Inside Franchise Business

A BETTER BITE

An increasing awareness of nutrition and a balanced lifestyle is pushing healthy eating into the limelight.

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What healthy eating looks like now.

What’s your definition of healthy eating? It might be quite different from the view held by your partner, your teenage son, or your neighbour. One thing is for sure, the trend towards conscious consumptio­n is being embraced by a more knowledgea­ble consumer.

Accredited practising dietitian Sarah Leung is the Roll’d nutrition ambassador. She says the definition of healthy eating has changed over the years.

“Consumers have always wanted quick, nourishing foods for themselves and their families but their understand­ing of what’s healthy has changed. Gone are the days of calorie counting and strict fad diets. ‘Health’ has been redefined to be focused on whole foods, fresh ingredient­s and minimal processing,” she explains.

And as healthy eating is a moveable feast, Roll’d co-founder Bao Hoang believes it’s important for franchisor­s to be adapting swiftly.

“Challenges will always be there; they just shift focus but it’s about how quickly businesses can adapt to consumer woes of increased dietary and planetary concerns,” he says.

“You can no longer avoid the importance and value of good nutrition, nor ignore climate change, which is why the Roll’d offering is constantly evolving to include more vegan and vegetarian options, less or earth-friendly packaging and innovative delivery systems.”

Bao says that understand­ing the consumer is crucial.

“At Roll’d we’re obsessed with our customers and their health, and we look to data to make the right choices. In 2020 we invested into a complete customer insights study to better understand their needs.

“Everything we do as a business rests on strong market research. We value customer and consumer feedback and actively seek out gaps in where our brand can improve or deliver more. Roll’d has always maintained strict training programs and procedures to ensure the experience is kept as a consistent­ly high standard at each franchised store.”

While a Vietnamese cuisine is often considered a healthy meal option, Sarah points out choice and education around the menu items are essential.

“It’s important to provide well balanced and flexible options that are made of fresh, whole food ingredient­s, that the consumer understand­s and recognises to be healthy.”

For example, Roll’d’s rice menu has the option of white or brown rice, Soldiers are available in low carb options loaded with mixed salad and up to 36-45 per cent less carbohydra­tes, to suit a range of individual

dietary needs.

“We’re hugely passionate about our heritage, so the menu won’t stray too far, however being Australian born, this is our home, and we’ve of course adapted flavours to include the amazing produce available here and attract local taste buds.

“Innovation is in our blood, but again we’re guided by our customer and the data,” says Bao.

At Roll’d the journey in healthy eating has been personal: the co-founders have tapped into their family heritage to deliver naturally healthy dishes.

For Delicia managing director and former athlete Scott Dempster, the food business is a reflection of his own lifestyle and meal choices and started out in response to a gap he saw in the market.

“It’s been about my own needs. I don’t eat until lunch and I wanted protein, fats, and low glycemic index ingredient­s to break my fast but I couldn’t find it.

“Delicia is about that; all of our food is low GI. So many people make carbs the enemy and you’ll never find breads in our business, but a lot of our food is quite carb heavy, but low GI.”

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