Healthy fast food is gaining popularity. "I wish the world would eat differently. We have been making healthy convenience products that are affordable from the start. My goal was to become the Starbucks in the 'fresh food business' or the ZARA of fast food. I didn't write a business plan 12 years ago, I wrote 'guiding principles'. I just wanted to do this", says Matthew Corrin during the International Strawberry Congress.
Start in 2005
He was 23 years old when he started the concept and was active in fashion before that. In 2005 he opened the first Freshii and now there are Freshii in 80 cities. "The first day this restaurant opened was also the first time I'd worked in catering. I was very naive and had no idea what I was walking into and the start wasn't easy. Every week something happened that was disappointing in terms of staff or customers." Yet he opened a second location. "We are growing more quickly than Starbucks, McDonald's, Subway and Dominos Pizza."
Nowadays there are a lot of concepts like Freshii. What defines this company?
"We have been growing due to the health trend continuing, especially among millennials. Freshii is for everyone, but this group in particular is a big fan of our healthy, fast and easy concept. We also have a well organised franchise principle, so new shops are often opened." He believes healthy is seen differently now compared to 10 or 20 years ago. "Back then Subway was seen by many as being healthy. Now consumers want healthy avocado fats and nicely coloured fruit and vegetables. We supply and make it healthy." During his presentation he spoke of the expansion plans, including in Europe. "We receive around 3000 requests to start a franchise every month. We have never advertised for it. It's great that so many people see the importance of healthy fast food."
Growth is slower than planned
Meanwhile, multiple Freshii-locations are being opened every month. This week it was reported that the growth of Freshii was slower than expected and that restaurants were even being closed within the Target Group. The shares of the company from Toronto decreased by 3.20 dollars or 36% on September 26, 2017. In this year the company originally wanted to open 150 locations, but that number has been dialed back to less than 100. The plans are also more modest in the long term. At the end of the financial year 2019 the plan was to have between 810 and 840 shops, but this will now be between 730 and 760."