 UFood Grill is a new restaurant concept that promotes better-for-you versions of consumers’ favorite foods. What happens when a Boston-based franchising guru teams up with a group of local fitness nuts? The answer is UFood Grill – a new restaurant concept taking the nation by storm as it spreads from coast to coast promoting better-for-you versions of traditional cuisine. Everything on the menu is baked, grilled or steamed; nothing is fried. In fact, no fryers are allowed in the restaurants.
“We take a back-to-basics approach to tasty, healthful cooking, where everything we serve is rooted in quality – from choice meats to natural and organic ingredients, fresh produce, whole grains and light cheeses and dressings,” the company says. Under the motto, “Food that starts with U,” UFood Grill caters to the individual patron’s dietary needs, whether it’s reduced sodium, low carbohydrate, reduced fat, gluten-free, or vegetarian.
In addition, it boasts an easy-to-navigate dietary guide, which breaks down the menu into these categories. Customers are encouraged to add, subtract or substitute any item they wish.
Lover of Labels
UFood Grill’s willingness to menu label is innovative, it notes, given that the company has existed since 1999; yet, only in recent years has there been a movement to push menu labeling in restaurants across the nation in an effort to stifle the increasing rate of obesity in adults and children.
With New York and California at the forefront, more states are requiring restaurants to post their nutritional guidelines so that patrons can read them before ordering their meals.
In September, California became the first state in the nation to require, by law, approximately 17,000 chain and fast-food restaurants to post calorie counts on menus and menu boards.
The Right Idea
The story of UFood Grill began in 1997, when Tim and Joli Kurtz of Boston teamed up with fitness center proprietor Mike Gervais to establish a sports nutrition store called Flex Appeal II.
Shortly after opening the store, they decided to expand the business. Health food expert and chef Chris Pappas was brought on board, and the four created a two-in-one concept, which combined a health food restaurant with an in-house nutrition center. In 1999, Lo Fat No Fat was incorporated in Watertown, Mass. Five years later, George Naddaff – now chairman and CEO – was driving by the store when he noticed a long line snaking out the door. He was impressed with the menu and liked the idea of a nutrition center and restaurant in one accessible location. “I loved it,” he says. “I fell in love with what they were doing. They had the right idea, and I should know. I’m a restaurant guy.”
Naddaff is the founder of the Boston Chicken/Boston Market franchising enterprise, which he sold to a group of Blockbuster Video executives in 1992, thus sharing in the largest initial public offering in Wall Street history up to that point – a 143 percent first-day increase.
“Why was Boston Market so powerful as a concept?” he asks. “Because of the phrase ‘home meal replacement.’ The year was 1988 and women were going back to work full force. They needed to have a meal that they could bring home, put on china and feed to their families.
“The fact that the chicken was not fried was a big factor [to its success] because fried was becoming a bad name,” he continues. “Our 13 steamed vegetables were given high marks by mothers because they claimed that our products were healthy. But I didn’t start the concept to be a healthy concept; I started it because it was not fried and because it was a home meal replacement.”
Franchising Guru
Naddaff began his career in foodservice when he co-founded International Foods, which operated 19 Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises in the Boston area until it was sold in 1970.
Known by many as “The Guru of Franchising,” he has founded or been significantly involved in many successful concepts, such as Sylvan Learning Centers, the nation’s leading after-school learning facilities; and VR Business Brokers, the nation’s largest business brokerage franchise with more than 350 offices, which was sold to Christies, London, in 1986.
When Naddaff came across Lo Fat No Fat in 2003, “I said, ‘My God, this is so timely,’” he recalls. “America really needs better-for-you food and they need to have that nutritional information available to them.
“If it’s organic, natural and so on, customers should know in advance what they’re putting into their body.
“As fate would have it, I came along, looked at the concept and saw the same potential that I had seen in the Boston Chicken/Boston Market concept. So, I decided to get involved.”
Naddaff Works His Magic
In 2004, Naddaff teamed up with entrepreneurs Eric Spitz and Gary Jacobus. The three acquired Lo Fat No Fat and founded KnowFat Franchise Co., “an entity dedicated to growing a chain of better-for-you quick-serve restaurant/retail outlets,” the company says. “At the time, there were only two Lo Fat No Fats.
“As a classic serial entrepreneur, I put together a full-court press and took a hard look at the name,” Naddaff says. “I felt the name ‘Lo Fat No Fat’ didn’t resonate too well, mainly because our consumers are between 18 and 49 and are more of a hip generation. We needed to figure out what resonates with the Myspace, iPod and YouTube generation of today. We tried the name ‘UFood Grill – Feel Great. Eat Smart,’ and it found 88 percent acceptance.
“The next move was to create a logo,” he continues. “It’s a circle with a green rim because we believe the world’s stance on environmentalism is changing. Look at Whole Foods; look at their growth. Look at the people gravitating to that kind of concept. The mouth is a ‘U’ and it’s orange. Then, there’s the wink – which is not two eyes, it’s a wink. It suggests we know something. We took advantage of being in the know, the need to know, so we kept the wink in there. It’s hip, it’s cute, it’s the wink. Someday, that logo will be as strong and powerful as the Nike swoosh, we hope.”
Next up, Naddaff and his team of entrepreneurs set out to revamp the menu. They hired Efrem Cutler, former executive chef at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Atlanta, as the company’s corporate chef and vice president of product development. “My first objective was to banish bland by ramping up flavor and presentation,” he told Restaurant Business magazine in March 2008.
“A spice company helped me create my own Chef’s Grill Seasonings,” Cutler added. “Not only do these spices heighten flavor without [the] added fat, some naturally raise metabolism to help burn calories.”
Some of UFood Grill’s high-volume menu items include Kickin’ Thai Chicken and a balsamic-marinated portabella wrap.
“Not only do we prepare a complete nutritional value menu, we don’t hide it on the back of the men’s room; we put it right smack in front so you can see it when you first walk in the door,” Naddaff says. “We’re not afraid of menu labeling; most restaurants are terrified of it. What we’ve done is create a menu with lots of research and lots of attention to detail.”
‘Nontraditional’ Venues
Currently, there are eight operating UFood Grills in Boston; Naples, Fla.; Roseville, Calif.; and Chicago, with six slated to open in Dallas/Fort Worth Airport; Draper, Utah; Roseville and San Jose, Calif.; and Chicago by the end of 2008.
Naddaff says the company has more than 20 units planned for early 2009, “and there will be a lot more, of course. We have business plans that we’ve given to our investors stating we believe by 2013, we should have over 800 units sold.”
Jumping from 10 operating units to more than 800 in less than five years would seem difficult, if not impossible, to many franchisers.
But not to “The Guru of Franchising.” Naddaff has discovered the key to catapulting UFood Grill’s growth. “We are intrigued by what we call ‘nontraditional’ locations,” he explains, “airports, colleges, travel plazas, casinos and hospitals – facilities where there are lots of people passing through. We think we are at the forefront of that movement and intend to dominate that space.”
‘Courting’ the Airports
UFood Grill has two airport locations, one in Boston’s Logan Airport and the other in Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, with two more in negotiations.
“Our Logan Airport unit has about 6 million people that travel through Terminal B, American Airlines, and we discovered something very unusual,” Naddaff says.
“We’re in the food court with four national food companies that have been around for many years. When people pass through security, the first unit they hit is UFood Grill. We’re not a national brand yet; we’re still a little company coming out of the woodwork.”
“People look up, see the name and they continue walking to look at the other concepts – a pizza chain, a sandwich chain and a McDonald’s,” he adds. “Then, they turn right back around, come back to UFood Grill and place their order with us. The phenomenon is when you give the traveling public an alternative to what they’ve been eating for the past 25 years at airports, they will select the healthier alternative hands-down, especially if it’s convenient.”
Watch Out, Fast-Food
In spring 2008, Naddaff was approached by Tony Paquin, the president of The Paquin Group, a leading healthcare retail consultancy firm based in Celebration, Fla.
“He said, ‘I love your concept; I’d love to meet with you,” Naddaff recalls. “The next thing I know, he comes to my office and tells me about a convention at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas that happened this past June and says, ‘Did you know there are 500 hospitals across America that are trying to kick McDonald’s out of their hospitals just as Disneyland has?’
“Now, I believe in free enterprise,” Naddaff stresses. “All he said to me was, ‘You should be right there alongside McDonald’s giving people an alternative to that other stuff. Would you come make a speech to 500 hospital administrators?’ “I said, ‘Why not?’ I spoke about UFood Grill and it captivated them. We are now talking to over a dozen hospitals across America about bringing UFood Grill into their hospitals.
“This is just the beginning,” he adds. “I believe UFood Grill is a concept whose time has come.
“There was a season for burgers, a season for chicken, a season for pizza and a season for bagels. Those things are never going to disappear. I think the season for better-for-you food is now. When the tide comes in, all ships rise.” |
