90: Dominating the Snack Industry, with SE-Co-Brand Ventures COO Dustin King

Stories from Franchisees & Founders

Dustin King is a 32-year-old third-generation operator steering his family’s multi-brand snack empire which now includes Auntie Anne’s, Häagen-Dazs, Cinnabon, Planet Smoothie, Jamba, Nestle Toll House Cookies, and Carvel. As the COO of SE Co-Brand Ventures, the company operates just shy of 60 locations and is still growing. 

Dustin shares how he’s been able to beat out the competition and his method of scaling the business. The portfolio allows him to control the snack outlets in a given mall, thus giving him leverage. But instead of growth for growth’s sake, Dustin advises, “Start with a footprint, and try not to stray from that… the key to growing is taking care of what you’ve already got.” 

The duo also touches on having a survival mentality through the COVID-19 situation. “It’s all about accessibility,” Dustin says, “Traditional models are a thing of the past.” 

Tune in to hear more of Dustin’s franchise story and gain a new outlook in business and franchising. 

What we talk about:

• How Dustin and his family got into franchising
• How three generations work together in the business and made it work and grow
• Going from single-brand to multi-brand
• Doing co-branding and its advantages
• Leverage points that go with growth
• Looking at the current situation and looking into the opportunities
• Looking into the opportunity’s financial sense
• Lessons learned from the growth process
• How COVID-19 situation affected the business and what was done to adapt and be better
• Moving forward strategy for the business
• It’s all about the acceptability to your store

What we mention:

• SE Co-Brand Ventures
• Auntie Anne’s
• Haagen Daas
• Cinnabon
• Planet Smoothie
• Jamba Juice
• Next Toll House Cookies
• Carvel