VIDEO: Fast Food Founded by Millennials for Millennials

TORONTO — In a new installment of his video series with Convenience Store News parent company, Stagnito Business Information + Edgell Communications, Phil Lempert spotlights fast-food chain Freshii, which started 11 years ago and is finally coming of age with its healthy fast-food profile.

Now in 85 cities and 15 countries with 200 stores serving burritos, smoothies, fresh-pressed juices and salads, founder Matthew Corrin credits the growth of Freshii primarily to its millennial focus. Corrin himself and two-thirds of Freshii franchisees are in the millennial age range.

“We are a millennial management team with millennial franchisees serving millennial guests. No other concept is so centered on millennials,” Corrin has said.

Millennials want to support businesses that care about the community and the environment. Freshii was built with a “Triple Bottom Line” outlook on its performance, meaning it measures success not only on financial results, but also on environmental and social impact. It maintains a “Free the Children” program to build school kitchens and school gardens in developing countries. 

Freshii is among a growing list of quick-service restaurant chains — think Sweetgreen, Taylor Gourmet and Luke’s Lobster — founded and run by millennials. They are shaking up the industry by appealing to millennials in ways that older, established brands simply can’t and frankly don’t understand.

Lempert is founder of The Lempert Report, a food trends publication, and SupermarketGuru.com, a leading online resource for food safety, products, trends and shopping tips that attracts more than nine million visitors annually. 

As CSNews Online previously reported, Lempert and Stagnito + Edgell forged an exclusive strategic alliance that allows Lempert to provide content and programming to multiple CPG retail media brands within the Stagnito + Edgell portfolio, including Convenience Store News and Progressive Grocer. 

Click above to watch the video.