Mexican fast food giant Guzman y Gomez has got on board the booming alt-meat train and flagged a future stock exchange listing as it plans huge expansion.
Mexican fast food giant Guzman y Gomez has got on board the booming alt-meat train through its first external collaboration, cracked new revenue records and revealed a future stock exchange listing is on the cards.
Founder and chief executive Steven Marks is well known for his exacting standards, so it took three years of research to land on GyG’s first new filling since 2018 – shredded shiitake mushrooms – to be launched on Tuesday.
Mr Marks said his growing company’s “La Cusina” test kitchen in Sydney’s Surry Hills painstakingly trialled more than 100 plant-based products before deciding the victor, created in partnership with Australian start-up Fable.
“Whenever we do anything, it’s got to be perfect; we’re extremely thorough,” Mr Marks told NCA NewsWire.
“I’m fanatical on quality.
“We’re so persistent about never compromising our menu.”
Shredded shiitake mushrooms was far superior to the other alt-meat the chain had tested, he said, with a cauliflower product among those ditched after it couldn’t be made just right.
The filling is the star ingredient in a new GyG soft-shell taco, seasoned with flavours including smoked paprika, garlic and onion, surrounded by iceberg lettuce and topped with GYG’s signature pico de gallo, tomatillo salsa and vegan chimi mayo.
It’s also available across other menu items, excluding breakfast.
“It’s heaven … so good,” Mr Marks said.
“I don’t think anybody has seen shredded mushroom the way we have it … it’s that umami flavour and it’s not trying to be anything else but beautiful shredded mushroom.
“I see more and more kids come to GyG – we have a moral and social obligation to feed them real food and what better way than to get amazing vegetables and mushrooms into their diet? It’s something we strongly believe in.”
Mr Marks flagged more plant-based items on GyG’s already veggie-heavy menu, believing it’s a food trend that’s here to stay.
“This whole plant-based industry is really booming,” he said.
“It’s amazing the advancement in this space.
“Our vision for fast food is people should eat less meat and obviously more vegetables and plant-based.
“The meat they eat should be of the highest animal welfare possible.
“So we’re always looking and times are changing.
“If our guests want more plant-based and we believe in it also, we’ll definitely look to add more options on the menu in time.”
Fable co-founder and chief executive Michael Fox said 42 per cent of Australians were reducing their meat consumption or eating none at all.
He cited a report last year by alternative proteins think tank Food Frontier, which projected that at the trajectory of growth seen in 2020, Australia’s plant-based “meat” industry would be worth almost $3bn by 2030.
“As consumer demand for more sustainable food products grows, the alternative meat market will continue to rapidly grow and drive plant-based food consumption more into the mainstream,” Mr Fox said.
“We expect to see many more restaurants and food service brands follow GyG’s lead and offer more non-animal based product options on their menus.
“I’m a massive GyG fan and eat there all the time.”
Mr Marks, an energetic New Yorker, started the chain with its first restaurant in the Sydney suburb of Newtown in 2006.
He now has about 160 and plans 30 new ones this year.
Just 19 are outside Australia – 14 in Singapore, four in Japan and one in the US near Chicago, which opened in January.
Mr Marks said the maiden American restaurant “would have been in trouble” during the pandemic were it not for drive-through “but revenue is starting to pick up and hopefully we’ll have another three or four by the end of the year”.
Mr Marks has an ultimate grand plan to start a further 300 back in the US.
His Australian launchpad is flourishing, with a restaurant in Cranbourne, Victoria recently breaking the company’s weekly revenue record of $180,000.
Mr Marks said the profitable company didn’t need to raise cash now but would look to list for future growth plans.
“We just look at it year by year,” he said.
“When we think it’s the right time for an IPO (initial public offer), then I guess we’ll do it.
“I would love to give people the opportunity to love GyG and own a piece of it – that’s my driving force behind listing.”
GyG quietly sold a small stake in the company to Hamish Douglass’ Magellan Financial Group in January, Mr Marks revealed.
“He’s one of the best fast food investors in the world.”
Originally published as Guzman y Gomez dives into alt-meat market, flags future stock exchange listing
For all the latest business News Click Here
