Golden Krust, the family-run Jamaican fast-casual chain founded in the Bronx in 1989, now operates 100 restaurant locations and sells its frozen patties and other items in 2,000 Walmart stores nationwide.

Steven Clarke, the chain's VP of marketing and nephew of founder Lowell Hawthorne, laid out the numbers in an interview on Menu Talk, the podcast collaboration between Restaurant Business senior menu editor Pat Cobe and Nation's Restaurant News senior food & beverage editor Bret Thorn. Clarke has worked his way up through the family business and now leads a brand evolution designed to multiply the points where customers can buy its food.

The growth is coming from two directions at once: restaurant expansion and retail distribution. Several menu items are now frozen and stocked at retail chains, with Walmart alone carrying the product in 2,000 stores. That retail footprint gives Golden Krust a national reach its 100 restaurants cannot match on their own.

What does the accessibility push look like in practice?

Under Clarke's leadership, the chain has launched:

• a new website
• online ordering
• a loyalty program
• updated digital menu boards
• refreshed uniforms and packaging
• expansion into third-party delivery

The goal, Clarke said, is convenience: more points of access so more people can get the food. The menu that draws them includes braised oxtail, jerk chicken, curried goat and Jamaican beef patties — dishes the chain says it has introduced to generations of American diners since the first location opened 36 years ago.

Sourcing runs through Jamaica — and a hurricane strained it

Every patty Golden Krust serves contains ingredients grown on the island: the Scotch bonnet peppers and the thyme both come from Jamaican farms. That sourcing model took a direct hit when Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica last year and severely damaged many of the farms growing those crops.

Clarke and the Golden Krust team traveled to Jamaica to help the affected farmers replant. The company also provided monetary support to rebuild school cafeterias and other community infrastructure. For a chain whose core flavor profile depends on two island-grown inputs, farm recovery is not charity alone — it is supply-chain repair.

What comes next?

Clarre's uncle, Lowell Hawthorne, opened the first Golden Krust with a mission to bring a taste of Jamaica to the world. Clarke is pursuing that same mission through different channels: retail shelves, delivery apps, loyalty data and digital ordering rather than unit growth alone.

The interview also covers what is next for the brand's restaurant and retail growth and its menu — a roadmap that will determine whether a 100-unit regional chain can become a national CPG presence built on frozen patties and island-sourced flavor.