Freshii Fuels the Fast-Casual Market with 19 Quarters of Consecutive Growth: Fast-casual brand makes healthy food delicious and profitable.

The trendy and health-conscious restaurant Freshii is taking the fast-casual market by storm. Freshii’s story began when Matthew Corrin, founder and CEO was working for fashion icon Oscar De La Renta in New York City. At the time, he frequented the mom and pop delis of the city and was inspired by their fresh food, but he saw a gap in their branding and service. 

From this concept, the fast-casual brand was founded on a mission to help citizens of the world live better lives by making healthy food convenient and affordable—and that message has resonated with guests. It’s Freshii’s mix of serving healthy and affordable but also innovative menu items in a beautifully branded restaurant that has helped the chain build a loyal and vocal fan base.

“Our guests visit our restaurants frequently and for multiple dayparts,” says Michael Pandich, director of global franchise development. “What they like most about Freshii is that they can eat something nutritious based on their dietary needs or health goals, have something completely different on every visit, and never compromise on flavor.” 

Freshii’s broad and completely customizable menu, allows guests to create a meal based on their moods or particular dietary needs. “We don’t define what healthy is for someone, and that makes us unique,” Pandich says. “Someone who is simply trying to make better eating choices may come in three times a week and order a quinoa bowl or brown rice burrito. Another guest who is very health conscious may want a kale salad with falafel and a mix of several other ingredients, dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Freshii appeals to all guests, whether they’re health enthusiasts, ready for better, or not quite there yet on the health movement.”

Freshii ownership is convenient and affordable as well. “We offer a low initial capital investment, simple labor model, and low rents, since we don’t require a lot of space,” Pandich says. Freshii operates in spaces as small as 300 square-feet up to 3,000. The brand doesn’t require ovens, hoods, stoves, venting, freezers, or grease traps. This makes finding sites simpler than many other brands and also keeps rent costs low. Additionally, the business can be adapted to any setting, including big cities, small towns, colleges and universities, retail spaces, and airports.

With over 350 locations operating in more than 15 countries, Freshii is celebrating 19 consecutive quarters of same-store sales growth. Although Matthew Corrin stresses that the brand is not in the business of opening stores, it is in the business of operating stores —Freshii expects to have between 730–760 restaurants open by the end of 2019. This growth is impressive since Freshii has never done any paid advertising for franchising until this year. “We have seen tremendous demand for Freshii ownership throughout the U.S.” Pandich says.