Seafood Bowls are changing the way we look at fast food
Poke literally means “to cut crosswise into pieces.” It’s a simple dish made of chopped seafood (generally tuna) that’s marinated in soy sauce and sesame oil and then mixed with onion. But you’ll find many variations of this when you visit poke restaurants across the country and the world. Octopus, or tako, and mussels are two common options, and spicing up the seafood with wasabi and/or kimchee are also popular variations.
“To open a poke restaurant, all you need is an electrical outlet for cooking rice and a refrigeration unit for storing fish.”
Poke was first prepared by native Polynesians centuries before Western travelers arrived on the islands. Initially it was made with raw reef fish, seasoned with sea salt and seaweed, and combined with crushed candlenut.
Poke bowls, rapidly gaining popularity in the fast-and-casual food sector, are a middle ground between quick salad bowls and the higher-calorie offerings of tex-mex. Poke bowls are flavorful, packed with protein, and don’t seem like “rabbit food,” but they’re still light and healthy. While sushi can cost upwards of $15 or $20 for anything more than a small, basic roll, most poke bowls are priced in the $10 to $18 range for a complete meal. If you are concerned with low-priced, raw fish meals, keep in mind that the restaurants are buying quality fish in bulk, which reduces their costs as well as the prices that customers pay.
About 300 Hawaiian restaurants have opened in the United States, the majority of them featuring poke. Why is that? One very important reason is economics. Any good chef or restaurant owner knows that a decent kitchen can cost you up to $500,000, and that’s just the kitchen expense. To open a poke restaurant, all you need is an electrical outlet for cooking rice and a refrigeration unit for storing fish. In my current franchise portfolio, I have two poke concepts with an investment range of $90,000 to $350,000, which includes training.
WHO IS IT FOR?
The ideal investor in a poke restaurant is someone who is passionate about healthy food, has the ability to follow a proven system, wants to be part of the poke success, and of course has access to the necessary capital.
The poke business offers two very attractive business models: owner-operator or absentee owner. My favorite is the absentee owner model. You hire a general manager and bring him or her to training. You both learn how to operate a successful new business together. The general manager will be responsible for the day-to-day operations as well as the hiring and training of staff. Some franchisees start with the owner-operator option then transition into absentee role once they believe the business is stable.
– Brian LaCour, CFC
Brian LaCour has more than 20 years of business leadership experience in driving fiscal results, strategic planning, saving costs, increasing revenue, streamlining processes and developing top performing teams. LaCour’s passion for helping people led him to the role as president of the International Franchise Group. Call LaCour at 561-502-7283 or email him at blacour@internationalfranchisegroup.com.