<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[richard2496]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://richard2496.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[rkochers]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://richard2496.wordpress.com/author/rkochers/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Jack in the Box&nbsp;Munchies]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<h1 class="fs-headline speakable-headline">Toke On This: California Jack In The Box Stores Will Offer A New Munchie Meal</h1>
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<div class="contrib-container"><a class="fs-author-avatar" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronaldholden/"><img class="fs-author-image" src="https://2.gravatar.com/avatar/51c758185f733167ed9ca3ebbd03e6ca?s=400&amp;d=mm&amp;r=g" width="72" height="72" /></a></p>
<div class="contrib-info"><span class="fs-author-name contrib-byline-author speakable-author"><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronaldholden/">Ronald Holden </a></span><span class="comma">, </span><span class="contrib-byline-type"><span class="fs-text-s author-type">CONTRIBUTOR</span></span><span class="contrib-tagline fs-text-xs fs-responsive-text">I write about food &amp; drink as a pleasurable activity and as a business</span> <a class="full-bio fs-text-xs fs-responsive-text"> </a><small class="legal-disclaimer">Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.</small></div>
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<p><img data-attachment-id="1826" data-permalink="https://richard2496.wordpress.com/2016/06/27/papa-johns/" data-orig-file="" data-orig-size="" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="[]" data-image-title="Papa Johns" data-image-description="&lt;h1&gt;How a $100 million investment helped make Papa John&#8217;s America&#8217;s favorite pizza chain&lt;/h1&gt;
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&lt;li class=&quot;author-byline ks-author-byline&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.businessinsider.com/author/kate-taylor&quot;&gt;Kate Taylor&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right image on-image&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/56425fad9dd7cc22008c8f50-1778/papa%20john&#039;s-3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Papa John&#039;s 3&quot; /&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;source-only source&quot;&gt;Hollis Johnson&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Papa John&#8217;s is Americans&#8217; favorite pizza chain &#8211; and executives say it&#8217;s because the company invests more in quality than the competition does.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Papa John&#8217;s was the top pizza chain in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), with a score of 82 out of 100. This is the 15th time out of the previous 17 years the chain has earned top marks in the pizza industry in overall customer satisfaction.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In fact, the pizza chain was second place for customer service out of all limited-service restaurants, beaten by only Chick-fil-A.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;According to Papa John&#8217;s president and COO, Steve Ritchie, the reason for the chain&#8217;s dominance is simple.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&#8220;We spend more,&#8221; Ritchie told Business Insider. &#8220;Quality isn&#8217;t cheap.&#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;KonaFilter image-container display-table image on-image&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/576c4c7a9105841c008cb327-1777/papa%20john&#039;s-11.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Papa John&#039;s 11&quot; /&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;source-only source&quot;&gt;Hollis Johnson&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The company spends roughly $100 million a year on beating out the competition when it comes to quality. Papa John&#8217;s uses fresh sauce and dough, as well as fresh-cut vegetables &#8211; costly choices that allow the chain to charge more and, ideally, boost customer satisfaction.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The focus on quality has paid off when it comes to sales, with the company reporting 13 years of consecutive same-store sales growth in the US.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;However, quality goes beyond ingredients. For Papa John&#8217;s ease of ordering is also key to customer satisfaction, resulting in major investments in tech.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;More than half &#8211; 55% &#8211; of Papa John&#8217;s sales are now through digital channels. Of these, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.businessinsider.com/papa-johns-grows-thanks-to-digital-and-mobile-app-ordering-2016-5&quot;&gt;60% are from mobile devices &lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;KonaFilter image-container display-table image on-image&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/576c4cc6910584145c8cb150-1776/papa%20john&#039;s-2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Papa John&#039;s 2&quot; /&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;source-only source&quot;&gt;Hollis Johnson&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Ritchie says that Papa John&#8217;s invests about $20 million to $25 million a year on new technology. Most of this money isn&#8217;t spent on flashy new products, like rival &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.businessinsider.com/fast-food-customers-reach-peak-lazy-2016-4&quot;&gt;Domino&#8217;s no-touch-ordering app &lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&#8220;It&#8217;s always the little things,&#8221; he says. &#8220;Somebody is trying to go the checkout page and there&#8217;s a small hurdle we see when we go back and review … little things like the color of a button or the positioning of a button.&#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;These little things &#8211; whether they be fresh vegetables or brighter buttons &#8211; add up.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&#8220;On a Friday night, we can get up to a thousand orders a minute that are coming in,&#8221; says Richie.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;KonaFilter image-container display-table image on-image&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/576944b791058422008ca42e-577/screen%20shot%202016-06-20%20at%204.48.21%20pm.png&quot; alt=&quot;Restaurant rankings&quot; /&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;source-only source&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theacsi.org/&quot;&gt;ACSI&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Thousands of orders means thousands of chances for missteps and angry customers, making Papa John&#8217;s customer-satisfaction rating even more impressive.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The next highest-rated pizza chain in the ACSI report was Little Caesars, with a score of 81, followed by Domino&#8217;s with a score of 77.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The ACSI report is based on interviews with 4,786 customers, who evaluate their recent experiences with the largest fast-food restaurants in the US in terms of market share. Respondents rate items such as order accuracy, friendliness of staff, food quality, and restaurant cleanliness.&lt;/p&gt;
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<p class="wp-caption-text">Jack In The Box ad for a &#8220;Munchie Meal&#8221; in Oregon when marijuana was legalized two years ago.</p>
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<p>First things first: sunset today (Thursday, Dec. 21st) will be at 4:20 PM. Got that. Okay, now we can get a little more serious.</p>
<p>Anticipating that weed will be legal in California (for adults, for adults) come the first of the year, <a href="https://www.jackinthebox.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Jack In The Box</a>&#8211;a burger chain that got its start in San Diego over half a century ago&#8211;is wasting no time getting ready. It will partner with Merry Jane, one of the largest suppliers of medical marijuana in California to offer a Munchie Meal at some of its California locations.</p>
<p>Merry Jane is run by an entrepreneur named Ted Cheung, who is also known as Snoop Dogg’s business manager.</p>
<p>A couple of pesky questions from my editor (they&#8217;re guidelines, dude, guidelines!): &#8220;Is this something that’s going on the Box’s menu permanently or temporarily? How widely?&#8221; And, I might add, what&#8217;s the price going to be?</p>
<p>But wait, will the new Munchie Box actually include, you know, bud?</p>
<p>Hey, cool it. We&#8217;re getting ahead of ourselves.</p>
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<p>In Oregon, a Munchie Box at Jack In The Box stores coincided with the legalization of weed two years ago, but it was all double-entendre.</p>
<p>And in Washington State, weed has been regulated for the past three years by the State Board of Liquor and Cannabis Control, and the humorless bureaucrats have total control over advertising. No misleading health statements, no ads aimed at kids, and so on.</p>
<p>An internet entrepreneur named Ian Eisenberg has positioned himself, on the site of a former Church&#8217;s Fried Chicken store, as the Poobah of Pot and Maharajah of Marijuana.</p>
<p>His shop is called Uncle Ike&#8217;s, an emporium of legal weed in all its forms. Cash only. Beefy security guards checking ID. A completely separate building for accessories. Skeptical neighbors. Intense scrutiny from the state liquor board.</p>
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<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not selling pot,&#8221; Eisenberg told me, &#8220;I&#8217;m in the regulatory compliance business.&#8221; So no Happy Meals in the Evergreen State.</p>
<p>But while we waited last night for Merry Jane to clarify what, exactly, it wanted to put in its California Munchie Boxes, we had to admit that it&#8217;s an intriguing thought. Medical weed is legal in the Golden State (with a doctor&#8217;s prescription) for people over 18; &#8220;adult-use&#8221; weed won&#8217;t be available to anyone under 21, and is expected to cost <a href="https://merryjane.com/news/california-cannabis-tax-regulatory-breakdown" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">14 to 20 percent more than medical</a>.</p>
<p>The problem with statewide legalization in California is that licensing at this writing is still up to cities and counties. There are 58 counties and 482 municipalities around the state. So it may take some time for the local authorities to establish criteria and issue licenses for <em>recreational</em>use of marijuana. In the meantime, thousands of citizens with permits to use marijuana for medicinal purposes may find themselves unable to find a nearby medical dispensary. Dr. Perry Solomon, chief medical officer at <a href="https://www.hellomd.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">HelloMD</a>, suggests that medical patients contact their physicians.</p>
<p>Is all this making you hungry? Mickey D and Taco Bell know how you feel. They&#8217;re at the top of the list when it comes to late-night munchies for stoners.</p>
<p>So it&#8217;s understandable that Jack wants some of that action. It already has a country scrambler plate and a havarti grilled red onion burger on its menu, along with a peppermint brownie (yum!), plus a You-Tube channel, an Instagram feed, a Facebook page and a Twitter handle. Oh yeah, and Snapchat. Ya gotta keep up, after all, what with 2,200 stores in 21 states. The Jack in the Box song, for all that, finished 4th in the Eurovision competition, back in 1971.</p>
<p>Jack has had some recent problems as well. Its $45 million acquisition of the fast-casual Qdoba chain, for example. The two companies reached an <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrath/2017/05/16/with-qdoba-on-the-chopping-block-jack-in-the-box-stock-pops/#7e35ac10700e" target="_self">amicable divorce</a> earlier this year.</p>
<p>As for the new Munchie Meal, a company spokesman says it will be &#8220;infused with the most craveable and snackable products that Jack in the Box has to offer.&#8221; Halfsies (½ curly fries, ½ onion rings), two tacos, crispy chicken strips, and mini churros.</p>
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<p>All for the price of (wait for it) $4.20.</p>
<p>Said Ted Cheung, &#8220;Launching the Merry Munchie Meal is the perfect way for both companies to celebrate legalization in our shared home state of California.”</p>
<p>The fine print, if you&#8217;re not too stoned: the munchie meal is only available in Long Beach after January 18th. More locations to come, to be revealed online.</p>
<p>Jack and Merry, how sweet! Now just don&#8217;t go off half-baked.</p>
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