Mooloolaba-based fresh food franchise Raw Energy has opened four stores in as many months and is eyeing up more new locations.
The New South Wales master franchisee recently unveiled an outlet at Wollongong Private Hospital, there’s a new site at Kawana Hospital and two outlets at University of Sunshine Coast opened earlier this year.
Managing director Matthew Hope said “With four new stores since January we are on track to reach our growth expectation, and plans are in place to open another six stores by the end of the year.”
The business has 12 franchised outlets.
Raw is currently in advanced discussions for sites in Brisbane, Burleigh, Townsville, Newcastle and two suburbs of Perth.
Hope now owns 100 percent of the brand after he purchased the remaining 20 percent of the business from founder Geoff Campbell.
“Geoff started a great concept in healthy fast food and it was, in some ways, ahead of its time but Australians' fast-food choices have been getting healthier, smaller and more diverse over the past five years and the market is now ripe for the Raw Energy Caf concept as witnessed by our recent growth. We are passionately focused on growing the brand to make it a national entity.
“We’ve got some pretty significant business goals but we’re confident we have the right strategy to achieve them,” Hope said.
With turnover approaching $7 million annually, Hope said he expected to push sales by at least 30 percent in the next year.
“In the past I put our success down to fitting a coastal way of life, but since opening in new markets we’ve proven our growing popularity is actually in line with a greater market shift towards healthier eating and living. This is also evident by the amount of enquiry we are receiving for new franchise opportunities in virgin territories like Western Australia.”
Hope said recent strategic partnerships with hospitals and university were testament to this permanent change in consumer behaviour.
“Healthy eating has driven change in the fast food sector with a focus on menu items with lower sugar, salt and fat levels than traditional fast food choices. Universities and hospitals, in particular, are home to time-poor but also health-conscious consumers but up until now there has not been a focus on meeting their needs.
“Both the university and hospital initially approached us about opening within their premise in order to fulfil this need for patrons. A fast, fresh and healthy option like Raw Energy is immediately going to draw crowds. Based on the success of this strategy so far it’s a market niche we hope to expand on.
“Our two Wollongong stores are our first venture interstate,” Hope said. “Their success has emboldened us to expand further into NSW and also into other parts of the country and we have a master franchisee based there to ensure we maintain momentum."
To support the company’s growth Hope has bolstered the support team for the business recently hiring new operations manager Jay Giles and business development manager Phill Tucker.