Co-owner of Jason’s Deli gets back to basics when it comes to your food


Walking into the Jason’s Deli at the Hancock Center in central Austin, it’s easy to feel the positive vibes of this popular eatery, despite the chaos of a busy lunch hour. At first glance, co-owner and CFO (chief food officer) Rusty Coco, seems very much at home.

After all, the east Texas town where Jason’s Deli got its start – Beaumont, Texas – is just a four-hour drive away.

As we set up our photo shoot in the middle of the restaurant, dozens of loyal customers mill around, wandering what all the fuss is about. Coco’s energy is no doubt part of the spectacle. Gesticulating wildly – his hands moving back and forth, his eyes beaming as he speaks – there’s a passion in his voice that draws you in and makes you want to listen.

“I can’t serve food that I wouldn’t eat in my own restaurant,” he says in a matter-of-fact kind of way. “So, if I can’t eat it, why am I going to serve it?”

This simple, scratch-your-head kind of logic is exactly what’s driven Coco over the last 30 years. In that time, he’s not only built one of the most successful and respected chain restaurants in the country, but a reputation as a passionate, thoughtful and wildly inventive entrepreneur. And along the way, he’s sparked a revolution in the way we think about food.
By literally transforming how his restaurants concept, develop, produce and serve every item on a Jason’s Deli menu, Coco’s social conscience and ambition have led the way for other restaurants to follow suit. By paving the path, he’s allowed other like-minded business to save face while not sacrificing their bottom line.

It’s been a delicate recipe – in many ways, a labor of love, in others, a common sense, long-term approach to running a successful business. But to those who really know Coco, it’s best characterized as a relentless crusade to make Americans healthier; one which will no doubt be his legacy.

“We’ve gotten rid of partially hydrogenated oil,” he explains excitedly. “We’ve gotten rid of all high fructose corn syrup, even in the bread. The only thing we haven’t gotten rid of is fountain drinks.”

As Coco takes a quick breath, an untouched bowl of colorful greens sits beside him on the table. He stops mid-sentence to give a sturdy handshake and pat on the back to a regular customer before finishing his thought.

“We’ve also gotten rid of MSG, and we’re this close to eliminating dye in all of our foods — which is big with kids,” he says, pinching his fingers together. “When you start digging, it’s amazing what you can find.”

Not surprisingly, Coco’s southern charm and keen attention to detail are just part of what make him and Jason’s Deli unique. Founded by Coco, Joe Tortorice Jr. and Pete Verde (Coco’s cousins), and Pat Broussard (Coco’s brother-in-law), this popular deli first opened its doors in Beaumont, Texas in 1976. Nearly 34 years, 218 locations and 28 states later, many aspects of this restaurant-away-from home have changed, but the principles of offering healthy food at a reasonable price remain the same.

“I grew up in an Italian family,” he says. “My dad had a grocery store and my mom cooked all the time. I ate fresh fruits and vegetables, fish and protein from the market. So when we started, some of that folded into our business model. It’s been slow, and I say when you grow up in a place like Beaumont, you have to try harder.”

So what really makes a Southeast Texas deli stand above the rest? Like your mother probably told you as a kid, it all starts with a balanced meal. Coco testifies that fresh produce from local businesses, delivered six days a week to all Jason’s Deli locations, are the cornerstone of the restaurant’s offerings. In fact, of their 10 signature salad dressings, three are made in Beaumont, and they’ve recently made a company-wide push to include antibiotic- and hormone-free animal products as a staple – rather than a premium item – in their dishes.

“We’re constantly trying to introduce fresh foods,” Coco says. “Right now, we’re trying to get to a hormone-free, antibiotic-free chicken. We’re taking it in increments, but it will happen for Jason’s Deli in the next six months.”

According to The Union of Concerned Scientists, 24.6 million pounds of antibiotics were fed to chickens, pigs and other farm animals back in 2001. This is about eight doses more than what a sick human would take, and these amounts have increased over the past eight years.

The truth is, freshness is just one of the countless options Coco and his 7,500-deep deli army share with the public. Jason’s Deli is constantly improving their ingredient list to provide the purest, tastiest items they can muster. In the past decade, they’ve managed to eliminate MSG, nitrites (on the kid’s menu) and all partially hydrogenated oils. Plus, they were the first national restaurant chain to ban high fructose corn syrup from everything on their menu, except the soft drinks. Even their famous ice cream is made with real sugar.

“Your body just can't metabolize that stuff,” Coco says. “So why should I serve it to my customers?”

That’s the melody in the mission and throughout the menu. If he won’t eat it, he’s not going to serve it to his patrons. For example, to eliminate trans fats, Coco gave his suppliers an ultimatum: re-work your recipes or take your products elsewhere. Within a year, 47 ingredients originally made with partially hydrogenated oils were transformed into healthier versions now ubiquitous on all Jason’s Deli menus.

“We took a page out in the USA Today that said, ‘if we can do it, you can do it,’ about becoming trans-fat free,” Coco says. “Then we went to manufacturers and said ‘either you’re with us, or you lose our business.’ For the most part, they all jumped onboard and created a product that was free of trans fat.”

The upgrading doesn’t stop there. Approximately one third of the meals are organic, and now Jason’s Deli serves items in portions (for weight-control), which they advertise at the top of the menu. If an item seems irreplaceable, they simply recreate it using all-natural ingredients, such as the whipped topping on the strawberry shortcake and in the chocolate mousse.
“We’re trying to do the right thing,” Coco says, “but it takes time.” You have to have a national outcry before people start paying attention.”

And that’s just what Coco is seeing with the rise in childhood obesity and sky-rocketing healthcare costs. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that one-third of all children between the ages of 2 and 19 are overweight. In fact, many experts now predict that this generation may be the first with a shorter lifespan than their parents.

“A lot of times we start with the kid’s menu and work our way up,” Coco says. “It’s like, if you clean up anything, clean up the youth. When parents come to any Jason’s Deli, they don’t have to worry about what’s in our food.”

The newly renovated kid’s menu includes reduced saturated fat, sodium levels, calories and no artificial colors or dyes. In fact, Coco has become so passionate about this issue, he traveled to 14 cities across the nation this summer to promote healthy eating habits and unveil Jason’s Deli’s new options for kids.

“As restaurant owners, we have a responsibility to do the right thing and help fight childhood obesity,” Coco says. “We serve fresh, more natural, less fooled-around-with food.”

While Coco invites fellow restaurateurs to join Jason’s Deli and emulate their model, he also understands the challenges better than anyone. To him, competition should not trump the end result, and while there’s inadequate incentives today, Coco believes it’s a win-win situation for all involved. For instance, when Jason’s Deli pushed its manufacturers to eliminate trans fats, Lance Crackers took the opportunity to advertise the recent ingredient improvements.

“This is a bigger project than trying to be a successful restaurant chain,” Coco says. “We have to do something for this obesity epidemic. It’s a battle.”

Education is great place to start. For the most part, today’s consumer doesn’t know what’s in their food, and usually doesn’t put forth the effort to find out until it hits their pocketbooks. Rusty attributes a lot of this to the fact that Americans have misplaced priorities with wholesome foods when compared with other countries.

“We’ve got to say, ‘I’m going to spend my most precious dollars on what I put in my body.’ That’s what’s astounding. Why would you not want to put the best fuel you can, rather than something else? We [Americans] don’t think like that, though. And I hope we are getting there.”

Of course, there’s endless hype about what constitutes a healthy diet. For Coco, it’s nutrition that’s just clean and simple.

“You can buy beans, pasta, fresh fruits and vegetables,” he says. “It doesn’t have to be organic, but at Jason’s Deli we like organic. You can buy good, provincial products as a start. You go in a grocery store nowadays and it’s scary.”

In a roundabout way, diet can’t change without lifestyle close behind. Coco takes time to enjoy what he eats, gets at least seven hours of sleep every night and is extremely physically active. As one of the healthiest 58-year-olds around, it appears he’s got a few tricks up his sleeve.

“That’s the problem with our culture — we’re not celebrating food. Until we make food primary in our life, it’s going to play second fiddle,” he says. “[Jason’s Deli] is never going to stop trying to bring our guests the best, most fresh and real food we can get our hands on.”

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Q&A with Coco


How did this journey of cleaning up the Jason’s Deli menu start?

Well, we started getting rid of trans fats in ’99. It was pretty revolutionary. I went to the hearing in New York City at the time and testified. In the beginning I felt like more of a crusader, but there’s more of a movement now. They were telling us, “You can’t get rid of partially-hydrogenated oil. First, it’s going to be too expensive to convert. Second, there won’t be any transparency, so people will say, ‘This doesn’t taste the same.’” It’s the same thing with chicken. We have to take it in increments. We’re trying to get to a hormone-free, antibiotic-free chicken and it will happen for Jason’s Deli in the next six months.


How do you get other restaurants geared around your long-term philosophy?

We asked them, “Are you going to have any guests in the future? Are you going to have a workforce?” It sounds far-fetched, but the statistics are astounding. I think you’ve got to get these guys together. You’ve got to get them to the table and start talking about it. They’ve got to understand it isn’t as difficult as they think.


How long did it take you to make the switch on trans fats? Was it difficult to pull off?

It took us a while. People get used to eating something that tastes like margarine, then they eat butter and go, “What is this?” But we’ve got test stores. We’ll test our products, and I’ll tell you, nine times out of 10, they choose the pure stuff.
To answer your question, it’s been a slow, steady process. It’s the American diet. Just like with eliminating partially hydrogenated oils, there are steps you can take to serve a better product — like free-range chicken, grass-fed cows and non-endangered fish.


What do you think of this myth about affordability — that healthy food is more expensive? How have you addressed that?

What we’ve got to do is introduce supermarkets in
low-income areas that have fruits and vegetables. You can go into a grocery store and buy beans, pasta, fresh fruits and vegetables. It doesn’t have to be organic. You can buy good, provincial products as a start. You go in a grocery store nowadays, look in a cart and it’s scary. It’s all processed foods. If people aren’t going to cook and do fast stuff, at least it will be somewhat clean. Unless we introduce good food to people, they’re never going to know because their taste buds will never change. It’s education, it’s getting them off the addiction of sugar, salt and fat because that combination is deadly.


What was the most difficult part of creating this style of restaurant around a smaller demographic like Beaumont?

We were heart-healthy back in the 80s. And still, we haven’t taken the deli out of Jason’s. You can still get a hot pastrami sandwich. What we try to do is double it up and introduce the healthy side of the menu. It’s an incremental process. We offer everything in half portions now. Portion size is another factor in the American diet. It’s just in the last year and a half that we put on the top of the menu you can get things in half portions.


Do you think the movement is gaining resonance and helping your business? In other words, do you think you’re getting more customers because they think this is a legitimately healthier restaurant option?

I think so. The moms are realizing it, the kids are realizing it. There was a softball team in here earlier. I think kids these days get it. However, I think this economy has really hurt organics and a lot of this movement, too. In some countries, if you take how much some of these people spend on food, we’re way down on the totem pole.


What’s one change you can point to that you’re extremely proud of?

I’m really proud of us trying to educate our employees, management, teams and our guests. We’ve got a foodie program inside the deli for our line employees. It probably costs the company $40,000 a year. We give them a passport, and there are five levels they have to accomplish. When they finally graduate, they’re certified as a foodie. So, when guests walk in the deli, they’ll be able to talk to our foodie. Whole Foods does a great job of this, too. You walk in to any of their stores and their employees can tell you all about the food.


Give us a sense of the culture of the company.

When I teach a class you can see every culture represented. With multiculturalism comes different ideas about food. We have something called “The Big Idea” program. Anyone can submit an idea, and if it ends up in a deli they get a certain amount of money. They’re embracing their food.

I use this line all the time: We’re just naïve enough to think that we can make a difference. If you think about it, and put it on paper, you’re not going to make a difference. But if you start with people and their families, then they start seeing signs about healthy food, then they see it on the menu. We’re very family-oriented because we’re right there on the firing line. I think that the family atmosphere is what has kept us going. They see we’re living it.


So, what do you do personally to stay in shape?

I exercise, bike a lot and speed walk. I lift weights about 15 minutes a day just to tone. I enjoy golf — but I never ride in those carts. I’m pretty active, so I stay outdoors a lot. I fish. I try to do something very vigorous everyday so I can sweat. I’m hooked, I’m addicted to exercise. I’m really no good if I don’t get my morning exercise.


Do you do anything else to relieve stress?

I have a lot of quiet time in the morning. My routine lasts anywhere from two to three hours. I get up, have my tea, read, exercise, have some breakfast and slowly move into my day.

I think it’s really important to have quiet time sometime during the day. I feel horrible over things that we could do better as a company — knowing that it takes time to get there, and I have to have patience.


Any nutritional wisdom you can impart?

Believe me, it isn’t just about being a vegetarian or vegan. It’s about balance. Balance is a huge word we can’t seem to digest. I think there’s nothing wrong with eating a huge baked potato if you’re about to go exercise. If you’re getting ready to go bed, I wouldn’t advise eating a big baked potato. You have to reward yourself, you have to feel good and you have to be cognizant of what you put in your body.


How much sleep do you get each night?

I get about seven to nine hours. I do take a nap, too. I have a little bed in my office. I’ll catch 30 to 45 minutes when I’m in my office in Beaumont.


Where did the name Jason’s Deli come
from? Since none of the founders are
named Jason?

Like my cousin says, “It’s a heck of a lot better than ‘Joe’s Deli.’” My cousin, Joe, has a son whose name is Jay. So we kind of spun the name “Jay” with “son” and got Jason. He is our largest franchisee.
The name Deli — sometimes its good and bad. We’re more of a hybrid. We’re a deli restaurant. We’re not just a deli but we kept the name because it’s got a nice ring. We’ve just got to do a better job of marketing.


You seem like a pretty humble guy, salt of the earth, what you see is what you get. It’s nice that you didn’t let success go to your head.

Well the restaurant industry is tough. If you let it go to your head, you could be out of business. I think being based in Beaumont — where it’s a really family-oriented en -vironment — probably keeps us in touch with our roots. One of the best things is having grounded children, too, because automatically they will say, “Dad, what are you talking about? You’re full of it.”