Food Truck to Franchise
Despite being known as the largest vegan chain down under, Lord of the Fries wasn’t always as we know it today. In this week’s episode we go back in time with LOTF cofounder Amanda Leigh Walker, to the beginning of the business and its evolution from food truck to franchise. We also chat about their recent collaborations with popular plant-based brands such as Beyond Meat, how to cope in stressful times, the source of Amanda’s deep sense of purpose plus more.
Before embarking on her journey as an entrepreneur, Amanda had wanted to pursue the path of becoming a counsellor or psychotherapist. She had spent some time in her twenties living in Taiwan, which is where she met her now-husband and Lord of the Fries co-founder Mark Koronczyk.
Amanda: “We realised that vegetarianism was our highest value, and we wanted to do something in the world to contribute to that.”
They then started dreaming up ideas and after some consideration landed on food; whilst starting a restaurant seemed exciting, financial and legal reasons brought them to buying a food van.
Amanda: “At first we were thinking of something delicious, maybe organic soups, crepes, we had different ideas. We then started calling festivals with our ideas and there was not much interest … until we thought about opening a french fry van!”
Amanda: “Back in the day … a lot of the french fries were cooked in beef tallow … so we thought we thought we’d do vegetarian french fries … hand-cut in a cone. We started dreaming about what kinds of sauces we’d put on them, inviting friends over to test these sauces.”
The pair did that for a year, until it became quite tiring.
Amanda: “It’s a huge deal doing festivals. I liked it … but people kept asking us when we were going to open a store … so then we thought okay, well let’s investigate that!”
Now Lord of the Fries is considered Australia and New Zealand’s largest vegan chain, with 27 stores across both countries. The menu has also moved beyond fries, with all kinds of fast food options such as burgers, hot dogs and milkshakes available.
Since the first store opened in 2005, before veganism made it into the mainstream, we were also curious to see how the restaurant was initially received by consumers.
Amanda: “People loved it! And similar to how we do it now, we put the emphasis on the food and the vibe, not on the dietary / ethical choice.”
Amanda: “The vegetarians were pumped, and told each other which was amazing … some meat-eaters were surprised and happy, and some were actually quite cross, and felt deceived and angry, so it was an interesting experiment which still goes on to this day.”
Image: People queuing outside the LOTF Adelaide franchise.
The franchise’s popularity has also led to collaboration with other large players in the plant-based space.
Amanda: “We still have our own recipe for our TVP patties … but we also have brought in the Beyond Burger.”
Amanda: “As far as I think, Beyond has been a really good business partner with us, in that they gave us the Beyond patty first before other people got them”
Amanda: “It felt really good to promote that relationship … they treated us really well and supported us in letting us be the first to bring it.”
But as plant-based alternatives become more available, it can also become harder to differentiate from other fast food places that offer similar products. We wanted to know how Amanda and the team at LOTF responded to this increased competition and their perspective, having been in the space for as long as they have.
Amanda: “Long before I saw this in Australia, I saw this in Canada; you could go to many different places and get the Yves brand patty … so I’m used to that idea.”
Amanda: “I’m glad that there’s options everywhere, and I think the way we look at it is a positive move in society because our aim is twofold: we want our businesses to grow and expand and do well and thrive … but in our hearts we also want veganism and vegetarianism to spread.”
Amanda: “We look at it as a good sign that people are more open and willing to experience vegan and vegetarianism, and we also look at it as a sign that we really need to step up our game. If we want to survive and thrive, then we need to be more concerned with consistency, cleanliness, customer experience, connection, relationships, happiness, staff, fair practice, all that kind of stuff.”
Like with many other businesses, and founding journeys however, stepping up and focussing on growth doesn’t always come easy. We asked Amanda about what kinds of challenges herself and the team have faced, as well as what helps them get through these times.
Amanda: “There’s been different kinds of challenges. Challenges like learning to work with who was my boyfriend, now my husband, and my brother-in-law, so there’s that; learning how to communicate, respect and have a fair business together.”
Amanda: “Growing and not overworking, having personal boundaries around time, how much we’re going to work on the business and when.”
“Before I had my babies, the personal boundaries were much bigger; I could work much more, I had a lot more energy for that … also boundaries around when to talk about the business, what to bring up, and boundaries around micr-managing each other and being respectful of each other’s working patterns.”
Amanda: “We also discovered that sometimes, maybe with COVID, there’s a bit of a gap between us and the franchisees, and how to get them to do what we want them to do while empowering them and not just always looking for things that are wrong.”
In response, Amanda and her partner are taking a franchise relationship course.
Amanda: “Educating ourselves when things get tricky, and personal self-care has been really important for Mark and I. A long time ago we both learnt to meditate, so we both practice meditation twice a day … so we’re tuning in to the best part of ourselves.”
Amanda: “I also exercise, and make time for other relationships and things that are fulfilling, not just working.”
An example Amanda gave of putting these things together was during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and responding to the difficulties faced in lockdown.
Amanda: “It was tough … so we offered to teach meditation to anyone who wanted to learn, to support them more emotionally because we couldn’t support them with customers.
Amanda: “So falling back on to the why we’re doing this, who we really are, remembering that we’re all human behind these businesses and going back to the heart of things.”
The result of the deep care and effort of this practice means that the team is able to foster a more positive attitude when making mistakes or facing failure.
Amanda: “We’ve had lots of things that didn’t go the way we wanted to, but because we have these practices of care for each other, a bigger, deeper care for the animals, and care for ourselves, and care for our customers and franchisees, then we have a good mindset.”
Amanda has taken this deeper sense of care into other areas of her life, pursuing coaching.
Amanda: “My super interest in coaching is not so much about the business, but about the business owners.
Amanda: “But my deepest interest is letting people learn how to see themselves as they truly truly are; in their beauty, in their ugly, in all their aspects, so they can bring their whole self into the world and have a good life, whether they have a business or not.”
Whilst inspiring and encouraging other founders, Amanda also continues to focus on the business, with a couple of exciting launches coming up giving customers more to look forward to.
Amanda: “We’ve got a secret cousin brand that we’re very gently releasing into the world, it’s called Soul Plate Kitchen based on soul food from America.”
Amanda: “We’re also releasing another top-secret concept that will be an online brand - DIY food - throwback to some of our childhood comfort food.”
To learn more you can follow Lord of the Fries on Instagram or on Facebook. You can also head to their website, or find a store near you here.