Opportunity Knocks Twice; Chapter 18

Editor's Note: Utah Pulse is serializing the book, 'Opportunity Knocks Twice,' by Don Hale, as told to Mark Hale. We'll publish two chapters a week. You'll enjoy the wit and wisdom of one of Utah's great entrepreneurs, founder of Hires Big H. To buy the book, click here.

Chapter Eighteen
Business Principles — Product

Bob: ‘A good old-fashioned burger. No gimmicks, just a great burger. The emphasis on the buns, produced on-site, ground beef and fresh ingredients really pays off. Probably the best-tasting burger for your buck. One of my favorites.’iiii
Heather: ‘No one can beat Hire’s for a basic burger. As fresh as they come, it tastes homemade and is sure to please the pickiest of palates.’iiii

Christie: ‘Fresh, fresh, fresh. Making the best from the local butcher, baker and produce. History repeats itself daily with this great tasting iconic burger.’iiii
Craig: ‘No restaurant-type burger here, but what you picture when you and friends say ‘hamburger’–that’s what Hires does better than anybody. The Hale family makes burgers like we should raise kids: From start to finish they leave nothing to chance or to the kindness of strangers. Long live the king.’iiii (Bob Noyce, with Heather Tuttle, Christie Jackson, Craig Holyoak, The Deseret News, June 21, 2002)

We cannot have a great product and lousy service and expect customers to come. Nor can we have a lousy product with great service and expect them to come. Both great products and great service are required. We have to provide tasty food and beverage, coupled with attentive, cheerful service in order for our customers to want our product and service.
Fresh produce comes in from California to Salt Lake City every Monday and Thursday. Based on my experience buying straight from the produce docks for Hale’s Market, we buy for our restaurants the same way. For many years, we hand-picked our fresh produce—lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, lemons, and limes. Now we trust our produce suppliers to give us the very best. I think all the produce company vendors have come to like us even though we do not always buy from the same one each time. They know our philosophy on buying. They know we appreciate quality, pick up and deliver our own produce, and always pay in a timely manner.

Buy for quality. If all things are equal, buy for price.

Originally, we obtained USDA chuck shoulders from a local butcher shop. We ground it daily at Hale’s Market and sent it every morning to Hires Drive-In. Now we have our own Hires commissary, including a state inspected butcher shop, making most of our food products. This way we ensure quality—that everything that goes into making our products is of top quality and that it is made to our exact specifications. Hires commissary makes ground chuck patties, veggie patties, chili, hamburger and fry sauce, salad
dressings, garlic butter spread, pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, lasagna sauce, and brownies.
For many years, we bought our hamburger buns from Hale Bakery, a local bakery owned by distant cousins, which made what has become a Utah favorite—the Big H bun. The owners of Hale Bakery have since retired and closed their business, and we now buy from another quality Utah bakery. As has been said,
The customer soon forgets the price but never forgets the quality.

I have always liked the story I once heard about a conversation between Lee Iacocca and Henry Ford II. Iacocca asked Ford how his chef made such a good hamburger. Ford said, “I don’t know, why don’t you ask him the next time you see him?” When Iacocca saw the chef, he asked him the question—then the chef walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a New York steak, trimmed off some fat and threw the steak into the meat grinder. The chef said, “There’s your answer.” As one has said,

The secret of our success is no secret at all—it is quality.

We teach our employees to make a personal inspection of our product before it goes out and ask themselves the question, “Would I want this product myself?” If they would not want the product, then there is a pretty good chance our customers would not want it either. So why send it out? There is nothing to gain and a customer to lose.

Whatever your product, make it the best quality and you will have a market for it.