Why is there not more healthy fast food chains?

[Scot]

Jimmy John's does lettuce wraps like this.
Handheld, Not heavy on carbs, only JJ goodness...
View attachment 28555

Only issue is when the damn thing falls apart.

If i ever opened a fast food place it would be Ssam.



They’re korean lettuce wraps.

 

[Entre Eyes]

You have a great point and it could blow up and you crush it but often times the buck goes further and the belly feels fuller with junk food.

When I first read this article I dreamed of living next door to one!

Salmon Company Plans 2K Fast Food Restaurants in China | News

www.specialtyfood.com

 

[Kid]

Beyond meet.etc will offer exactly that in existing fast food restaurants if there will be demand.

 

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[Mark Trade]

Not sure about you guys/girls across the pond, but here in the UK, there is barely any places to get a quick healthy meal ...

So many times I'm out and about, and I just want a healthy nutritious meal on the go, but the only places available for quick meals are Mcdonalds, KFC etc ...

Why is this?

It's got me thinking that a healthy fast food place would fit MJ's CENTS model nicely?

C - I'd be in control.

E - Barrier to entry is not insanely high but it would be by no means easy

N - There is definitely a need. I currently work in sales/marketing for the fitness industry and I've spoken to many people who speak about the same problem (not being able to get a healthy nutritious meal on the go)

T - Eventually with finding the right staff you could have a competent manager running the store

S - It's scalable via opening more or going the franchise route.

I have a woman in my network who runs a successful healthy meal prep company catering corporate offices delivering them healthy lunch meals - so she could give me some guidance along the menu/product/operations side of thing.

And I could run the sales/marketing side of things.

What do you all think?

Am I missing something as to why this has not been done more here in the UK?

Thanks in advance!

Scott

Not having set foot in ol blighty, I cant comment, however the wallet drainer is from Widnes, so she knows the country well.

Have you thought about doing online ordering.???

 

[Grinder20]

Not sure about you guys/girls across the pond, but here in the UK, there is barely any places to get a quick healthy meal ...

So many times I'm out and about, and I just want a healthy nutritious meal on the go, but the only places available for quick meals are Mcdonalds, KFC etc ...

Why is this?

It's got me thinking that a healthy fast food place would fit MJ's CENTS model nicely?

C - I'd be in control.

E - Barrier to entry is not insanely high but it would be by no means easy

N - There is definitely a need. I currently work in sales/marketing for the fitness industry and I've spoken to many people who speak about the same problem (not being able to get a healthy nutritious meal on the go)

T - Eventually with finding the right staff you could have a competent manager running the store

S - It's scalable via opening more or going the franchise route.

I have a woman in my network who runs a successful healthy meal prep company catering corporate offices delivering them healthy lunch meals - so she could give me some guidance along the menu/product/operations side of thing.

And I could run the sales/marketing side of things.

What do you all think?

Am I missing something as to why this has not been done more here in the UK?

Thanks in advance!

Scott

@Scot P, it's a good idea and I've often thought about it. It would definitely take a lot of time and verifiable backed market data to move forward.

Here are my thoughts...most successful people are usually healthy or at least strive to be and often aren't up late. Are there some driving around? Sure, but by in large they're not, very few people would be stopping in and it would be very costly to leave the lights on.

Large, dense cities where people are in common work spaces working late on their Fastlane ambitions, could be attractive alternative and a potential market.

Think about who is up late at night and most importantly either driving or walking around. Usually people who just got off 2nd shift or those going to 3rd shift and college kids. You're market is mostly blue collar workers. Not always, but mostly. Think about why there's a Dollar Menu and Taco Bell is open late into the morning to wash it down with Mountain Dew.

Not a dead idea, but you're going to have to definitely be creative and think outside of the box.

 

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[Primeperiwinkle]

Do it.

Here’s a chain of gourmet restaurants that caters to that crowd. They are doing quite well.

There’s also Chipotle, Smashburger, Burgerim just off the top of my head. I’m also keeping track of a restaurant that ONLY makes salads. They’re called Salata.. only in Texas so far.

They all make more money off the drinks than the food as far as I can tell but that’s also true of unhealthy chains.

Good luck. You can totally do this.

 

[MHP368]

You can have healthy or fast but not both.

We have a couple salad onpy restaurants in tucson "chopped" awesome , not fast though and to make it somewhat worth the money they had to introduce a wild amount of variety which kills profit.

Vs say inn n out , 3 items on the menu , easy to make that efficient.

 

[Johnny boy]

I'm usually pretty healthy.

When I need it fast though...

 

[moneytree3006]

In Australia at least you can choose the salad option at almost all of the major fast food chains. Diet Coke over regular coke etc I assume most people just don't actually choose them over the hamburgers etc

 

[mr4ffe]

Fast Food and Healthy Just Don't Go Together

Healthy Food is more expensive.

The restaurant managers can't have fast service with healthy food because they have to be careful not to waste food. That means not rushing it like McDonald's does. I used to work at a McDonald's and the amount of wrong orders skyrocket during peak times. The cooks and the line workers have to be fast and mistakes are made. That means people coming back to get replacements and the first order has to go in the trash. Also the employees dropping food, making the same thing twice, etc. To be fast you must be willing to sacrifice pounds of food a year.

The "health" crowd also means that you'll have to be transparent from where you source your food. You won't be buying the food from this mega farms most fast food restaurants buy their food from. Why? Because this mega farms have unhealthy practices. All that matters to them is quantity over quality that allows them to lower their price. They use pesticices, growth hormones, gmo, and non eco friendly growing techniques. People who actively seek "healthy" restaurants will have higher standards then your average McDonald's customer.

I don't see this as an obstacle. That just means you can charge more for the food. You could make your whole brand image Tegridy Farms-like. Like you're an honest and humble brand with locally-sourced food that stands up for human and animal rights and donates a percentage to planting trees or saving the turtles or whatever. Have a lot of vegan options on the menu (beans and lentils), but also some chicken, turkey, and fish for the meat-eaters/freegans/flexitarians.

Edit: Here's an example of a real ad like that. And here's another. And a third while we're at it.

 

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[Seamster]

I didn't ready any posts except the OP, but I can for sure say there are very, VERY few options that are my opinion of healthy. I want low carb, low calories. So, besides your ubiquitous salad with chicken breast on it, all that's available is a chicken burrito bowl Chipotle/Qdoba (good luck getting their hands to not automatically add a pound of beans and the unhealthy cheese sauce and rice), Taco Bell, etc., Wendy's chili (you'd have to eat 2), or by ordering a bunch of Egg McMuffins, etc, and eating only the egg and ham.

The healthiest I can do and feel satisfied on a budget is a mom & pop diner's 3 eggs over easy and 2 pieces of wheat toast without butter, putting jam on the last 1/2 piece of toast. That meal with coffee is 5-600 calories and for some reason satisfies me .

 

[zblundell]

I cannot voucher for other states, but here in Louisiana, I am willing to pay between 20-45 dollars so that I do not have to cook. If you open a mom and pop healthy restaurant, you will do well, but never be rich. The key is franchising healthy restaurants and it will be difficult to offer fresh ingredients to customers quickly, but not impossible. I would do the vegan/health restaurant like MJ suggested, but take online/phone orders only. Most times people do not want to sit down at a restaurant to eat a meal after working all day during the week. You could name it Call-Ins and serve whatever you want that is the healthier alternative to burgers and wings. You would not need a huge restaurant or large staff because you are not entertaining customers. Just some ideas. Good luck!

 

[SkyLake]

Actually, they seem to be around every corner in London.

 

[LittleWolfie]

Is it possible to make healthy food fast?

 

[LittleWolfie]

The problem with current “healthy food” chains is almost all of them are fast casual, think Chipotle.

There are no healthy handheld options available. I work out of my car, and I can’t drive down the highway with a burrito bowl or a salad. Trust me, I’ve tried.

The real money maker will be for someone to create a drive through, handheld healthy option.

There are plenty of healthy wraps. That can be held in two hands. Or an oven cooked vegeburger. Or a cold jacket potato. Or a sandwich. A Cornish pasty. In the traditional manner. Not the high fat,corn sryup American cheese & onion pastie.

Will you order it 2 hous ahead of time though?

 

[Scot]

There are plenty of healthy wraps. That can be held in two hands. Or an oven cooked vegeburger. Or a cold jacket potato. Or a sandwich. A Cornish pasty. In the traditional manner. Not the high fat,corn sryup American cheese & onion pastie.

Will you order it 2 hous ahead of time though?

I guess it depends on your definition of healthy. None of those to me are “healthy” as they’re still carb heavy.

 

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[Tommo]

Take a look at two brothers in New Zealand, Wise Boys Burgers and read their story.Copying them should not be difficult. 100% Vegan Burgers - Wise Boys

 

[LittleWolfie]

I guess it depends on your definition of healthy. None of those to me are “healthy” as they’re still carb heavy.

How about bell peppers? Totally handholdable. Empty and stuff. Then eat like an apple. Or cut in half and turn in to a healthy pizza. They smell incredibly like pizza.

9g carb on the pepper.

How about turkey & feta flavour? Kale, ricotta and egg?

 

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[LittleWolfie]

I guess it depends on your definition of healthy. None of those to me are “healthy” as they’re still carb heavy.

Ah I was thinking of cooked healthy food. Why wouldn't anyone just buy banana and cashews from the supermarket?

 

[srodrigo]

I guess it depends on your definition of healthy. None of those to me are “healthy” as they’re still carb heavy.

Okinawan and Mediterranean diets are carb heavy, and are amongst the healthiest diets ever, probed empirically with hordes of 85+ people. Carbs from whole grains are not a problem.

 

[JWM]

There's a small chain in Australia called Spud Bar. They do baked potato, plain or sweet. With all kinds of meat and vegetable toppings options and such. Kind of like the subway of baked potatoes. Its my healthy go to option if i'm out and need to get a quick lunch. Google them and check it out for ideas

 

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[AustinS28]

We have a lot of healthy “fast food” options here in Manhattan - SweetGreen, Fresh and Co, Dig Inn, Between the Bread...just to name a few. The salad craze has taken off. The place sweetgreen, if you don’t preorder online you can be standing on line for 30+ minutes during lunch hours.

These places have a much higher price point than McDonalds and the reason it works in a city like New York is that amount of income people make here is high. It’d be harder to do well nationwide.

What places are in London? I’m sure they have fast food lunch spots like the healthy ones I mentioned here. Otherwise, if that’s not the case then I do believe opening up something like a sweetgreen over there would be a hit.

 

[rollerskates]

The problem with current “healthy food” chains is almost all of them are fast casual, think Chipotle.

There are no healthy handheld options available. I work out of my car, and I can’t drive down the highway with a burrito bowl or a salad. Trust me, I’ve tried.

The real money maker will be for someone to create a drive through, handheld healthy option.

Not sure if this'll help, but I can eat almost nothing at fast food places because of everything that's hidden in stuff, "healthy" option or not. I do massive amounts of food prep, and for road food, I cut up turkey breast into cubes, then there are grapes, carrots, peppers, cheese cubes, etc. It get monotonous, but I don't feel like crap, so there is that.

I agree there needs to be a handheld healthy option available for drive thru purchase, though. Not sure how this would be implemented because they never seem very popular when people are given choices. So like I said, food prep.

 

[MichaelCash]

Fast food is not very healthy in general. But even in MacDonalds you still have choice. Don't buy a meal, but eat only a burger without fries and soda.

If you want to research this market, look at Freshii - it is quite popular in the US. Also, I often see places where you can eat only different types of salads

I would say it is a good idea, but it is a pretty competitive environment. Also it is hard to start a business like this

 

[Pinnacle]

Not sure about you guys/girls across the pond, but here in the UK, there is barely any places to get a quick healthy meal ...

So many times I'm out and about, and I just want a healthy nutritious meal on the go, but the only places available for quick meals are Mcdonalds, KFC etc ...

Why is this?

It's got me thinking that a healthy fast food place would fit MJ's CENTS model nicely?

C - I'd be in control.

E - Barrier to entry is not insanely high but it would be by no means easy

N - There is definitely a need. I currently work in sales/marketing for the fitness industry and I've spoken to many people who speak about the same problem (not being able to get a healthy nutritious meal on the go)

T - Eventually with finding the right staff you could have a competent manager running the store

S - It's scalable via opening more or going the franchise route.

I have a woman in my network who runs a successful healthy meal prep company catering corporate offices delivering them healthy lunch meals - so she could give me some guidance along the menu/product/operations side of thing.

And I could run the sales/marketing side of things.

What do you all think?

Am I missing something as to why this has not been done more here in the UK?

Thanks in advance!

Scott

Can't speak for the UK, but healthy food is expensive and you would need very targeted marketing to get qualified foot traffic in the door.

Facebook messenger marketing may do the trick.

 

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[oa92]

Personally I'd like to see a fast-food chain directed towards gym goers.

I guess it would have to be naturally healthy anyway, but the focus could be on how much protein/carbs/calories the food contains.

You could set these these up close to busy gyms so people could get decent pe or post workout meals easily.

 

[ZF Lee]

Hello, welcome to Fresh Fast may I take your order?
Yes, I'll have a banana and a bag of cashews.

Boom, healthy and fast.

Found this pretty amusing, in a world where eating healthily seems to be ignored everywhere, especially in my college environment.

I find it hard to pick bananas though.

They tend to spike them with the ripening chemicals plus pesticides.

One time, I threw out an entire banana because not only the scent smelled like artificial makeup, or lab esters- my tongue started to ache when I bit into one.

These days I pick bananas that aren't 100% yellow, with black spots already coming out all over, meaning that it's more likely than not to be relatively untouched, but how can I tell anyways?

I'm ok with apples or kiwis. These days a carton of kiwis come with a plastic spoon to dig into the fruit.

 

[LittleWolfie]

 

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[zblundell]

Anyone want to make millions? Here's how: Open a vegan fast food restaurant near (or on) college campuses. I've been to two on two different campuses here in AZ and the places are always jam packed, at all hours, not just lunch or dinner. When the line is out the door at a 2:30 in the afternoon on a Tuesday, the cash register is cha-chinging! If I was young twenty years old and just getting started, this is something I'd be seriously looking at, with the intent to franchise.

MJ I am starting to get more and more serious about this. Researching like crazy as we speak.

 

[The-J]

The food business, specifically franchised food businesses, rely primarily on a few things. Food tastiness (not quality!), ubiquity, and consistency.

Are you getting tasty food? Can you find that restaurant in other places? And are you getting the same positive experience every time?

One of the first big healthy fast food chains was Subway. Subway, as we know today, really isn't that healthy because customers are animals and squeeze extra helpings of ranch dressing on their footlong bologna and salami sub on processed white bread. But, thanks to a big marketing campaign positioning themselves as the 'healthy' option compared to McDonalds and KFC, Subway became the premier place to get healthy food that tastes decent at a low cost.

Plus, most of Subway's most popular offerings were low calorie and actually presented as a good amount of food. They were even one of the first places to offer baked Lay's chips as a side.

And Subway is HUGE. It was the largest fast food chain by number of locations at one point in time. They had Subway in Iraq. It's still got lots of locations despite being seemingly empty every time I pass by one and smell that stomach-churning Subway scent.

Why has Subway stagnated and shrunk? There are a few reasons.

1. Competition. Jimmy John's, Jersey Mike's, Firehouse Subs, and other similar chains popped up and quickly took a lot of Subway's market share. But why?
2. The food. The quality was simply not there, and the competition took advantage. Hell, one of the first to really grab hold of Subway's nuts was Quizno's. (Quizno's is another story though!) Quizno's had a better sub, which wasn't all that hard when comparing with Subway. But since Subway was everywhere, and the marketing was strong, and the food isn't THAT bad, Subway held on. When real competition without scammy business models surfaced, Subway found itself in real trouble.
3. Perceptions of health. When Atkin's and similar low carb crazes became the new buzzword for 'health', Subway simply didn't fit that bill. People stopped believing that Subway was healthy because the bread and meats are heavily processed. People who prided themselves on being healthy didn't eat at Subway, and it showed.
4. Jared. Although Subway's problems were despite this, Jared's nasty a$$ didn't help either.

So there IS a market for healthy fast food. Subway exploited it and grew into one of the biggest fast food chains to ever exist worldwide, and did it with subpar food and somewhat deceitful marketing. But it has to be tasty, it has to be consistent, and eventually it has to be ubiquitous. The hard part with healthy food is making it taste good, and if you're using fresh local ingredients, consistency becomes difficult too. Solve that problem, though, and you could rake in billions.