“Green is the new black,” declares the website of FreeFoods NYC, an all-organic, prepared-foods café slated to open later this summer in New York. The brainchild of chef Matthew Kenney, FreeFoods NYC will offer smoothies, salads, soups, sandwiches and dinner entrées with the goal of introducing more people to an organic lifestyle.
FreeFoods is one of the latest entrants in a growing crop of concepts conceived as more ecofriendly and healthful than traditional eateries. Others—such as the Evos, Pizza Fusion, Organic to Go and O’Naturals chains—say the time is right to capitalize on the public’s growing health consciousness and interest in sustainability.
People are beginning to understand that eating more healthfully doesn’t mean becoming a tree-hugger or beatnik, said Dino Lambridis, one of the founders of Tampa, Fla.-based Evos, a three-unit, fast-casual chain that offers burgers, fries and shakes with 50 percent to 70 percent less fat and calories than typical fast food.
“Once they come into our store, they see that we aren’t touting tofu as the meal of choice, but real food that is fresh, hormone-free and tasty,” he said.
An organic orientation is one key selling point of many of the new concepts and an attribute that more consumers are tuning in to. Organic-food sales totaled $15.7 billion in 2006 and are growing about 14 percent each year, according to the Nutrition Business Journal. Organic products also are sold in nearly every retail channel in North America, not just at places like Whole Foods Market and Wild Oats Markets. About 46 percent of organic foods are now sold at supermarkets, mass merchandisers such as Wal-Mart and Target, and club stores, according to the Organic Trade Association.
Though Evos purchases organic milk, produce and products whenever possible and boasts food that features health-oriented ingredients, the brand does not bill itself as a health-food restaurant. Instead, Evos markets its restaurants as places that offers fast food for everyone—vegans, vegetarians and meat eaters—made in ways that have a minimal impact on the planet.
“Fast food is part of our culture,” Lambridis said. “It’s just not going away. The key to our success is that we recreated the all-American combo meal into something that not only tastes great but is great for you and makes you feel great. Maybe one day we can claim ‘billions and billions saved’ on our signs.”
Founded in 1994 by Lambridis, Alkis Crassas and Michael Jeffers after a road trip in which health-oriented fast food was nowhere to be found, Evos uses trademarked air-baking ovens, which it claims improves the “healthfulness” of foods. The chain’s average check is $9.50, and average unit volume is $940,000, Lambridis said.
Evos has two locations in Florida and one in Las Vegas, and company officials recently inked several franchise deals. The largest is with Healthy Fast Food Inc., which has agreed to open 207 stores in 12 states over 10 years. Another area developer bought the rights to develop 21 stores in Atlanta and North Carolina. Evos also recently sold four franchises in its own Tampa Bay market, with the first set to open soon across from the Tampa campus of the University of South Florida. Two other locations will be across the bay in Pinellas County and the fourth is expected to be in Sarasota, although the franchisees are still searching for locations, Lambridis said.
Evos charges an initial $35,000 franchise fee, and opening costs typically range from $350,000 to $450,000, company officials said.
“These guys have been working to get this right for a long time, and I think it has an enormous potential,” said Tampa attorney Gregory Jones, who has signed on to open three Evos units.
Greg Jensen of Healthy Fast Food Inc., who helped to open the first Evos in Las Vegas last October, felt the concept would fit well into Nevada’s growing green movement.
While Jensen, a former New York Stock Exchange floor trader, would not disclose sale figures, he said that he and his partners were very pleased.
“We are happy and working on opening more stores—eight to 10 in Las Vegas and then throughout the rest of the territory,” he said. “That should speak volumes to our sales. These guys worked for more than 10 years to get this right, they’ve really done their homework.”
Part of that homework, Lambridis said, was to consult with others who have tried to do similar healthful concepts but failed, including people from D’lites and Healthy Bites.
“They were very forthcoming, and we learned a lot from them,” he said. “And, of course, the marketplace has changed a lot in five years, so timing is everything. People that would have never thought of eating healthier six to seven years ago are now doing so.”
Lambridis noted that while D’lites was initially doing well, it aggressively moved into markets where it didn’t belong, including some blue-collar neighborhoods.
“They had the light-beer mentality,” he said. “They thought, ‘People are drinking light beer, so they will buy light food.’ Well, it didn’t work.”
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Pizza Fusion also is attempting to make its mark using organic and fresh ingredients and aggressive environmental initiatives, including company-owned hybrid delivery cars wrapped with the Pizza Fusion logo.
The two-unit concept was founded in early 2006 by former college friends Vaughan Lazar and Michael Gordon. The pair traveled and tested widely to create sauce and pizza dough that was healthful and met their taste expectations. Pizza consultant Dave Ostrander was hired to help develop the concept, which sells organic, skate-board-shaped pizzas, wraps, salads, sandwiches, and beer and wine.
The founders sold their first store to a franchisee a few months ago for $300,000 after putting $250,000 into it. Lazar said that the store is on track to do $650,000 in 2007.
Today, Lazar and Gordon, along with veteran franchise operator Randy Romano, are working on franchising the concept, which has a $30,000 franchise fee and about $250,000 to $400,000 in development costs.
Lazar said the company has already inked deals for almost 40 stores in such locales as Ardmore, Pa., just outside of Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Las Vegas, as well as New Jersey and Colorado.
Several Florida locations are to follow, including Palm Beach Gardens, Weston, Aventura, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Jupiter, Miami, Pembroke Pines and Pompano Beach.
“We are also speaking with people for master-franchise deals in Canada, the United Kingdom and China,” Lazar said.
He said that because Whole Foods has already scouted the best locations for organic-food fans, he looks for real estate near Whole Foods stores.
“They’ve already done the research on who eats organic, so why not use it?” he asked. “So we look at their website. Sure, it’s the cheater’s way to do it, but so what?”
Jeff Yagoda, who previously owned two KFC units and one KFC-Taco Bell, was looking for a more healthful restaurant concept when he spotted Pizza Fusion. He purchased his store in March and has an agreement to open five stores in as many years.
“I met them and knew we were in the right place,” Yagoda said. “I tried the pizza and said, ‘Boy, this is great pizza.’ These two guys had a good vision and have a lot of integrity that they live by. They think about what kind of footprint they are leaving first and then what works next. I feel happy about selling this to people.”
Pizza Fusion’s average pizza is about $20, and the average check is about $31, Lazar said. About 70 percent of sales are made at dinner and most food is carried out, officials said.
As the chain expands, however, the company plans to grow the average location from roughly 850 square feet to 2,500 square feet, with room for seating.
Pizza Fusion not only uses its own hybrid cars for delivery, but also biodegradable cornstarch containers when possible, ecofriendly employee apparel, renewable energy, and recycled paper and pizza boxes. Each month it hosts a free organics class to educate children about the benefits to the environment of organics and recycling.
The company also builds its stores according to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, Green Building Rating System.
Pizza Fusion raised $1.5 million through LaSalle Street of Chicago, underwritten by Fidelity Bank. Lazar said that some of the funding was used to build a test kitchen and hire franchise trainers, many of whom are veterans of Subway, McDonald’s, Disney and California Pizza Kitchen.
“We hope that funds from franchising will allow us to continue to grow without having to raise additional funds,” Lazar said.
Entrepreneur Jason Brown started Seattle-based Organic to Go in 2005. The fast-casual chain and catering company has 13 retail locations and 23 grab-and-go coolers located near or in corporate centers such as the Starbucks headquarters and at the University of California, Los Angeles. All are company-owned locations, which Brown estimated did just under $10 million in the second year of business.
Brown said his goal is to make delicious organic food available to people where they work and go to school. Most of the business comes from breakfast and lunch, with some dinner catering.
Similarly, Falmouth, Maine-based O’Naturals, an organic quick-service chain with a handful of units, just signed a deal with Charlotte, N.C.-based Compass Group to bring the brand to multiple corporate-dining accounts.