00;00;02;23 - 00;00;19;06
VO
We welcome the Dig In, the podcast brought to you by Dig Insights. Each week Jess Gaedeke chats with world class brand professionals to bring you the story behind the story of some of the most breakthrough innovations, marketing tactics and campaigns.

00;00;19;09 - 00;00;42;28
Jess
Hi everybody. This is Jess Gaedeke with the Dig In podcast. So I am thrilled to be joined by Ana Maria Rodriguez. I've known Ana for a number of years and I've been really looking forward to today's conversation. Ana is the chief Food innovation and Quality Officer of Pizza Hut International, part of the Yum Brands family and obviously a well-loved brand all over the world.

00;00;42;28 - 00;00;46;26
Jess
So I am so thrilled to have you join me here today. Welcome.

00;00;46;28 - 00;00;52;16
Ana
Jess, it’s a pleasure to be here with you. And it's so good to reconnect after so many years.

00;00;52;18 - 00;00;58;25
Jess
I know it's been a long, long time. So tell our listeners a little bit about you and your background to get us going.

00;00;58;29 - 00;01;37;29
Ana
Absolutely, Jess.. Listen, I am a foodie, so foremost. I'm an absolutely foodie. I love food. My background is a food engineer, actually. And I also had a masters degree in food engineering. So I'm a geek in food with a bunch of culinary seminars and workshops in my build, 27 years of working on Yum Brands. I've known KFC, Thackerville and lately Pizza Hut, and I'm super thrilled because that has given me the option of learning different categories in the QSR.

00;01;38;02 - 00;02;02;13
Ana
Different suppliers, different ways of innovating and bringing awesome food to everyone. I'm just very happy to have also led quality for many, many years, as you can tell by my accent. I'm loving. I'm from Costa Rica. Beautiful country as well, but very, very happy to live in the United States for the past 23 years.

00;02;02;15 - 00;02;22;10
Jess
Yeah. Well, and your role has given you global access to all these, you know, Pizza Hut headquarters around the globe. So I'm sure we'll hear a little bit about that as we we talk today. But it's so, so clear that you're passionate about what you do. But what do you love most? If you were to just give me the top thing about your job, what do you love most?

00;02;22;12 - 00;02;55;23
Ana
Well, besides food that I just mentioned, what I love the most is visiting countries, learning cultures in different places. Getting to meet people that are absolutely fascinating, outstanding. Learning from each other. Getting ideas from here and there. And. And eating the food that they produce. You connect through fruit and. And I love that by visiting countries. And as you were mentioned, I have the privilege of meeting 87 different countries around the world.

00;02;55;23 - 00;03;07;19
Ana
So far. And and that is 87 cultures, 87 different people that I have met in every single country. Amazing. It's just it's just beautiful. The culture is what connects people.

00;03;07;25 - 00;03;34;00
Jess
Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Your jobs. It sounds so incredibly fascinating. And so if it's okay with you, I'm going to dig in. I'm going to I'm going to start with asking you to tell me a story. So our listeners really do crave inspiration from other leaders. And I think the best way to inspire is to tell stories. And you've been such an integral part of the development and launch of probably hundreds, maybe even thousands of innovations at Pizza Hut and across Yum!

00;03;34;00 - 00;03;43;15
Jess
Brands. So tell us the story. How do Pizza Hut innovations originate? Do you have an example of a specific inspiration or mine?

00;03;43;17 - 00;04;16;20
Ana
We launched in the neighborhood of 50 to 87, 86 products a year around the world. So I not only have one, I have 87 that that actually put in my veins. I love it. How do we innovate? You know, we use a simple process, jazz and and when when we met long, long time ago, we were using a similar process and we call it for the because you go deep in the dice, you know what is happening, What are what are the opportunity days of the business?

00;04;16;20 - 00;04;41;15
Ana
What are the trends? You know, what what people are talking about in social media. So you grasp everything in what is the main priority as a business that you have, that you have the opportunity to bring new innovation you news. Then you move into the second. That for us is all about discovering and is discovering what is out there.

00;04;41;16 - 00;05;06;05
Ana
Does it exist? Are we pioneering something completely new or no? So you go typically back to school to understand what it's out there. Are you benching again? Something else that it's potentially something that you want to build your brand and then you moving to the third, which is not different than just literally that define that develop of the prototypes.

00;05;06;05 - 00;05;35;01
Ana
This is where you do consumer research and you do, you know, pragmatic, qualitative or quantitative, depending on what kind of product you're bringing in. But this is where you go with suppliers and you develop down by your marketing positioning. So it's not just the product but the entire, you know, develop of of whatever it is that you are going to pilot or position or launch and then you're moving to the last, which is that the of, of literally the lever and this is where you try to deliver the results.

00;05;35;01 - 00;06;05;28
Ana
You launch the campaigns, you measure success and that is repeated for every single opportunity, for every single business need or consumer need. You repeat that process again and again, and that's how you keep innovating. Hopefully 24, 36 months ahead of time, because innovation takes time is not not always is like a2a2 months from creation to launch. No, it typically takes a lot more time than that.

00;06;06;05 - 00;06;25;07
Jess
No, absolutely. And that type of framework is so helpful and probably one that kind of anchors the organization around that that discipline of what it takes to bring something to market. So is there a particular innovation that just is one of your favorites from your past where maybe the the kind of first phase in that was particularly insightful?

00;06;25;10 - 00;06;48;24
Ana
Well, we have I can I can probably talk about one that is very recent that launched this to they in fact and that is in Indonesia and it is it is the foundation or is the is the holy days and this season of of October that is Halloween and it's a black pizza and it is literally black and is phenomenal.

00;06;48;24 - 00;07;13;23
Ana
And you can Google it means the Grammys in social media right now they call it Black Black October and it's going to last for a month only. And it's on his stuff. Cross black dough, that contrast with the delicious of string cheese and and you have it in different toppings. It's just amazing. And many countries have done Halloween pizzas in the past for us.

00;07;13;23 - 00;07;48;20
Ana
And it's just one or two days or maybe a week, these particular cases for month. But those are the problems that brings a lot of ability. It brings a lot of top of mind. It keeps the brand fresh and young and nice and cool for just in a specific season. So that is actually really, really nice. And seeing black pizzas from five years ago going into two countries now to actually see black pizzas going into 16 or 20 countries is just phenomenal in my mind.

00;07;48;20 - 00;08;19;23
Ana
But the first one to launch was actually today and it was Indonesia, but probably another story and a little bit potentially more challenging and inspiring is when we launched what we call today the handcrafted line of pizzas. These line, it's actually a sour dough crust and that is not in United States yet. It's in 28 countries and we introduce that in 2018.

00;08;19;23 - 00;09;13;07
Ana
And then Cobi Pizzas, and it's been a slow introduction market by market, but it was created from the need to go back to our decent roots that are distinctive, not the sour dough flavors from San Francisco know that that airy light cross that the moment top of pizza this half is these look of a wood fire even pizzas that we can actually own and launch and democratize for the world as part of our pizza had and now was part of our delivery system no so and it was challenging for many reasons, not not just that the creation of that dough that can potentially be baked in our organs because our organs are not wood fired,

00;09;13;07 - 00;09;53;27
Ana
they are just conveyor belt ovens, not with a lot of impingement, but in order to to have that dough developed and ferment slowly with the right labors and that Paul some gets artisan wood fired nuke in our own organs. It took us a lot of R&D work. It took us a lot of when we go for innovation and they know you work with suppliers to make it happen, then cascading these through the organization and getting the buying from operations and the mind from supply in the mind, from marketing, creating the best positioning for it.

00;09;54;00 - 00;10;19;27
Ana
And it's been a journey and we still have it. I mean, we have it in 28 countries and it's still growing into more and more countries. But the challenges continue to be similar, not that entire supply chain and retraining of employees that they were so used to perfection. Golden Brown, Palm Beach and now having bubbles, it's naturally cool.

00;10;19;27 - 00;10;38;02
Ana
No one is equally cool than that perfection of the Golden Brown panel. So is the how you train and bring the mindset now that imperfect is beautiful and it's been a challenge for the organization, but a beautiful journey to.

00;10;38;04 - 00;10;58;22
Jess
Oh my gosh. I mean, not only am I very hungry now that we've been talking about Serrano pizza, but I love what you just touched on, which is it's not only about having this inspired idea and, you know, having the quality of the product be be great, the positioning great. But there's so many steps to making that execute correctly in market.

00;10;58;22 - 00;11;28;26
Jess
And that's what you ultimately are also responsible for, right? Is the quality. So when you have this Cerrado pizza in Indonesia and Germany, it's got to have the same quality and there are so many operational considerations and so that's really cool. But I love to that it's grounded in this, this idea of the artisan route. So I grew up in the Bay Area so I know so I know what it is and I love picturing this kind of imperfection across the globe of these of these dough.

00;11;28;26 - 00;11;32;27
Jess
So. Oh, how beautiful. I am certainly hungry now. So thank you for that.

00;11;33;00 - 00;12;07;28
Ana
You know, I have to I have to send you not just the dough and the cross, but other features from around the world, because it does look pretty. It allows us to become distinctive in the classic category. Not not not just everybody has a classic pizza. Everybody has. And not so thick, not so thin pizza right now. But but the fact that you brought it or we brought it with with this, you know, beautiful ferment, beautiful dough is structured that nobody else has.

00;12;08;01 - 00;12;13;12
Ana
It's put in as an amp in a very unique, distinctive position right now.

00;12;13;15 - 00;12;30;25
Jess
Yeah. And I know in the U.S. in particular, our, you know, the pandemic really caused a lot of people to start experimenting with their own sour dough at home. I don't know if that was as prevalent in other markets across the world, but I'm curious, did that play into the strategy of tackling Serato for Pizza Hut online?

00;12;30;29 - 00;12;50;23
Ana
Yes, it was narrowly in early stages of development. We developed this prior pandemic, but it just became more and more popular to work with mother doughs. And, you know, the sour, those flavors and this thing which soured of labor is the right or wrong for us. And it took us a lot. I mean, it took a lot of R&D work on that one.

00;12;51;00 - 00;12;58;13
Jess
Oh, my gosh, How exciting. And when do you know that an innovation is a success? Like, what is your milestone when you say this is a win?

00;12;58;15 - 00;13;23;23
Ana
Oh, mine does. We use several metrics, of course, as a business, as as a large organization for all across the brands. No, but I will say that there are potentially two buckets that we look at that The first bucket, obviously, is everything related to transactions. Are we increasing the amount of consumers that use the brand, not just the sales but the transactions because it's the healthiest way to measure success?

00;13;23;23 - 00;13;49;20
Ana
No. How many more people are we reaching? How how much frequent are they visiting us? So so there is this portion of transactions, frequency sales purchase cycle that we use. But there is the second bucket and I think is probably even more irrelevant nowadays, which is the talk ability, the social listening. How many impressions are the people talking about it, right or wrong, polemic or not?

00;13;49;20 - 00;14;04;16
Ana
I mean, they some people may like it, some people may hate it. But the fact that they talked about is what brings top of mind is what keep the brand fresh so that the entire talk ability, it's becoming more and more important for us.

00;14;04;19 - 00;14;25;12
Jess
And that's so exciting because that, you know, word of mouth obviously gets you awareness hopefully if it's in the positive light particularly. But it also speaks to the fact that these brands and these products play a role in consumers lives, right? It becomes part of who they are and what they share. So I love this talk ability aspect and I think that's really important.

00;14;25;15 - 00;14;48;09
Ana
I talked about the blog because it's October and is Halloween again and is that Katrina in Mexico? And it has differing names in different countries, depending of that, the day of the visit or whatever it is now. But we also have unique ingredients that we bring to the menu. And I can potentially mention a couple things. One is is very, very big, not just in crib ability, but in ability.

00;14;48;11 - 00;15;22;23
Ana
And I think one brings durian and I don't know if you are familiar with what durian is a fruit that smells very, very strong and it comes in seasons and then Thailand, China and Asia goes crazy with durian pizzas. This thing you do for I mean, you name it, I mean, they bring ingredients that are locally relevant. That only happens in certain seasons and people wait for them so that people just crave them and wait.

00;15;22;26 - 00;15;39;14
Ana
So for months to bring them back and to buy them. So so it is incredibly powerful to have that connection with the consumers in social media and bringing those two ability touchpoints into the brand.

00;15;39;16 - 00;16;01;25
Jess
Oh, absolutely. And and just you talking about some of those kind of unique ingredients and seasonal ingredients, it makes me think of your other job, which I don't know how you have spare time to do this, but you're a judge for the National Restaurant Association's Fabio Awards. And so you've got to see some incredible innovations and ingredients come across that event.

00;16;01;27 - 00;16;08;19
Jess
I don't know how I'm going to ask you to sum it up in one kind of thing, but what's your biggest takeaway? Having been a judge for those.

00;16;08;21 - 00;16;34;18
Ana
All while it is is beautifully and it is an absolute privilege to be part of that judging. I mean, we are only eight judges around the United States and every year we gather is starting in November all the way to March. And we start receiving and sampling innovation coming from many different companies. Some of them are startups, some of them are big company.

00;16;34;20 - 00;17;14;11
Ana
And at any point in time, we are, you know, in every of the years that we have done it, it's probably 90 to 100 samples of different innovative products or beverages because we would judge both. And what I can say just is that, yes, while plant based continue to grow and is probably one of the categories that is the stronger in in in George and we we get really 40% of the samples are in the plant based area specifically this past year and seafood we had a lot of beef and pork and we still have a lot of that but there is a lot of seafood.

00;17;14;11 - 00;17;47;04
Ana
There is a lot of fish on a shrimp and a ton of tunas and a ton of different phenomenal pieces in plant based. There is a huge portion of a visual and innovation that comes from beverages without alcohol. Fantastic and is a growing trend. And then we see a lot of other ready to use ingredients, burgers that are fully cool that can minimize the time for serving in restaurants.

00;17;47;06 - 00;18;19;02
Ana
There is a lot of ready, fully cook products that you just reheat even for QSR, retail food service or even at home. No, you just need to re thermal them and makes your life easier. So easier, convenient, delicious. And craveable have to be there. But the way people are innovating is more in making it so easy for you to use to make literally your life easier and enjoy the food.

00;18;19;02 - 00;18;22;07
Ana
Spend more time enjoying the food and less fine cooking the food.

00;18;22;15 - 00;18;35;24
Jess
Sure, sure. And with your years in the industry, is the technology just picking up? Are we at a tipping point when it comes to food technology and some of these ready to use? And I mean, is this like the time.

00;18;35;26 - 00;19;12;19
Ana
Is not going to stop. Just this is just the starting, honestly. I mean, we are we are seeing everything now from not just alternative proteins happening. We now have culture happening. We are growing food in different ways that face phenomenal loss of thing. Knowledge is just taking off in my mind. We are worried that a company that gave us a sunny side up egg made of plan BS and that for me was like all mine.

00;19;12;22 - 00;19;31;23
Ana
This is true innovation. I mean, when you see that joke that is yellow and you see that the the whites that are perfect and you pop the yolk and it grows like a sunny side up egg, you see, my goodness, technology is advancing super fast.

00;19;32;00 - 00;19;59;01
Jess
Yeah, I saw the patent on that because you mentioned it and it's it's just fascinating. And to think then I think fast forward to when that item is incorporated as part of a menu item and how chefs and cooks are, you know, incorporating that into their culinary experiences is so cool. So that's wonderful. I'm sure there's no shortage of products you could talk about from from the fabs, but thanks for, for talking about a couple of those.

00;19;59;03 - 00;20;19;26
Jess
So I'd love to turn a little bit more to you as a leader. You are a thought leader in this industry, certainly in your organization. So I love to hear first, what is one of your most. Let me say that again. So I'd love to hear first, what is one of your most controversial or passionate opinions about the state of innovation right now?

00;20;19;28 - 00;20;46;10
Ana
Well, I don't think there is any controversial in my mind. I think I, I, I, you know, I love innovation coming from all fronts, to be honest. I love everything that I am seeing in the industry. I, I believe the future has tons of possibilities. So there is nothing controversial in my mind as of today. I'm am a scientist.

00;20;46;12 - 00;21;16;07
Ana
So my background in, you know, enhances and embraces everything that is out there as a possibility. No. So I do not will say I will say that I do not have any controversial around. I think it's just we need to be open minded to what is happening and we just need to keep embracing and keep pushing younger generations to think of different ways to serve others and serve Food is one of them, but it's packaging, it's everything.

00;21;16;07 - 00;21;27;24
Ana
It's just not the food is is the how you bring the experience. Is the innovation in the experience equally important as the innovation in the food? First say, No.

00;21;27;29 - 00;21;42;18
Jess
No, I love that. And and it is all about that experience for the human beings at the end of the day that are consuming your food. Right? So I think that passion is just really strong and good call to action for the next generation of scientists and innovators.

00;21;42;20 - 00;22;10;18
Ana
I am as as a thought leader, as you said is, and I'm all for growing the next the next gen. I am actively participating in every single program that young has to grow our next level of talent in food, in quality, in innovation, in whatever they need. I'm also particularly keen to to lead females in that growth journey.

00;22;10;18 - 00;22;47;07
Ana
And by the way, they are Latinas even more now. I do believe that we have a task when you get to my age, jazz, my task is to give back and and as much as you can give back to train and make the others grow faster than than in your own journey, that's what I need to accomplish. That that's my passion now is in food, but my passion is to make sure that the younger generations get faster to a better place in different companies.

00;22;47;10 - 00;23;03;21
Jess
I'm just got a big smile on my face because you are so inspiring in that way and you have paved the way. And so I know that the next generation appreciates you if you don't hear it often enough, I know that they do. So speaking of what's next, what's your hot take on the future of the QSR industry?

00;23;03;21 - 00;23;05;05
Jess
What do you think's going to happen?

00;23;05;07 - 00;23;29;04
Ana
Well, I think it's going to stay It's going to stay and remain there. You know, you see COVID happening and evolving and from people is staying at home and not using dining to people, ordering more and more in delivery to then aggregate or food aggregators, you know, expanding massively. And now back to a place where people want to spend money.

00;23;29;04 - 00;23;52;00
Ana
I mean, people is now willing to go back to restaurants and spend money to go. We are tired of being locked down. So you feel the movement that God gives us and you can only thing that the lever is here to stay across all QSR hours. So and not only across all QSR, I'm also talking around the dining rooms at every restaurant.

00;23;52;03 - 00;24;18;01
Ana
If you are not delivering, if you are not in food aggregator, you are missing half of that potential that you have. No, I think you as our will continue to grow. I think convenience will continue to grow. I think delivery will continue to grow. But I also believe that, you know, cool, younger, vibrant places should continue to grow because people are willing to go out again.

00;24;18;01 - 00;24;18;09
Ana
No.

00;24;18;14 - 00;24;29;29
Jess
So how how does Pizza Hut think about capitalizing on that? Delivery is one piece, as you said, but also being a cool hip place to go and have an experience in person?

00;24;30;01 - 00;24;51;19
Ana
Well, well, listen, across all brands, I mean, this is KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and having Burger, we have channels now, we call them channels. So we have dining as stores. We have what we call delivery. Then it was stores, delivery and carry out in stores. We have flagship stores, but we also have Express stores that are just on the go.

00;24;51;19 - 00;25;33;28
Ana
No, we diversified the portfolio. We still serve delicious pizzas that the same car pizzas are sold in all the channels, but the equipment, the back of the house, the label that the model runs is slightly different to accommodate for different channels, as we call them. Occasions as you as you will. We for example, we open late night and bars and in Peru not so long ago, I believe a month ago or so, we opened actually a Pizza Hut bar and it has got a log and deejays and you sell pizzas and they have license to serve, you know, mocktails, cocktails, alcohol.

00;25;34;00 - 00;25;58;17
Ana
And that is limiting. But, you know, so we continue to explore. And that's probably just the beauty of an organization as large as ours is that we can test things, learn from it, and potentially expand That, if it works, is not going to work everywhere, but it could potentially have legs for certain countries for certain type of demographics.

00;25;58;19 - 00;26;03;10
Ana
And that's that's the beauty of being in a corporation as large as ours. No.

00;26;03;12 - 00;26;16;08
Jess
Sure, there are some freedom in that right to experiment, see what works, and then lift and shift that to other markets. So, Oh, I, I totally want to go to the Lima Pizza Hut Bar and just want to get.

00;26;16;11 - 00;26;39;04
Ana
Money, just to give you an example in Dubai that that Dubai mall that has the one that has the Burj Khalifa has a dining restaurant, a flagship pizza, had dining Ritz-Carlton, and that one, for example, has a wood fire. All of these is a true wood fire. And where our tower crusts, the handcrafted that I mentioned, goes to it.

00;26;39;04 - 00;27;04;27
Ana
And it has a series that is called Signature Series of Pizzas is just fantastic and it's an elevated experience and the pizza had bread. So we cater for different occasions. Now we have the normal everyday pizzas are very affordable as much as you you have once in a while a little bit more of high end but is still very affordable because under the pizza had run.

00;27;04;29 - 00;27;22;16
Jess
Oh, so many different ways to stretch that brand equity and the capabilities. So that's fantastic. I want to turn to the final dig, which is just a quick rapid fire of getting your your thoughts top of mind. So I'm going to ask you a couple of quick questions. What's the last product or service you bought on impulse?

00;27;22;18 - 00;27;49;05
Ana
Oh, mine. I just came from Los Angeles to see my daughter and I can no help myself on a shake from having a burger. I mean, this is the one that I ask my husband to deviate from before getting into the airport. Pass me through a drive between having a burger because I need to have that cookies and cream shake from having it is not everywhere in the United States.

00;27;49;13 - 00;27;53;23
Ana
Yes, but it is the one that I have to have no matter what.

00;27;53;25 - 00;28;09;07
Jess
Oh, fantastic. And I'm glad you got it. Before you crossed over the gates in the airport. That's good. Let's say a category or a brand or a product that you can sort of rationalize any price point for. Like, does it matter what it costs? You're going to get this product.

00;28;09;13 - 00;28;33;15
Ana
It doesn't have to be food or that's not going. And I have to do products that I continue to buy. I'm a shoe shopper and I am to admit and I have a passion as much as I love food, I love shoes. And there is two brands that I like and I don't I pretty much don't care how much they are.

00;28;33;15 - 00;28;56;15
Ana
And one is Christian Louboutin because of the red soles and I love them. I think they are classy, beautiful and sexy. And the other one now is the golden goose. And I love whoever brought back the trend that you can use the sneakers with all your dresses and whatever you are wearing, you wear sneakers. This I love my my golden goose.

00;28;56;17 - 00;29;10;20
Ana
And I have them in all colors and I feel so good forever with them. So regardless of the price, those are the two things that I will spend the most. And this is where my husband predicts me the most as well.

00;29;10;22 - 00;29;31;01
Jess
Well, thanks for being honest with us. That does that. Those are great as well as you talked about. What about those brands, Right. Is both kind of important to you. So that was really insightful. And speaking of brands, we all know that brands have really distinct personalities. And so I love this question What's a brand that you would date and what's the brand that you would marry?

00;29;31;08 - 00;30;06;11
Ana
Listen, with 27 years in Young, just I'm Mary to you. I am married to the four brands that we have. I can not go outside because I absolutely love the personalities of each of them is if you think back, it is all about Liz Mars and that cold, vibrant, cool, bold that taco and is about is if you go back to how a burger is that the love of crafting and those charred burgers the portobello and the my goodness is just incredibly phenomenal.

00;30;06;11 - 00;30;27;29
Ana
No if you bake KFC always sorry. You know what a personality KFC has. I mean, it brings the best of people. And you you see it reflected in that corner in many states ways and forms and and diverse. And it's just brilliant. And by the way, I'm a spicy girl. I love that single and the hot and spicy chicken from KFC.

00;30;28;01 - 00;31;01;18
Ana
And last but not least, you, right? They pizza. I mean nothing connects people like a pizza in the table does and we bring joy through pizzas in in as an experience so if you asked me on my Mary and we like Mary again somebody I will marry again John in my in my next life I think 27 years married to these and I can only think that we carried the very best personality from brands from Veritas Sparkles beats us shades you name it.

00;31;01;18 - 00;31;04;22
Ana
We have it. Everything under the roof of Yum.

00;31;04;25 - 00;31;25;03
Jess
Well, that's a beautiful marriage. And I know that that you must appreciate your your support through the years. And this has been such a phenomenal conversation. I just appreciate your wisdom and your energy. It is infectious. I know everyone that's listening is walking away with a little bit more inspiration today. So I truly do. Thank you. I'm grateful for your friendship and your partnership.

00;31;25;05 - 00;31;54;02
Ana
Thank you. Yes. And I you know, I love it. I mean, thank you. Jeez, I absolutely love that. The interview on the podcast, Why We Should the very best. I have this passion of helping, as I mentioned, and I know you are helping more people get more insights and more innovation out there. So I appreciate everything that you are doing with your company as a side conversation is I don't know if you know I'm retiring from young and I was like nine year old in March.

00;31;54;04 - 00;32;13;04
Ana
I mean, it's sad and is that is bittersweet because I love what I do and I have a huge passion for it. But I also know that I it's it's about time to go back to Costa Rica and be with my family that I've been detached for a long time. And and it's time to give a space for more people to keep growing in this beautiful company, you know.

00;32;13;06 - 00;32;22;16
Ana
So yes, my journey with Yarm is going to end soon in the world, but I will love them forever and I will still be very connected with the brand.

00;32;22;19 - 00;32;41;19
Jess
No, I'm glad that you I think you did tell me that, but I'm glad you shared that here because it allows us to celebrate such a tremendous career and I know the career is not over. You're going to find different ways to continue to give back. And I'm sure that the foodie in you is not going anywhere but creating space for others is a beautiful sentiment.

00;32;41;19 - 00;32;48;07
Jess
And I know that that the professionals at Yum are very lucky for that and for your business. So congratulations on a beautiful career.

00;32;48;09 - 00;33;17;21
Ana
Thank you very, very much. Yes. I also had another when I ask you if if if it needed to be food or not, my impulse on on things that I might know or not just by impulse, but regardless of the price, I always get them. And for me there is there is as a foodie, I don't think twice if I if I have the chance to get into a michelin star restaurant.

00;33;17;23 - 00;33;45;16
Ana
Everywhere we travel and when we travel as a family, my husband and I always try to book in advance. If we know in advance where we are going around the world, we try to book in advance a michelin star, because, yes, you do pay a fortune, but you get a fortune of experience just sitting there and seeing and, you know, delighting the plates.

00;33;45;16 - 00;33;50;24
Ana
It's just an incredible thing that, yes, I do as we do spend the money on that.

00;33;51;01 - 00;33;55;04
Jess
Well, it was one of your more recent or more memorable I Michelin star restaurants.

00;33;55;06 - 00;34;14;22
Ana
The last time it was a couple of months ago in New York. I went to LA Part and it was amazing. I mean, it's a variety of plates and we paired them with the wines. So it was not just the food, but the wines and the pairing. It was just an awesome experience.

00;34;14;25 - 00;34;25;14
Jess
Beautiful. No, I'm glad you shared that. And I'm sure you've had some impulse purchases from those menus when you've actually been there. Like, sure, let's splurge on this because we're only going to be here once.

00;34;25;16 - 00;34;32;26
Ana
And once in a while that you do it. You, you, you don't you don't have for that every day, but you afford it once in a while when you're on vacation.

00;34;33;01 - 00;34;42;24
Jess
So I want to say thank you so much for joining me today on the Dig In podcast. It's been inspiring. It's been energizing. And I just appreciate you so thank you so much.

00;34;42;26 - 00;34;49;20
Ana
Thank you, Jessica. Awesome, awesome podcast and I enjoy listening to every one of them so far.

00;34;49;22 - 00;34;51;27
Jess
You like what you heard?

00;34;51;29 - 00;34;57;03
VO
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