PACKING A PLANT-BASED PUNCH
Quesada For Quesada founder Steve Gill, the challenge with featuring a plant-based product wasn’t getting customers into his franchise to try it, it was keeping up with demand. That’s because Quesada is featuring Californiabased Beyond Meat in its Beyond Burrito. “We ran out of product after two-and-a-half weeks with the first order because of high demand. It was a bit of a struggle, but now it’s back full time,” says Gill. Quesada, with its traditional Mexican fare, was started by Gill in 2004. In addition to the Beyond Burrito, the franchise also features other plant-based offerings like oven-roasted veggies, black bean burritos, and refried bean burritos. Gill says customer response has been amazing. “We had a six per cent increase in customer counts in just a few weeks. Initial publicity brought in a lot of people, but now sustained it’s probably three-to-four per cent. Our combined plant-based sales went from 11 to 12 per cent up to 17 per cent. We were amazed to see the reaction.” Quesada has 120 open restaurants, including three corporate locations, with franchises in every province except for Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
34 Canadian Franchise Association
A big benefit for franchisees is a lower build-out cost. “There’s a lot of work, but it’s well organized and straightforward. We keep the costs down,” explains Gill. After they sign on, there’s a combination of online training and two weeks of in-restaurant training, and some regional training or training at head office in Ontario. Prior to opening, there are additional business training days, along with on-site support for the opening period. As for the plant-based craze, Gill says, “It seems like a societal change, not a fringe thing. It used to be about personal diet – now it’s about the environment. I think that’s the biggest driver for non-vegetarians.” QUESADA STATS Franchise units in Canada: 112 Corporate units in Canada: 3 Franchisee fee: $25K Investment required: $245K Training: 3 weeks Available territories: All of Canada, US In business since: 2004 Franchising since: 2010 CFA member since: 2010
www.cfa.ca | www.FranchiseCanada.Online