Compassionate / Man with a mission

Stuart Churton

MAN WITH A mission

Zambrero Tasmania Operations Manager and Launceston Grammar alumni (2001) Stuart Churton was drawn to the restaurant chain because of its humanitarian quest ‘Mexican with a mission’.

News from Launceston Grammar caught up with Stuart and asked him about Zambrero’s philosophy of giving back to those less fortunate.

Q. Tell us about your journey since leaving school.

I moved from Launceston to Hobart to commence a Bachelor of Business majoring in Marketing and Management in 2002. On completion of my degree I went to work for Southern Cross Media as an account manager for two years. From there I decided to head to Canada for a ski season and then on to Mexico to go surfing for 12 months. During this trip I decided I wanted to open a Mexican restaurant.

After I returned from my travels I went to work in Western Australia as a dispatch operator in a gold mine and lived there for four and a half years. While in Kalgoorlie, I began my Mexican venture investigation and after three failed offers on sites to create my own version of a Mexican restaurant I started enquiring about franchises. Cue Zambrero and an agreement to open 10 Zambrero restaurants over seven years in Tasmania with two business partners. We are now halfway into the seven years and about to open the seventh restaurant with another planned before the end of the year.

Q. Why Zambrero?

I LOVE Mexican food. Ever since I was very young, I have loved tacos. I used to have eating competitions with my neighbour on who could eat the most tacos at dinner. My record was eight when I was about 10.

I did a lot of product sampling within the Mexican franchise offerings and decided on Zambrero based on the flavour of the food, the young and fresh vibe of the brand, and the plate4plate philosophy of trying to eradicate world hunger.

Q. How have Tasmanians assisted with this philosophy of eradicating world hunger?

For every burrito and bowl we sell, a meal is donated to international hunger relief organisation, Rise Against Hunger and Foodbank Australia. For the past two years we have held a Tasmanian ‘meal packing day’ where on World Hunger Day we have partnered with Foodbank and the local community to get together for two hours, create a production line and pack protein-based meals that are then donated to Foodbank Tasmania for emergency hampers. In 2017 we packed 27,000 meals, in 2018 we packed 33,000 meals, and are aiming to pack 35,000 this year!

Q. What advice would you give to someone wishing to show compassion to others in their daily life?

We are lucky to live in Tasmania and to be given access to good education. It is easy to forget how fortunate we are. Adopting a philosophy of giving back to those less fortunate is a great way to express gratitude for all that we have. One way of putting this into practice is choosing to spend your money with organisations who also support that philosophy.

I was lucky enough to go on a ‘Vision Trip’ to Vietnam and unpack, load and transport the meals that Zambrero donates. To see the joy on the kids’ faces in orphanages just because they had something to eat was a sobering experience and made me realise that it doesn’t take a lot of time or effort to make a difference in another person's life.