Fresh Brothers + Wing It On: SoCal’s Best Pizza Meets America’s Best Wings | Franchise GPS | Ep. 9

In this episode of Chicago Sam's Franchise GPS, guest host Justin Egan (VP of Growth Marketing, Craveworthy Brands and Co-Founder, Wing It On!) is joined by Matt Ensero, Co-Founder & President of Wing It On!, and Robert Riddle, Regional Vice President of Operations for Fresh Brothers. Together, they break down Craveworthy Brands’ powerful co-branding strategy—bringing America’s award-winning wings and Southern California’s premier pizza under one roof. From kitchen workflow optimizations and shared tech stacks to grassroots local community marketing, this episode offers a complete blueprint on how franchisees can maximize unit-level economics, increase Average Unit Volume (AUV), and drive higher guest frequency without overloading store staff. Topics CoveredThe "Game Day Trifecta": Why pizza and wings naturally complement each other without cannibalizing core revenue. Operational Simplicity: Streamlining complex menus to minimize kitchen bottlenecks, shared equipment, and cross-utilize staff. Franchise Economics & Synergy: How adding a complementary concept into a single footprint optimizes rent, labor, and startup costs. Local Grassroots Marketing: Building hyper-local brand awareness by engaging community heroes like police and fire departments. Authentic Quality Standards: Why award-winning buffalo sauces, scratch-made dough, and premium ingredients create long-term customer loyalty. Key TakeawaysIncremental Revenue Without Cannibalization: Adding an award-winning wing concept like Wing It On! into a pizzeria does not steal sales from the core pizza product; instead, it unlocks new dining occasions and delivers incremental top-line revenue. Streamlined Kitchen Execution: Successful co-branding relies on operational simplicity. By consolidating prep (such as using a single base buffalo sauce with customized spice blends) and leveraging existing kitchen profiles, operators avoid staff burnout and operational friction. Capital Efficiency for Franchisees: Rather than building two separate brick-and-mortar stores, co-branding allows franchisees to sell two high-demand products under one roof—sharing rent, labor, and tech stacks for a fraction of the buildout cost. Boot-on-the-Ground Community Marketing: To launch a virtual or co-branded concept successfully, teams must focus on local community outreach—such as sampling with local police/fire departments and train staff on active in-store upselling. Quality Is Uncompromised: Bringing together two best-in-class products (100% natural Wisconsin mozzarella, California tomatoes, and 11-time award-winning Buffalo sauces) ensures that neither pizza nor wing quality is sacrificed in the co-branded model. Episode Links Connect with the Speakers on LinkedIn: Host: Sam Stanovich LinkedIn Co-Host: Justin Egan LinkedIn Featured Guest: Matt Ensero LinkedIn Featured Guest: Robert Riddle LinkedIn Connect with Craveworthy Brands / Featured Concepts: Craveworthy Brands Official Website Wing It On! Official Website Fresh Brothers Official Website Craveworthy Brands Instagram Gregg Majewski LinkedIn Gregg Majewski Instagram Subscribe on Audio Platforms: Franchise GPS on Apple Podcasts Franchise GPS on Spotify Watch on YouTube: Craveworthy Brands YouTube Channel