Californian style Mexican food business Las Olas Fresh Mex Grill is on the hunt for franchisees to grow the Victorian-based brand across Australia and has taken on The Franchise Shop to assist in the search.

Las Olas founder, Californian Michael Baker, started the takeaway food firm in Torquay in 2011 after spotting a gap in the market for healthy and fresh Mexican food when on a surfing trip. Now with a second company owned outlet in Geelong, Baker and business partner Achalen Holmes plan to spread the concept further afield.

“Ideally we’d like to expand locally however we’ve been fielding more questions from further afield, WA, Queensland and New South Wales. Victoria seems to be the slow pony,” Baker told Franchising. “We’re quite happy to talk to anyone. Ultimately we want to be an Australian based organisation.”

Baker said the process to turn the business into a franchise started four years ago but was held up by the GFC. “We decided franchising was the way to go when we opened nine years ago, it was always our intention. It’s a recipe for success, it’s far better for multiple units.”

Australians’ taste for Mexican food is “trending up” Baker said, and this will help raise the brand’s profile. “We’ve been trying to break people away from what used to be considered Mexican food and we think what we have is vastly improved.”

The Franchise Shop director Richard Garraway said “For a franchise to be successful in today’s marketplace it needs a genuine point of difference. When a business is so passionate about what they do, it always brings in the right people.”

A franchise opportunity in a Las Olas outlet with some seating will need investment from $225,000 to $275,000 depending on location and site.