Sept. 20, 2026

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

Fresh Brothers + Wing It On: SoCal’s Best Pizza Meets America’s Best Wings | Franchise GPS | Ep. 9
Fresh Brothers + Wing It On: SoCal’s Best Pizza Meets America’s Best Wings | Franchise GPS | Ep. 9
Franchise GPS with Chicago Sam
Fresh Brothers + Wing It On: SoCal’s Best Pizza Meets America’s Best Wings | Franchise GPS | Ep. 9
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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 Covered
  • The "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 Takeaways
  • Incremental 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

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