Q&A with Jeff Martin, Founder and President of Effin Egg

Effin Egg is the widely popular craft breakfast sandwich & burrito company, disrupting the fast casual breakfast segment. RestaurantNews.com caught up with Jeff Martin, CEO & Founder of Effin Egg, to talk about the company’s recent growth and future expansion plans.

Q: What lead you to create Effin Egg?

Prior to starting Effin Egg, I was the “Cupcake King”. In 2007 I started a cupcake company named Smallcakes and grew it from one location in Kansas City to over 200 locations around the United States and Middle East. It was an exciting and crazy experience. I was featured on Food Network, as well as many notable TV shows, talking about cupcakes and the growth of the industry. In 2020, much of the food industry was changing and that was really when the idea of a fast, but high-quality breakfast sandwich idea came about. I knew the industry was moving towards online, third party, and grab & go and I wanted to create something that was different and better that you could get on the go, yet wasn’t your average fast food style breakfast sandwich.

Q: What sets Effin Egg apart from all the other breakfast concepts?

It’s no secret that there are breakfasts restaurants everywhere, so when I started Effin Egg was all about creating something different. Dine-in restaurants in 2020 were dead, so it was important to create something that could exist in the time we were in but also the future. So, I created a craft breakfast sandwich concept that would use house made sauces, fresh local brioche buns, high quality meats in a fast casual atmosphere. I wanted to incorporate tech as well, so our stores have kiosk that you order from and you can use other options like online and the EFFIN APP. So, our stores now concentrate on getting your high quality food out quickly. Our target customer is looking for something quick, but also enjoys our fun atmosphere and branding and doesn’t have time to sit and order and eat in a breakfast diner setting. Our concept has loud music, the walls are decorated from local artists, and it’s just got a cool vibe. It’s an experience along with the amazing food!

Q: How has the concept evolved over its short inception?

We opened the first restaurant in 2020 and it was perceived very well. I knew I wanted that quick service style but with a better quality product and cool vibes. Our first location was just painted walls and typical counter to order from, but it didn’t feel right. So, we had local artist come in and do cool murals all over the store and then incorporated the self-order kiosk system. This made the process a whole lot better from the aspect of no front of the house employee, but to consistent ordering that helped the kitchen out, so our ticket times were better and there were fewer mistakes. Our second location opened and the brand really took off from there. People loved the different items we had to offer which were different that the typical breakfast diner. We started to get inquiries about franchising and now we have 12 locations open and about 30 more on the books to open.

Q: How are you incorporating lunch into the concept?

We really didn’t focus on lunch when we started out, it was all about breakfast sandwiches. As we have grown to different markets, we have received feedback about lunch options. We wanted to keep it simple like our breakfast menu and wanted it to make sense. We began adding a few things to test out, like hand breaded chicken tenders, a couple of smash burger options, and lunch burritos.

Q: What’s Effin Egg’s plans for the future?

We are really pushing for growth the next 2 years. We have a planned 30 stores that are currently looking for locations, are in the build out process, or getting close to opening. We are looking for more franchisees to join our team. Our current owners like our “owner friendly” operation. It’s a low franchise fee compared to others, low royalties, and again, it’s a low investment compared to other similar concepts. That’s really the goal for the next 3-5 years…it is to find great, hardworking individuals that want to own their own business and be successful. We have a great business model that’s scalable with a relatively fast return on investment.

For more information on opening a Effin Egg visit EffinEgg.com/franchise/ or email Jeff Martin at effinegg@gmail.com.