One young couple are backing their belief in simple, good food served fast. And now they want to share it with enthusiastic entrepreneurs.

The Farm Wholefoods founders, Josh and Lisa Thompson, have learned the value of listening to customers. The business started life in uber-hip Potts Point, the affluent inner-city Sydney suburb that nestles up to its headline-grabbing neighbour Kings Cross.

When it launched three years ago The Farm Wholefoods offered local shoppers a raft of bulk-packaged foods in a light and airy space.

“The food space is dominated by cluttered health stores and we wanted to provide a beautiful offer,” explains Lisa.

Josh’s big Italian family, his grandparents farm in Mollymook and Lisa’s Victorian country upbringing inspired them to create a business model that delivers basic foods and encourages clean eating habits.

Today the same venue has more of a cafe feel: the back area formerly housing the pantry basics now home to the kitchen; a grab-and-go cabinet near the door for easy snacks; tables and chairs for customers with time to enjoy their healthy meal on site.

The founders discovered that the locals didn’t want to have to weigh ingredients themselves and load up with big bags of superfoods to create meals at home, they were much more interested in the convenience of cafe meals in the pleasant surrounding of The Farm Wholefoods.

Josh says “Customer feedback showed they liked the ambience of the store and wanted to enjoy the space.”

Two years on and the offer is clear: fresh, fast, casual meals – and treats (organic chocolate and gluten-free cookies).

Josh and Lisa collaborated with renowned nutritionist and whole foods cook Jacqueline Alwill from The Brown Paper Bag to develop the caf_ menu, creating a selection of nutrient-rich dishes for breakfast and lunch.

Think innovative smoothie bowls, as well as a mix of salads, sandwiches, burgers and sides, all with a core focus on ingredients that sustain and nourish the body. Everything is made in-house daily with fresh ingredients.

“It’s not complicated food – it looks amazing but it’s simple and nutritious,” says Lisa.

Cafes are open 7am to 4pm, but as The Farm recently introduced a delivery model a reduced menu is available for dinner .

Now franchising

The couple clearly thrive on being busy but the flexibility of working for themselves allows them to manage their growing eatery chain around their young family. When the business launched, they had a newborn; now as they unveil the franchise model, their second child is just five months old.

Josh and Lisa opened a second store in Cammeray, then added a Neutral Bay outlet and are now poised to unveil an outlet in the residential suburb Baulkam Hills. Next will be another corporate store opening in Brisbane in July.

Baulkham Hills will be the brand’s first franchise, and will bear a different look to the existing outlets. That’s where Josh’s particular design talents have come into play: “It’s been good to entwine these into the new life,” he says.

While the layout and functionality of the stores have changed, the essence of the brand remains – raw industrial with touches of green. There may be more tweaks to suit local demographics as the stores continue to roll out.

Opening up the business model to keen franchisees boosts the capital needed to further grow the brand, Lisa says.

“Franchising was always the plan,” she says.

And there are plans to open up to 15 outlets along the eastern seaboard.

“The demographic is not mainstream, it’s a smaller population,” says Lisa. “We have to be careful where we go and how we place ourselves.”

As the couple expand interstate they intend to run the first outlet in each state as a corporate store.

Franchisor support

The head office team of six works across all aspects of the business now, each team member able to fill in the gaps at stores, to help with opening new stores.

Ideal franchisees will be owner-operators and have a passion for the business, with some food or retail experience.

The couple want to be challenged. “We want franchisees who will push us as well,” says Josh, “but who are not stuck in their ways. We want broad-minded people.”

Lisa’s IT background has ensured that technology is at the heart of the operations process, with Point of Sale and reporting tools crucial to the individual’s performance and to the network’s growth.

“So much is automated operations in IT,” she says. “We scrutinise reports constantly.”

Strong systems and franchisor visibility of franchisee finances will help keep the brand on the right side of workplace compliance, she believes.

As franchisors, the pair add to this a strong social media presence, marketing campaigns, and an understanding that communication is the major factor in a successful franchise relationship – not just between franchisee and franchisor but franchisees and their staff.

Lisa and Josh are cognisant of the need to understand the nuances of the franchising relationship and the boundaries set by the Franchising Code of Conduct.

“Not a lot really phases us,” says Lisa. “We’re really curious. That’s partly why we created our own challenge.”