Trios has made a meal out of a wrap. The laffe wrap is the core business for the three brothers heading up the Melbourne-based franchise system. This year Trios will be expanding and taking its new fast casual concept to 12 new caf-style outlets in major main street shopping strips around the country including high street locations like Lygon Street in Melbourne and Bondi in Sydney.
Trios has invested a considerable amount of research over 18 months surveying its clientele for the right formula for the new stores.
Chief marketing director Sam Elia says the customer-based requests will be met in the caf-style outlets: a smart, relaxed caf-style venue to meet their friends and enjoy restaurant-quality food with fast service.
“Trios will deliver. We are looking for sites right now and we are looking for the right franchisees for them. We have a first-rate class product to sell in the new
Elia says the new Trios caf-style outlets would be unashamedly looking at the Gen Y and Gen X generation. “They are the customer-base that has been advising Trios about the new concept,” he says.
The franchise will be implementing a new communication strategy to cover web, press and possibly radio advertising and online community focused applications. Also under consideration are transit stores located at airports and universities. “ItÕs going to be a very, very busy year,” says Elia.
Trios began in 2003 with three company-owned stores in Victoria. Franchising started a year later and there are now 11 stores, all in Victoria. The plan is to add 12 more and to open two stores in Western Australia. Nine stores in the Middle East and a Trios Downunder outlet in Texas represent an overseas presence.
Typically a Trios shopping centre location within a food precinct would be about 55 square metres. That size will at least double to 100 square metres to 200 square metres with the new caf-style franchise outlets opening this year in strip shopping centres such as Carlton and Bondi.
The core client is aged between 20 and 37 but anyone from 18 to 80 visits the stores. “We have more female than male customers: 60 per cent and our customerÕs average income is $40,000. Customers spend $9.50 per person, on average.”
Existing food court stores serve fast food but the new outlets will have more of a caf ambience. Location will dictate the opening hours for our new caf-style outlets. Traditional shopping centre hours are 9am to 5pm seven days a week.”
For the marketing focus for 2010 Trios will be developing a new media strategy in addition to its new concept openings.
Franchise detail:
How many staff are required to run a franchise? Current stores require two full time people and about 10 part time employees. Staff size may increase with the new cafes.
What has been the sales growth store-on-store for the financial year 2008-2009? There was a 15 per cent average growth rate across Trios stores last financial year, sustained by careful planning following customer surveys. We made our stores more visually engaging and created greater visual and emotional bonding with our clients, increased advertising, changed our menu and added toasted wraps.
What is the signature dish? An avocado schnitzel wrap is the most popular dish.