Nearly a decade ago, Mason Dixie opened its quick-service restaurant (QSR) doors to “make people feel really good about the food they crave,” Abuelhiga emphasized.
Within the QSR breakfast space, Mason Dixie identified a back-to-basics approach for its scratch-made biscuit sandwiches, paired with antibiotic-free, hormone-free meats.
“We wanted to go out there and showcase that we could do a better biscuit that was not a pack of oil with preservatives to make the best breakfast sandwiches and gravies you have ever had. And we proved it, we had an incredibly successful run with two-mile long lines, we opened our drive-thru restaurant, and we had four block-long lines,” she explained.
For its first six years, Mason Dixie focused on QSR until it caught Whole Foods’ attention, where the brand was asked to launch its line of frozen biscuit dough – a small category that allowed the brand to stand out for its ingredients and clean label.
After four years of “earning our stripes” in Whole Foods, Mason Dixie launched its frozen breakfast sandwiches, which “was a critical breaking point,” Abuelhiga said, adding that the new innovation pushed the brand to focus on the frozen CPG segment and the breakfast channel.
The brand recently announced its new line of breakfast sandwiches, including a croissant sandwich with melted cheese, whole egg and 100% natural pork; a buttermilk biscuit sandwich with cheese, whole egg and pork sausage; a pancake sandwich made with maple syrup, whole egg and pork sausage; and an English muffin sandwich with cherrywood-smoked Canadian bacon, cheddar cheese and a whole egg.
Since its foray into retail, Mason Dixie shared that the company has grown 87% over the last three years, citing a surge in national demand and distribution – including Costco last year, which Abuelhiga explained allowed the brand to “offer volume discounts on this type of cuisine,” particularly with its cheddar breakfast sandwich.
“Within less than a month, we were slammed … we had to quickly get back on the shelf. We have had a great run with Costco believing in the value of clean label …[and] in the value of tasty foods. So, I think that really landed well – and that is a discerning consumer … Costco shoppers rely on trust 100%. So, if you gain and earn their trust, that is a big seal of approval that we are on to something,” Abuelhiga elaborated.