Managing Director speaks on owning a Salsa's Fresh Mexican Grill fast food franchise

In a recent Australian Franchising article, Managing Director of Retail Zoo, Janine Allis, shared her experience of acquiring the Salsa's Fresh Mexican Grill chain and directing it down the same path as her already hugely successful boost juice fast food and beverage franchise.

After acquiring the Salsa's Fresh Mexican Grill fast food franchise group a couple of years ago when it had just four stores, Allis and Retail Zoo have now grown the company into 22 stores.

“The business model is great and it has been accepted well into the market place. People often think of Mexican food as beans and fried and stodgy food. Salsas is how Mexican food actually is in the Baja Coast - it’s all freshly cut tomatoes, coriander, lime and other fresh ingredients mixed together with some herbs and spices to come up with a fantastic taste sensation,” says Allis.

Allis' experience with the Boost Juice franchise chain has been extremely useful in growing the Salsa's Fresh Mexican Grill chain as the journey had already been learned and she knew how the industry worked.

“Looking at the marketplace and our competitors - not necessarily competitors in Mexican food but chains such as Nandos - we really think the Australian market could hold a couple of hundred Salsa's Fresh Mexican Grill in targeted areas. The growth profile is quite fast, but not uncontrollably fast,” she says.

Allis commented that those most interested in Salsa's Fresh Mexican Grill fast food franchises were those that love food. Allis is a firm believer that those going into any business have to be passionate about what they are selling. It is for this reason that franchisees are chosen for their passion for food and their passion for great customer service.

"There are people who want to get into a business with good growth potential and those who want to look at maybe opening a second store if they are successful with their first,” Allis says.

Salsa's Fresh Mexican Grill have two restaurant models available, a fast casual model which is where customers can go into a restaurant-type setting, or food courts in shopping centres to enjoy the fresh Mexican menu, or a dual model which offers some flexibility.

“A fast-casual outlet is around 150m² and is a more expensive build than a food court outlet, which might only be 50m². It is all about what model works for the franchisee - a food court model would need to be open seven days a week compared to a fast casual outlet, which might only be open for six. There are a lot of different things that come into it when people are considering franchises," says Allis.

Whatever the restaurant model, Allis notes that the lack of competitors in the fresh Mexican food market is proving to be a competitive advantage for Salsa's Fresh Mexican Grill fast food operators.