‘Sometimes I wonder whether I work for a humanitarian company or a food company’

Mexican fast food chain, Zambrero, has grown rapidly since opening its first restaurant in Canberra. But the importance of a distinct brand in addition to a product has fueled their growth, its CEO says.

This burrito will contribute to help solve hunger. Source: Supplied

Mexican franchise Zambrero’s mission is to donate a plate for every other plate they sell, and tackle world hunger in the process.

Sam Prince, a Scottish-born Australian doctor with Sri Lankan parents, founded the first restaurant in Canberra in 2005 after noticing a gap in the Australian market.

Its CEO Karim Messih said serving Mexican food with a mission is not only drawing customers in, but it’s contributing to the network’s speedy growth.

“When I started four years ago, we had 33 restaurants and now we have over 160 around the world,” Mr Messih said.

Karim Messih says the business has grown rapidly. (Supplied.) Source: Supplied

And although the restaurant has commercial interests, addressing world hunger lies at the core of the business.

“There’s over 700 million people over the world that find it difficult to get their next feed."

To Zambrero, hunger isn’t just having not eaten in days. Hunger is not knowing where the next meal is coming from, and that fear is what Sam touched on when he first started Zambrero.

The business’s “Plate 4 Plate” program has already donated more than 17 million meals.

Each packet contains rice, lentils, soy and more than 20 essential vitamins and minerals. (Supplied.) Source: Supplied

The company uses volunteers to help pack the meal packets (which serve six people) and has the goal of reaching one billion by 2025.

“It’s a commercial realisation in the business that we fund it,” Mr Messih said.

Foodbank Australia and Rise Against Hunger are their distribution partners and apportion the meals by identifying places with the greatest need.

Mr Messih said this component is a crucial part of the business that customers continually support.

Zambrero serves up humanitarian relief alongside their meaningful Mexican meals. (Supplied.) Source: Supplied

“Franchising is all about people,” he said.

“We want to be famous for our food but also want to be famous for humanitarian causes, and sometimes I wonder whether I work for a humanitarian company or a food company.”

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