A BETTER BITE

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

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

ROLL’D MEAL PLAN

LUNCH – Lemongrass Beef Banh Mi SNACK – BBQ Chicken Soldier DINNER – Pho Tofu Cup with a Vietnamese Salad (Goi) Prawn

54% RECOMMENDED DAILY ENERGY INTAKE, 111% RECOMMENDED PROTEIN INTAKE 60% RECOMMENDED DIETARY FIBRE INTAKE A 33% RECOMMENDED SATURATED FAT INTAKE.

FEASTING ON FLAVOUR

Check out some of the other brands in this food category.

MOTTO MOTTO Fledgling Brisbane-based chain focused on Japanese cuisine, offering a menu of traditional and modern dishes as well as Japanese-inspired meals in a fast casual dining setting.

SUSHI SUSHI The traditional custodian of healthy eating on the go since 1998, Sushi Sushi brought the sushi concept out of expensive restaurants and into the mainstream. The chain now has more than 175 outlets in Australia.

*Percentage daily intakes is based on an average adult diet of 8700kj.

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.” †

Educating consumers about their ingredients choices is an increasingly important aspect of the business, Scott reveals. “We educate our customers when they come in. We explain the carbs are all below 55 on the GI scale.

“The first fuel source our body looks for is glucose - which is carbohydrates broken down. If your fuel source is empty, then it’s fat, and then protein.”

“We’re building an online course for stores to help them educate customers. Living healthily is a lifestyle, it’s a balanced lifestyle, not a strict regimented thing. Enjoy your life, but extend it by having a balanced lifestyle.

“We’re trying to involve more people in a plant-based lifestyle. If you replace three meals a week with plants, you’re doing something for the world,” says Scott, who says there is a trend towards substituting one or two healthy days a week.

“In nutrition there’s an unwritten parallel: if you say plantbased people automatically think healthy.”

Delicia has a clear position in the market: plant-based and grab ‘n go, and there is no target customer.

“We accommodate, we don’t discriminate. We want everyone coming in. We’re like a family,” says Scott.

He points out the menu and product remain the same in outlets, but every store has its own soul.

“One has a mother hen feel, it’s warm and like a hug. At another shop, the core value is fitness and high level athleticism. People fit to that.

“We want them to feel comfortable, wherever they are in their fitness journey. We’re here if you need us.”

The brand has moved on from its start-up base of frozen products to now offering some warm takeaway dishes. Meals can be customised with additional ingredients too.

Delicia has also been taking its balanced lifestyle approach to the streets, with its first mobile truck Delicia2U on the road in Adelaide, and another already sold in Brisbane.

Franchisees operating these mobiles prepare meals on-site, as in the 19 bricks-and-mortar stores, but with a restricted menu. n

DRINK IT UP

Fancy more of a sweet investment?

BOOST JUICE BAR High profile business with more than 600 stores globally, Boost Juice was the first major player in the juice bar category and is famed for its ‘love life’ philosophy.

KOOMI A Sydney concept that has spread across Asia, Koomi stores utilise natural drinking yogurt and fresh fruits, serving up froyos, bubble teas and cakes.

DIETARY TRENDS

According to a 2018 survey by Roy Morgan, 2.5 million people in Australia are either mostly or only vegetarian, a trend that’s continuing to grow.

Flexitarian is a relatively new concept, reflecting the growing popularity of predominantly plant-based diets, with fish and some lean meat occasional additions.

The Mintel Global New Products Database shows in the years 2014 to 2016 a massive 92 percent increase in the number of food products claiming to be vegan.