, Beth mentioned, right? Like the menu is, has a wide breadth of dairy offerings, and so from custard to cheese, you know, we just and now we're serving milk, actually with our kids meals. So there's just a lot across the menu where the partnership just totally makes sense.

Stephanie Onken   3:33  

Talking a little bit more about venue, let's talk about those limited time offerings. Why are limited time offerings an important part of Freddy's marketing mix. Limited Time offerings

Erin Walters   3:43  

are a huge deal for Freddy's, and probably just in marketing in general. And so ltos Limited Time offerings at Freddy's, we have about six promotional windows a year, and in 2024 we introduced almost 10 new items within those six windows. And so we know new news excites people. It brings in new guests. It lets people know about the Freddy's brand. Three years ago, when I started, I didn't really know what custard was. I was like, why is custard different than ice cream? And what does this mean? And so ltos help explain that messaging to potential new guests. I know you can't believe it, but I also had never had a cheese curd. Although Freddy's is based in Wichita, I'm just north of Atlanta, and so the day I tasted a cheese curd changed my life. And so now I hope to replicate that, you know, 1000s and millions of times again, with with guests who aren't familiar with that product. But so that's how you know ltos are such an important strategic part of Freddy's marketing, so we enticed entice guests with new offerings, exciting news, beautiful imagery, and just let them know, in general, what Freddy's is about and what we have.

Stephanie Onken   4:55  

How does Midwest Dairy support food service partners like Freddy's through. Limited time offers.

Beth Bruck-Upton   5:01  

Yeah, great question. Stephanie, you know, I think one of the opportunities we have in in reaching out to these various food service partners across the Midwest is really learning about the opportunities to drive traffic through, through their doors, right, just like Aaron talked about. And so one of the ways we do that is through listening, you know, through our partners to hear. What are those opportunities? And ltos, as Erin mentioned, come up a lot, and so it's a chance for us to really support that partner's marketing through a number of different channels. They call it, you know, cross marketing, or cross channel marketing, through social media, through traditional marketing, and some of their markets where they have a heavy number of franchise locations, through apps, in some cases through that point of sale. As you mentioned, you know, right there in the store, you're seeing the menu. You're also seeing our logo come to life on some of those point of sale materials as well, banners, email marketing, you know, all these ways that they touch those fans of Freddy's, you know, those customers, and try to drive that traffic through their doors. And of course, our hope is that they're purchasing some of those innovative items that include dairy, you know, as they're coming in. So again, really is a win, win partnership on both ends,

Stephanie Onken   6:10  

you know, and that the imagery that you're referring to is absolutely beautiful. It looks delicious. Um, when we when we talk about partnerships, Midwest Dairy has partnered with Freddy's on several delicious looking, tasty menu pairings. Now, for either of you, what was the first in this relationship with between Midwest area and Freddy's, and how has that evolved to today?

Erin Walters   6:30  

Yeah, I can start. Um, so we're actually on our third year of partnership, which is super exciting. We started off in 2022 and it was, you know, learning, it was kind of a lighter promotion, but we were introducing a new steak burger as well as a fan favorite, the key lime pie concrete, which is amazing. And so we were dipping our toe right and and ultimately, that promotion was super successful. So in 2023 we said, Okay, wait, what are we or sorry, 2020 Yeah, three, we said, Wait, what are we going to do? What's next? And so last year we introduced the grilled cheese steak burger, which has four slices of cheese. It is yummy, ooey gooey, fabulousness, as well as two custard treats, our pumpkin pie, concrete and shake. And so we felt like, Okay, now there's three items that we can really promote, and they were super successful. The grilled cheese steak burger actually ended up being our number one LTO for 2023 and so then fast forward to this year. We said, Okay, this was the most successful. It obviously, is four slices of cheese. Let's do it again. Let's kind of have a replay. So this is an example of an LTO being super successful. The fans are begging for it. The guests want it back. And so we're going, okay, yes, this makes total sense. And what I loved about this promotion particularly in 2024 we reintroduced the grilled cheese steak burger, but then also had three custard treats. So we brought back the pumpkin pie concrete and shake, and then introduced a new caramel apple pie. Concrete, if your mouth isn't watering, it should be. They are all just so good. The pumpkin pie concrete is just it has a whole slice of pumpkin pie in it. It is like mouth watering, um. And so although the promotion isn't yet over, we are tracking again for this to be super successful. And so, you know, it again, it's just kind of a perfect example of evolution and and how this can continue to improve each year. And I think each year we've learned something and said, Hey, wait, we could maybe do this and make an adjustment, see where else we could advertise. You know, Beth mentioned digital advertising emails in the app. And so there's a lot of opportunity to get the message across to different guests. And so for us, it's at the end of this kind of debriefing and saying, Okay, what did we learn this year? What were the traffic numbers? What did the guests say and and how can we continue to make this partnership bigger and better.

Stephanie Onken   9:01  

And you know, you're talking about fans raving about the grilled cheese steak burger. I went and peeked on your social media channels, and boy, are the comments happy that it is back. Let me tell you, how have customers responded to these limited time offers? You know, from the beginning to today,

Erin Walters   9:16  

Freddy's is a data rich company, and so we're always digging in and saying, Okay, how did this perform? Who came in? How does the guests look? Did we drive new traffic, new trial? And so we see with various ltos throughout the year, throughout this year, specifically, that we do have the ability to drive up to 50% new guests with ltos. And so for us, that's a huge number. And it's like, okay, great, we're driving new people who don't know about Freddie's, who potentially don't know what a steak burger is, or who what a concrete is, what custard may be. And so that, again, is just part of that LTO strategy for us that really is a no brainer. It just makes sense. You. Ultimately, at the end of the day, as a marketer, my job is always driving traffic, driving sales, driving trial, driving frequency. And so we know that ltos Do that, and it will continue to be an important part of just the strategy moving forward for the brand of

Stephanie Onken   10:15  

these limited time offers that you've worked with the checkoff on. Have any of them become permanent menu items, or are they tracking to become permanent menu items?

Erin Walters   10:24  

Oh, did you read my mind? Stephanie, not yet, but we haven't yet launched our 2025 calendar. And I've gotta tell you, I know what it is, and it's gonna excite a lot of people. You mentioned Facebook, and seeing a lot of people talk about We're so happy it's back, and we see that often with a lot of our LTO items. And so I can't wait to see what they say next year when they see what we're up to.

Stephanie Onken   10:54  

That's excellent. And or Beth, what is one thing that you want dairy farmers to know about? The checkoffs partnership with Freddy's,

Beth Bruck-Upton   11:02  

yeah, if I can, if I can share Stephanie, you know, I think one of the things we haven't mentioned yet is in working with a partner such as Freddy's, one of the things we look at, and Aaron mentioned, they're very data rich, which is excellent, because that gives both of us information right on what's working or what's not working. And as she said, how can we innovate our partnership and take it to the next level? And so one of the things we constantly measure here at Midwest area as it relates to our checkoff investment, is how are our activations with partners performing? So in this sales space, where we want to increase dairy sales, we really take a look at how much incremental dairy sales have we been able to achieve. And so what that means is looking at what traditionally would we have sold throughout this, you know, limited time offer period. But then what is this limited time offer been able to increase, you know, on top of what normal sales would have been. So we look at that, but we also look at the ways that we're able to, again, reach customers with that dairy message, you know, that deliciousness. She's mentioned cheese curds. It's lunchtime here, and so my stomach's growling, and, you know, I've I've already like, I need to get out, get something to enjoy. But you know, that's the other thing we look at, is how many customers have we reached with these messages in our first year of partnership? You know, we drove over 2 million incremental pounds of sales through this relationship and reached over 6 million consumers with all of our various marketing messages through all those channels we mentioned earlier. So I think one of the things, you know, when we're looking at this work is, again, looking at that performance, but as a dairy farmer, also knowing that we're we're doing that work to make sure our investments are performing, you know, we're looking at that data, looking at those metrics, to make sure we are, you know, placing our bets in places where hopefully it's going to drive, you know, performance as it relates to dairy sales.

Erin Walters   12:43  

Yeah, that's the fun part, right? Luckily, each year to report really great news. And so I think we're tracking to do the same again. And I think for me too, it goes back to that quality messaging that's so important, right? The data and, you know, driving sales and increasing, you know, traffic and all these things are obviously so important, but the quality messaging too is really just what Freddy's is all about. It is one of our core pillars. We have three quality, cleanliness and Genuine Hospitality. And so, you know, kind of for us when we're looking at partnerships and just effective marketing, it all goes back to those three pillars, and so you know, what better way than to partner with dairy farmers to get that quality messaging across? It really just is a win win

Stephanie Onken   13:30  

that's so exciting to hear, and it sounds like both your consumers and our dairy farmers really appreciate this partnership and the opportunities it provides. Erin Beth, thank you so much for your time. Today, it has been great in learning about how local dairy checkoffs are partnering with food service and quick serve restaurants to bring exciting, limited time offers to consumers that help grow that demand in dairy. In closing, we just want to say thank you for joining us. If you'd like to learn more about Midwest dairy's efforts to grow trust in sales in dairy, visit midwestdairy.com. I hope you have a dairy great day. You.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai