Page 55 - BWM Dec 2012

December 2012 | Business World Magazine | 55
As recent as five years ago, it was a
challenge for FRESH Restaurants to con-
vert people to a healthy diet, which leads to
a healthy lifestyle. Most of their customers
were frequenting their restaurants because
the menu items tasted so good. But the trend
has changeddrasticallyover thepast five years
or so and nowadays the masses are leaning
more towards healthy and even plant-based
diets and less on unhealthy meat products.
FRESH Restaurants brand is
uniquely positioned to capi-
talize on that trend. “Getting
people to eat healthier on
a regular basis used to be a
real challenge,” Parker says. “We were deal-
ing with a small demographic before where
maybe five percent of the population was
eating healthy but now it’s about 85 percent
and those 85% are doing it on a regular basis.
What’s really exciting is that this is just the
start of this massive trend that will continue
to grow.”
WORLDWIDE GROWTH
FRESH Restaurants is currently looking to
expand to international markets, with many
developments already underway – as much
as 30 percent of their new stores will be
opening outside North America, Parker says.
“We only want to have flagship locations in
perfect markets with perfect franchisees.”
The brand will also continue to make their
products as healthy as they can be, “as long as
we’re not too far ahead of the health curve,”
Parker says. “We will be of-
fering more vegetar-
ian options
and a
lot more
locally-grown pro-
duce in our stores.” In the next five years,
FRESHRestaurants expects a 50 percent an-
nual growth rate – 35 percent of that interna-
tional – in terms of new stores, which would
put them at close to 200 locations. Their per-
unit store sales right now are increasing 20
percent annually, which is an “amazing num-
ber,” Parker says. “The big reason for that are
people eating healthier, so it’s a rapidly grow-
ing trend. And at FRESH Restaurants, we
have a winning recipe.”