CHRIS COCHRAN

Chris Cochran knows the restaurant industry. He started his long and diverse career at age 13, earned degrees in Culinary Arts and Restaurant Management, and spent his formative years working with renowned chefs, including David Burke, Charlie Palmer, Judy Rogers, and Alice Waters.

 

After opening two successful restaurants in San Francisco, he brought his expertise to his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, where he added franchising to his repertoire as a successful multi-unit operator. His expertise extends further, having managed the U.S. launch of international brands and crafted strategy for U.S. national brands distributed in over 10,000 retailers.

 

Chris has since provided consulting to startups, existing restaurants desiring improvements, and those with franchise goals. His consulting services cover a wide spectrum, including brand and competitive analysis, consumer engagement, positioning, and messaging. He excels in product and brand development, creating brand identity systems, and ensuring brand relevancy through customer satisfaction benchmarking.

 

In addition to his work in branding, Chris specializes in manufacturing development, navigating licensing vs. co-packing, contract negotiation, and broker networking. His proficiency in retail extends to brand packaging development, retail shelf analysis, and providing packaging structure solutions.

 

Chris also offers proprietary software solutions tailored to the restaurant, hospitality, and food distribution industries. His approach emphasizes custom solutions that eliminate licensing fees, promote an aggressive revenue-sharing model, and ultimately make the software free through cost recovery.

 

Chris’s business acumen has grown right along with his passion for food and style. In addition to consulting, he helps international brands bring successful concepts to the U.S., guiding them through the complex business landscape, translating necessary documents, and identifying the best markets for rollout. His team includes an international staff fluent in multiple languages, ensuring a global reach, understanding of cultural sensitivities and regional trends.

 

Beyond consulting, Chris contributes to cookbooks and industry journals as an author and food stylist. He is a member of the American Bar Association.

                  

Likes: Fountain pens, negronis, dogs, cigars

Dislikes: Ballpoint pens, pop culture, suburbia