Vegetarian and vegan restaurant franchising

Today i was in the forum at Australian vegan business. It's great because people are starting to fire around business ideas and try get peoples opinion and reach out to possible partners ect. Someone posted a question about vegan restaurant franchises, it made me think what is actually out there for people if they are interested in starting a vegan/veg resturant but would like to go down the franchise route?

Right now i don't think there are many australian mainstream franchises that are very exciting. The only one that i think stands out is Fritz gelato, they seem to be popping up all ove the place and have about 40% vegan product.The gelati is bloody great as well. But away from the mainstream businesses I think the best oppertunities for a big thinker in ethical business. Might be to find a great restaurant with a good idea and not just start one franchise and run it themselves, but go into partnership with the owners actually selling the franchises themselves.

There are a lot of great restaurants in the city but only some would make a good franchise, because they have a model and method that can be repeated.

Some of the places i think would be the best from a franchise point of view would be.

Trippy Taco: 48 Smith St Collingwood 3066 VIC Phone: (03) 9415 7711

Trippy taco is a small mexican eatery on smith street, it's vegetarian with most things having a vegan option. They have a good name, good food with a simple menu, it's mexican so pretty easy to make. They started off doing food at festivals like Earthcore and now have their own shop on smith st. With a business like this it would be cool to see someone working with the owners to take it to the next level, because it really is a lot better than most tradional chains.

Lord of the Fries Elizabeth and Flinders street


Most melbourne vegetarian will know this place well but for you out of towners. LOTF is a veg/vegan fastfood place. Great burgers with TVP, fries done euro style with lots of sauce options. They have taken melbourne by storm with two shops now open ut i'm sure more coming. It would be an easy business to run as a franchise and good because a lot of meat eaters don't even seem to realise it's vegetarian.Because the business is doing well you don't know if they want to franchise or keep all new shops within the family. People in other states may get a better hearing if they feel they have Melbourne covered.


Probably an easier idea though one with less scope is to find a great Veg/Vegan franchise overseas and bring it to australia. Transporting ideas and products is a well abused tool in business and it really does work.

Maos Falafel:


Maos is a franchise falafel shop that i've been to in amsterdam. They really have shops all over the world, europe, china, america and now australia. Apparently there is one in perth. This shop is really quite nice for a franchise falafel shop but just beware that it doesn't go the route of falafel kitchen in australia and start doing meat as well.


I'd never really thought of the idea of franchised Veg/Vegan restaurants before but thinking about it there is a lot of oppertunity.I think for people who may be interested in starting a business but are a little nervous and don't want to go it totally alone, the franchise system can be an easier way to wade into businesses ownership. Also if you find a restaurant that has a great model but the owner maybe lacks the money or specialized knowledge to take it to the next level. You may have found a great oppertunty for yourself, them and to make Veg/Vegan food even more available and accepted.