Imagine a world where your local shawarma joint outperforms Warren Buffett, boasts more YouTube subscribers than McDonald’s, and has a financial strategy that would make Wall Street turn its head.
Welcome to Tahini’s, the Canadian fast-food chain that’s redefining the recipe for success in the digital age.
With a unique blend of delicious cuisine, innovative social media strategies, and a treasury that saves in the hardest money on earth, Tahinis restaurant, founded by the visionary Ali, isn’t just serving up mouth-watering shawarmas: it is cooking up a revolution in how restaurants approach business in the digital age.
In an exclusive interview with BitcoinNews, Ali explains his Bitcoin journey, which started from a personal interest in Bitcoin, and how it led to Tahini’s adopting the same strategy. He explains:
“I started my Bitcoin journey trying to understand it, as I did my homework I fell down the rabbit hole, and I kept falling! The more I fell, the more I bought. I ended up selling all my stocks and just bought more bitcoin until I was 100% personally in bitcoin.”
He added: “I ran out of money basically so I was like okay, well, the company has money…I talked about it with my partners. We went back and forth for a while on it and then Michael Saylor came out with his announcement and that was what sort of pushed us over the edge.”
This pivotal moment in the summer of 2020, when MicroStrategy’s CEO Michael Saylor announced the public company’s adoption of bitcoin, served as a catalyst for Tahini’s.
It validated their considerations and emboldened them to take a leap that few businesses, let alone restaurants, had dared to take.
“We dumped all the treasury reserves that we had, so any extra cash that we weren’t using for the business operations, which is like a six months working capital sort of number, and anything above that we just simply bought bitcoin with it,” Ali explains.
This decision wasn’t made lightly. Ali and his partners debated the move but ultimately saw it as a strategic advantage in an increasingly digital economy.
The move paid off. In the four years since adopting this strategy, Tahini’s choice has outperformed many traditional investment vehicles. Ali humorously noted:
“We’re a restaurant chain and in four years we outperformed Warren Buffett and like 99% of hedge funds on Wall Street.”
While the point was made tongue-in-cheek, it’s a fair observation. You wouldn’t expect a fast food joint to manage money better than Vanguard, but sure enough, by going all in on bitcoin, Tahini’s performance has outpaced the vast majority of financial capital allocators out there.
This isn’t to suggest you should entrust your portfolio to your local shawarma spot, but it is a powerful testament to the potential of bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset.
While Bitcoin has been a significant part of Tahini’s story, their marketing success extends far beyond Bitcoin.
Ali’s innovative approach to social media started in 2019 and has catapulted the brand to millions of followers online, rivaling and even surpassing the online presence of global fast-food giants.
He noted, “On YouTube we have more subscribers than McDonald’s, Burger King, Popeye’s combined and throw in Chick-fil-A in there too.” This is particularly remarkable considering Tahini’s has a fraction of the locations boasted by these international fast-food behemoths.
It’s a testament to the power of creative content and authentic engagement in the digital age, proving that in the online arena, it’s not the size of the company that matters, but the strength of its connection with its audience.
This success didn’t come overnight. Tahini’s social media journey began in 2019 when they became early adopters of TikTok.
Ali describes their humble beginnings: “We were the first restaurant to ever go on TikTok. I started doing videos back then, they were obviously really really bad, but I kept trying to improve them bit by bit.”
This unwavering commitment to continuous improvement and consistency has yielded spectacular results.
Today, Tahini’s boasts an impressive digital following: nearly 3 million YouTube subscribers, 1 million TikTok followers, and hundreds of thousands across other platforms. Their content has amassed a staggering two billion views, a number that would make most social media influencers envious.
Ali attributes this success to their unique approach to content creation: “We mainly do entertainment comedy type videos on YouTube.”
This strategic focus on entertaining content, rather than traditional hard-sell advertising, has enabled Tahini’s to forge genuine connections with their audience.
The result? A loyal fan base that eagerly awaits each new post and, more importantly, craves their shawarmas. It’s hard to watch their videos without feeling a strong urge to go buy a shawarma.
While many perceive running a business on social media as all fun and games, it’s a challenging endeavor that requires constant work.
That is why Bitcoin isn’t just a marketing ploy or a speculative investment for them. Ali views Bitcoin as a powerful business tool that can provide long-term stability and growth for his company.
“As a business owner, we don’t have a pension plan or 401k or anything like that. Bitcoin is our pension plan,” Ali explains. “If you want a tool that will outperform 99% of the people on Wall Street, then this is the ultimate tool any business can have.”
In the interview Ali did emphasize the importance of using Bitcoin correctly.
He advises holding for a minimum of four years, using proper cold storage to secure assets, and avoiding interest-bearing schemes that could lead to losses. He’s particularly critical of businesses that accept bitcoin only to immediately convert it to fiat currency:
“If you end up instantly converting that into dollars right away like some businesses do, that doesn’t really do anything. That’s just like another form of payment.”
Instead, Ali advocates for studying Bitcoin so one can truly understand it and leverage its potential: “If you’re going to use Bitcoin, use it for its superpower and don’t try to get cute with it.”
Tahini’s Bitcoin strategy has done more than just improve their financial position – it’s helped them build a community. Ali noted that while the direct impact on customer numbers might not be huge, the Bitcoin community has become some of their most loyal patrons:
“We did get a lot of bitcoiners that are now like the Tahini’s bitcoiners fanatics sort of thing, and they come on a regular basis and they order shawarmas. Even if it’s a small amount, I love those guests because they’re bitcoiners.”
This community-building extends beyond just serving food. Tahini’s has hosted Bitcoin events and even installed Bitcoin ATMs in ten of their restaurants, creating a monthly stream of bitcoin income from rental fees.
As Tahini’s continues to grow, with 44 locations across Canada and plans to expand into the United States within the next 12 months, Ali remains focused on both culinary excellence and financial innovation.
“We have plans over the next 12 months to expand to the United States. Once we start getting our roots in the US, we’re going to start aggressively expanding in the US as well.”
“We’d love to invite all of your readers and listeners to come try us out, come try Tahini’s,” Ali warmly extends. He also noted that they’re actively seeking partners to open new locations in the U.S., offering an opportunity for entrepreneurs to be part of this innovative fast-food chain.
In an industry often criticized for prioritizing profits over quality and sustainability, Tahini’s stands as a beacon of hope. It’s not just about serving delicious shawarmas – though they certainly do that well.
It’s about reimagining what a fast-food chain can be in the digital age.
By embracing bitcoin as a treasury reserve, leveraging social media for genuine community building, and maintaining an unwavering commitment to food quality, Tahini’s is carving out a unique space in the fast-food landscape.
